Sri Jnanottama

The Early Acharyas · Guru Parampara

5.910 - 954Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri

With reverence and gratitude to the Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham, which has kept the lives of its Jagadgurus through the centuries and shares them with the world. What follows is the Peetham's own account, exactly as it gives it.

Sri Jnanottama (910-954 A.D)

ज्ञानानामुत्तमं ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनामुत्तमो यतः ।
ज्ञानोत्तम इति ख्यातं गुरुं तमहमाश्रये ॥

Jnanottama, the foremost among sages, The Knower of the Supreme Knowledge of the Self
The world honours Him as the exalted One To that adorable Master, I bow!

Sri Jnanottama, originally from Gauda (Bengal) who later settled in South India during his Purvashrama, succeeded Sri Jnanaghanacharya. His scholarly work "Vidya Sri" serves as a sub-commentary on Sri Adi Shankara's Brahma Sutra Bhashya. Among Jagadguru Sri Sri Jnanottamacharya's distinguished disciples was Vijnanatman, also known as Vijnanashrama, acclaimed for authoring "Tatparyadyotini" and a Vritti on the Narayanopanishad section of the Taittiriya Upanishad. Another eminent disciple was the prolific philosopher Chitsukha, renowned for his influential Advaita treatise "Tattva-Pradipika" (also known as "Chitsukhi"). In this work, Chitsukha reverentially describes His Guru, Sri Jnanottama, as the radiant embodiment of Dakshinamurti, Vyasa, and Shankara.

The official text