Vacaspati Misra
Encyclopedia
Vācaspati Miśra was an India
n philosopher who founded one of the main Advaita Vedanta
schools, the Bhāmatī
school (named after his commentary on Śankara's
Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya), and whose work was an important forerunner of the Navya-Nyāya
system of thought.
Vācaspati was a Maithili Brahmin who lived near the frontier between India and Nepal
(what is now Vachaspati Nagar(Andhra Thardhi), Madhubani). The details of his life have been lost, though he is said to have named one of his works after his wife, Bhāmatī. He wrote commentaries on the main works of all the major Hindu
schools of thought at the time, as well as one non-commentary, Tattvabindu.
In Tattvabindu, Vācaspati examines four competing theories of linguistic meaning:
After examining each of these theories, Vācaspati presents his own theory, abhihitānvayavāda, according to which understanding of the meaning of a whole sentence is reached by inferring it, in a separate act of lakṣanā or implication, from the individual meanings of the constituent words.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n philosopher who founded one of the main Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...
schools, the Bhāmatī
Bhamati
Bhamati is Vachaspati Misra's commentary on Adi Shankara's Brahmasutra Bhashya. Bhamati School of thought in Advaita vedanta originated from this commentary of Vachaspati Misra.The naming of Vachaspati Misra’s commentary on Brahma Sutras which has become part of Mithila folklore.- References...
school (named after his commentary on Śankara's
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya), and whose work was an important forerunner of the Navya-Nyāya
Navya-Nyaya
The Navya-Nyāya or Neo-Logical darśana of Indian logic and Indian philosophy was founded in the 13th century CE by the philosopher Gangeśa Upādhyāya of Mithila. It was a development of the classical Nyāya darśana. Other influences on Navya-Nyāya were the work of earlier philosophers Vācaspati...
system of thought.
Vācaspati was a Maithili Brahmin who lived near the frontier between India and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
(what is now Vachaspati Nagar(Andhra Thardhi), Madhubani). The details of his life have been lost, though he is said to have named one of his works after his wife, Bhāmatī. He wrote commentaries on the main works of all the major Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
schools of thought at the time, as well as one non-commentary, Tattvabindu.
In Tattvabindu, Vācaspati examines four competing theories of linguistic meaning:
- Mandana MisraMaṇḍana Miśrawas a Hindu philosopher, who wrote on the Mīmāmsā and Advaita systems of thought, and was a student and follower of Ādi Śankara. Maṇḍana Miśra, also known as Suresvaracharya, was a follower of the Karma Mimamsa school of philosophy and a staunch defender of the holistic sphota doctrine of language...
's (sphoṭavāda), which involves grasping the meaning of a word or sentence by perceiving a sphoṭa or single holistic sound, which is distinct from the elements (sounds or characters) that make up the word or sentence; - the NyāyaNyaya' is the name given to one of the six orthodox or astika schools of Hindu philosophy—specifically the school of logic...
theory which involves concatenating the memory traces (saṃskāra) of momentary components of a word or sentence when we hear the final momentary component; - the similar MīmāmsāMimamsa' , a Sanskrit word meaning "investigation" , is the name of an astika school of Hindu philosophy whose primary enquiry is into the nature of dharma based on close hermeneutics of the Vedas...
theory, according to which our grasp of the meaning of a sentence lies in the memory traces created by the words; and - the Prābhākara Mīmāmsā theory, anvitābhidhānavāda, according to which the meaning of a sentence is derived from the meanings of its words, each of which has an individual meaning in the sentence as well as having syntactic relations with the other words — no sphoṭa or memory traces are required.
After examining each of these theories, Vācaspati presents his own theory, abhihitānvayavāda, according to which understanding of the meaning of a whole sentence is reached by inferring it, in a separate act of lakṣanā or implication, from the individual meanings of the constituent words.
Primary texts
- Bhāmatī (on ŚankaraAdi ShankaraAdi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
's Brahmasūtrabhāsya) - Tattvabindu
- Tātparyaţīkā (on Uddyotakāra's Nyāyavārttika)
- Nyāyasūcīibandha
- Tattvakaumudī (on Īśvarakrishna's Sāmkhyakārikās)
- Tattvavaiśāradī (on PatañjaliPatañjaliPatañjali is the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice. According to tradition, the same Patañjali was also the author of the Mahābhāṣya, a commentary on Kātyāyana's vārttikas on Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī as well as an unspecified work of medicine .In...
's Yogasūtras and Bhāsya) - Nyāyakanikā (on Maṇḍana MiśraMaṇḍana Miśrawas a Hindu philosopher, who wrote on the Mīmāmsā and Advaita systems of thought, and was a student and follower of Ādi Śankara. Maṇḍana Miśra, also known as Suresvaracharya, was a follower of the Karma Mimamsa school of philosophy and a staunch defender of the holistic sphota doctrine of language...
's Vidhidviveka)
Secondary texts
- S.S. Hasurkar, Vācaspati Miśra on Advaita Vedanta. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Post-Graduate Studies, 1958.
- Karl H. Potter, "Vācaspati Miśra" (in Robert L. ArringtonRobert L. ArringtonRobert L. Arrington is an American philosopher, specialising in moral philosophy, the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of psychology....
[ed.]. A Companion to the Philosophers. Oxford: Blackwell, 2001. ISBN 0-631-22967-1) - J.N. Mohanty, Classican Indian Philosophy. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. ISBN 0-8476-8933-6
- V.N. Sheshagiri Rao, Vācaspati's Contribution to Advaita. Mysore: Samvit Publishers, 1984.