Talk:Parāśarabhatta
By Swami Harshananda
Parāśarabhatta (A. D. 1073-1165)
One of the unfinished tasks of Yāmunācārya (A. D. 912-1042) which Rāmānuja (A. D. 1017-1137) had inherited and promised to fulfil, was the perpetuation of the name of Parāśara, the great sage who wrote the Visnupurāna. As he was searching for a suitable person to whom he could assign the task, his eyes fell on the young son of his own faithful disciple, Kureśa. He gave him the name ‘Parāśarabhaṭṭa,’ got him trained in the traditional lore of his Vedānta and commanded him to write a detailed commentary on the well-known hymn, the Visnusahasranāma GMahābhārata, Anuśāsanaparva 149). Parāśarabhaṭṭa successfully completed his assignment and named his commentary as Bhagavadgunadarpana (‘a Mirror to the Qualities of the Lord’).
Since he was extremely intelligent and had acquired great scholarship in the Śrīvaiṣṇava philosophy and traditions, Rāmānuja made him the chief pontiff of the Raṅganātha temple complex at Śrīraṅgam (in Tamil Nadu).
He had attained mastery in Sanskrit as well as Tamil.
Nine more works—all in Sanskrit— have been attributed to him. Some of them are: Hymns like the Gunaratnakośa and Srīrañgarājastava; Tattvaratnākara;
Adhyātmakhandadvayavivarana and
Kriyādīpa.
Vedānta Deśika (A. D. 1268-1369) had been deeply influenced by the writings of Parāśarabhaṭṭa.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore