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A Renaissance Man in Memory: Appayya Dīkṣita Through the Ages

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Abstract

This essay is a first attempt to trace the evolution of biographical accounts of Appayya Dīkṣita from the sixteenth century onward, with special attention to their continuities and changes. It explores what these rich materials teach us about Appayya Dīkṣita and his times, and what lessons they offer about the changing historical sensibilities in South India during the transition to the colonial and postcolonial eras. I tentatively identify two important junctures in the development of these materials: one that took place in the first generation to be born after his death, when the idea of him as an avatar of Śiva was introduced, and another at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, when many new stories about his encounters with his colleagues and students surfaced. The essay follows a set of themes and tensions that pertain to Appayya Dīkṣita’s social and political affiliations, his sectarian agendas, and the geographic sphere of his activities. These themes and tensions are closely related and prove to be surprisingly resilient, despite the many changes that occurred during the five centuries of recollection that this essay sketches. This overall coherence, I argue, is integral to Appayya Dīkṣita’s sociopolitical context and self-chosen identity.

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Abbreviations

ADVĀ:

Śrīmadappayyadīkṣitendravaṃśābharaṇa of Tyāgarājādhvarin. In Mahalinga Sastri 2002:154–185.

ĀSS:

Ānandasāgarastava of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita Ed. with a commentary by H. V. Nagaraja Rao. Mysore: Sudharmā Prakāśanam, 1999.

CM:

Citramīmāṃsā of Appayya Dīkṣita with the Sudhā commentary of Dharānanda. Ed. Jagadīśa Chandra Miśra. Kashi Sanskrit Series 207. Varanasi: Chowkhamba, 1971.

GĀV:

Gaṅgāvatāraṇa of of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita. Ed. Bhavadatta Śāstri, Paṇḍit Śivadatta, and Kāśīnāth Pāṇdurang Parab with introduction by T. S. Kuppuswami Sastri. Kāvyamālā 76. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1902.

KUĀ:

Kuvlayānanda of Appayya Dīkṣiīta with the Rasikarañjana commentary of Gaṅgādhara. Ed. R. Halasyanatha Sastri. Kumbhakonam: Sree Vidya Press, 1892.

NC:

Nalacarita of Nīlakaṇṭa Dīkṣita. Ed. Syamadasa Sastri. Varanasi: Chaukhambha, 1987.

NRM:

Nyāyarakṣāmaṇi of Appayya Dīkṣita. Ed. S. R. Krishnamurthi Sastri, N. Ramakrishna Sastri, and P. Sri Ramachandrudu. Hyderabad: Srimad Appayya Deekshithendra Granthavali Prakasana Samithi, 1971.

NVC:

Nīlakaṇṭhavijayacampū of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita. Ed. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, S. Kuppuswami Sastri, and N. Raghunathan. Madras: Sanskrit Education Society, 1972.

Parimala:

The Brahmasūtraśāṅkarabhāṣya with the Bhāmaātī, Kalpataru, and Parimala commentaries. Ed. M. Anantakrisna Sastri and Bhargav Sastri Sastracarya. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1938.

PRĀM:

Prapannāmṛta of Anantācārya. Ed. Swami Rāmanārāyaṇācārya. Varanasi: Somani Trust, 1966.

ŚADV:

Śrimadappayyadīkṣitendravijaya of Śivānanda Yogī. Ed. Gaṇapati Śāstri. Madras: Dixon Press, 1921.

ŚĀMD:

Brahmasūtrabhāṣya of Śrīkaṇṭhācārya with the Śivārkamaṇidīpikā commentary of Appayya Dīkṣita. Ed. R. Halasyanatha Sastri. 2 vols. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1908. Reprint, Delhi: NAG Publishers, 1986.

ŚDMĀ:

Śāstradīpikā of Pārthasārathimīśra with the Mayūkhāvalī commentary of Appayya Dīkṣita. Ed. P. Subrahmanya Sastri. Srirangam: Vani Vilas Press, 1939.

ŚLĀR:

Śivalīlārṇava of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita. Srirangam: Vani Vilas Press, 1911.

ŚOM:

Śivotkarṣamañjarī of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita. In Filliozat 1967:101–158.

VLK:

Vasulakṣmīkalyāṇam of Veṅkaṭasubrahmaṇya Adhvarin. Ed. K. Raghavan Pillai. Trivandrum Sanskrit Series 224. Trivandrum: Oriental Research Institute and Manuscript Library, University of Kerala, 1968.

VR:

Vidhirasāyana of Appayya Dīkṣita. Ed. P. S. Ramachandrudu. Srimad Appayya Dikshitendra Granthavali Series 8. Hyderabad: Srimad Appayya Dikshitendra Granthavali Prakasana Samithi, 2007.

YĀB:

Yādavābhyudaya of Vedānta Deśika with the commentary of Appayya Dīkṣita. Ed. U. T. Viraraghavacharya. Madras: Ubhaya Vedanta Grantha Mala, 1969.

YP:

Yātrāprabandha of Samarapuṅgava Dīkṣita. Ed. Kedarnātha. Kāvyamālā 90. Bombay: Nirnaya Sagara Press, 1936.

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  1. Department of Asian Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel

    Yigal Bronner

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Bronner, Y. A Renaissance Man in Memory: Appayya Dīkṣita Through the Ages. J Indian Philos 44, 11–39 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-014-9251-6

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