Marāṭhī Commentators of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

(Introduction):

In translating the X and XI Skandhas of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, I have freely utilised two standard commentaries in Marathi—KD. or Kṛṣṇa Dayārṇava’s Harivaradā on the X Skandha, and EK. or Ekanātha’s Ekākāra Ṭīkā on the XI Skandha.

Maharashtra has a long tradition of the study and interpretation of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa—even before Bhāvāratha Dīpikā, as Bhāvāratha Dīpikā respectfully mentions Bopadeva (13th Gent A.D.) from Maharashtra. There are two schools of interpreting the Bhāgavata Purāṇa—the orthodox, the early exponent of which is Bopadeva and this school is represented by a number of Maratha saints like Ekanātha, Bahirā (Bhairava) Jātaveda, Janī Janārdana, Śiva Kalyāṇa, Kṛṣṇa Dayārṇava and others; the other School is that of the Mahānubhāva sect like Bhāskara Bhaṭṭa (author of ‘Uddhava Gītā’) and others.

The most famous commentator of the orthodox school was EK. (Ekanātha) Circa 1533—1599 A.D. This scholar saint—social reformer of the 16th Gent. A.D. was not only the greatest writer of his time, but even to-day, he is second to Jñāneśvara in the realm of Marathi literature. EK. lived at Paiṭhaṇ, the ancient capital of Maharashtra of the Sātavāhana period. He adorned whatever he touched. He took the romantic episode of the marriage of Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and his Rukmiṇī Svayaṃvara is still unsurpassed and girls who wish to get their marriage settled at the earliest still read it devoutly. Kṛṣṇa Dayārṇva, the most famous commentator on the X Skandha of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa has bodily incorporated the whole of this work (Rukmiṇī Svayaṃvara) out of respect for EK., his spiritual predecessor. EK. wrote a number of Vedāntic treatises. But his magnum opus is his commentary on the XI Skandha of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa He explained each and every verse of the XI Skandha in 18,000 Ovī verses in Marathi. The Pandits of Benares where EK. wrote this commentary in 1573 A.D. warmly appreciated this work. As the legend goes (as in the case of Bhāvāratha Dīpikā’s Commentary on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa) EK’s commentary was adjudged as the best by the presiding deity of Benares.

Though EK. pays high tributes to Bhāvāratha Dīpikā, he differs from him on many points, a few of which are recorded in the footnotes here. EK’s commentary is a synthesis of philosophy and poetry presented to the masses in chaste, lucid Marathi. None of the fifteen SK commentators of different schools of Vedānta (published in the Bhāgavata Vidyapeeth Ahmedabad’s edition) could surpass him in the flight of imagination and felicity of expression. It is a fond dream of the present writer to render it into English for non-Marathi knowing readers.

EK. wrote a voluminous work on the Rāmāyaṇa. His allegorical description of the various customs and classes of society, known as Bhāruḍa is sociologically important.

EK. practised the teaching of Bhāgavata Purāṇa and is still respected as a great saint in Maharashtra.

Kṛṣṇa Dayārṇava (KD.)

KD. (1674-1740 A.D.), the author of the monumental Marathi commentary, Harivaradā (42,000 verses in the Ovī metre) on the X Skandha, is a spiritual descendant of EK. KD’s spiritual genealogy is as follows:—

Ekanātha—>Cidānanda—>Svānanda Svāmi—>Govinda Guru—>Kṛṣṇa Dayārṇava. His Original name was Narahari, but his habit of loudly remembering God as “Kṛṣṇa Dayārṇava” led people to re-christen him as KD. His two immediate (spiritual) predecessors were important officers in the service of Śivājī the founder of the Maratha Kingdom and his son. Sambhājī (1680-89 A.D.). KD. himself had to go through the fiery ordeal of Aurangzeb’s ruthless attempt to crush the newly founded Hindu Kingdom till his (Aurangzeb’s) death in 1707 A.D.

KD. does not state how far he is indebted to his Maratha pūrva sūrīs like Bahirā (Bhairava) Jātaveda, Śiva-Kalyāṇa who wrote 25,806 Ovī-verses and 1,25,000 Ovī verses respectively on the X Skandha, and it is difficult to ascertain it as the above-mentioned works are still unpublished. But Harī-varadā shows the encyclopaedic knowledge of KD.

KD. began to write this commentary at the age of fifty- four, as he was advised to sing of the Lord as a remedy for his serious Malady. And like the ancient EK. poet Mayūra, he was cured of it by the time he completed the first half of the X Skandha. Harīvaradā reflects a high standard of achievement in blending poetry with philosophy and other disciplines then current in Maharashtra.

KD. completed X. 87.23 of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and passed away on 13th November 1740. The remaining portion was completed by his disciple Uttama-Śloka in 1743.

Sanātana Gosvāmī (SG.)

SG. and his brother Rūpa Gosvāmī belong to the Gauḍīya school of Vaiṣṇavism. They were Brahmins from Karnatak in the South, who attained influential official positions in the Muslim Court of Gauḍa with a muslim title. This led some scholars to believe that they were muslim converts. But as S.K. De points out, “The stupendous Śāstric learning as well as the Vaiṣṇava disposition of the two brothers undoubtedly prompted Caitanya to select them as the apologists of his faith” (Vaiṣṇava Jaith and Movement, P. 73 Foot note 2). The contribution of SG. in building up the Gauḍīya School of Vaiṣṇavism is substantial. Unfortunately his commentary on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is published in the Bengali script. I had to depend on the excerpts of SG. published in the Devanāgarī script in the Vrinḍavan edition of the X Skandha. And even the excerpts testify to the great scholarship of SG. In the interest of the understanding of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism in other parts of India, one wishes the Gosvāmis of Vrindavan to bring out a Devanāgarī edition of SG.’s work.