Bhattoji Diksita On Sphota

Author(s): Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst

Page 17

BHATTOJI DIKSITA ON SPHOTA
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Tripāthī (1977: (au)) and Mīmāmsaka (sam. 2030: I: 487 n. 1) cite a line from the Sabdakaustubha (tad etat sakalam abhidhāya prakriyāprakāśe gurucaranair uktam: tajjñānam it yādau tu ścut vam bhavaty eva') #8 which shows that Bhattoji was acquainted with Sesa Krsna's Prakriyāprakāśa at the time of writing his Sabdakaustubha, and that Sesa Krsna was, or had been, his teacher at that time. This fact, along with the circumstance that Sesa Krsna's Prakāśa refers to the Dīksita and is familiar with at least some opinions which Bhattoji expresses in his Sabdakaustubha, allow us to conclude that the times of composition of Sabdakaustubha and Prakriyāprakāśa overlapped, the latter perhaps having been completed slightly before the former. 89
The fact that Bhattoji's early works did not initially attract much attention may be of some importance in the context of our present investigation. It means that Bhattoji's main impact was in the field of technical grammar, where he gained both acclaim and opposition. His contribution to the philosophy of grammar may have had to wait for his nephew Kaunda Bhatta before it drew a wider readership. Commentaries on the Sabdakaustubha were written, but not until later, the first surviving one (Visamapadī) being from the hand of Nāgesa, the second (Prabhā) from that of Vaidyanātha Pāyagunda.” It is true that Jagannātha may also have written a critical commentary on it, and that Cakrapāni refers to the Kaustubha;92 also the name of a text called Sabdakaustubha Dūsana by a certain Bhāskara Dīksita has come down to us. These critical treatises do not however seem to have survived.
Some of the personal details so far uncovered do not depict the stereotype which we may have of Sanskrit pandits. These men were not withdrawn scholars who devoted their lives to the service of a timeless tradition. The little we know about their private lives paints a different picture altogether. It introduces us to ambitious students goaded on by inflated egos and personal jealousies, keen to establish their reputations and pull down those of others, using any excuse available.
Having gained some insight into the personality and personal context of Bhattoji Dīksita, it will be interesting to learn something more about the world he lived in. We know that Bhattoji had ended up in Benares, and that he composed the works that made him famous in that same city. How do we have to imagine the life and daily surroundings of Sanskrit pandits of his time? We know from Muslim sources that Benares was "The chief seat of learning in