Indian Antiquary Vol 41

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 15

DAKSHINI PANDITS AT BENARES
11
JANUARY, 1912.]
The third son of Narayana was Govinda who died at the age of 48. He was very fond of his mother, whom he served all through life, following her shortly after her death. He left four sons-Lakshmi Bhatta, Indra Bhatta, Rama Bhatta and Brahma Bhatta. The second son of Narayana Bhatta was Sankara Bhatta. His disciples were :
(i) Mallâri Bhatta
(ii) Bhattoji Dikshita, the author of the Siddhanta-Kaumudi. He taught through his son Damodara:
(i) Kshirâbdhirâma
(ii) Abhayankara
(iii) Viśvanatha Dânte
He wrote Dharmadvaita-nirnayachandrika, Mimamsá-bálaprakása, Vidhi-rasayana-dushana Vratamayukha, Sástra-dipika-prakása, Sarva-dharma-prakása and Braddha-kalpa-sára. Of these Dvaitanirnaya is very well known. Sankara does not speak much of himself in his work. He simply says that in his old age he was very much distressed by the loss of a dear nephew of his. The book as a matter of course does not record his death. That he was a very prominent figure at Benares is evidenced by Kavindra-chandrôdayd. It calls him the head of the Pandit community of India and a great patron of learning. We do not know when he died, we know from Prayaschitta-mayúkha of his son Nilakantha that he had four sons, Damodara, Nrisimha, Nilakantha (all of whom he mentions in his Gadhi) and Ranganatha. Perhaps Ranganatha was dead when the book was written.
Leaving the Gadhi family now to pursue their career of authorship with the greatest vigour in the seventeenth century, I now proceed to give an account of the man who wielded the greatest influence in India during the middle of the seventeenth century. This is Vidyanidhi Kavindra. He was a Sannyasi, but he was a very rich man. He had a Bhandari or treasurer named KrishnaBhatta. Both the master and servant were good poets and men of the highest Hindu culture. They migrated from the banks of the Godavari, perhaps owing to the annexation of the remnant of Nizam Shahi dominions by the Great Moghul Shah Jehan. Kavindra is mentioned as wielding the highest influence after Bhatta Narayana and Sankara for the good not only of Pandits and Brahmans but of Hindus in general. Shah Jehan gave him the title of Sarvavidyanidhana. So he is known as Sarvavidyanidhana-Kavindra-Sarasvati. He was a great collector of manuscripts. It is not known how many thousands of manuscrips he collected, but all the manuscripts of his library bear in large, bold, and beautiful Devanagari character his signature SarvavidyanidhanaKavindra-Sarasvati. That signature is a guarantee for the correctness and accuracy of the manuscript. It is not known when and how the library was broken up, but the manuscripts of his library can now be procured in Benares, and they are preferred by all Pandits to other manuscripts.
At that time Hindus suffered great hardship owing to the exaction of a pilgrim tax from all votaries that came to Benares and Prayaga. Kavindra, as the acknowledged head of the Pandits of Benares, was greatly moved by the hardship of his co-religionists. He journeyed to Agra with a large following and proceeded to the Diwânâm, and there he pleaded the cause of the Hindu pilgrims with so much force of eloquence that all the noblemen of the court from Irak, Iran. Badakshan, Balkh, Kabul, Kandahar, Kashmere, Panjab, and Sindh were struck with wonder. Shah Jehan and Dara Shikoh relented and abolished the tax. That was a day of great rejoicing throughout Hindu India. It was on this occasion that the title of Sarvavidyanidhana was conferred upon him. When he came back to Benares with his new title and with the prestige of success, addresses poured upon him from all parts of India. About a hundred of these in Sanskrit were collected together by his Bhandari, who also presented one with 35 verses; and two copies of