Sanskrit Manuscripts : Dravyaprakāśikā

Bhagīratha Ṭhakkura

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'>One of the few extant manuscripts of Bhagīratha Ṭhakkura’s <i>Dravyaprakāśikā</i> (also called <i>Dravyamegha</i> or <i>Dravyajaladā</i>), an unpublished commentary on Vardhamāna’s <i>Prakāśa</i> on the first section of Udayana’s <i>Kiraṇāvalī</i>. The author, sometimes nicknamed Megha (“The Cloud”), belonged to the Mithilā school of “New logic” (Navya-Nyāya) and was indeed, according to D.C. Bhattacharya (1958: 172), “a celebrated logician of Mithilā”. Probably born in Karijana (modern Kariyan, South of Darbhaṅga in Bihar) and active around 1500 or slightly later, he was the elder brother of the great Maithili logician Maheśa Ṭhakkura. Another brother of his, one Mahādeva Śarman, is mentioned in the second stanza of the present work (identical with the second stanza of his <i>Nyāyakusumāñjaliprakāśikā</i>). It is believed that Bhagīratha studied under Jayadeva Miśra and was a contemporary of Raghunātha Śiromaṇi, who also commented on the section on quality (<i>guṇa</i>) of Vardhamāna’s <i>Kiraṇāvalīprakāśa</i>. Most of Bhagīratha’s works, some of which have been published (see Bhattacharya and Potter 2011: 196-207), are commentaries on treatises by Udayana or Vardhamāna, with a neat predilection for Vaiśeṣika topics. </p>