Life of Ānandarāya Makhin

Ānandarāya Makhin in the Prastāvanā of his Jīvānanda-nāṭaka gives information about himself as–(i) a humble devotee of his preceptors, the wise and the gods; very particular in conducting the duties marked as nitya (daily) and naimittika (occasional); benevolent towards the destitute and shines in the battlefield like king Vikramāditya of Ujjayinī (I.6):

gurudevadvijabhakto naimittikanityakāmyakarmaparaḥ |
dīnajanādhīnadayo viharati samare ca vikramārka iva ||^[1]

He has inherited all these fine qualities from his father Nṛsiṃharāyamakhin (I.8):

ārādhnoti yadeṣa bhaktibharito devāndvijātīṃgurūn yaśca śraddadhadātanoti samaye nityadikarmatrikam |
yaddīneṣu dayāṃ karoti samare śaurye yadālambate tat sarvaṃ narasihmayajvasutatālābhasya līlāyitam ||^[2]

Both his father and his uncle Tryambakarāyamakhin were great followers of Vaidika tradition, did many sacrifices and had always been surrounded by great scholars (I.7):

yaḥ snāto'vajani divyasindhusalile yaścātmavidyāśrito
  yenākāri sahasradakṣiṇamakho yaḥ sadbhirāśrīyate |
so'yaṃ tryambakarāyayajvatilako vidvatkavīnāṃ prabhoḥ
  yattātasya nṛsihmarāyamakhinastulyaprabhāvo'nujaḥ ||^[3]

Since he had been nurtured by king Śāhāji from his early childhood (as he had lost his father at a young age), the king had taken special interest in his growth (I.10):

ābālyādapi poṣito'jani mayā premṇā tathā lālitastenāsau sarasāmupaitu kavitāmānandarāyādhvarī |
ityekakṣitipālavaṃśajaladherdevyā girāṃ jātayā śrīśāhāvanināyakākṛtibhṛtā nūnaṃ prasādaḥ kṛtaḥ ||^[4]

In addition to this, Ḍuṇḍirājakavi clearly states that Ānandarāya was deeply involved in performing all rituals according to the dictates of the Śrutis and Smṛtis.

Also, he was devoted to lord Śiva and goddess Parameśvarī (Upodghāta, 6cd-7):

iṣṭāpūrtasadannadānasuhitatraividyavṛddhaiḥ saha śrutyuktārthapariṣkriyāpaṭumatiḥ satkarmaniṣṇātadhīḥ ||
śrīsāmbaṃ tripureśvarīmapi kulārādhyaṃ nṛsiṃhaṃ yajanmiṣṭānnairjapahomapūjanamahairvāsantikaiḥ śāradaiḥ |
so'yaṃ bhaktyupapāditaiḥ smṛtigataiḥ śrautaiśca satkarmabhiḥ ślāghyaḥ śrīprabhuriṣṭadaivatadayādṛṣṭyā ciraṃ jīvatāt ||

This is found justified in both the plays of Ānandarāya as he opens them with prayers to the divine couple.

Ānandarāya Makhin has had the fortune of serving all the three sons of Ekoji I, namely Śāhaji, Śarabhoji I and Tukāji I. He had been an able administrator of the royal court as the Dharmādhikārin and also ably discharged his duties in the battle-field as Dalavoy under the kingship of Śarabhoji I and Tukāji I. He led the army against the Nāyaka of Madurai and the Toṇḍaimān of Pudukkottai, to establish Bhavāniśaṅkara (an illegitimate son of Sethupati of Rāmanāthapuram) as the Marava chieftain.

The Tanjore Distict Manual, p.771. f., paragraph 14 records^[5] this fight as below:-

“In 1725, on the death of Vijayaraghunātha, the adopted son of the infamous ‘Kilavan’ (Old man) who persecuted and brutally murdered the Portuguese Jesuit Missionary, John D. Britto (1693), the right of succession to the Maravan Chiefship became the subject of violent contest, attended with bloodshed, between two rival claimants, Tandatevan, a descendent in a collateral branch of a former Chief, Bhavānicaṅkara, an illegitimate son of Kilavan. The latter’s cause was espoused by the Rajah of Tanjore, while the Nāyak at Madura and the Tondamān of Pudukkotai (Poodoocottah) supported the former. The troops of Madura and Pudukkottai, however, were put to flight by the Tanjore general, Ananda Rao Peshva, who having seized and slain Taṇda, put Bhavanicankara in possession of the country”.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Vidyāpariṇaya Nāṭaka, I.6 reads verbatim.

[2]:

These exceptional qualities of Nṛsiṃharāya are recorded in Vidyāpariṇaya (I.8):
nānāpūrvamahākratupraṇayanairadhyātmasaṃmarśanaiḥ karmabrahmapathapracārasavitā ṣaḍdarśanīvallabhaḥ |
tāto yasya kilaikarājavasudhādhauraṃdharīgīṣpatiḥ kṣoṇīpālakirīṭalālitapadaḥ khyāto nṛsiṃhādhvarī ||

[3]:

ibid., I.10 reads verbatim.

[4]:

ibid., I.14 reads verbatim. This is confirmed by Ḍuṇḍirājakavi in his Upodghāta, v.6ab:
tasyātmatritaye'grajastu dhṛtimānānandarāyādhvarī kaumārātprabhṛti pragalbhadhiṣaṇaḥ śrīśāharājādṛtaḥ |

[5]:

See T.S.Kuppuswami Sastri, “Ramabhadra-Dikshita and the Southern Poets of His Time”, Indian Antiquary, July, 1904, p.182.