Bhattoji Diksita On Sphota

Author(s): Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst

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BHATTOJI DIKSITA ON SPHOTA
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The establishment of the Mughal empire may in this way have created more rather than fewer opportunities for bright Sanskrit scholars, both young and old. One of the priorities of these scholars was, inevitably, to attract the attention of one or more potential patrons. One way to do so would be to participate in one of the oral debates which apparently were held at the courts of various rulers. We have already seen that Jagannatha supposedly defeated Muslim scholars at the court of Shah Jahan. Indeed, it is known that already Akbar had organized debates at his court, and had even built a debating-hall (called House of Worship, 'Ibadat Khāna) in the gardens of his palace at Fathpur-Sikri; initially only schools of Muslim theology had participated, later representatives of other religions as well. But debates also took place in less glamorous surroundings. Rangoji Bhatta, who was both Bhattoji's brother and Kaunda Bhatta's father, is recorded to have defeated the Dvaita scholar Vidyadhīśayati in debate at the court of the Keladi ruler Venkaṭappa. More complete information about the places where and the frequency with which such debates took place, and about the ways in which the winner might be expected to be rewarded, would be of great interest for an understanding of the inner dynamic of Sanskrit scholarship at that period. For the time being we have to be guided by the impressions gained from a small selection of sources.
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The preceding reflections suggest that at the time of Bhattoji, more perhaps than before, there was place for original characters. Success did not primarily depend upon respect for tradition and for the elders. Indeed, a scholar might deviate from traditional thinking and behavior and yet impress his readership or audience. Characters like Bhattoji and Panditarāja Jagannatha had a place in this world, and may indeed have gained notoriety precisely because they did and said things that were not altogether sanctioned by tradition. At the same time it should not be forgotten that the freedom of thought and behavior of the pandits of Benares was relative. As a group they still represented traditional Hinduism which, in spite of the comparatively tolerant attitude of the early Mughal emperors, remained under threat from Islam. In the district of Benares alone 76 Hindu temples are recorded to have been destroyed by Shah Jahan, and several more by Aurangzeb. Innovative ideas were therefore strictly confined to areas that were not threatening to the tradition as such, even though they might be threatening to a particular thinker and his relatives. Bhattoji, as we have seen, went out of his way to show that his new ideas about the sphota were really not new at all.'
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