Vachaspati Mishra (IAST: VÃÂcaspati Mià Âra), was a ninth or tenth century Indian Hindu philosopher of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, who wrote bhashya (commentaries) on key texts of almost every 9th-century school of Hindu philosophy. and harmonised Shankara's thought with that of Mandana Mià Âra, who until the 10th century was the most authoritative exponent of Advaita Vedanta. He also wrote an independent treatise on grammar, Tattvabindu, or Drop of Truth, which focuses on MëmÃÂá¹Âsàtheories of sentence meaning.
VÃÂchaspati Misra was born into a Maithil Brahmin family in Andhra Tharhi, Madhubani, Bihar. Little is known about VÃÂchaspati Mià Âra's life, and the earliest text that has been dated with certainty is from 840 CE, and he was at least one generation younger than Adi à Âaá¹ kara. However, an alternate date for the same text may be 976 CE, according to some scholars; a confusion that is based on whether Hindu à Âaka or Vikrama era calendar is used for the dating purposes.
He was a student of Maá¹Âá¸Âana Mià Âra, who was his main inspirator. He harmonised Shankara's thought with that of Mandana Mià Âra. According to Advaita tradition, Shankara reincarnated as Vachaspati Mià Âra "to popularise the Advaita System through his Bhamati."
He wrote so broadly on various branches of Indian philosophy that later Indian scholars called him the "one for whom all systems are his own", or in Sanskrit, a sarva-tantra-sva-tantra.
VÃÂchaspati Mià Âra was a prolific scholar and his writings are extensive, including bhasyas (commentaries) on key texts of almost every 9th-century school of Hindu philosophy, with notes on non-Hindu or nÃÂstika traditions such as Buddhism and Charvaka.
VÃÂchaspati Mià Âra wrote the Bhamati, a commentary on Shankara's Brahma Sutra Bhashya, named after his devout wife, and the Brahmatattva-samiksa, a commentary on Mandana Mishra's Brahma-siddhi. The Bhamati Tika was explained by Amalananda Swami in his sub commentary called Kalpataru during 1300 AD. Similarly the sub commentary Kalpataru was explained by Mahapandit Appaya Dikshit explained in his sub commentary called Parimal during 1600 AD. In 1983, Dr Ishwar Singh of Maharshi Dayanand University published a research book on Bhamati Tika known as "Bhamati: Ek Adhyayana". This book is an evaluation of Vachaspati Mishra in the context of Vedanta philosophy.
Other influential commentaries are Tattvakaumudi on SÃÂá¹ÂkhyakÃÂrika; NyÃÂyasucinibandha on NyÃÂya-sà «tras; NyÃÂyakÃÂnika (an Advaita work on science of reason), Tattvasamiká¹£a (lost work), NyÃÂya-vÃÂrttika-tÃÂtparyaá¹Âëkà(a subcommentary on the NyÃÂya-sà «tras), Tattva-vaià ÂÃÂradë on Yogasà «tra.
While some known works of VÃÂchaspati Mià Âra are now lost, numerous others exist. Over ninety medieval era manuscripts, for example, in different parts of India have been found of his Tattvakaumudi, which literally means "Moonlight on the Truth". This suggests that his work was sought and influential. A critical edition of Tattvakaumudi was published by Srinivasan in 1967.
In Tattvabindu Vachaspati Mishra develops principles of hermeneutics, and discusses the "Theory of Meaning" for the MëmÃÂá¹Âsàschool of Hindu philosophy. This is an influential work, and attempted to resolve some of the interpretation disputes on classical Sanskrit texts. VÃÂchaspati examines five competing theories of linguistic meaning:
The Bhamati school, or BhÃÂmatë-PrasthÃÂna, is named after VÃÂchaspati Mià Âra's commentary on Shankara's Brahma Sutra Bhashya, but several distinctive can be traced back to Maá¹Âá¸Âana Mià Âra's Brahmasiddhi. It sees the Jiva as the source or locus of avidya. According to the Bhamati School, while "Brahman is the object of Avidya." In the beginning of the Bhamati Tika, Vachaspati Mishra refers two kinds of Avidya. There are as many ignorances (Avidya ) as living beings. This school accepts Avchedavada (Excluding Distinction) regarding the nature of soul and God. Vachaspati Mishra considered that the Brahman bound by Maya (illusion) or Avidya is the living being, while the Brahman beyond Maya is God.
It sees meditation as the main factor in the acquirement of liberation, while the study of the Vedas and reflection are additional factors. Vachaspati Mishra belonged to a tradition of Advaita Vedanta known as Prasankhyanavada which believed in the "Dhyana Theory". It is the theory of continuous meditation. According to this theory, unlike the theory propounded by the SamuccayavÃÂdins, the performance of Karmas does not contribute to the attainment of "Brahman-Knowledge". According to this theory one should renounce performances of all the Karmas before going to start the practice of meditation. The practice of meditation is on the meaning of the mahavakya(great sentence) "Tat Tvam Asi" of Upanishad text. Vachaspati Mishra similar to Mandan Mishra believed that there should be no injunction during the practice of meditation because right knowledge of Vedantic teaching may be sublated by incorrect knowledge during the ordinary life.