Uma-maheshvara (IAST: Umāmaheśvara), also known as Abhinava-Kālidāsa ("the new Kalidasa"), was a Sanskrit-language philosopher and grammarian from present-day southern India. He is variously dated to c. 1465 CE or c. 1750 CE.
Biography edit
Uma-maheshvara was born in a family belonging to the Vellala social group.[1] He was a disciple of Akshaya-suri (or Akkaya-suri) of Mokshagundam family.[2][3]
According to the Rajashekhara-charita (or Shabharanjana-shataka) of his disciple Kavi-kunjara, Uma-maheshvara "put an end to the machinations" of Durjaya, the court poet of the Vijayanagara king Raja-shekhara. P. Sriramamurti of Andhra University tentatively identifies the ruler as prince Raja-shekhara (the son of Deva Raya III), and on this basis, dates Uma-maheshvara to c. 1465 CE.[3] However, Harold G. Coward and K. Kunchunniraja date him to c. 1750 CE.[2]
Works edit
Uma-maheshvara wrote the following works on the Advaita Vedanta philosophy:[3]
- Advaita-kamadhenu
- Tattva-chandrika or Nirguna-brahma-mimamsa
- Virodha-varudhini
- Vedanta-siddhanta-sara
- Santana-dipika
Uma-maheshvara defended Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta against Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita.[4] In Virodha-varudhini (or Virodha-varuthini), he proposed to show 100 self-contradictions in the works of Ramanuja and other Vishishtadvaita works such as Satadushani, but fell ill after discussing 27 contradictions. Ramanuja's followers Rangacharya (Ku-drishti-dhvanta-martanda) and Shrinivasa-dikshita (Virodha-varuthini-pramathini) wrote refutations of Uma-maheshvara's criticisms.[5]
Other works attributed to him include:
- Paniniya-vada-nakshtra-mala (IAST: Pāṇinīya-vāda-nakṣatra-mālā), a work on grammar[2]
- Shrngara-shekhara Bhana (IAST: Śṛṅgāra-śekhara Bhana), a Sanskrit play[6]
- Tapta-mudra-vidravana[5]
- Prasanga-Ratnakara[5]
- Ramayana-tika[5]
P. Sriramamurti identifies him with the Abhinava-Kalidasa (or Nava-Kalidasa) who wrote Bhagavata-champu, a work on the life of Krishna.[3]
References edit
- ^ David Pingree, ed. (1976). Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit Series A. Vol. 3. American Philosophical Society. p. 13.
- ^ a b c Harold G. Coward; K. Kunjunni Raja, eds. (1990). The Philosophy of the Grammarians. Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies. Vol. 5. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 371.
- ^ a b c d P. Sriramamurti (1972). Contribution of Andhra to Sanskrit Literature. Andhra University. pp. 154–155.
- ^ K. S. R. Datta (1979). "A New Star in the Advaitic Galaxy". Triveni: Journal of Indian Renaissance. 48: 47.
- ^ a b c d Surendranath Dasgupta (1991). A History of Indian Philosophy. Vol. 3. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 395–396. ISBN 9788120804142.
- ^ V. Raghavan (1970). "Sanskrit: Unceasing flow of studies". Indian Literature. 13 (4). Sahitya Akademi: 76–85. JSTOR 24157165.