Vācaspati Miśra - Revision history

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	\|name = Vācaspati Miśra		\| name = Vācaspati Miśra
	\|image =		\| image =
	\|caption =		\| caption =
	\| religion = [[Hinduism]]		\| religion = [[Hinduism]]
	\|birth_date = 9th/10th century CE<ref name=jfowlerpor129>Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN\|978-1898723943}}, page 129</ref>		\| birth_date = 9th/10th century CE<ref name=jfowlerpor129>Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN\|978-1898723943}}, page 129</ref>
	\|birth_place= [[Mithila (region)\|Mithila]] (modern-day [[Bihar]], [[India]])		\| birth_place = [[Mithila (region)\|Mithila]] (modern-day [[Bihar]], [[India]])
	\|birth_name =		\| birth_name =
	\|death_date = unknown, 9th/10th century CE<ref name=jfowlerpor129/>		\| death_date = unknown, 9th/10th century CE<ref name=jfowlerpor129/>
	\|death_place=		\| death_place =
	\|known =		\| known =
	\|philosophy = [[Advaita Vedanta]], Hinduism		\| philosophy = [[Advaita Vedanta]], Hinduism
			\| spouse = Bhamati
	}}		}}
	{{Advaita}}		{{Advaita}}

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{{short description|Indian philosopher}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name = Vācaspati Miśra
|image =
|caption =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
|birth_date = 9th/10th century CE<ref name=jfowlerpor129>Jeaneane Fowler (2002), Perspectives of Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Hinduism, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1898723943}}, page 129</ref>
|birth_place= [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] (modern-day [[Bihar]], [[India]])
|birth_name =
|death_date = unknown, 9th/10th century CE<ref name=jfowlerpor129/>
|death_place=
|known =
|philosophy = [[Advaita Vedanta]], Hinduism
}}
{{Advaita}}
{{Hindu philosophy}}

'''Vachaspati Mishra''' was a ninth or tenth century [[India]]n Hindu [[philosopher]] of the [[Advaita Vedanta]] tradition. He wrote so broadly on various branches of Indian philosophy that later Indian scholars called him "one for whom all systems are his own", or in Sanskrit, a ''sarva-tantra-sva-tantra''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Phillips|first=Stephen|date=2015|title=Seeing From the Other’s Point of View: Counter the Schismatic Interpretation of Vācaspati Miśra|url=http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.apaonline.org/resource/collection/2EAF6689-4B0D-4CCB-9DC6-FB926D8FF530/AsianV14n2.pdf|journal=APA Newsletter: Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies|volume=14:2|pages=4--8}}</ref> Vācaspati Miśra was a prolific scholar and his writings are extensive, including [[bhasya]] (commentaries) on key texts of almost every 9th-century school of [[Hindu philosophy]] with notes on non-Hindu or ''nāstika'' traditions such as [[Buddhism]] and [[Charvaka|Carvaka]].<ref>{{cite book|title=''Hindu Realism''|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.8902|author=Jagadisha Chandra Chatterji|pages=vi|year=1912}}</ref><ref name=larsonvm301>Gerald James Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya (1987), The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 4, Princeton University Press, pages 301-312</ref> He also wrote one non-commentary, ''Tattvabindu,'' or ''Drop of Truth'', which focuses on Mīmāṃsā theories of sentence meaning. Some of his works are lost to history or yet to be found.<ref name=larsonvm301/>

Little is known about Vācaspati Miśra's life, and the earliest text that has been dated with certainty is from 840 CE, and he was at least one generation younger than [[Śaṅkara|Adi Śaṅkara]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Isaeva |first=Natalia |title=Shankara and Indian Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/shankaraindianph00isay |url-access=limited |year=1993 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=USA |isbn=978-0-7914-1281-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/shankaraindianph00isay/page/n94 85]-86}}</ref> However, an alternate date for the same text may be 976 CE, according to some scholars, a confusion that is based on whether Hindu Śaka or Vikrama era calendar is used for the dating purposes.<ref name=larsonvm301/> Historical scholarship locates him as a [[Maithil Brahmin]] from Andhra Tharhi
[[Bihar]].<ref name=larsonvm301/> It is believed that the name of his most famous work "Bhāmatī" was inspired by his devout wife.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Primary works==
{{Refimprove-section|date=January 2008}}
''Tattvabindu'' is his original work, wherein he develops principles of [[hermeneutics]], and discusses the "Theory of Meaning" for the Mīmāṃsā school of Hindu philosophy.<ref name=larsonvm301/> This is an influential work, and attempted to resolve some of the interpretation disputes on classical Sanskrit texts.

Vācaspati examines five competing theories of linguistic meaning:<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Contribution of Vācaspati Miśra to Indian Philosoph|last=Ranganath|first=S.|publisher=Pratibha Prakashan|year=1999|location=Delhi}}</ref>
*[[Mandana Misra]]'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 [[Nyāya]] 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 [[Mimamsa|Mīmāmsā]] 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'', "the view on which denotation is constituted by what is connected." On this view, sentence-meaning is derived from the meanings of its words, which is fully given only by syntactic relations with the other words — no ''sphoṭa'' or memory traces are required; and
*the Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā theory, ''abhihitānvayavāda,'' or "the view on which connection (anvaya) is constituted by what has been denoted." On this view, word-meaning is denoted entirely first (''abhihita'') and then individual word-meanings are connected by means of ''lakṣaṇā'' (implication.
Vācaspati concurs with the Bhāṭṭa view, when he employs in other contexts, such as the Nyāya sub-commentary, the ''Nyāya-vārttika-tātparya-ṭīkā,'' and the Tattva-vaiśāradī.<ref name=":0" />

==Secondary works: Bhāṣya==
Vācaspati Miśra is credited with influential commentaries such as ''Tattvakaumudi'' on [[Samkhyakarika|Sāṃkhyakārika]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Isaeva |first=Natalia |title=Shankara and Indian Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/shankaraindianph00isay |url-access=limited |year=1993 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=USA |isbn=978-0-7914-1281-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/shankaraindianph00isay/page/n133 124]}}</ref> ''Nyāyasucinibandha'' on [[Nyaya Sutras|Nyāya-sūtras]],<ref name=jfowlerpor129/> various important texts of [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaita Vedānta]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Isaeva |first=Natalia |title=Shankara and Indian Philosophy |url=https://archive.org/details/shankaraindianph00isay |url-access=limited |year=1993 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=USA |isbn=978-0-7914-1281-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/shankaraindianph00isay/page/n75 66]}}</ref> ''Nyāyakānika'' (an Advaita work on science of reason), ''Tattvasamikṣa'' (lost work), ''Nyāya-vārttika-tātparyaṭīkā'' (a subcommentary on the ''Nyāya-sūtras''), ''Tattva-vaiśāradī'' on [[Yogasutra|Yogasūtra]], and others.<ref name=larsonvm301/>

While some known works of Vācaspati Miśra are now lost, others exist in numerous numbers. Over ninety medieval era manuscripts, for example, in different parts of India have been found of his ''Tattvakaumudi'', which literally means "Moonlight on the Truth".<ref name=larsonvm301/> This suggests that his work was sought and influential. A critical edition of ''Tattvakaumudi'' was published by Srinivasan in 1967.<ref name=larsonvm301/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Primary texts===
*''Bhāmatī'' (on [[Adi Shankara|Śankara]]'s ''Brahmasūtrabhāsya'')
*''Tattvabindu''
*''Tātparyaţīkā'' (on [[Uddyotakāra]]'s ''Nyāyavārttika'')
*''Nyāyasūcīnibandha''
*''Tattvakaumudī'' (on [[Īśvarakrishna]]'s [[Samkhyakarika|''Sāmkhyakārikās'']])
*''[[Tattvavaiśāradī]]'' (on [[Patañjali]]'s ''Yogasūtras'' and ''Bhāsya'')
*''Nyāyakanikā'' (on [[Maṇḍana Miśra]]'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. Arrington]] [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.

==External links==
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/txt3.htm Bibliography of Vācaspati Mishra's works, Item 530], Karl Potter, University of Washington

{{Indian Philosophy}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Misra, Vacaspati}}
[[Category:10th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Advaitin philosophers]]
[[Category:Indian logicians]]
[[Category:Indian Medieval linguists]]
[[Category:Medieval Sanskrit grammarians]]
[[Category:Nyaya]]
[[Category:Philosophers of language]]
[[Category:Philosophers of Mithila]]
[[Category:Scholars from Bihar]]
[[Category:Indian Sanskrit scholars]]