Bhamati Tika

Bhamati Tika (Sanskrit: भामती टीका) or Bhamati (Romanised: Bhāmatī) is a commentary on the six schools of the Indian philosophy and Brahman Sutra by the Indian philosopher Vachaspati Mishra.^[1] Bhamati was originally the name of the wife of the philosopher Vachaspati Mishra.^[2][3]

Vachaspati Mishra was an Indian philosopher who studied Indian philosophy and Brahma Sutra during 10th century CE. It is said that 6th Shankaracharya given him a text Brahma Sutra. As a philosopher he worked on the analysis of the text Brahma Sutra. After completion of his study, he returned to his home and asked to his mother for the permission of writing commentary on the Brahma Sutra and the Indian philosophy. His mother granted the permission. After that he started writing commentary on the texts. When he completed his commentary, he came to know that his wife was giving him unconditional service during his literary work. It is said that after knowing the unconditional devoted services of his wife towards him, the philosopher named his commentary book as "Bhamati" after his wife name.^[4][1]

Bhamati Tika is an important text in the realm of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. It has given a new direction with its advent to the Advaita Vedanta. So Bhamati is considered as an independent subschool of Advaita Vedanta.^[5] As an independent school of thought on Vedanta, it is also termed as "Bhamati School" and "Bhāmatī-Prasthāna".^[5][6][7] The place where Vachaspati Mishra composed the text Bhamati Tika is known as Vachaspati Mishra Dih.^[8]

Some of the features of this Bhamati School can be traced back to Maṇḍana Miśra's Brahmasiddhi. In the beginning of the Bhamati Tika, two kinds of Avidya is referred by Vachaspati Mishra. According to Bhamati School, "the individual soul is the locus of Avidya, while Brahman is the object of Avidya".^[9] 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.^[9]

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 Samuccayavādins, 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.^[10]

Later, 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.^[11] 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.^[12]