27. The Date of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi of Sadananda Kasmiraka

27. The Date of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi of Sadananda Kasmiraka—A. D. 1600 and 1700 * Between While engaged in the work of preparing a Bibliography of Indian Philosophy, I had occasion to note the following contradictory statements of Dr. Surendranath Dasgupta regarding the Sadananda date of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi and its author Kasmiraka:- "Another important syncretistic Vedanta writer is Sadananda Kasmiraka, author of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi, who lived in the early part of the eighteenth century. The Advaitabrahmasiddhi is an excellent summary of all the most important Vedanta doctrines in the different schools of Advaita teachers" (p. 57 of History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. II, Cambridge, 1932). Vadindra, "Mr. Tripathi collects the names of some of these writers as Prajnanananda, Sesa Sarngadhara Vadivagisvara, Ramananda Sarasvati, Sadananda Kasmiraka (A. Krsnananda (A. D. 1650), Mahesvara Tirtha (A. D. others" (Ibid, p. 196). D. 1547), 1650) and M. M. Prof. Kuppusvami Sastri in his Introduction to the Brahmasiddhi (Madras, 1937, p. xxii) refers to the Advaitabrahmasiddhi as follows:- " The Advaitabrahmasiddhi by Sadananda and the Starajyasiddhi by Gangadharendra-Sarasvati are comparatively later and less important; and the former of these two works is similar to the Advaitasiddhi and controverts in general the dualistic, pluralistic and non-Vedic doctrines opposed to Advaitism etc". The foregoing remarks of two great scholars could not satisfy This my curiosity about the date of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi. work was edited by Vamana Sastri Islampurkar in the Bibliotheca Indica (Calcutta) in 1890. In the Sanskrit introduction to this edition (p. 5) the Editor concludes that the author lived in the * Annals (B, O. R. Institute), Vol. XXX, pp. 23-30. (203)

latter half of the 18 th century of the Vikrama Era (" sataka- uttarardhe asit " ) according to external evidence but internal evidence leads the Editor to conclude that he is not later than the first half of the 16 th century ("atanqafaia a aaa: " ). In spite of these statements the editor feels uncertain about the date of the author but observes that there is no doubt that the author is eariler than Sri Vallabhacarya, the originator of the Visuddhadvaita doctrine, who was born in Vikrama Samvat 1535 (= A.D.1479) (" vikrama samvat 1535 mite batalare pradurbhutat srimadvallabhacaryadayam granthakrt pracinah iti atra na ko'pi sandehah " ). In view of these conflicting and varied conclusions about the date of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi and its author Sadananda Kasmiraka, I propose in this paper to record some evidence about this date of a more reliable type than that so far gathered by previous scholars. Aufrecht in his Catalogus Catalogorum makes the following entries about Sadananda Kasmiraka and his works :- 3000 CC I, p. 690 - " sadananda kasmira pupil of Brahmananda and Narayana: Advaitabrahmasiddhi' --Svarupanirnaya 2 -Svarupaprakasa³. CC II, p. 232-" sadananda kasmira - Jivanmuktiprakriya"." Probably identical with the last." 1. CC I, p. 9-" by Sadananda Kasmira - K. 114." (This MS is dated Samvat 1888 = A. D. 1832. CC III, p. 3 - "advaita brahmasiddhi by Sadananda. Peters 6. 265". (This MS is identical with MS No. 265 of 1895- 98 in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute). 2. CC I, p. 751-" by Sadananda. Hall. p. 129. See nirnaya Svarupaprakasa." 3. CC I, p. 751" vedanta, by Sadananda Kasmira. Kacin. 28. Rice 188. Sucipatra" 62. "jivanmuktiprakriya 4. CC II, p. 201-" by Sadananda Kasmira mentioned in his "Advaitabrahmasiddhi''. Ulwar 480".

The Govt. MSS Library possesses the following MSS of the works of Sadananda Kasmiraka :- (1) advaitabrahmasiddhi - No. 265 of 1895-98. (2) svarupanirnaya • No. 643 of 1884-87 ( some folios at the beginning are missing ). I have examined the MS of the Svarupanirnaya (No. 643 of 1884-87 - about 40 folios ). Some references from this MS are noted below :- , (1) bhasyakarena - fol. 4, 8, 11, 38. ( 2 ) khamdanakrdbhih -- fol. 4, 9. (3) varttike - fol. 4, ( varttikakrdbhih ) 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32. (4) pancadasyam - fol. 4. (5) sutrakarega- fol. 6. (6) prabhakarajatam - fol. 6, 7, 13. (7) vayupurana- fol. 8. (8) gautamasutra - fo 18, 12. 1 ( 9 ) vasisthe - fol. 10, 36. Folio 11 - Colophon of 1 st Pariccheda :- $6 ' iti srisadananda viracite svarupanirnaye sakaladarsananirupanena tvam padarthanirupanam nama prathamah paricchedah || " ( 10 ) naradadikrtapancaratra - fol. 11. ( 11 ) manuna - fol. 12. (12) chandogye - fol. 13. (13) vacaspatimisrah - fol.14, 18, 38. - ( 14 ) moksadharme - fol. 14. (15) yajnavalkyena - fol. 14. ( 16 ) nyayabhasye - fol. 17. (17) kurmapurana - fol. 17. Folio 18 - Colophon of 2 nd Pariccheda :- 66 - iti srisadanamda viracite svarupanirnaye tatpadarthanirupanam nama dvitiyah paricchedah || " (18) dipikavyakhya- fol. 19. (19) samksepasarirake- fol. 19, (samksepa- sarirakacaryaih ) 21, 22. (20) paribhasakaramate - fo 1. 20. (21) narasimhasramanam mate- fol. 21. (22) brhadaranyake - fol. 25. (23) sastradarpane- fol. 28. (24) bhamati - fol. 33, 34. ( 25 ) bhagavatpadaih- fol. 37. Folio 37 - Colophon of 3 rd Pariccheda :- "iti srisadananda viracite svarupanirnaye svaparivarajivesvara- vibhaganirnayapurvaka jivabrahmaikyanirupanam nama trtiyah pari- "chedah || "

(26) kalpatarukrdbhih- fol. 38. ( 27 ) taittiriye - fol. 38. (28) aryapamcasikayam bhagavata patamjalina - fol. 40. Folio 40 - Colophon of 4 th Pariccheda :- - 66 ' iti srisadanamda viracite svarupanirnaye drsyapadarthanirupana- purvakajivanmukta bhumikanirupanam nama caturthah paricchedah || " In the above list of references the reference to Pancadasi (No. 4) is evidently to the work of this name by Sayana, who died in A. D. 1387. This reference would make Sadananda posterior to c. A. D. 1400. Another reference of chronological value is that to Narasimhasrama (No. 21) who appears to be identical with Nrsimhasrama, the guru of Bhattoji Diksita.' Nrsimhasrama is the author of many works on Vedanta, one of which viz. the Tattvaviveka was composed in A. D. 1547 at Purusottamapura according to Aufrecht. 2 This evidence would shift the eariler limit for Sadananda's date from A. D. 1400 to A. D. 1600. The references in the Advaitabrahmasiddhi of Sadananda Kasmiraka as noted by Pandit Vamanasastri in the Bibliotheca Indica edition of this work already referred to by me are as follows:- advaitamakaranda, anantavirya, abhiyuktah, acaryah, anandagirisvami, kapilah, kairayatah, kalpataruh, ksapanakah, kasikhandam, khandanakhandakhadyatika, khandanakhandakhadyam, gautamah, gautamasutrani, carvakah, jinah, jaiminisutrani, jarannaiyayikah, tarkikah, tapaniyam, tridandinah, digambarah, narasimhasramah, naradapancaratra, naradiyam, narayanacaryah, naiskarmyasiddhih, nyayakusumanjalih, nyayabhasyam, pancapadika, para- saropapuranam, paninih, patanjalabhasyam, prabhakarah, brhadaranyakabhasyam, brahma- nandah, brahmasiddhikarah, badarayanasutrani, badarayanasutrabhasyatika, barhaspatya sutrani, buddhamunih, bauddhavyakarana, bhartrharikarika, bhagavadgita, bhattapadah, bhattabhaskarah, bhattah, bhasyakarah, manuh, madhyamikah, mayamohah, mimamsakavarttikam, moksadharmah ( bharata- ntargatah ), yajnavalkyah, yogavasistham, yogacarah ragigita, ramanujah, vedanta- muktavalih, vardhamanopadhyayah, vasisthah, vacaspatimisrah, vartikam, vayupuranam, vijnanabhiksuh, vidyaranyasvami, vivaranam, visnupuranam, vedantakaumudi, vaibha- sikah, vaisesikah, siromanih, srimadbhagavatam, samnksepasarirakam, sarvajnatmaguruh, svarupamprakasah, sankhyabhasyam, sautrantikah, saurapuranam, haritah . 1. See my paper on the Date of Bhattoji Diksita in the Journal of the S. V. Oriental Institute, Tirupati, Vol. I, Part 4, pp. 117-127, (1940). 2. Cata. Catalogorum, I, p. 305.

Let us now see if any of the above references can enable us to fix up the earlier limit to the date of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi. (1) The reference to Siromani is found as follows on p. 9 of the Edition :- 68 padarthakhandane siromaninavahigatam || Evidently, this is a reference to the logician Raghunatha Siromani who flourished about A. D. 1500 according to S. Vidyabhusana (p. 388 of History of Indian Logic, Calcutta, 1921). (2) On p. 31 of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi Sadananda mentions and quotes from the Vedantamuktavali :- " uktam ca vedantamuktavali krdbhih | yatha sato . . samarpakam || " Very possibly the Vedantamuktavali referred to above is identical with the Vedantasiddhanta-muktavali of Prakasananda, who lived in the latter half of the sixteenth century" (i. e. between A. D. 1550 and 1600) according to Dr. Das Gupta.' 66 (3) On p. 31 of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi Sadananda refers to Vijnanabhiksu as follows:- 66 etena yaccatra samkhyabhasyakrta vijnanabhiksuna samadhana- svena pralapitam tadapi asamgatameva | " Vijnanabhiksu lived between A. D. 1525 and 1600 and his pupil Bhava Ganesa, the leader of Citpavan Brahmins at Benares signed a nirnayapatra dated A.D. 1583 as I have shown in a special paper.² In view of this chronology for Vijnanabhiksu I am inclined to believe that Sadananda Kasmiraka, the author of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi is later than A. D. 1575. a (4) Similar to the reference to Nrsimhasi ama in Sadananda's on the strength of which I have suggested c. A. D. 1600 as the earlier limit for Sadananda's date, another reference is found on p. 271 of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi edition as follows:- 1. Vide p. 17 of History of Indian Philosophy, Vol. II (1932), footnote. 2. Vide pp. 20-28 of Adyar Library Bulletin for February 1944.

" narasimhasramanam mate tu- adhisthana samanyajnanam bhramakaranamiti ...... adhyasta rajatadyakaravrttirvyatham iti siddhantah | " This quotation is evidently from some work of Narasimhasrama (also known as Nrsimhasrama) on Vedanta. I could not identify it as the works of Nrsimhasrama are not available to me for reference. The cumulative effect of all the references recorded above makes Sadananda posterior to c. A. D. 1575 or 1600. Let us now try to fix the later limit for Sadananda's date. One of the MSS' used by Vamana Sastri for his edition of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi is called by him Ka (). This MS is dated Samvat 1761, Jyestha Krsna paksa, dvitiya² which is equal to Thursday, 8 th June 1704.3 In view of this date of one of the MSS of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi we may safely fix A. D. 1700 as the later limit for Sadananda's date. In verse 1 at the beiginning of the Advaita brahmasiddhi Sadananda bows to his guru Brahmananda as follows:- "namami sadgurum santam brahmanandam munisvaram | yatkrpalabalesena sattarkasphuranam mama || 1 || " In verse 2 Sadananda bows to one Narayanacarya as follows:- " srimannarayanacarya sanatanasivam sada | vamde'ham vanmanahkayai dvaitadhvantanivrttaye || 2 || If we succeed in identifying Brahmananda and Narayanacarya, who were apparently his senior contemporaries, we may be able to throw some additional light on the date of Sadananda Kasmiraka. Unfortunately this identification is difficult as we find many authors of the names Narayana and Brahmananda recorded by Aufrecht in his Catalogus Catalogorum. For the present I may 1. See p. 4 of Introduction to Advaitabrahmasiddhi. 2. The Ka MS ends as follows:-...... 3. tatsat || sivah sarvam| vasudevah sarvam | harih sarvam | samvat 1761 jyestha krsnapaksa dvitiyayam samaptam ." | 3. Vide p. 210 of Indian Ephemeris, Vol. VI (1922).

make the following tentative remarks on the identification of Brahmananda and Narayanacarya mentioned by Sadananda :I-Brahmananda (author of Nyayaratnavali on the Siddhantabindu) (1) One Brahmananda wrote a commentary called the Nyayaratnavali (or Ratnavali) on the Siddhantabindu of Madhusudana Sarasvati. In the colophon of this Nyayaratnavali the author is called Brahmananda Sarasvati, while in verse 2 at the beginning he calls himself merely Brahmananda ( " brahmanandena racyate ").' (2) In the two verses at the end of the Nyayaratnavali Brahmananda mentions Narayanatirtha as his guru along with one Paramananda-Sarasvati. (3) On p. 3 of the Nyayaratnavali Brahmananda refers to Kalpataru-tika Parimala in the following extract:- " sarirakamimamsarupa caturadhyayitadbhasyata diyati ka vacaspatyatadiyatika- kalpatarutadiyatikaparimalarupagranthapancaka -- ityarthah || " The author of the Kalpataru-Parimala is the celebrated Appaya Diksita, who flourished between A. D. 1520 and 1592 (Vide p. 148 of Journal of Oriental Research, Madras, Vol. III-article by Mahalinga Sastri). It is clear from this reference that Brahmananda, the author of the Nyayaratnavali is later than c. A. D. 1592. II Gauda Brahmananda (1) In the edition of the Sariraka-Mimamsa- Vartika and its Vivarana by Ananta Krishna Sastri and A. Bhattacharya (Calcutta University, 1941) we find Nyayaratnavali mentioned as the work of Gauda Brahmananda² (See Introduction). (2) This Gauda Brahmananda was the pupil of Narayanananda who completed a prose Vartika on the Brahmasutra in A. D. 1592. (3) This Gauda Brahmananda was the guru of Balakrsnananda (also called Abhinava- Dravidacarya) author of the Sariraka Mimamsa-Vartika (see p. xxviii of Introduction) who flourished about A. D. 1650. 1. Vide Siddhantabindu with Ratnavali ed. by Harihara Sastri (Advaitamanjari Series), Kumbakonam, December, 1893, p. 1. 12. Aufrecht (Cata. Catalo. I, p. 719) mentions Nyayaratnavali as the work of Gauda Brahmananda. I.L.H.S.14

(4) Gauda Brahmananda was the contemporary of Gadadhara Bhattacarya (see p. 481 of History of Indian Logic by S. Vidyabhusana) who lived about A. D. 1650. The evidence about the name-sakes of Brahmananda and Narayanacarya mentioned by Sadananda Kasmiraka may now be tabulated as follows:- narayanacarya (A ) and brahmananda (D) pupil sadananda kasmiraka (Between A. D. 1600 and 1700) narayanananda ( A. D. 1592) B pupil E-gauda brahmananda ( author of nyaya- ratnavali ) pupil balakrsnananda ( C. A. D. 1650 ) narayanatartha (C) pupil F - brahmananda (author of nyayaratnavali ' on siddhamta bindu ) (later than A.D. 1592 and before A. D. 1687) Is it possible to suggest the following equations? :- (A) (C) ( 1 ) narayanacarya } = (B) narayanananda } narayanatirtham = }= pupil gauda brahmananda = } = (2) brahmananda (D) pupil sadananda kasmiraka (Between A. D. 1600 and 1700) (E) pupil balakrsnananda (c. A. D. 1650) pupil brahmananda (author of nyayaratnavali (F) on siddhantabindu ) later than A. D. 1592 and before A. D. 1687 Even if the above equations are not proved we can safely assign the date of the Advaitabrahmasiddhi of Sadananda Kasmiraka to the period A. D. 1600-1700 in the light of the evidence recorded in this paper. 1. " Aufrecht (CC I, p. 719) records a MS of Nyayaratnavali under the entry "Hall, p. 109 "i.e. p. 109 of Hall's Bibliography, Calcutta, 1859, Hall describes this MS as an abridgement of Madhusudana Sarasvati's and annotations on it by the epitomator" viz. Brahmananda Sarasvati, disciple of Narayanatirtha and Paramananda Sarasvati. This MS bears the date Vikrama year 1743 =A. D. 1687. This date pushes back the date of Brahmananda to a period A. D. 1592-1650. (It may be mentioned here that is a commentary on the farraf of Madhusudana Sarasvati and not a commentary on the safefe of Madhusudana Sarasvati ).