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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s88: 103. Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s88

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103. Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa

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Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa was the most famous of the celebrated family of the Bhaṭṭas of Benares. For a detailed account of the family and the contribution of the several members thereof to dharmaśāstra, *vide* my Introduction to the Vyavahāramayūkha (v-xvi). M. M. Haraprasad Śāstri has brought to light a biography of this family written by Śaṅkarabhaṭṭa, a son of Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa (Ind. Ant. for 1912 vol. 41, pp. 7-13). Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa's father Rāmeśvarabhaṭṭa whose *gotra* was Viśvāmitra migrated from Pratiṣṭhāna (Paithan) in the Deccan to Benares. Rāmeśvarabhaṭṭa was a very learned man and his learning drew to him students from the whole of India. Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa was born according to Śaṅkarabhaṭṭa's biography in *śake* 1435 in the month of Caitra (i. e. about March 1513 A. D.). Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa was the eldest of three sons, the other two being Śrīdhara and Mādhava. Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa learnt all the śāstras at the feet of his father. Pandits all over India looked up to him as their leader and patron and he was an assiduous collector of Sanskrit mss. It is said that Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa brought down by his holiness rain in a season of drought and thereby induced the Mahomedan ruler that had razed the temple of Viśveśvara at Benares to the ground to allow him to rebuild it. For his erudition and piety Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa was honoured with the title 'Jagadguru' and his family was given the first place of honour in the assembly of learned Brāhmaṇas and at the recitations of the Vedas. It was Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa and his equally worthy descendants that raised dākṣiṇātya *pandits* to the position of high eminence at Benares which they still hold. Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa wrote numerous works on dharmaśāstra among which may be mentioned the Antyeṣṭipaddhati (printed by Nirṇayasāgara Press), the Tristhalīsetu (dealing with the ceremonies to be performed generally at all sacred places and particularly at Prayāga, Kāśī and Gayā) and the Prayogaratna (printed at the Nirṇayasāgara Press, 1915 A. D.). This last contains detailed descriptions and rituals of the saṁskāras from *garbhādhāna* to *vivāha*. His are standard works on the subjects they deal with and are used even now almost throughout the whole of India. He composed a commentary on the introductory verses contained in the Kālamādhava (vide Madras Triennial cat. vol. III. Sanskrit C. p. 4114 No. 2852) and a commentary on portions of the Śāstradīpikā of Pārthasārathimiśra. He composed a work on ordeals which is referred to in the Vyavahāratattva of Nīlakaṇṭha (vide p. 457 of my edition and Bikaner cat. p. 387 No. 832 for a Divyānuṣṭhāna-paddhati of Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa) and also paddhatis on the dedication of gardens, tanks etc. He exercised a profound influence over later writers directly and indirectly through his sons and grand-sons.

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As he was born in 1513 A. D. and composed the commentary on the Vṛttaratnākara in 1545 A. D., his literary activity must be placed between 1540 and 1570 A. D. This is further corroborated by the fact that his grandson Kamalākarabhaṭṭa composed the Nirṇayasindhu, one of his earliest works, in 1612 A. D.

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There is a work on dharmaśāstra called Dharmapravṛtti composed by a Nārāyaṇa. Mr. K. P. Jayasval holds that this was composed by *jagadguru* Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa (JBORS for 1927, vol. XIII, parts III-IV, p. IX). The same view is held by M. M. Haraprasad Śāstri (Ind. Ant. for 1912 p. 7). But this identity is extremely doubtful. The benedictory verses¹⁰²⁷ in the Dharmapravṛtti are different from those of the Prayogaratna and Tristhalīsetu, the method of treatment and the style are different and the colophons are also different. The author of the Dharmapravṛtti does not mention his ancestors as Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa does. Nīlakaṇṭha in his Vyavahāramayūkha finds¹⁰²⁸ fault with the Dharmapravṛtti by saying that certain quotations therein are unauthoritative.

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¹⁰²⁷ The introductory verse is नारायणं नमस्कृत्य कामदां च सरस्वतीम् । गणनाधं गुरुंश्चैव धर्मसंरक्षणाय वै ॥ धर्मप्रवृत्त्यै क्रियते कलौ नारायणेन तु। I. O. cat. p. 480 No. 1560.

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¹⁰²⁸ Vide p. 134 of व्यवहारमयूख (my edition).

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