Vrihaspati Mishra, Raymukut

Vrihaspati Mishra, Raymukut (15th century) Sanskrit scholar of smrti or hindu law. He studied vagavishuddhi with Sridhar and earned the title Mishra. Though a Brahmin, he was patronised by the Gauda kings, Sultan Jalaluddin (reign 1418-1431) and Barbak Shah. Vrihaspati Mishra was recognised as the most learned of the pundits during the time of Sultan Jalaluddin, who awarded him the title of 'Raymukut'. Later he also received other titles such as Mahintapaniya, Kavichakravarti, Rajpandit, Panditsarvabhauma, Panditchudamani, and Mahacharya.

Vrihaspati's writings refer to Shraddhaviveka by Shulpani (c 1375-1460), while raghunandan bhattacharya (16th century) refers to Raymukut in several of his books such as Malmastattva and Shraddhatattva. This suggests that Raymukut followed Shulpani, but preceded Raghunandan.

Vrihaspati wrote Smrtiratnahar, a law treatise, between 1430 and 1440. He also wrote Raymukutapaddhati, another law treatise. Padachandrika, his commentary on Amarakosa, was written in 1474. His other well-known annotations include Suvodha, a commentary on Kumarsambhava, Raghubangshaviveka, a commentary on Raghubangsha; Nirnayavrhaspati, a commentary on Shishupalabadha; Bodhavati, a commentary on Meghaduta; a commentary on Gitagovinda etc. [Suresh Chandra Banerjee]