[Advaita-l] Bhaagavata khandanam

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste Jaldhar ji
I have read that not only Sri Shankara but also Sri Ramanuja has not quoted
a single reference from the Srimad-bhagavatam.

Two major Acharya's before 1100 AD have made no mention whatsoever. The
latter particularly would have found many agreeable Vaishnava ideas there
to substantiate his viewpoint.


One related bit of information - Swami Tapasyananda of RK Mission in his
long introduction to his English translation of the srimad (Krishna)
bhagavatam writes that a post-Ramanuja (i e., post 11th century ) southern
Indian author composed it.  He suggests that the nucleus of the tenth canto
describing the life of Krishna is much older. But the extant version of the
text is most likely to be post-Ramanuja. This is just fyi.



Om

Raghav


On Wed, 25 Dec, 2019, 1:02 PM Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Another old post I didn't respond to at the time...
>
> On Thu, 18 Jul 2019, V Subrahmanian wrote:
>
> > This is not just one article refuting the idea that the Srimadbhagavatam
> is
> > not the 'real' Bhagavatam but the Devi Bhagavatam is the true Bhagavatam
> > composed by Veda Vyasa.
>
>
> Even when Aryasamajist filth give correct information it is for nefarious
> purposes.  That Dayananda cared not a whit for the Devi Bhagavata or
> Krishna Bhagavata.  He just wants to slander the authority of Puranas in
> favor of his fantasy version of Vedas.
>
> > There is a popular opinion that the former is a  much later work,
> > attributed to one 'Vopadeva.'
> >
>
> I wouldn't call it popular.  This was a spat between two factions of
> Pandits in 17th century Kashi only.  Several Sanskrit pamphlets and
> broadsides from the disputants survive and it is interesting to note that
> several of the authors in the pro-Krishnabhagavata camp are themselves
> Smartas not Vaishnavas.
>
> As you yourself have pointed out there is much Advaitic material in the
> (Krishna) Bhagavata itself.  And we also discussed in this list that the
> earliest commentators on that work are Advaitins.  Shridhara Swami who is
> considered the preeminent interpreter by no less than Chaitanya himself
> was Shankaracharya of Puri. He mentions Chitsukhacharya and Punyaranya as
> predecessors though their commentaries no longer survive.  Shankaracharya
> is said to have quoted from the Bhagavata in a couple of his prakaranas.
> Many North Indian Vaishnavas even believe he wrote a commentary.
>
> Vopadeva was a protege of Hemadri acharya author of the influential
> dharmashastra nibandha called chaturavarga chintamani (thoroughly Smarta
> and Advaitic in ethos) and the minister to the last two Rajas of Devagiri
> (modern Daulatabad Maharashtra) before that kingdom was destroyed by
> Muslim invaders in the 13th century.  The Devagiri royal family belonged
> to Yadava vamsha and considered themselves to be descendents of Krishna
> Bhagavan so it natural they would have comissioned works that honored
> their ancestor.  Vopadeva wrote Muktaphala which is a collection of
> subhashitas from the Bhagavata and Harililamrta which is a concise summary
> of the contents of that Purana. Hemadri acharya wrote tikas on both texts.
> There is a third work Paramahamsapriya which deals with difficult
> grammatical constructions in the Bhagavata.  This is the source of the
> theory that Vopadeva wrote the Bhagavata itself but obviously neither work
> could have been written unless the Bhagavata was already in existence.
>
> Vopadeva wrote on other shastras too and one grammatical work of his
> called Mugdabodha became very popular in Bengal especially because it was
> easier than Panini.  Probably as a result his other works became well
> known in that area as well.  We know that the origins of the Gaudiyas are
> in renagade branch of Dashanami sannyasis of Bengal.  It is possible that
> as an Advaitin with great love for Krishna, Vopadevas works may have
> inadvertantly fueled that break.  On the other hand we have Swami
> Madhusudana Saraswati who was also Bengali, a Krishnabhakta, and
> influenced by Vopadeva but remained firmly in the Advaita camp.
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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