2. Vanamali Misra (a Pupil of Bhattoji Diksita)

2. Vanamali Misra, a Pupil of Bhattoji Diksita and His Works - Between A. D. 1600 and 1660 * AccORDING to Aufrecht 1 Bhattoji had a pupil of the name krsnadatta misra called also vanamalimisra, He was the son of mahesamisra and composed a work called the kuruksetrapradipa . Vanamali Misra also composed a work called samdhyamantravyakhya brahmaprakasika, 2 a MS of which has been described by Stein. 8 It begins as follows:-- " mahesvaram namaskrtya vanamali mahesajah | karoti samdhyamamtranam vyakhyam brahmaprakasikam || It ends :-- "" 'bhattojidiksitam natva krtva brahmaprakasika | vyakhyeyam samdhyamamtranam misrena vanamalina || vedarthajnane na sakta vipra vedarthavadina | madhyakhyeyam samalokya drdhata ksamyata mama || to aller " Job one tes 7 : purva purva iti sribhattojidiksitasisyakuruksetra nivasimahesamitratmajavanamalimisraviracitayam samdhyamamtra- vyakhya brahmaprakasika samapta . 99 Kondabhatta, the nephew of Bhattoji Diksita composed a work called vaiyakaranabhusana . One vanamalimisra composed a commentary on this work called vaiyakaranamatonmajjana 4" and another work called " siddhantatatvaviveka . "5 As the * Adyar Library Bulletin Vol. X, Part 4, pp. 231-235. 1 CC, I, 120 --- " krsnadattamisra called also vanamalimisra son of mahesamisra, pupil of Bhattoji : kuruksetra pradipa L. 2257." MS L. 2257 is described by R. Mitra in his Notices, VII, 1884, pp. 12- 14. It. ends : " iti srikuruksetra nivasamahesa misraputrena sribhattojidiksitasisyena srimadvanamalimisrena samracitah kuruksetra pradipah samaptah samvat 1925 " (= A.D. 1869 ). This is a guide to the sacred places in Kuruksetra. 2 CC, II, 180 - " vanamalimisra son of mahesa, pupil of Bhattoji Diksita : samdhyamantravyakhya brahmaprakasika . " CO, III, 117 Do. 1 purva sinto Sa CO, III, 144 - " samdhyamantravyakhya brahmaprakasika by vanamalimisra son of mahesa IL. 1 8 Catalogue of Jammu MSS, 1894, p. 21 (MS No. 5210). " 4 CC, I, 614 -- " vaiyakaranabhusanamatonmajjini bp Vanamali Miara, L. 1789 N. P. VII. CC, II, 146 - "Stein 46. " Mang 5 CC, I, 7 19 - "siddhantatatvaviveka " On Syntax by Vanamali Misra, Lahore 6. "

MSS of these works are not accessible to me, I am unable to say if this a, the commentator of a work of Bhattoji's nephew, is identical with his namesake, the pupil of Bhattoji himself. H. P. Shastri,¹ however, states that Vanamali, the author of the pupil of Bhattoji Dikshita himself. was a In my paper on the date of Bhattoji Diksita published in the Journal of the Tirupati Oriental Institute (Vol, I, Part 2, pages 117-127) I have fixed up Bhattoji's literary career between about A. D. 1560 and 1620. Subsequently I have published two papers, one on the Chronology of the Works of Varadaraja ( P. V. Kane Volume, 1941, pages 188-199) and the other on the Chronology of the works of Nilakantha Sukla ( New Indian Antiquary, Vol. V, 1942, pages 177-183). Both these authors were pupils of Bhattoji Diksita like Vana mali Misra and composed works say between A.D. 1610 and 1660. We have reason to suppose that Vanamali Mishra, their contemporary and co-student studying at the feet of their common teacher Bhattoji, must have composed his works between about A.D. 1610 and 1660. This is a reasonable conclusion but it needs to be backed up by the evidence of contemporary MSS of the works of Vanamali Misra. Such evidence was not so far available. to me. Fortunately in Fascicule II of the Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS in the Anup Sanskrit Library at Bikaner by Dr. C. K. Raja and Mr. K. M. K. Sarma (1946.) I have found such evidence. It is as follows: (1) Page 134-MS No. 5-- - kuruksetrapradipa by kuruksetranivasi vanamalimisra, son of mahesamisra and pupil of bhattoji diksita, dated Samvat 1741 (= A. D. 1684). This guru is no other than Bhattoji Diksita because Kaunda Bhatta in his vaiyakaranabhusanasara ( Benares Edition ) says :-- " bhattojidiksitaih sresthairnimmitah karikah subhah | kaundabhattena vyakhyatah karikastah suvistaram || " These Karikas number 71 of which 35 have been explained by Vanamali in this MS. (2) Page 145-MS No. 25--c by the above author dated Samvat 1709 (= A. D. 152) copied by . 1 Vide p. 13 of Des. Cata. of Vyakarana MSS (R. A. S. B.) Calcutta, Vol. VI, 1931 Bhattoji wrote 71 Karikas after the completion of his . The MS No. 4229 contains the first 35 Karikas with commentary of Vanamali who speaks of Bhattoji as his guru :- " jagatah pitarau natva parsvatiparamesvarau | gurubhirye krtah slokastika tesam vitanyate || "

Vanamali Misra and His Works It is clear from the above dated MSS of the 15 c that this work was composed by Vanamali Misra prior to A. D. 1652. Most probably this MS was written during the lifetime of Vanamali. I cannot say if he was living up to A. D. 1684, when the other MS of this work was copied. (3) Page 187-MS No. 61-aaa Misra (this MS bears no date). (4) Page 164-MS No. 19-by the above Vanamali of ramesvarabhatta copied by vanamalimisra in Samvat 1678 ( = A. D. 1621). The Catalogue does not say if the copyist accr of the above MS of A. D. 1621 was pupil of Bhattoji. Most probably this aar is identical with his namesake, the author of kuruksetra pradipa, sarvatirthaprakasa, samdhyamantravyakhya brahmaprakasika, and perhaps of vaiyyakaranamatonmajana and siddhantatatvaviveka, If this identity is proved to be correct we can definitely say that this MS of A. D. 1621 is a specimen of the handwriting of one of the pupils of the great grammarian Bhattoji Diksita. 16 " As regards Aufrecht's statement that " krsnadatta misra was another name of "H" I have to say that it needs to be verified. In this connection I have to observe that the Bikaner MS of his a dated A. D. 1652 was copied by one dattamisra as stated in the Catalogue. It is possible to suppose that "" in an abbreviated form of " "in krishnadatta-mishra " but I cannot say if krsnadattamisra and vanamalimisra are identical. Possibly dattamisra, who copied in A. D. 1652 the MS of the kuruksetrapradipa of vanamalimisra, was a different person, though he might have been a member of the family of vanamalimisra, A Madhva writer of the name vanamalimisra of the bharadvajagotra and hailing from the neighbourhood of Vrndavana composed Hand other works between c. A. D. 1575 and 1650. On folio 57 of MS No. 718 of 1882-83 of z in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute he quotes from HHI as follows:-- 61 uktam hi manoramayam asvaka ityatrasvasabdah asve vartate, kanpratyayastu pratikrtirupe sadrse ityeke | anye tu gaurvahika itivat asvasabdah " etc. The "HH" mentioned in the above quotation may be the manorama I of Bhattoji Diksita (A. D. 1560-1620). The identity of cff, 1 See my paper on this work in the Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. XXII, (1946).

the author of the marutamandana, with his namesake, the author of the kuruksetra- c (MS of A. D. 1652), needs to be examined on documentary evidence. I have only recorded here the foregoing points to enable other scholars to study this point further. Chronologically there would be no difficulty in identifying these two authors of the same name vanamalimisra . engel A lo Mars seda vez vietinish are ew toesses ed of bayong diorg sd to aliqug ads to nedione 20 w Had metal in aith al beitasy ed or abeen in yea o svad I assume absen A lo sien bab 10 do gediment & goed over no yd b bas firmes ed to w Tags eaten end to w to Yo oilot G beigos odw to ristabi s (OLOT-082.4 A) a jo