Indian Philosophy v2.c26.s2.2

v2.c26.s2.2

Tradition from Śaṃkara downwards attributes the Sūtra to Bādarāyaṇa. The fact that the name of the latter is mentioned in several places in the third person⁷ inclines one to think that Bādarāyaṇa is not its author.⁸ Such a use of the third person is not, however, an uncommon practice in ancient India, and it need not imply a different authorship. Indian tradition identifies Bādarāyaṇa, the author of the Sūtra, with Vyāsa. Śaṃkara’s followers, Govindānanda, Vācaspati and Ānandagiri identify Vyāsa with Bādarāyaṇa; Rāmānuja, Madhva, Vallabha and Baladeva ascribe the Sūtra to Vyāsa. Sometimes this view is contested on the ground that Jaimini, whom Bādarāyaṇa quotes a number of times, is a pupil of Vyāsa, if we believe the Mahābhārata, Viṣṇu Purāṇa and the Bhāgavata, and so the cross references in the works of Jaimini and Bādarāyaṇa are not consistent with the relation of disciple and master. Śabara, Govindānanda and Ānandagiri hold that there is nothing inconsistent.¹ It is not, however, clear what opinion Śaṃkara himself held.²