[Advaita-l] Was Madhusudana Saraswati A South Indian?

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

Dear Professor Sanjukta,

We would like to know your comments on the following please.

The top three arguments in favour of Madhusudana Saraswati's Bengal origin
are


   - Hagiography
   - There is a Bengali family which claims lineage
   - His views on bhakti rasa are similar to that of gaudiya vaishnavas

My counter to the above are as follows:


   - Hagiography is not supported by any literary evidence (e.g. his
   interacting with gaudiya vaishnavas)
   - Family tree is only a later day construction
   - His views of bhakti rasa are not unique to Gaudiya Vaishnavas because
   they are known to the writers of Alankara Sastras but most importantly to
   Sridhara Swami and ealier works such as Jnaneshwari, Muktiphala, Ashtapadhi
   and notably Harivamsa, which was known to Sankara himself.

I think he is from South India because


   - He spends a lot of effort to attack Sri Vaishnavam and Madhwa schools
   - He does not recognize any influence by Gaudiya Vaishnavas or even
   show knowledge of the existence of this school

I do not yet have a positive record to prove that belongs to South India.
 Best Regards
Rajaram Venkataramani