Tattvabindu by Vacaspatimisra with Tattvavibhavana (An Old and Rare Book)

$35
Item Code: NAM142
Author: V. A. Ramaswami Sastri
Publisher: Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Janakpuri
Language: Sanskrit Only
Edition: 1991
ISBN: 8170130913
Pages: 427
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 9.5 inch x 6.0 inch
Weight 820 gm
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Book Description
About the Book

This edition of Vacaspatimisra’s Tattvabindu and its commentary Tattvavibhavana by Paramesvara II is based on a transcrived of a manuscript Tattvavibhavana preserved in the Madras Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and the Benares Edition of the Tattvabindu. Since the commentator has made it a rule to quote the full text by parts before commenting on it, his text has been accepted for this edition.

The commentary is indispensable for a correct appreciation of the intricacies of Vacaspatimisra’s thought and style. Paramesvara II who lived more than half a millennium after Vacaspatimisra, considers occasionally the interpretations of the earlier commentators on the Tattvabindu and the various readings of the text. In its Sphotakhandana section he cites Karikas and prose passages from the Sphotasiddhi of Mandanamisra and advances the important and interesting view that the first part of the Tattvabindu contains a direct refutation of the views of Mandanamisra on the theory of Sphota. He offers to students of Mimamsa sastra solutions for many knotty problems concerning historical and doctrinal sides of this Sastra.

 

Preface

This edition of Vacaspatimisra’s Tattvabindu and of its commentary Tattvavibhavana by Paramesvara II is based on (1) a transcript of a manuscript Tattvavibhavana preserved in the Madras Government oriental Manuscripts Library, and (2) the Benares Edition of the Tattvabindu. Since the commentator has made it a rule to quote the full text by parts before commenting on it, his text has been accepted for this edition. But the many lacunae in the text have been filled up with the help of the printed book. The readings both in the text and the commentary are however found defective in some instances, and suggestions of better readings are given in brackets.

The commentary is indispensable for a correct appreciation of the intricacies of Vacaspatimisra’s thought and style. Paramesvara II who lived more than half a millennium after Vacaspatimisra, considers occasionally the interpretations of the earlier commentators on the Tattvabindu and the various readings of the text. In its Sphotakhandana section he cites karakas and prose passages from the Sphotasiddhi of Mandanamisra and advances the important and interesting view that the first part of the Tattvabindu contains a direct refutation of the views of Mandanamisra on the theory of Sphota. Paramesvara II was no doubt thoroughly familiar with all the works of Kumarila, probably including the Brhattika, and of Parbhakara with Salikanatha’s commentaries thereon. He was equally familiar with other authoritative. Works like the Nayaviveka and the Vivekatattva, and he has displayed in his work a critical estimate of both the Bhatta and Prabhakara schoos of Mimamsa. Consequently he offers to students of Mimamsa Sastra solutions for many knotty problems concerning the historical and the doctrinal sides of this Sastra.

It now remains for me to acknowledge the help I have received in editing this work. I own a deep debt of gratitude to my friend and colleague Brahmasri K.A. Sivaramakrishna Sastrigal Avl., Vedanta ad Vyakarana Siromani, Pandit in Sanskrit, and to my friend and teacher Brahmasri S.K. Ramanatha Sastrigal Avl., Lecturer in Sanskrit, Madras University, for their valuable suggestions in the fixing up of the text and in proof-reading; and to my friend M.R. Ry. R. Satyanatha Ayyar Avl., M.A., L.T., Lecturer in History, for his valuable suggestions in the preparation of the historical portions of the Introduction. I am profoundly grateful to Professor K. Rama Piaharoti, M.A., L. T., Professor of Sanskrit, for his kindness in revising in revising the manuscript of my Introduction. It is difficult for me to adequately thank my revered Professor Mahamahopadhyaya Darsanakalanidhi Vidyavacaspati Kulapati S. Kuppuswami Sastrigal Avl., M.A., I.E.S., Retired Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology, Presidency College, Madras, for the kindness and readiness with which he has enriched this work with his FOREWORD. I sincerely thank Pandit Lakshmana Sastri Tailang for having allowed me to incorporate in this edition the Tippani of his late brother, M M. Manavalli Gangadhara Sastri. I cannot forget the great help that my friend Brahmasri Vedantalankara Vedanta Siromani T. V. Ramachandra Dikshitar Avl., Professor of Vedanta, Sanskrit College, Mylapore, Madras, has rendered me in suggesting almost all the improvements to the printed text incorporated in Appendix V. I have to record my thanks to the Curators of the Madras Govt. Oriental Mss. Library and the Adyar Library for the facilities they have given me to consult many valuable manuscripts.

I wish to express my indebtedness to the authorities of the University and in particular to M.R.RY. Dewan Bahadur S.E. Runganadhan Avl., M.A., I. E.S., Retired Vice-Chancellor of the Annamalai University for permitting me to edit this work, and to the Right Hon’ ble V.S. Srinivasa Sastri, P.C., C.H., LL.D. the Vice-Chancellor, for graciously permitting me to dedicate this work to him.

Lastly, I have to express my sincere thanks to the Superintendent, St. Joseph’s Industrial School Press, Trichinopoly, for the neat printing and get-up of the work.

 

Foreword

In compliance with the request of my friend and former pupil Mr. V. A. Ramaswami Sastri, M. A., Mimamsa Siromani, Lecturer in Sanskrit of the Annamalai University, Annamalinagar, Chidambaram, I gladly writethis short

Mr. V.A. Ramaswami Sastri has rendered a highly valuable service to Sanskrit scholars who are interested in the study of advanced Sastraic texts in the original, by bringing out a very reliable edition of Vacaspatimisra’s Tattvabindu, together with the commentary called Tattvavibhavana by Paramesvara II, of the Kerala country. Vacaspatimisra belongs to the middle of the ninth century A.D. and Paramesvara II flourished in the Porkulam village of Kunnankulam, near Guruvayur, in the Cochin State, in the former half of the fifteenth century A.D.

Vacaspatimisra’s Tattvabindu is a short and highly difficult text. In his characteristically rhythmic and stately diction, Vacaspatimisra reviews in the Vaiyakarana doctrine of Sphota, mainly as expounded by Bhartrhari and Mandansmisra, and amplifies and reaffirms Kumarila’s criticism of Sphota doctrine. Bhartrhari and Mandana in their exposition of the sphota doctrine worked out fully the ontological implication involved in what may be logical implication involved in what may be described, in terms of modern psychology, as a Gestalt view of the experience relating to the complete and self-contained significative unit, called sentence (vakya), by establishing the doctrine of Sabdadvaita and reconciling it with the Upanisadic doctrine of Brahmadvaita. The substantival pluralism of the Mimamsakas. both of the schools of Kumarila Prabhakara, set its face against all kinds of Advaitism and was opposed to Bhartrhari’s Sabdadvaita. Though Vacaspatimisra was one of the greatest Advaitins and was dominated, in a large measure, by the spirit of philosophical accommodation which characterised Mandana’s great Advaitic classic-Brahmasiddhi, he chose to maintain in his Tattvabindu, the attitude which Kumarila adopted towards the doctrine of Sphota in his Slokavarttika.

The Commentary-Tattvavibhavana-which is incorporated in this edition, is lucid and very helpful in understanding the text of Vacaspatimisra. Though this commentary is generally reliable, it must be said that the learned com-mentator nods in some places. For instance, at page 96 of the text, the commentator has adopted a defective reading and he has entirely missed the meaning of the technical terms used in this text. By the way it may be observed that the correct reading of this text is as given in the footnote; and that this refers to the three types of cognitions which are capable of being reproduced in memory which Prasastapada describes in his Padarthadharmasangraha in the Samskara section of the gunagrantha.

The elaborate and scholarly introduction, giving a historical sketch of the Mimamsa literature, and the thorough-going analysis of the Tattvabindu, in English, which the learned editor has prefixed to his edition of the work, greatly enhance the value of this edition as an important book of reference. I heartily congratulate Mr. Ramaswami Sastri on this substantial and scholarly contribution, which he has made, in his edition of the Tattvabindu, to the printed Sastra literature in Samskrit and to the study of Indian Philosophy in general. The typographical execution and the get-up of the book reflect great credit on the Printers, St. Joseph’s Industrial School Press, Trichinopoly.

Introduction

Truth was passionately pursued in Ancient India. Her quest after truth gradually led to the development of the intuitionistic and the rationalistic tendencies ultimately to the realisation of dharma and moksa, thanks to the emergence of upanisads in the philosophy of atman. These two tendencies culminated on the one side in the Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana and on the other in Jaimini’s Purvamimamsa Sutras. The latter mark the development and culmination of the influence of the rationalistic tendency on the ritualistic aspect, both exegetical and doctrinal. It is probable that the Acaryas referred to by Jaimini might have composed their own Sutras of vedic interpretation. In all Probability, Jaimini, like Panini in the history of Sanskrit grammar, summed up all the labours of his predecessors and improved on their work to such an extent that he became the only Sutrakara in this realm of Indian Thought.

The term ‘mimamsa’ is derived from the man-to know-with the desiderative suffix ‘san’; and it means the desire for knowledge. In most recensions of the Vedas Sannanta root ‘mimamsa’ is found used either as a noun or a very in the combined sense of desire for knowledge and of discussion. The Taittiriyasamhita of the Krsna Yajurveda understands the term mimamsante in this sense: thus VII-5-7-1 says “utsrjyam notsrjyamiti mimamsante brahmava-dinah taddhahuh utsrjyam eveti” VI-2-6-4 “vyavrtkamam yam patre va talpe va mimamseran” has the word ‘mimamseran’ used in the sense of discussion; II-5-3-7 introduces a doubtful point with the ‘Brahmavadinah vadanti’ without the verb ‘mimamsante’. The Tandyabrahmana of the Sama Veda also supports the same view: thus VI-5-9 has a passage with the word mimamseta-brahmanam patre na mimamseta’ and in XXIII-4-2 the form ‘mimamseran’ is employed: “yah talpe va udake va vivahe mimamseran ta etc upeyuh”. In the Kausitakibrahmana of the Rg-Veda the verb ‘mimamsante’ and the noun ‘mimamsa’ are found: II-9 states that “udite hotavyam anuditam iti mimamsante-they investigate (the question) whether oblation should be offered to Fire when the Sun rises or before the Sun rises”; and after some remarks on each of the two alternatives, the conclusion is arrived at that “tasmat anudite hotavyam-the oblation should be offered before Sunrise”; XXVI-2 and 3 use the words ‘mimamsa’ and ‘Mimamsante’: athato goayusoh mimamsa’......... ‘atha kascit sastre va anuvacane va pramattah upahanyat vicikitsa va syat upahatam abuddham atikrantam manyamano manasa urttantam iksamano vinivrtya upahatam anupahatam krtva anantaryat prayogah syat urttantat iti mimamsante. In XXVIII-4 of the same Brahmana the word ‘mimamsa’ is found used in the sense discussion, ‘athatah paridhanasyaiva mimamsa’. In the Kanva recension of the Satapathabrahmana of the White Yajurveda the word mimamsa is used-‘saisa mimamsaiva’.

In the Upanisads we frequently meet with this work. In the Chandogyopanisad of the Sama Veda V-11-1 it is said that "Pracinasala Aupamanyavah.........mahasrotriyah sametya mimamsancakruh-Ko nu atma Kim brahma iti". In the Taittiriyopanisad of the Black Yajurveda 11-8-1 occurs the word mimamsa-'saisa anandasya mimamsa bhavati'. In the Kenopanisad of the Talavakara recension of the Sama Veda the noun form 'mimamsya' with the suffix 'yat' is found employed: "yadi manyase suvedeti daharam evapi nunam tvam uetha brahmano rupam yadasya tvam yadasya devesu atha nu mimamsyam eva te manye viditam"

 

Contents

 

Foreword XIII
Introductory Note XVII-XV
Introduction 1-197
Text 1-161
Appendix I 1-7
Appendix II 9-10
Appendix III 11
Appendix IV 12-22
Appendix V 23-25
Errata 26-28
Index of Authors 29-30
Index of Works 31-33
General Index 34-50
Bibliography 51-54

 

Sample Pages





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