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Bhāskara as having been well versed in that part of the Veda where fire is not required.
As regards the date of Bhatta Bhaskara, there is much external evidence which clearly establishes that Bhatta Bhāskara belonged to the pre-Sāyaṇa period. Sayaņa, in many a place in his Bhāsya on the Rg Veda as for instance in (1-63-4, 1-84-15, 6-1-13), not only mentions the name of Bhatta Bhāskara, but actually quotes from his commentary, besides reiterating his ideas. Also in his well-known “Mādhaviya Dhātuvịtti" Sāyaṇa, while explaining the meaning of the root , refers to Bhatta Bhāskara's name and his commentary.
Moreover, if any reliance can be placed in Madhavarya's Sankara Digvijaya, Bhatta Bhāskara appears to have been a contemporary of the great Sankarācārya (who is assigned to the 8th century A.D.) from the following verses in the 15th chapter of Sankara Digvijaya :
कवये कथयास्मदीयवामिह सौम्येति स भट्टभास्कराय । विससर्ज वशंवदाग्रगण्यं मुनिरभ्यर्णगतं सनन्दनार्यम् ॥ अभिरूपकुलावतंसभूतं बहुधा व्याकृतसर्ववेदराशिम् ।
In the face of these facts, the statement HEHIFTIST HT1791चार्यान प्राचीन इति तु निश्चितमेव 2 made in the Sanskrit preface to Bhatta Bhāskara's Rudraprasna Bhāsya, is evidently baseless since Bhatta Bhaskara is anterior to Sāyaṇa Madhava by centuries, as pointed out above.
This Bhatta Bhāskara, who is the author of Yajurveda Bhāşya, should be distinguished from another Bhatta Bhāskara who wrote a commentary called Arşeyadipa on the Arseya Brāhmna of Sāma Veda. While the former belongs to the family of Kusika, the latter belongs to that of Kāsya pa and his date is not known.
1 Oriental Library Publication Series Art GIAT:, p. 113. 2 Anandāśrama Series, Rudrādhyāya, Introduction: p. 6.
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
