7. Exact Date of the Advaitasudha of Lakshmana Pandita

7. Exact Date of the Advaitasudha of Laksmana Pandita (A. D. 1663) and his possible Identity with Laksmanarya, the Vedanta teacher of Nilakantha Caturdhara, the Commentator of the Mahabharata * My friend Mr. K. M. K. Sarma, Curator of the Anup Sanskrit Lib. rary, Bikaner, has just published a note, on (a Dissertation on the Raghuvamsa) by Laksmana Pandita. 1 I note below some points from Mr. Sarma's note:- (1) The only work of LP (=cafza) well-known to scholars is his commentary on the Raghavapandaviya. (2) the author of the Yoga-Candrika (CC, I, 536 ) and laksmana the author of saracandrika are identical. (3) There are two MSS of the Yoga-Candrika 2 in the Anup Library, Bikaner (Nos. 4404 and 4405). One of these MSS, viz. No. 4405 is dated Samvat 1747 (= A. D. 1690). (4) LP was of Kaundinya Gotra. He was the son of Datta and Gojambika. (5) LP was the younger brother of Ganesa and Raghunatha of Benares. (6) Nagesa and Narayana, his maternal uncles, were his preceptors in medical science. (7) uttamaslokatirtha ( the author of laghuvartikatika ) was his preceptor in Advaita. * Poona Orientalist, Vol. X, Nos. 1 and 2, Pages 1-7. 1 Vide pp. 69-72 of Jour. of Ganganatha Jha Research Institute, Allahabad, Vol. II, Part 1 (November, 1944). 2 There is a MS of the Yoga-Candrika in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute (No. 763 of 1882-83 ). It is called Vaidyaka Yoga-Candrika. In verse 3 LP refers to his gurus in medicine, viz. naganatha and narayana as follows :- 1 Folio 6 - " vicaksananam budhanaganatha narayanau tavahamanato'smi ." This MS is dated Saka 1778 (= A. D. 1856). The MS belonged to it. It was copied from the original belonging to ramacamdra sakharama gijare . « "

The Advaitasudha of Laksmana Pandita 49 (8) He pays his homage to HH also. This Ramasrama is possibly identical with his name-sake, the son of Bhattoji Diksita. If this identity is correct we get about A. D. 1650 as the upper limit for the date of LP. (9 The lower limit for the date of LP is A. D. 1690, the date of the Bikaner MS of his Yoga-Candrika. (10) We can assign LP to the latter half of the 17 th century, i.e. between A. D. 1650 and 1700. (11) There is a MS of the c of LP in the Anup Library, Bikaner. It is a philosophical and grammatical dissertation on the Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa. The MS contains 66 folios (8" x 3") containing the commentary upto the 16 th verse of Canto I. I have now to add the following information about LP and his works as gathered by me during the course of my studies:- (1) Mr. Sarma is correct in assigning LP to the period c. A. D. 1650-1700. (2) There is a MS of the Advaitasudha of LP in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute, Poona. It is No. 143 of 1902-1907. In this MS we find the exact date 1 of composition of this Advaita work, viz. Samvat 17 19 = A. D. 1663. (3) LP was a contemporary of Nilakantha Caturdhara the celebrated commentator of the Mahabharata, who flourished at Benares between A. D. 1650 and 1700 as I have proved in several papers. (4) The Catalogue of Alwar Darbar MSS by Peterson (1891), p. 19 describes a work called advaitasudhakalpa which is possibly identical with the advaita- (B. O. R. I. MS) and the agar (Bikaner MS). Peterson makes the following remarks about this Alwar MS:- ❝ 484 11 • advaitasudhakalpa by lakshmana, son of dattasuri of the kaundinyakula and goja of the atreyakula of Benares. ganesa and raghunatha were his elder brothers and nagesa and narayana, his • uncles on the mother's side. He praises his teacher uttamasloka and ramasrama . datta 's father was visvanatha . 1 The colophon of the MS records this date :- 88 nandendusvaradharani ganepasamvatsampanti gatavati vikrame kramena | suksositagirina tithau susiddha vagdevikrtivivrtirmama prasiddha || " Our The chronogram nanda (9), indu (1), svara (7), dharani (1) is equal to Samvat 1719 = A. D. 1663. I have described this MS on pp. 260--261 of my Cata. of Kavya MSS (B. O. R. Institute), Vol. XIII, Part II (1942). 7

author was a hearer of tia's lectures and he learned a from c and a from his father." (5) S. R. Bhandarkar's Report on MSS (2 nd Tour-1904-1906) p. 45, describes a MS of the ag as follows:- "Advaitasudha, commentary on the sarasvatopanisad which is also called raghuvamsa . It is by laksmanapamdita son of .... (da) ttasuri, an ornament of the brahmajnanin family. The author was kindly regarded by uttamaslokatirtha mahamuni . An attempt is made therein to interpret the c so as to yield a Vedantic meaning. 99 (6) The India Office Library contains two MSS of the (Vaidyaka) Yoga-Candrika [vide p. 982 of I. O. Cata., Part I by Eggeling (1896) ]. These are:No. 2753- a treatise on materia medica in 38 chapters by laksmanapamdita, son of datta . The author studied medicine at Benares under the tuition of two brothers (naganatha ) and narayana and had three elder brothers ganesa, raghunatha and rama and a younger brother viththala . 1 This MS is dated Samvat 1800 (=A. D. 1744). No. 2754- Do--Copied by one at in Samvat 1733 (= A. D. 1676). This MS is the earliest dated MS of Vaidyakacandrika of LP. It is 14 years earlier than the Bikaner MS of the work copied in A. D. 1690 as pointed out by Mr. Sarma. (7) LP States in verse 10 at the end of the Advaitasudha as follows:-- sa laksmano daksinadisyapasya sriyah sadanandamamandamicchan | kasyamudasinamatih sarire visvesasevi samayakaroti || 10 || " Evidently LP was a southerner. He abandoned his property at home and becoming indifferent to the world went to Benares. LP was possibly a Maharastra Brahmin as the name of his mother, viz. suggests. We must, however, get more data for proving this point conclusively. (8) Works and authors mentioned by LP in his Advaitasudha (B. O. R. I. MS No. 103 of 1902-1907) are:-- visva, amara, yajnavalkyavacanavyakhya, kamadhenau, sarasvatikanthabharanavyakhyata, amara- candra, vivaranacarya caranah, malavikagnimitre, medini, kavyaprakasa, citramimamsa, kaiyate, veda- nighamti, ekaksaranamamala, sarasvatikanthabharane bhojarajah, brhadaranyaka, vamsabrahmana, kesava, vartikakarapadah, jabalasruti, kaurma, isvaragita, sarirakabhasya, manu, yajnavalkya, vijnanesvara, 1 This information is gathered from the last three verses of the MS reproduced by Eggeling.

The Advaitasudha of Laksmana Pandita 51 samksepasariraka, nanartharatnamala, naiskarmyasiddheh, vartikasare, svetasvataropanisat, visvaprakase, brhadaranyakabhasye, vopalita, kiratarjuniye, bhatti, gitabhasye, visnupurana, paniniye, sloka- vartikakara, nyayaratnakara, sabarabhasyavrtti, uttamasloka, vagbhate, susruta, dalhana, ratnamala, madhava, haradatta, namamala, bhagavate, mahabharate, balaramayane, rgvedabhasye, bhojena, sriharsa, amaruka, atmapurane, prabodhacamdrodaye, dasarupaka, vikramorvasiya, gaudapada, upadesasahastrayam bhagava- spadaih, moksadharme, advaitamakaranda, cakradatta, murari, patamjalamahabhasyakara, caraka , raghavapandaviye , vajasaneyake, taittiriyabhasye, agnipurane, hemadrau, kurmapurana, raghavananda, vyakhyatarah sarvajna- narayanadayah, parasaramadhaviya, visvadarsa, jaiminiye, nanartha kosa, bhamatinibamdhe , sabdakaustubhe, visvasambhu, anamdagiri, nrsimhasrama, kalpatarukara, nyayasutrakarah, khamdanakaraih, samkhyah, sarvajna- smaguravah, madhavacarya, parasarasmrti, istasiddhi, naradadi smrti, skande, yogisvaroktam, daksa , paramarsasutre, vatsyayana, " srivirabhadrakrtaya vatsyayana sutratatvasamkathaya " , saugatamate, tataka- cayaih sarvabhaumagramthe, bhavisyatpurane, udayanacaryaih, harsamisra, prasnopanisadbhasya, garude, srikamthacarya, madhvamukhamardana, sivadvaitavinirnaya, advaita siddhi, anandatirtha, utkalacarya , nrsimhamisra, vidyaranya - gurubhih, sastradarpane, anukramanikakarah, vrttikaro halayudhah, bhartrhari bhatta somesvara, vakyapadiya - vyakhyatarah, samgitaratnakara, sarngadharacaryah, jayadeva, svatmayogapradipika , abhinavagupta, ratnesvara, damdina, bhavabhuti, krsnamisra, ramacandrasarasvati, murarimisra, bhattikavya , bilvamamgala, govimdaraja , rajasekhara, bhattabana, rayamukuta, ambulalakara ramacandrabhattanam, visvadarse kavikanta sarasvati- nam, brahmapurane, brhannaradiye, markandeye, isvaragita, sivagita, vasistha, bhagavadgita, pamcapa- dika, bhattabhaskara, atmagita, khamdanakrt, atharvasikha, asvamedhike, uttararamayane, ekaksara- ratnamala, dharani, garbhopanisad, "sarvarambhaparityagisvarupaikatrasamsthitah | uga ityevavikhyato maharastradibhasaya || ", maharghatvadinanu matidurlabhadarsanam | priyamityevakarnatabhasayavyapadisyate || " maharghatvadinanumatidurlabhadarsanam ( folio 18 of Kalapa III ), apastamba, harina, ganaratna, desikosah, apastambacarya, visnu- dharmottarat, badarayana, gaudapadiyabhasya, bhagavan bhasyakarah, sasvatah, mumdaka, bhagavatpada, brahmapurane, brahmanagita, markandeyapurana, tattvapradipika, citsukhacarya, jnanasiddhikrta , nyayasudha, acaryavacaspatimisraih, vasisthe madhavadinibandhesu, vartikasare, bhagavata - ekadasaskandha, soma- nathapamditaih, kavikalpadruma, sabdakaustubhe haradattah, vasisthah, anugita , vivaranokteh, kamadhenau kanthabharanavyakhyanat, vopadeva, narayanasarasvatyadi gaudavedantiprathesu sarirakavartikadisu, sivapurana, akhandanamda, yogacaryavarsaganya, suresvaracarya , advaitadipika, upadesasahastrayam, prasnopanisanmumdakamamdukyottaratapaniyadi, brahmadvaiti srikrsna misrah kaivalyakenopanisadadi, siva- tatvaviveka, purvatapaniyopanisad, mahopanisad, sarvajnatmagurukteh . The foregoing list of works and authors mentionod by LP has been made by me cursorily, but it is sufficient to prove the wide range of study carried on by LP at Benares. In fact LP shows familiarity with practically all branches of Sanskrit learning. We must, therefore , investigate and see if he compcsed any other works besides the advaitasudha , yogacandrika and saracandrika referred to above.

(9) The genealogy of LP may be represented as follows:-- visvanatha ( of brahmajnani family of kaundinya gotra ) datta married goja of atreya gotra . Her brothers: -- nagesa and narayana ) a) 1 ganesa raghunatha rama laksmana vitthala (A. D. 1663) (10) The chronology of the works of LP and their extant MSS as discussed in the present paper is as follows:-A. D. 1560-1620 Bhattoji Diksita flourished at Benares. 99 99 99 " 99 11 11 LP mentions Bhattoji's sabdakaustubha in advaitasudha . 1550-1600 Appaya Diksita flourished at Benares. LP mentions fail and other works af Appaya Diksita in advaitasudha . 1663 - LP composed his 1676-India Office MS of the ata 1690 - Bikaner MS of the af gut at Benares. of LP. of LP. of LP. c of LP. 1743 India Office MS of the ata - 1856-B. O. R. Institute MS of the (11) Aufrecht (CC I, 536) refers to one following entry :- 16 namesake of LP in the laksmanabhatta perhaps the guru of nilakantha ( bharatabhavadipika ) (composed ) mahabharatatika ". 11 Cf. CC, I, 439 "mahabharatatika by laksmanabhata (Burnell 148@ )". MS mentioned by Aufrecht as "Burnell 184 a" is identical with MS No. 8660 of Tanjore Des. Catalogue, Vol. XV, p. 6485. This is a MS of virataparvaprakasa of laksmanabhatta and it is dated Saka 1589 = A. D. 1667. I find it difficult to accept Aufrecht's suggested identity of this - bhatta with laksmanarya 1 mentioned by nilakamtha caturdhara as his guru in Vedantain the following verses:- 1 Vide Mimamsa Prakasa, Poona, April 1988, page 69-my article on Narayanatirtha, the guru of Nilakantha Caturdhara in Mimamsa.

The Advaitasudha of Lakshmana Pandita Q 1. "vedante laksmanaryam rtuvidhivivrtau tirthanarayanayem tarphe dhiresamisram phanipatibhanitau polagangadhararyam | vede sa pitrvyam sivamatha pitaram daksinamurkyupastau sraute cintamaniryah saranamupagato bhumni gopaladevam || " 53 I am, however, inclined to suggest that laksmanarya mentioned by nilakantha as his guru in Vedanta in the above stanza is possibly identical with laksmanapamdita, the author of the advaitasudha, who was a senior contemporary of nilakantha caturdhara at Benares, say between A. D. 1630 and 1675. We have seen already that laksmanapamdita constantly refers to his guru uttamaslokatirtha in his advaitasudha . nilakantha caturdhara also refers to (1) his Vedanta teacher laksmanarya and (2) uttamaslokatirtha in the following stanzas of his rudrasarasamgrahavyakhyah- " gopalam bhumni vede sivamathavinaye daksinamurtyapastau vedante laksanaryam kratuvidhivivrttau tirthanarayanaryam | tarphe dhiresa misran phanipatibhanitau polagangadhararyam sraute cimtamani gurumakrtakrtim tasya santah punantu || uttamasloka tirthabdhilabdhasayuktamauktikaih | khacita rudrasuktasya dyotatam dhimatam hrdi || " 1 I may also point out that laksmanabhatta, the author of virataparvaprakasa (MS of A. D. 1667 ) styles himself as " sribhattabhattatmajasandilya laksmana etc. " He is there. fore, different from laksmanapamdita, the son of goja and datta and the author of the advaitasudha . I hope the information about LP, the author of the Advaitasudha, recorded by me in this paper will enable other scholars to study his works more closely than they have done hitherto. In particular I would invite definite evidence from such scholars on the following points :-mentioned by Nila- (1) My suggested identity of LP with a kantha Caturdhara as his guru in Vedanta. (2) Any more information about LP than what is recorded by me above, especially about his descendants and the Brahmajnani family of Kaundinya Gotra to which he belonged. (3) Exact dates of composition of the works of LP other than the Advaitasudha composed in A. D. 1663. ( 4 ) Was LP & Maharastra Brahmin ? If so, can we get any infor• mation about his migration to Benares from the Maratha sources ? LP 1. Ibid.

definitely states that he abandoned his property in the South and went to Benares ( daksinadisi sriyah apasya kasyamudasinamatih sarire etc.) (5) Can we get any more historical information about the contact of LP with his gurus uttamaslokatirtha and ramasrama, 1 mentioned as munidvaya in the . advaitasudha ? 1. Vide my paper in the Pracyavani, Calcutta, 1944 on "A Critical survey of the Namesakes of Ramasrama ( Between A. D. 1600 and 1677").