Bodhayana Mahrishi

[Guest guest]

Any information on the Vedic Bodhayana Maharishi, his life /works, Bodhayana

Sutra Etc., is requested by Sri Srinivasa Bhattar. If any of you have any

info please post them.

Thanks

K. Sreekrishna

[Guest guest]

Not much is known for certain about Bodhayana, other

than his authorship of the Vritti (commentary) on the

Brahma-sutras, the guidebook to understanding Vedanta.

This Vritti is of cardinal importance to the history

of Sri Vaishnava philosophy.

 

In preparing his own commentary on the Brahma-sutras,

Sri Ramanujacharya wished to study Bodhayana's Vritti,

which at that time was available only in fragments in

Tamil Nadu. The Vritti had the reputation of being

the most authoritative explanation of the Brahma-sutras,

setting forth a philosophy of Theism much as Ramanuja

understood the Upanishads. Sri Ramanuja was forced to

travel to Kashmir to procure a damaged copy of this Vritti

for reference. He writes in the beginning of the

Sri Bhashya that his commentary is entirely based on

Bhagavan Bodhayana's explanations.

 

Tradition holds that Bodhayana was a direct disciple

of Vyasa. We do not know for certain, but whatever

the case, he was certainly a great teacher of Vedanta.

Sankaracharya respectfully refers to a Vritti-kaara

(ostensibly Bodhayana) in his own commentary on the

Sutras, pointedly refuting the Vritti-kaara's opinions

in several key places. Clearly, Sankara presented

a different philosophy from that of the venerable sage.

 

I do not know if this Bodhayana is the same as the

one who produced the Bodhayana-sutra. The latter does

not play any role in the philosophical discussions

surrounding Bodhayana the Vritti-kaara, and is not

mentioned in the traditional biographies.

 

Mani