Vārttikakāra

A (, , Commentator), in Indian linguistics and philosophy, is a person who wrote a critical commentary or a gloss on a given grammatical or philosophical work.

Monier Williams Dictionary defines Vārttikakāra as a composer of vārttikas. A vārttika is defined as a single remark or a whole work attempting to present a detailed commentary. The word vārttik- derives from , either in the sense of 'the turning () of sūtra-formulation into a fully worded paraphrase' or, in the sense of 'procedure (of the teaching)'. According to the Indian tradition, the purpose of a vārttika is to enquire into what has been said (ukta), what has not been said (anukta), and what has not been said clearly (durukta).

Famous Vārttikakāras

• Sureśvara is the commentator of the Advaita Vedanta school. His famous commentaries include the Bŗhadāraņyakopanişad-bhāşya-vārttika and the TaittirÄ«ya-vārttika.
• Katyayana is identified as the Vārttikakāra of Indian linguistics, who wrote commentaries on 's .

References