People Index

Since he was the son of Nṛsiṃharāya I, who was minister of Ekoji I, and that the latter ruled around 1676-83, I add roughly one generation (approx. 25 years) to get his date of activity.

Aṇṇā Śāstrī himself would have been gifted a village (Erakaram/Eraharam) by the Vijayanagara ruler Veṅkaṭapatirāya III (c. 1632-1642) after defeated Kāmadeva and Raṅgoji. See: A Triennial Catalogue of Manuscripts, GOML, Vol. II, Part I, Sanskrit C., p. 2575 and NCC, Vol. 1, p. 270.

Author of many tracts on Navyanyāya

This scholar's father (and therefore the grand-father of Periappā Kavi) was named Kṛṣṇa, and according to the prologue of the Śṛṅgāramañjarīśāhajīya, he was proficient in Vedānta: kṛtavedāntasiddhāntaḥ kṛṣṇo yasya pitāmahaḥ |

He was a recipient of four shares of the land donation at Thiruvisanallur because he had mastered four śāstras. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 38.

He was a Sarvotamukhayājin. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 40.

'The post-script in the manuscript of the Avaidikadarśanasaṃgraha of Gaṅgādhara Vājapeyin is very important (Tanjore Ms. 8244, Des. Cat. XIV, pp. 6410-12) in that it shows not only the great and well-known friendship between Gaṅgādhara Vājapeyin and Bhāskararāya, but also the relation that the two had with King Śāhaji; the manuscript was copied by Bhāskararāya; and he went out of the way to express at the end of the manuscript his feelings of regard towards Śāhaji with an eulogy of eight verses on him'. (See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 19).

He was of an earlier generation to King Śāhaji. (See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710) Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 21).

One story, recounted (August 2026) by the young priest at the Thirukoteeswarar temple, is that Bhāskararāyamakhin would have written his bhāṣya on the Lalitasahasranāma in that location (others say that he did so at the Madhyarjuna temple).

Same lineage as Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita (rāmabhadrādhvarivarapriyaśiṣyasya tadīyavaṃśajanmanaḥ), see Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 24.

Son of Nārāyaṇa alias Dvādaśāhayājin of Kauśika gotra

He was the son of Tippādhvarin, one of the recipients of the land donation at Thiruvisanallur, and so was a native of Thiruvisanallur. See A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tanjore (Tanjore). Vols. 1–19: Vol. 8, p. 3371.

He was the younger contemporary of Cokkanāthamakhin, hence the name of this entry (Cokkanāthamakhin younger). See A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tanjore (Tanjore). Vols. 1–19: vol. 8, p. xxxi–xxxii.

For the alternative names Gaṅgādhara Yati and Gaṅgādhara Bhikṣu, see New Catalogus Catalogorum (NCC). Vols 1–36: vol. 5, p. 207a

Gaṅgādharendra Sarasvatī was the pupil of Rāmānanda. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 33.

He was the pupil of Rāmacandra Sarasvatī and grand pupil of Sarvajña Sarasvatī, and the teacher of Ānandabodhendra Sarasvatī (author of the commentary Tātparyaprakāśa on the Yogavāsiṣṭha). See New Catalogus Catalogorum (NCC). Vols 1–36: vol. 5, p. 207a

He acquired the title vājapeyi due to the performance of the vājapeya yajña. (See Krishnamurthy, R. The Saints of the Cauvery Delta. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1979: p. 30)

He was brought over to Thiruvalangadu in mayavarum taluk of the Thanjavur district by Tryambakaraya, minister of Śāhaji. (See Krishnamurthy, R. The Saints of the Cauvery Delta. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1979: p. 30). This Thiruvalangadu near the Delta was a colony of the other (older, Northern) Thiruvalangadu near Chennai, Madras, (See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 36).

He was of an earlier generation to King Śāhaji. (See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710) Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 21).

His other students were Nṛsimhāśramin and Bodhendrayati

Of Serfoji II's harem (maṅkaḷa vilācam)

For the alternative name Kṛṣṇānandayati, see Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Adyar Library (Adyar). Vols. 1–13: vol. 9, p. 349.

For the alternative names Kṛṣṇānandaguru and Kṛṣṇānandapūjyapāda, see Krishnamacharya, V. ‘Śāstradīpikāvyākhyā: Prabhāmaṇḍala’. In The Adyar Library Bulletin, Vol. 10, pp. 63–68, 1946.

He was active c. the last quarter of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century. See New Catalogus Catalogurum (NCC). Vols 1-36: vol. 5, p. 14a.

He was the pupil of Rāmabhadrānanda Sarasvatī in Vedānta, and Vāsudevendra Sarasvatī with regard to the saṁnyāsaśrama. See Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Adyar Library (Adyar). Vols. 1–13: vol. 9, pp. 466–468.

He was the teacher of Anubhavānanda, Raṅganāthasūri, Viśvanātha Dīkṣita, Bhāskara Dīkṣita, Periyappākavi, Ayya Adhvarin, Brahmānanda, Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita, and Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita. See New Catalogus Catalogurum (NCC). Vols 1-36: vol. 5, p. 14a.

Some of the leading writers of Thiruvisanallur looked to his blessings. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 30.

'Son of Ayyādīkṣita, who could compose 100 ślokas in one ghaṭikā; belonging to the family of Ratnakheṭa Śrinivāsa Dīkṣita'; see NCC, Vol. 21, p. 119.

Of Kauṇḍinyagotra; son of Raghunāthādhvarin and Jānakī. See New Catalogus Catalogorum (NCC), Vol. 3, p. 281.

Son of Bālacandramakhin and of the Kauśikagotra. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 53.

Another of his teachers is Veṅkaṭeśvara Makhin. See Talia, Ariav. "Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita: An Independent Poet of the Kaveri Delta, or: The Forgotten Model of Genealogical Authorship". The Indian Economic and Social History Review 59(3) (2022): 273–298: p. 275.

He had four brothers. His elder brother was Accān. His youngest brother was Atirātra Yajvan. His immediate younger brother was Appayya Dīkṣita (often refered to as Appayya III). See Talia, Ariav. "Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita: An Independent Poet of the Kaveri Delta, or: The Forgotten Model of Genealogical Authorship". The Indian Economic and Social History Review 59(3) (2022): 273–298.

His father was Nārāyaṇādhvariṇ. His grandfather was Accān Dīkṣita.

Grandson of Nṛsiṃharāya I, who was the brother of Tryambakarāyamakhin and Bhagavantarāyamakhin. He was minister of Ekoji II alias Bāvā Saheb. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 28.

Since he was the minister of Ekoji II, who ruled around 1735-36, I take the latter as his date of activity.

Given the title of Kavitārkikasārvabhauma by Kṛṣṇānanda Sarasvatī, as evident from the prologue to the Śṛṅgāramañjarīśāhajīya

Periappā Kavi had apparently the same age as Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (see Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 64). I therefore use the same dates as reported in Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa's entry.

Due to his profiency in vyākaraṇa, he was called Pratyagra-Patañjali, i.e. 'The Modern Patañjali', by his contemporaries. See Sastri, T. S. Kuppuswami Sastri. ‘Ramabhadra-Dikshita and the Southern Poets of his Time.’ Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 126-142 and pp. 176-196, 2004: p. 129.

He was a recipient of 4 shares of Thiruvisanallur, as he was a master in 4 śāstras: alaṁkāra, vyākaraṇa, mīmāṁsā, and vedānta. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952. See also Thiruvengadathan, A. Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita and His Works: A Study. Chennai: The Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, 2002.

He was a Ṛgvedin, Kauṇḍinyagotra. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 40.

He was hailed as pratyagrapatañjali, dvitīyaprācetasa, dvitīyavālmīki, sāhiytaratnakośa, śabdabrahmasvarūpī, and rāmabhaktyabdhi by his contemporaries. See Thiruvengadathan, A. Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita and His Works: A Study. Chennai: The Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, 2002: p. 13.

His attainments received the appreciation of the poet Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita, the astrologer Koṇḍa, and the samnyāsin Kṛṣṇānanda Sarasvatī. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 41.

Raghavan suggests a sojourn at Madura for Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita on account of the mention of Madura as the venue of the enactment of of his Śṛṅgāratilakabhāṇa. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 41. See also Thiruvengadathan, A. Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita and His Works: A Study. Chennai: The Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, 2002: p. 11.

According to V. Krishnamacharya, Rāmānanda is the name undertaken by Lakṣmaṇa (or Lakṣmīdhara) of the Carakūri family. Before he became a saṃnyāsin with the name Rāmānanda, after being married for a long time, under the preceptor Kṛṣṇānandayati (author of the Siddhāntasiddhāñjana), he authored the following: 1) Ṣaḍbhāṣācandrikā, 2) Prasannarāghavavyākhyā: Timmabhūpālīyā, 3) Gītagovindavyākhyā: Srutirañjanī, and 4) Anargharāghavavyākhyā: Iṣṭārthakalpavallī. Rāmānanda mentions these biographical details in the colophon of the Anargharāghavavyākhyā. (See Krishnamacharya, V. ‘Śāstradīpikāvyākhyā: Prabhāmaṇḍala’. In The Adyar Library Bulletin, Vol. 10, pp. 63–68, 1946: p. 65)

For the name Rāmabhadra Bhagavatpāda, see Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 33.

He copied Kṛṣṇānanda Sarasvatī's Siddhāntasiddhāñjana in 1670.

He is different from another Rāmānanda Sarasvatī, the author of a subcommentary on Śaṅkara's Brahmasūtrabhāṣya called Ratnaprabhā and a treatise aligned with the Vivaraṇa interpretation of the Brahmasūtras titled Vivaraṇopanyāsa. See Duquette, Jonathan. Debates in the Delta: An Intellectual History of Late Advaita. Brill, forthcoming.

It is possible that he was called Rāmayati. See New Catalogus Catalogurum (NCC). Vols 1-36: vol. 24, p. 202b.

V. Krishnamacharya gives the date that Rāmānanda copied the Siddhāntasiddhāñjana as 16th Jan 1670 AD (the 5th day of the bright fortnight in the Makara month of the year Saumya). (See Krishnamacharya, V. ‘Śāstradīpikāvyākhyā: Prabhāmaṇḍala’. In The Adyar Library Bulletin, Vol. 10, pp. 63–68, 1946: p. 67).

Described as a sarvantantrasvatantra and sarvatomukhayājin by Nallādhvarin in the latter's prologue to his Śṛṅgārasarvasvabhāṇa. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 53.

Possibly mentioned in a letter preserved in A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Sarasvati Mahal Library, Tanjore (Tanjore). Vols. 1–19: vol. 11, p. 4788–4792, ms. 6594.

He must have lived towards the end of the 17th century. See New Catalogus Catalogurum (NCC). Vols 1-36: vol. 9, p. 349.

He was of Ātreyagotra and belonged to a family called Kuraviśeri. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 32.

A few Sanskrit works are ascribed to Śāhaji and an even larger 'number of works are ascribed to him in Telugu and Marathi. See the Catalogues of the Telugu and Marathi Manuscripts in the Sarasvati Mahal Library. No less than 21 works in Telugu and more than 10 in Marathi are ascribed to him'. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 22.

Well for his upanyāsas (discourses on epics, philosophy, etc.)

Biographer of King Śāhaji

That he was as a resident of Thiruvisanallur is borne out by the existence in that village of his house and the annual festival (Ayyāvāl utsava) that takes place there in his honour. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 60–64.

The above date is provided by Soneji, Davesh. ‘The Powers of Polyglossia: Marathi Kīrtan, Multilingualism, and the Making of a South Indian Devotional Tradition.’ International Journal of Hindu Studies 17 (3) (2014): p. 340.

Tippādhvarin and his eldest son (of 5) Kuppādhvarin were recipients of the land donation at Thiruvisanallur. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 56.

He was the mantrin of Śāhaji I of Thanjavur.

Much of the earlier patronage of scholars by Śāhaji I flowed through Tryambakarāyamakhin’s hands. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 27.

Nephew of Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita

Son of Ratnagiri Dīkṣita

Author of a commentary on Rucidatta's Tattvacintāmaṇiprakāśa

Paternal uncle of Periyappā Kavi

For the alternative name Vedakavi Svāmin, see New Catalogus Catalogurum (NCC). Vols 1-36: vol. 31, p. 147.

Periappā Kavi mentions him in the prologue to his Śṛṇgāramañjarī-Śāhajīya as one of the most celebrated poets of the time. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 43.

Received 3 shares of Thiruvisannalur, for he had mastered 3 śāstras. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 38–39.

While V. Raghavan claims that the Jīvānandananāṭaka and Vidyāpariṇayanāṭaka are 'really the work of Vedakavi' (see Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 29), others claim that there is no evidence to this effect and prefer to attribute the authorship to Ānandarāyamakhin. See entry on Jīvānandananāṭaka for further details.

Following Raghavan, it is assumed here that it is the Vijayarāghava Dīkṣita who was the guru of Bhāskara Dīkṣita; both hailed from the same place. See: Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952, p. 40.

He specialised in the exposition of Kṛṣṇānanda Sarasvatī's works. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 31.