24. The Contact of Bhattoji Diksita

24. The Contact of Bhattoji Diksita and some Members of his Family with the Keladi Rulers of Ikkeri Between c. A. D. 1592 and 1645 * Bhattoji Diksita, 1 the great grammarian of Banaras, lived between c. A. D. 1550 and 1630. He had a circle of pupils, some of whom composed works on grammar and other subjects. I have published papers on the works of some of these pupils like Varadaraja, 2 Vanamali, 3 Nilakantha Sukla. 4 His influence on subsequent authors 5 is also very great. The family of Bhattoji was a learned one and appears to have enjoyed some patronage of the Keladi rulers of Ikkeri in the Shimoga District of the present Mysore State. I propose in this paper to record some evidence of the contact of Bhattoji and other members of his family with the Keladi rulers of Ikkeri between c. A. D. 1592 and 1645. Dr. E. Hultzsch in his Report II on Sanskrit MSS in South India (Madras, 1896) describes a MS of the Tattvakaustubha of Bhattoji Diksita as follows:- 1190 Page XII--"The Tattvakaustubha (No. 1243) was written by Bhattoji Diksita at the order of Venkatendra of Keladi. According to Mr. Sewell's Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II, p. 177, Venkatappa Nayaka of Keladi reigned A. D. 1604 to 1626. Page 122 of Appendix--MS No. 1243 begins as follows:- tinam eved taug " visvesam saccidanandam vande'ham yo'khilam jagat | carikarti bharibharti sanjariharti lilaya || de alus, ib 99 ded stritemos colazi || prod a jed keladivenkatendrasya nidesadvidusam mude | dhvantocchittau patutarastanyate tattvakaustubhah || phanibhasitabhasyabdheh sabdakaustubha uddhrtah | sankaradapi bhasyabdheh [ tatra ] kaustubhamuddhare || ,, nul 03 Exagge * Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda, Vol. IV, No. I, Sept. 1955 pp. 33-36. 1. About the date of Bhattoji see my paper in my "Studies in Indian Literary History," Vol. I, 1953, pp. 65-74. About Bhattoji's Vedabhasyasara see Ibid. pp. 75-78. 2. Ibid. pp. 316-329. 3. See Adyar Library Bulletin, Vol. X, Part 4, pp. 231-235, Dec. 1946. 4. See my Studies, Vol. I, pp. 468-475. 5. See my paper on the date of Kondabbatta in the Adyar Library Bulletin and on the Relative Chronology of the Works of Nagoji Bhatta in Oriental Thought (Nasik), Vol. I, No. I.

Dr. B. A. Saletore in his remarks on the age of Bhattoji Dikshita in the Karnatak Historical Review, Jan.-July 1937, identifies king "Venkatendra", by whose order Bhattoji composed the Tattvakaustubha, with Venkatapa Nayak I, who ruled from A. D. 1582 till A. D. 1629, and states that this King was noted for the patronage he gave to learned men. 1 There is an incomplete MS of the Tattvakaustubha in the Govt. MSS Library at the B. O. R. Institute, Poona (No. 319 of 1899-1915). At the end of the third Pariccheda of this work (folio 6) we find the following colophon:- " keladi venkatendro'sau aghoresa ' parayanah | acikaradimam grantham tattvakaustubhasamjnitam || padavakyapramanajnan gunagrhyan vipascitah | kautukkatamanasah [ kautukantarmanasah ] pramodayatu matkrtih || iti srimadvisuddhadvaitapratisthapaketyadivirudavalivirajamane keladivenkatabhupena karite vidvanmukutamanikyalaksmidharabhattasunubhattojibhattaviracite tatva kaustubhe trtiyah paricchedah || From the extracts from the Tattvakaustubha quoted above it is clear that Bhattoji had some contact with the court of King Venkatappa Nayaka I, who ruled at Ikkeri and belonged to the Kelaline of rulers. The regnal period of this ruler is given differently by different scholars as follows:- 1. Hultzsch--"A. D. 1604 to 1624." 2. B. A. Saletore-"From A. D. 1582 till A. D. 1629." In the pedigree of the Keladi rulers given in the Vijayanagara Commemoration Volume, 1936, p. 269, the regnal period of Venkatappa Nayak I is given as "A. D. 1592-1629." If this period is correct we can infer that the contact of Bhattoji Diksita with this Keladi King must have taken place sometime between A. D. 1592 and 1629. Bhattoji's brother Rangojibhatta was also a very learned man. He also appears to have enjoyed some patronage of the Keladi ruler Venka- 1. There is a MS of the Tattvakaustubha in the Govt. Ori. MSS Library, Madras (No. 4583 described on p. 3417 of Vol. IX of the Descriptive Catalogue, Madras, 1910). The three verses quoted by me from the MS of this work described by Hultzsch are also found in this keralivenkatendrasya MS. The reading in the first line of verse 2 in this MS is which is evidently a wrong reading for the correct-reading "" " " 2. The Italian traveller Pietro della Valle who visited the Court of Venkatappa Nayak I of Ikkeri in A. D. 1623 refers to 31 "Venk-tapa Naieke had a great and worshipped." as follows on p. 272 of his Travels, Vol. II (1892):particular devotion to the idol Agoresuar, who is here

The Contact of Bhattoji Diksita with Rulers of Ikkeri 205 tappa Nayaka I (A. D. 1592-1629) who was a great patron of learning. He had a son named Bhadrappa, who died during the life-time of his father, leaving a son named Virabhadra. This prince assisted his grandfather Venkatappa in the administration of the province and in course of time succeeded him. Virasaivism appears to have been the faith of the Keladi Nayakas. They were great devotees of the Advaita Math of Srngeri. Venkatappa Nayaka I wrote a commentary in Sanskrit on Sivagita. He patronised some scholars, like Tirumalabhatta, Ranganatha Dikshita, Asvapandita, etc.1 In view of this information recorded by Shri N. Lakshminarayan Rao in his article on the Nayakas of Keladi in the Vijayanagara Comm. Volume we must take the following verse in the Vaiyakaranabhusana of Rangojibhatta's son Kondabhatta as genuine :- " vidyadhisavaderusamjnakayati srimadhvabhattarakam jitva keladivenkatayyasavidhe'pyandolikam praptavan | yascakre munivaryasutravivrtim siddhantabhangam tatha madhvanam tamaham gurupamagurum rangojibhankam bhaje || 1 || " (See pp. 259 of Vaiyakaranabhusana in B. S. Series, 1915). The first two lines in the above verse expressly state that Rangojibhatta, the brother of Bhattoji and father of Kondabhatta, defeated in debate at the court of King Keladi Venkatayya a Madhva ascetic of the name "vaderu" and got the honour of riding in a palanquin from Venkateppa Nayaka I (A. D. 1595-1629). From the evidence recorded so far it is clear that both the brothers viz. Bhattoji and Rangoji had an intimate contact with the court of the Keladi ruler Venkatappa Nayaka I, though they normally resided at Banaras and carried on their learned pursuits there. This Keladi ruler must have entertained great respect for these brothers, who were followers of the Advaita doctrine, which appears to have been followed by Venkatappa also in view of his being the devotee of the Advaita Math of Srigeri like other rulers in the Keladi line of rulers. At any rate Kondabhatta mentions with pride and satisfaction the honour bestowed on his father by Venkatappa for defeating a Madhva ascetic of the Dvaita School of Vedanta. 2001 The patronage to Bhattoji's family given by Venkatappa Nayaka I appears to have been continued by his grandson Virabhadra (A. D. 1629- 1645), who succeeded him as will be seen from the following evidence: 1. See pp. 267-268 of Vijayanagara Comm. Volume.

Don Kondabhatta, the nephew of Bhattoji composed a work called "Tarkapradipa "by the order of King Virabhadra, son of Bhadrendra as stated by Kondabhatta in this work. An incomplete MS of this work has been described by Hall in his Bibliography (1859), p. 79. In my article¹ on Kondabhatta, I have tried to prove that this patron Virabhadra, son of Bhadrendra is identical with Virabhadra Nayaka (A. D. 1629-1645), the son of Bhadrappa Nayaka, who died during the life-time of his father Venkatappa Nayaka I. It appears, therefore, that Virabhadra enjoyed the patronage of this Keladi ruler in the same way as that enjoyed by his father Rangoji and his uncle Bhattoji at the Court of Virabhadra's grandfather Venkatappa Nayaka I (A. D. 1595-1629). The following table shows at a glance the contact of Bhattoji's family with the Keladi rulers of lkkeri between A. D. 1592 and 1645:Bhattoji Family 1. Bhattoji (c. A. D. 1550-1630) Regnal period A. D. 1592-1629 Keladi Royal Family Venkatappa Nayaka I Brother 2. Rangoji (Do -) Do Son Grandson eds 3. Konda (c. A. D. 1600-1660) Virabhadra bhatta -Do 11 A. D. 1629-1645 Rangoji was a devotee of god at (Kalahastisa ). He refers to this god in the last portion of his Sivollasa as follows:- " granthe casmintava vilasite kalahastisa nityam | krtvabhyasam bhavati vijayi bhaktibhavaikanisthah || " There is a railway station called Kalahasti, in the Chitoor District of the Madras State about 15 miles to the North of the Renigunta junction. Nearby is the Kalahasti Zamindari. There is a village of the name Kalahasti, near which is the temple of god Mahadeva, with five faces. This god is the celebrated Kalahastisa referred to by Rangoji. Rao Bhadur W. A. Bambardekar 2 thinks that the native place of Bhattoji's family must have been in the vicinity of the Kalahastisa, which appears to be the family deity of the family of Bhattoji Diksita. In view of the South Indian origin of Bhattoji's family explained by my friend the late Rao Bhadur Bambardekar it is easy to understand the contact of this family with the Keladi rulers of Ikkeri in the Shimoga District of the Mysore State as explained in this paper. 1. See Adyar LibD 10 2. See p. 300 of Bhattoji-Diksita-Jnativiveka, Bombay, 1939.-10 egga