Gangadhara Vajapeyi

2021-08-25T00:12:56Z

2601:647:5000:27F0:5450:F022:942E:7B58: Corrected typos and district name.

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Hindu philosophy}}
'''Gangadhara Vajapeyi'''/ '''Gangadhara Vajapeyin''' /'''{{IAST|Gaṅgādhara Vājapeyayāji}}''' also known by names '''Gangadhara Adhvarin''' and ''' Gangadhara Suri''' was a great [[Historical Vedic religion|vedic]] scholar of the [[Yajurveda]] from [[Thiruvalangadu, Nagapattinam district|Thiruvalangadu]] in [[Nagapattinam district|Nagapattinam]] district of [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name=a>{{cite book|title=The crest jewel of divine Dravidian culture|year=1980|pages=xi,xii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MvAcAAAAMAAJ&q=Gangadhara+Vajapeyi|last1=Kuppuswami|first1=Appiah}}</ref><ref>The Journal of the Music Academy, Madras – Volumes 65–66 – Page 134, 1984, pp. 134</ref> He was son of Shri Deva Nrisimha [[Bhatt|Bhatta]] and Sumati,<ref name=k/> whose ancestors were connected with [[Appayya Dikshita]].<ref name=y>{{cite book|title=International Sanskrit Conference , Volume 1, Part 1|year=1975|publisher=India. Ministry of Education and Social Welfare|pages=475|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-IvAAAAIAAJ&q=gangadhara+adhvarin}}</ref><ref name=z>{{cite book|title=Contribution of Tamil Nadu to Sanskrit by C. S. Sundaram, G. John Samuel|year=1999|publisher=Institute of Asian Studies|pages=311|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kNljAAAAMAAJ&q=gangadhara+adhvarin}}</ref> Gangadhara Vajapeyi was a grandson of Samarapungava Dikshita who had authored books like Advaita Vidyatilakam <ref name=c>{{cite book|title=Advaita Vidyatilakam|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.495837/mode/2up|last1=Dikshita|first1=Samarapungava}}</ref> and Yatra Prabandha.<ref name=d>{{cite book|title=Yatra Prabandha|url=https://archive.org/details/Yatraprabandha/page/n1/mode/2up|last1=Dikshita|first1=Samarapungava}}</ref> Samarapungava Dikshita was a sororal nephew of [[Appayya Dikshita]]. Gangadhara was a disciple of Visvarupa. He was a [[Smarta]] [[brahmin]] belonging to the Vadhula [[gotra]].

He was an expert in [[Nyaya]] and [[Tarka sastra|Taraka Shastra]]. He was one of the eight jewels at the court of [[Maratha]] king [[Serfoji I]] of [[Tanjore]]. He had performed the [[Vajapeya]] [[yagna]], which was presided by the Maratha King Serfoji and such given title of Vajapeyi.<ref name=k/>

Most importantly, he is remembered as the [[Guru]] of [[Bhaskararaya]] – one of the greatest [[shrauta]] scholar and exponent of the [[tantra]] of recent times. Bhaskararaya acquired knowledge of the [[Nyaya|Nyaya sastra]] and [[Tarka sastra]] from Gangadhara Vajapeyin. Bhaskararaya was one of the foremost authority [[Shri Vidya]], which he learned from Gandahara Vajapeyi . Bhaskararaya's commentary on the [[Lalita sahasranama]] ([[bhashya]]) and his commentary on the Shri Vidya [[mantra]] and worship are most well known.<ref name=k>{{cite book|title=The Saints of the Cauvery Delta By R. Krishnamurthy|year=1979|pages=30–31|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lT-HKzRR08gC&q=Bhaskararaya+gangadhara&pg=PA30}}</ref>

Gangadhara, his disciple Bhaskararaya and [[Krishnananda Saraswati]] were all senior contemporaries of [[Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval|Ayyaval]] and [[Bodhendra Saraswathi|Bodhendra]].<ref name=k/>

Gangadhara Vajapeyin built the shrine of Utpaleshwarar and Utpalaamba, which has been looked after by his descendants.<ref name=k/> The two idols of Meru of Panchaloha and gold are preserved in this temple.<ref name=k/>

==Gangadhara Vajapeyi's Works==

He wrote a rare commentary on Kuvalayananda in year 1700<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Bibliography By Karl H. Potter|year=1995|pages=1353|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lrAyj17GDM4C&q=gangadhara+adhvarin&pg=PA1353|isbn=9788120803084|last1=Potter|first1=Karl H.}}</ref> (a book on [[Alankara Shastra]]) of [[Appayya Dikshitar]] viz: ''Rasikaranjani''.,<ref>{{cite book|title=History of Classical Sanskrit Literature: Being an Elaborate Account of All ... By M. Srinivasachariar|year=1974|pages=247|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dVRvVyHaiQC&q=gangadhara+vajapeyin&pg=PA247|isbn=9788120802841|last1=Srinivasachariar|first1=M.}}</ref> which one of his most noted books.

He also wrote ''Avaidika Darsana Samgraha''.<ref>[http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/txt4.htm Gangadhara Vajapeyin (Adhvarin) (1700) (NCat V, 205–206) 1.Avaidikadarsana(mata)samgraha]</ref> The work was very popular in South India and is considered to be an important source book on [[Buddhism|Buddha]]-[[Jainism|Jaina]] fundamentals next to ''Sarva-darśana-saṅ̇graha '' of [[Vidyaranya]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Essentials of Buddhism and Jainism: The Avaidikadarśanasaṅgraha of Gaṅgādharavājapeyayājī|year=2003|publisher=Dr. K.N. Neelakantan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7_WAAAAMAAJ&q=Gangadhara}}</ref>

His other works include; ''Bhosalavamsavali'', which deals in systems of philosophy, ''Kanadasidhhanta cándrika'' or ''Kanada Siddhantachandrika '' a work on [[vaisesika]].<ref name=k/> and a commentary or [[Samhita]] on [[Dharmasastra]] called ''Dharmasamhita''.<ref name=y/><ref name=z/><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Purāṇas By Swami Parmeshwaranand|year=2001|page=447|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmmkM0fVS-cC&q=Bhaskararaya+gangadhara&pg=PA447|isbn=9788176252263|last1=Parmeshwaranand|first1=Swami}}</ref><ref>[http://www.idref.fr/121974065 Vājapeyayāji, Gaṅgādhara]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

'''His Books'''
* [https://archive.today/20070514165255/http://gist.ap.nic.in/cgi-bin/s1/s1bookdet.cgi/?B=4418&V=3 kanada Siddhantachandrika]
* [https://archive.org/details/Trivandrum_Sanskrit_Series_TSS Kanada Siddhantachandrika Original]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071009084059/http://gist.ap.nic.in/cgi-bin/s1/s1bookdet.cgi/?B=2102&V=9 devasimha sumati]
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/ttl.htm Titles of primary texts]
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/per.htm Names of persons]
* [http://www.audarya-fellowship.com/forums/indology/174682-re-release-book.html Avaidika darsana samgrah]
* [http://www.indology.net/cat13.html Avaidika darsana samgraha]
* [https://openlibrary.org/b/OL512857M/Avaidikadars%CC%81anasan%CC%A3graha Avaidika Darsana Sangraha – Vani Vilasa Mudralaya]
* [https://archive.org/stream/catalogueofsansk01brituoft/catalogueofsansk01brituoft_djvu.txt Reference to Rasika-ranjani]
* [http://oudl.osmania.ac.in/bitstream/handle/OUDL/2563/220005_Studies_In_The_History_Of_Sanskrit_Poetics_Vol_I.pdf As commentator on Appayya's work]
<br />
'''As Bhaskararaya's Guru'''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041117150527/http://www.ambaa.org/archives/msg01554.html Bhaskararaya's Guru]
* [http://www.audarya-fellowship.com/forums/shakti-sadhana/118142-shri-bhaskararaya-1-a.html In Bhaskararaya's life]
* [http://manollasa.blogspot.com/2004/05/great-bhaskararaya-makhindra.html Bhaskararaya's Guru]
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/txt4.htm Reference to Siddhantacandrika on Gautama's Nyayasutras and Kanada's Vaisesikasutras]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vajapeyi, Gangadhara}}
[[Category:Indian Hindu spiritual teachers]]
[[Category:17th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:Advaitin philosophers]]
[[Category:Sanskrit writers]]
[[Category:Indian Sanskrit scholars]]
[[Category:17th-century Indian scholars]]
[[Category:People from Thanjavur district]]
[[Category:Writers from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Scholars from Tamil Nadu]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Gangadhara Vajapeyi