Basudev Sarvabhauma

Basudev Sarvabhauma (c 1430-1540) Sanskrit scholar and Nyaya philosopher, was born in Nabadwip, son of Narahari Visharad, also a famous philosopher of nadia.

According to Jayananda';s Chaitanyamangal and krishnadasa kaviraja';s chaitanya charitamrta, Basudev was educated by his father and became proficient in Nabyanyaya (modern logic). He also studied under Mithila';s famous scholar Pakshadhar Mishra. After passing his examination, he was given the title 'Sarvabhauma';. Basudev memorised a large part of gangeshopadhyay';s Chintamani and almost the whole of Nyayakusumanjali. He established a school of philosophy in Nabadwip where he also taught for some time.

Basudev was senior to Sri chaitanya, and it is assumed that Basudev went away to Puri when Chaitanyadev';s religious and social movement seemed to have earned the displeasure of the royal court in Nadia. Finally, Chaitanyadev accepted his discipleship and they had long discussions on the Vedanta. In Chaitanya Charitamrta Krishnadas wrote that during these discussions, Chaitanyadev accepted the opinions of Basudev on the Vedanta.

Basudev was the court scholar of Purushottam (1465-1496) and Protaprudradev (1496-1539), the rulers of Utkal. Later he went to Benares and stayed there till his death.

The number of books written by Basudev is not much known. Some of his important extant works are Anumanamanipariksa, a commentary on Gangeshopadhyay';s Tattvachintamani; Advaitama karanda, a commentary on the Vedanta; and Tattvadipika, on Vaishnava philosophy. Two of his other books include Samasvad and Sarvabhaumanirukti. It is believed that Shabdamanipariksa, the manuscript of which has been preserved in the Saraswati Bhavan at Benares, is also by Basudev. Basudev';s eldest son, Jaleshwar, and grandson, Swapneshwaracharya, were also famous philosophers. raghunath shiromani, the great logician of Nabadwip, was his student. [Satyanarayan Chakraborty] [Chakraborty, Satyanarayan Professor of Sanskrit, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata]