By Swami Harshananda
The language of the Vedas is quite terse and archaic. Hence it is rather difficult to understand them without the help of standard commentaries. Among the well-known commentators of the Vedas who have made them easy to understand, Uvaṭa is also the one. He was a brāhmaṇa probably from Kashmir. His father was Vajraṭa and he lived in the city of Avantī during the reign of the king Bhoja. He probably lived in A. D. 1042.
He has written a commentary on the Śukla Yajurveda Samhitā which is also known as Vājasaneyī Samhitā. It is also called as Mantrahāsya. The commentary is simple and clear, but follows the method of interpreting according to Vedic sacrificial terminologies rather than philosophical concepts. His other works are bhāṣyas or commentaries on the Ṛkprātiśākhya, Yajuhprātiśākhya and Ṛksarvānukramanī.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore