Philosopher
Bhāskara
fl. 750–850 CE
Also known as Bhaskara, Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara
The first thinker the tradition recognises as a Bhedābheda Vedāntin, whose commentary on the Brahma Sūtra defended the reality of the world against Śaṅkara's Advaita.
Bhāskara lived in the eighth or ninth century, either a younger contemporary of Śaṅkara or slightly later. His only surviving work is his commentary on the Brahma Sūtra, written to defend earlier Bhedābheda readings of it against Śaṅkara, whom he never names.
He was the first in a long line of Vedāntins, including Rāmānuja and Madhva, who set out to refute Advaita, and the Advaita tradition remembered him as a thorn in its side: a fourteenth-century life of Śaṅkara shows a proud ‘Bhaṭṭa Bhāskara’ defeated by him in debate.
Key ideas
- Against Advaita
- Bhāskara wrote his commentary on the Brahma Sūtra to block interpreters who, he said, had hidden its meaning behind their own ideas. Many stock arguments later used against Advaita began with him.
- Difference through limiting conditions
- Brahman becomes finite and many through limiting conditions, as a clear diamond looks red beside a red flower. The change is real: the individual self really is bound and suffering while the conditions last.
- Liberation removes the limits
- Difference lasts only for a time: by its nature Brahman is one, not many. Liberation is the removal of the limiting conditions.
- Tradition
- Indian
- Region
- India
- Themes
- What is ultimately real
Influences
Influenced by
Bhāskarafl. 750–850 CE
Influenced
Influenced by
Bhāskarafl. 750–850 CE
Influenced
Where these links come from
- Bhāskara argued against Śaṅkara. Source: Andrew J. Nicholson, Bhedabheda Vedanta, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Vijñānabhikṣu drew on Bhāskara. Source: Andrew J. Nicholson, Bhedabheda Vedanta, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Key works
- Commentary on the Brahma Sūtra (Brahmasūtrabhāṣya)
Sources
- Andrew J. Nicholson, Bhedabheda Vedanta, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy