Part 22 - Other Commentaries on the Vedanta Sutras

Other Commentaries Current. The above are among the most well-known commentators on the Vedanta-Sutras of Badarayana. There are some others which are not equally famous; one of these is the Brahmasutravritti by Dharmabhatta, who describes himself in the colophon to his work as the son of Ramachandrarya, who was, it is added, a disciple of Mukundasrama (Madras D.C. IX, No. 4689, p. 3492). His interpretation evidently follows that of Sankara. (See his comment, for example, on I. 1. 1, where he refers to Sadhanachatushtaya, which is the discipline prescribed by Sankara.) Another is the Sariraka Sutra Bhashya by Srimath Chinmayamuni, who was, before he became a Sanyasin, called Venkaiya. He also follows Sankara. 15 F

His work is now under examination, on behalf of the Mysore Palace authorities, by Mr. V. Subrahmanya Iyer, an erudite Vedantic scholar. Other Supplementary Commentaries. There are, besides, numerous other commentaries, independent and other, based in the main on the interpretation of one of the three leading commentators- Sankara, Ramanuja and Anandatirtha. Only a few of these need be referred to here. Thus, there is the Brahmasutravritti, also known as Brahmatatva-prakasika by Sada- sivendra-Sarasvati, which, though an independent commentary on the Brahma-Sutras, follows the viewpoint of Sankara (ibid., No. 4690, p. 3493). A similar work is Brahmasutrabhashya Vyakhya, only a fragment of which is known. The author was probably a disciple of one Ramananda (ibid., No. 4692, p. 3495) and a follower of Sankara's system. Sankara's Bhashya has had considerable attention, by way of elucidation, bestowed on it by a long succession of teachers. Their works are really commentaries on the commentary of Sankara. The Panchapadika (otherwise called Brahmasutrabhushya Vyakhya) by Padmapadacharya is a work of this kind. explanatory gloss on it is the Panchapadikavivaranam by Prakasatman. A further gloss on this latter work is the Tatvadipanam, otherwise known as the Panchapadika-vivarana Vyakhyanam by Akhandanandamuni. Another commentary on Sankara's Bhashya is Advaitananda's Brahmavidyabharanam. Advaitananda was a disciple of Ramanandatirtha, who was himself a disciple of Bhumananda. A similar commentary onSankara's Bhashya is the Bhashyaratnaprabha by Govindananda (Madras D.C. IX, No. 4679, p. 3482). The Sariraka-nyaya-vivaranam is a fourth commentary on Sankara's Bhashya by the famous Anandagiri (ibid., No. 4683, p. 3485). Appaya Dikshita's Sariraka-nyaya-rakshamani is a further commentary on this last work (ibid., No. 4086, p. 3488). As is well known, Anandagiri's work is a commentary on the Bhamati by Vachaspati-Misra, which is An

A itself a commentary on Sankara's Bhashya. A gloss on this latter work is the Bhamati-Vyakhya, otherwise known as the Vedantakalpataru by Amalananda. A further commentary on this last work is the Vedantakalpataru-Vyakhya or Parimala by Appaya Dikshita. These different works. attest to the popularity enjoyed by Sankara's Bhashya and the interest taken in elucidating it to a growing circle of readers. Ramanuja's Sri Bhashya has had even greater attention bestowed on it. A commentary on this work is the Tattvatika by Vedantadesika, another is the Nyayaprakasika by Meghanadri, son of Natha (or Nathamuni); a third one is the Mulabhavaprakasika by Rangaramanuja ; and a fourth one is the Srutapradipika by Sudarsanasuri, who describes himself as the disciple of Varadacharya. Sudarsanasuri also wrote a more exhaustive commentary on the Sri Bhashya called the Srutaprakasika. gloss explanatory of a portion of this last-named work (I. 2 to I. 4) by one Varadavishnusuri is well known, besides a commentary on the whole of that work by one Suddhasattva-Lakshmanarya. A fifth commentary on the Sri Bhashya is by Sundararajadesika. called Brahmasutravyakhya, without any alternative name attached to it. A somewhat independent commentary on the Brahma-Sutras, though mainly in support of the Sri Bhashya, is the Tattvamartanda by one Srinivasa, son of Srinivasatatarya (Madras D.C. X, No. 4894). It is largely based on Ramanuja's work and is written in support of it, criticising the Chandrika of the Madhva guru and writer Vyasayati, who lived in the reign of the Vijayanagar King Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1530 A.D.). In the same way, Anandatirtha's Bhashya has had a number of commentaries written on it. Anandatirtha himself wrote a shorter commentary on the Brahma-Sutras, called the Brahmasutra Anuvyakhyanam. This is in verse and follows his Brahmasutra Bhashyam. He also wrote another work called the Brahmasutranubhashyam, which sets out briefly in verse the substance of the conclusions intended, according to him, to be It is

taught by the Brahma-Sutras.81 Anandatirtha also wrote an explanatory gloss on his Anuvyakhyanam and this work goes by the name of Anuvyakhyananyayavivaranam. 8: On Anandatirtha's Brahmasutrabhashyam, a commentary called the Tattvapradipika was written by Trivikrama Panditacharya.83 It was eclipsed by the Tattvaprakasika of Jayatirtha, better known as Tikacharya (Madras D.C. X, No. 4813). 34 Another commentary on it, called the Dipika, was composed by one Jagannatha-yati (ibid., No. 4814).85 On the Anuvyakhyanam, Padmanabhatirtha wrote the Sanyayaratnavali, of which MS. copies are known.86 But it was elbowed out by Jayatirtha's famous work, the Anuvyakhyana-tika, better known as the Nyayasudha.87 On this work of Jayatirtha, there is a further commentary calied the Nyayasudhavyakhyanam, or Parimala, by Raghavendra-yati, a disciple of Sudhindra. 88 $1 A short work in four adhyayas consisting of thirty-two verses. Edited by Krishnachar and printed at the Nirnayasagara Press, Bombay. 82 All these works of Anandatirtha have been printed and published by the Nirnayasagara Press, Bombay. 83 Printed by Abaji Ramachandra Savant at the Rama Tatva Chapkhana, Belgaum. 84 Printed by Abaji Ramachandra Savant at the Rama Tatva Chapkhana, Belgaum. 85 Jagannatha-yati was a disciple of Raghottama, who remains sainted at Tirukkoyilur, South Arcot District. His work has been edited by S. Gopalakrishnachariar, under the auspices of the late Hon. P. Chentsal Rao, C.I.E., and printed at the Grove Press, Teynampet, Madras (1900). 80 The Sanyavaratnavali is mentioned by Raghavendra-yati in his work entitled Parimala, which is a commentary on the Nyayasudha of Jayatirtha. (See Parimala, comment. on II. 1. 1, where it is thus referred to:-Sinvayaratnavalyuktam tavidadau vyanakti. Evidently this work was still ardently studied by scholars during the time Raghavendra-yati flourished. 87 Edited by Krishnachar and printed at the Nirnayasagara Press, Bombay. 88 Ibid.

There are numerous other works bearing on the topics discussed in the Brahma-Sutras but these need not be referred to here. Nor is it, again, necessary to refer works which while belonging to one system of thought seek to examine the component ideas of another. Nor again to the commentaries that exist on these latter works. Works of this type are many and often of great interest. It ought to suffice if we noted that all these have for their primary basis the text of the Brahma-Sutras, which they seek to interpret in the light of their own systems of thought.