3. The Tradition of Commentaries on Bhagavadgītā in Kashmir

In general most of the commentaries on Bhagavadgītā follow the tradition of Ādi Śaṅkara and Rāmānuja. Whereas commentaries written by Kashmiri authors generally follow the tradition of Śaiva philosophy. Śaiva scholars of Kashmir speak of Bhagavadgītā as an Agama (divine exposition) and regard it as the one among the Agama class of texts. Abhinavagupta clearly mentions that the sole purpose of writing a commentary on Bhagavadgītā is to bring into light the hidden meanings of the text which are more esoteric than Vedanta. According to Harivaṃśa Pūrāṇa, we came to know that Kṛṣṇa was taught the sixty four monistic Śaivāgamas by sage Durvāsas. In the Mahābhārata’s Mokṣa pravan, it is stated that Kṛṣṇa got knowledge of the Dvaita and Advita Śaivāgamas from Upamanyu. As a result, it can be said that Kṛṣṇa was thought by the Śaivas to have been himself a follower of the Trika. That’s why the Bhagavadgītā is classed with the Āgamas^[1].

In ancient times, several elucidatory commentaries on the Gītā were available in Kashmir but at present the Valley treasures 11 commentaries written by scholars of the soil. These are: Rājānak Rāmakaṇṭh’s "Sarvatobhadra" (850 AD), Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara’s "Bhagavadgītāṭīkā " (900 AD), Abhinavagupta’s "Gītārthasaṃgraha" (950–1050AD), Ānandavardhan’s "Ānandvardhinī" or "Ānandīṭikā" (11th century), Keśavabhaṭṭa Kaśmīrī’s "Tattvaprakaśikā" (16th century), Rājānak Lakṣmī Rām alias lassa Kak’s "Lakṣmīṭīkā" (17th century), Sahib Koul’s "Gītāsāra” (17th century), Sahib Rām’s "Gītāvyakhyāsāhibī" (19th century), Pandit Dayā Rām’s "Bhagavadgītāṭīkā" (19th century), Jagadiśvar Vedapaṭhī’s "Ranavirsamithabodhini" (19th century), Rajanak Lakshman Joo’s commentary with extra verses of Bhagavad Gita (20th century). Rajanak Ramkanth’s Sarvatobhadra (circa 850 AD) is the oldest commentary on Bhagavad Gīta. It lays equal emphasis on Jñāna (knowledge), Karma (action) and Bhakti (devotion). Lyne Bansat Boudon and Judit Törzsök have nicely pointed out some salient features of the Kashmirian Gita tradition and discussed elaboratedly in their paper titled “Abhinavagupta on the Kashmirian Gītā”^[2]. In the paper they have indicated the influence of Bhāskara and Ramakaṇṭha’s work on Abhinavagupta’s work. They have also furnished the information in respect of manuscripts available relating to the Gītārthasaṅgraha of Abhinavagupta.

A list of the name of commentaries on Bhagavadgītā has been included in the thesis.

Commentator	Commentary	Time
Rājānaka Rāmakaṇṭha	Sarvatobhadra	850 A.D
Bhaṭṭabhāskara	Bhagavadgītāṭīkā	900 A.D
Abhinavagupta	Bhagavadgītārthasaṅgraha	950-1050 A.D
Ānandavardhana	Ānandavardhinī	11th Century
Keśavabhaṭṭa Kāśmirī	Tattvaprakāśikā	16th Century
Rājānaka Lakṣmīrāma Aliyas	Laksītīkā	17th Century
Sāheva Koula	Gītāsāra	17th Century
Sāhiva Rāma	Gītāvyākhyā Sāhivi	19th Century
Paṇḍita Dayārāma	Bhagavadgītāṭīkā	19th Century
Jagadīśvara Vedapāṭhī	Raṇavīrasamithabodhinī	19th Century
Rājānaka Lakṣmaṇa Ju	Bhagavadgītā Commentary	20th Century

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

K.C. Pandey, Abhinavagupta, P-63.

[2]:

Abhinavagupta on the Kashmirian Gītā, Published online, 2nd Nov, 2017, Springer.