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Sayana (
IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: Sāyaṇa; also called Sāyaṇācārya; died 1387) was a 14th-century
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
Mimamsa scholar from the
Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...
of
peninsular India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the Union territories of In ...
, near modern day
Bellary Ballari (formerly Bellary) is a city in the Ballari district in state of Karnataka, India. Ballari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia. Ballari district is also known as the ‘Steel city of South Ind ...
,
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
. An influential commentator on the
Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
, he flourished under King
Bukka Raya I Bukka Raya I (reigned 1356–24 February 1377) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty.Phrof A V Narasimha MurthyRare Royal Brothers: Hakka and Bukka He was a son of Bhavana Sangama, claimed by Harihara II to be of ...
and his successor
Harihara II Harihara II (died 31 August 1404) was an Emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Sangama Dynasty. He patronised the Kannada poet Madhura, a Jaina. An important work on the Vedas was completed during his time. He earned the titles ''Vaidik ...
. More than a hundred works are attributed to him, among which are commentaries on nearly all parts of the Vedas. He also wrote on a number of subjects like medicine, morality, music and grammar.


Early life

Sāyaṇācārya was born to Mayana (
IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: Māyaṇa) and Shrimati in a
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
family who lived in
Hampi Hampi or Hampe (), also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the town of Hampi in Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi predates the Vijayanagara Empire; it is menti ...
. He had an elder brother named Madhava (sometimes identified as
Vidyaranya Vidyaranya (IAST: Vidyāraṇya), usually identified with Mādhavācārya, was the ''jagadguru'' of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham from ca. 1374–1380 until 1386 – according to tradition, after ordination at an old age, he took the name of ...
) and a younger brother named Bhoganatha (or Somanatha). The family belonged to the
Bharadvaja Bharadvaja (, ; also spelled Bharadwaja) was one of the revered Vedic sages (maharishi) in Ancient India. He was a renowned scholar, economist, grammarian and a physician. He is one of the Saptarshis (seven great sages or Maharṣis). His co ...
gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...
, and followed the
Taittiriya Shakha The ''Taittirīya Shakha'' (Sanskrit, loosely meaning 'Branch or School of the sage Tittiri'), is a ''shakha'' (i.e. 'branch', 'school', or Recension, rescension) of the Black Yajurveda, Krishna (black) Yajurveda. The Taittiriyas are themselves d ...
(school) of the Krishna Yajurveda. He was the pupil of Vishnu Sarvajna and of Shankarananda. Both Mādhavāchārya and Sāyaṇāchārya were said to have studied under Vidyatirtha of
Sringeri Sringeri (IAST: Śṛṅgerī; ) also called Shringeri is a hill town and Taluk headquarters located in Chikkamagaluru district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Sringeri is the site of Sri Sharadamba temple, a part of the Sringeri Sharada Pe ...
, and held offices in the Vijayanagara Empire. Sāyaṇāchārya was a minister, and subsequently prime minister in Bukka Raya's court, and wrote much of his commentary with his brother and other Brahmins during his ministership.


Works

Sāyaṇa was a Sanskrit-language writer and commentator, and more than a hundred works are attributed to him, among which are commentaries on nearly all parts of the Vedas. Some of these works were actually written by his pupils, and some were written in conjunction with his brother, Vidyāraṇya or Mādhavacārya. His major work is his commentary on the
Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
, ''Vedartha Prakasha'', literally "the meaning of the Vedas made manifest", written at the request of King Bukka of the Vijayanagara empire "to invest the young kingdom with the prestige it needed." He was probably aided by other scholars, using the interpretations of several authors. The core portion of the commentary was likely written by Sāyaṇāchārya himself, but it also includes contributions by his brother Mādhavāchārya, and additions by his students and later authors who wrote under Sāyaṇāchārya's name. "Sāyaṇa" (or also ') by convention refers to the collective authorship of the commentary as a whole without separating such layers. Galewicz states that Sayana, a Mimamsa scholar, "thinks of the Veda as something to be trained and mastered to be put into practical ritual use", noticing that "it is not the meaning of the
mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...
s that is most essential ..but rather the perfect mastering of their sound form." According to Galewicz, Sayana saw the purpose (''artha'') of the Veda as the "''
artha ''Artha'' (; ; Pali: Attha, Tamil: பொருள், poruḷ) is one of the four goals or objectives of human life in Hindu traditions.James Lochtefeld (2002), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Rosen Publishing, New York, , pp 55–56 ...
'' of carrying out sacrifice", giving precedence to the ''
Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' (, , from यजुस्, "worship", and वेद, "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism'' (Edito ...
''. For Sayana, whether the mantras had meaning depended on the context of their practical usage. This conception of the Veda, as a repertoire to be mastered and performed, takes precedence over the internal meaning or "autonomous message of the hymns." His commentary on the
Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...
was translated from Sanskrit to English by
Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...
(1823–1900). A new edition, prepared by the Vaidik Samshodhan Mandala (Vedic Research Institute) Pune, under the general editor V. K. Rajwade, was published in 1933 in four volumes. He has also written many lesser manuals called ''Sudhanidhis'' dealing with ''Prayaschitta'' (
expiation Atonement, atoning, or making amends is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ...
), ''Yajnatantra'' (
ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
), '' Purushartha'' (aims of human endeavour), '' Subhashita'' (Collection of moral sayings), ''
Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...
'' (Indian traditional medicine), ''Sangita Sara'' (The essence of music), ''Prayaschitra'', '' Alankara'', and ''Dhatuvrddhi'' (
grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...
).


Influence

According to Dalal, "his work influenced all later scholars, including many European commentators and translators." Sayana's commentary preserved traditional Indian understandings and explanations of the Rigveda, though it also contains mistakes and contradictions. While some 19th century Indologists were quite dismissive of Sayana's commentary, others were more appreciative. His commentary was used as a reference-guide by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1826–1906),
John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...
(1810–1882), H. H. Wilson (1786–1860) and other 19th century European Indologists. According to Wilson, Sayana's interpretation was sometimes questionable, but had "a knowledge of his text far beyond the pretension of any European scholar", reflecting the possession "of all the interpretations which had been perpetuated by traditional teaching from the earliest times."
Macdonell MacDonell, Macdonell, or McDonell is a surname of Scottish origin. It is an anglicized form of the Gaels, Gaelic patronymic ''Mac Dhòmhnaill'', meaning "son of Dòmhnall". The personal name Dòmhnall is composed of the elements domno "world" and v ...
(1854–1930) was critical of Sayana's commentary, noting that many difficult words were not properly understood by Sayana. While Rudolf Roth (1821–1895) aimed at reading the Vedas as "lyrics" without the "theological" background of the interpretations of Yaska and Sayana,
Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...
(1823–1900) published a translation of the Rigvedic Samhitas together with Sayana's commentary. His contemporaries Pischel and Geldner were outspoken about the value of Sayana's commentary: Modern scholarship is ambivalent. According to
Jan Gonda Jan Gonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991) was a Dutch Indologist and the first Utrecht professor of Sanskrit. He was born in Gouda, in the Netherlands, and died in Utrecht. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht (since 19 ...
, the translations of the Rigveda published by Griffith and Wilson were "defective", suffering from their reliance on Sayana. Ram Gopal notes that Sayana's commentary contains irreconcilable contradictions and "half-baked" tentative interpretations which are not further investigated, but also states that Sayana's commentary is the "most exhaustive and comprehensive" of all available commentaries, embodying "the gist of a substantial portion of the Vedic interpretations of his predecessors." Swami Dayananda, the founder of the
Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...
, a Vedic revivalist organisation, did not give much significance to his Vedic commentaries.


See also

* Vijayanagara literature


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*Max Müller, ''Rig-Veda Sanskrit-Ausgabe mit Kommentar des Sayana (aus dem 14. Jh. n. Chr.)'', 6 vols., London 1849-75, 2nd ed. in 4 vols. London 1890 ff. *, Vaidika Samśodhana Mandala, Pune-9 (2nd ed. 1972) *Siddhanatha Sukla, ''The Rgveda Mandala III: A critical study of the Sayana Bhasya and other interpretations of the Rgveda (3.1.1 to 3.7.3) ''(2001), .


External links


Sayana's commentary to the Rigveda
* http://rigveda.sanatana.in/ {{Authority control 14th-century scholars Year of birth unknown Indian Sanskrit scholars Rigveda 1387 deaths Scholars from the Vijayanagara Empire