Neelakantha Chaturdhara
Encyclopedia
Neelakantha Chaturdhara was a scholar who lived in Varanasi
(Banaras) in the later half of the 17th century, famous for his commentary on the Mahabharata
.
His commentary, Bhāratabhāvadīpa, is the only one that is widely used in Sanskrit studies today. His commentary was from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta.
In the recent past, he "has been maligned without warrant" by modern scholars, but his "understandings underlie more than a little of what is in the English language renderings of the epic."
The first English-language translation of the Mahabharata, by the scholarly Kisari Mohan Ganguli, acknowledges the influence of Nilakantha's commentary.
The Clay Sanskrit Library
's project of translating the Mahabharata used the version known to Nilakantha rather than the critical edition.
As with most scholars of pre-modern India, little is known of his life. He was from a Marathi-speaking Brahmin family that had been established in a town on the banks of the river Godavari. He moved to Varanasi, where he studied Veda and Vedanga, Mimamsa, Srauta, Yoga, Saiva texts, Tarka, and Advaita Vedanta from several teachers, before beginning his literary career.
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
(Banaras) in the later half of the 17th century, famous for his commentary on the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
His commentary, Bhāratabhāvadīpa, is the only one that is widely used in Sanskrit studies today. His commentary was from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta.
In the recent past, he "has been maligned without warrant" by modern scholars, but his "understandings underlie more than a little of what is in the English language renderings of the epic."
The first English-language translation of the Mahabharata, by the scholarly Kisari Mohan Ganguli, acknowledges the influence of Nilakantha's commentary.
The Clay Sanskrit Library
Clay Sanskrit Library
The Clay Sanskrit Library is a series of books published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation. Each work features the text in its original language on the left-hand page, with its English translation on the right...
's project of translating the Mahabharata used the version known to Nilakantha rather than the critical edition.
As with most scholars of pre-modern India, little is known of his life. He was from a Marathi-speaking Brahmin family that had been established in a town on the banks of the river Godavari. He moved to Varanasi, where he studied Veda and Vedanga, Mimamsa, Srauta, Yoga, Saiva texts, Tarka, and Advaita Vedanta from several teachers, before beginning his literary career.
External links
- Nilakantha’s Mahābhārata by Christopher Minkowski, India Seminar No. 608 (April 2010):