The great Maithil scholar Mahamahopadhyaya Gangesha Upadhyaya prepared extraordinary commentaries on the four volumes of the "Chintamani," a foundational work on Nyaya philosophy composed by the sage Gautama. Later, Maithil scholars like Murari Mishra, Vachaspati Mishra, and Pakshdhara Mishra authored several enriching texts on Nyaya philosophy.
At one time, there was no way to learn Nyaya philosophy without going to Mithila. The Maithil scholars would not allow any Nyaya texts to be taken elsewhere. Since there were no printing presses then, all books existed only as handwritten manuscripts. The sole means of obtaining a second copy was to transcribe by sight or make copies by hand.
Vasudeva Sarvabhauma of Nabadwip, at the age of 25 or 30, having completed his studies in his native village, went to Mithila to study Nyaya. His deepest desire was to bring this knowledge back to his own land.
Faced with extreme hostility from the Maithil scholars, finding it impossible to copy and bring back the Nyaya texts, he memorized all four volumes of the "Chintamani." After memorizing the verse portions of "Kusumanjali" and before completing the commentary sections, his purpose became known among the Maithil students, and his work remained incomplete.
When the revered scholar Pakshdhara Mishra bestowed upon him the title "Sarvabhauma" and completed his education, Vasudeva studied Vedanta philosophy in Kashi before returning home and establishing the first Nyaya school in Nabadwip.
Through his relentless efforts, overcoming immense obstacles and difficulties, Vasudeva earned glory by bringing new knowledge to his homeland. It is worth noting that the famous Bengali logician Raghunatha Shiromani and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were both his students.
The man whose legacy made Nabadwip's cultivation of Nyaya philosophy famous throughout India to this day was Raghunatha Shiromani. Dwijendralal Roy, in his celebrated song "Amar Desh," immortalized him with the words: "Nyayer bidhan dilo Raghumani" (Raghumani gave us the principles of logic). Every Bengali should know about this sharp-minded scholar who brought glory to our race.
Raghunatha was born blind in one eye. When his father died in his early childhood, the family fell into dire poverty. When he was merely five years old, his mother once sent him to Vasudeva Sarvabhauma's school to fetch fire. After asking for fire several times, one of the students, annoyed with the boy, brought out a burning coal with tongs and said, "Here, take it however you can."
The boy had nothing in his hands. The school students would typically light one end of a dried dung cake and give that to him—this is what the child had expected. But when they mockingly offered him the bare coal, he showed no distress whatsoever. With extraordinary intelligence and presence of mind, the boy immediately scooped up a handful of dust and took the coal upon that dust. His triumph over difficult problems and victory in debates had begun at that tender age!
Vasudeva was amazed by the child's quick wit and resolved in his heart that this boy would surely accomplish something extraordinary. He called for the widow, spoke with her, and took upon himself the responsibility for Raghunatha's education and sustenance, beginning to teach him personally.
Perhaps no one had ever seen such teaching! While learning the very alphabet, Raghunatha questioned: why does 'ka' come first? Why not 'kha'? The boy raised objections about the two varieties of 'ja' (জ and য), the two 'ba's, the two 'na's (ন and ণ), and the three 'sa's (শ, ষ, and স). Fortunately, the Sanskrit alphabet is arranged scientifically according to points of articulation and vowel relationships, the different letters of the same name have distinct pronunciations, and there are rules governing 'shatva' and 'natva'! Otherwise, even the great scholar Vasudeva Sarvabhauma would have faced tremendous difficulty with this child. In any case, teaching the alphabet alone required references to many grammatical principles.
The boy's memory was as remarkable as his analytical ability. Under his delighted teacher's careful guidance, the child's studies progressed rapidly. After completing poetry, grammar, lexicon, and scripture, Raghunatha began studying Nyaya philosophy. What was taught during the day, he would transcribe at night, and finding any logical flaws, Raghunatha would resolve them and present his own version to his teacher the next day. Through this continuous practice, his extraordinary capacity in logic developed.
Vasudeva began teaching all his knowledge to Raghunatha with utmost care. When Raghunatha pointed out errors or inconsistencies in the commentary called "Nirukta," his teacher was tremendously pleased and sent Raghunatha to Mithila to complete his scriptural studies properly. His intention was that if anyone could accomplish it, Raghunatha would defeat the Maithil scholars in debate and establish Nabadwip's supremacy. In those days, one's "own country" meant one's own province.
The patriotic Vasudeva's two disciples—Raghunatha in logic and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in devotional path—achieved unparalleled heights and fulfilled their teacher's high aspirations and endeavors, illuminating Bengal's face before the entire world. Vasudeva Sarvabhauma and his disciples proved that Bengalis, with firm determination to bring any beneficial knowledge to their homeland, can master it in one generation, if not two, however difficult it may be. Incidentally, Japan did exactly this—sending students to acquire European science and military knowledge, establishing it in their country, and striving carefully to surpass even Europe.
Pakshdhara Mishra, Mithila's foremost logician, had the practice of teaching students while facing the wall, answering their various questions while continuing to write his commentaries. Only when a student pleased him extraordinarily in debate would he turn around to engage in logical discourse.
Within a short time, Raghunatha defeated all the capable students in Pakshdhara Mishra's school in debate, pleasing his teacher and compelling him to face toward Raghunatha throughout his teachings. Soon Raghunatha completed his Nyaya education and began debating with his teacher, pointing out flaws in Pakshdhara Mishra's work "Samanyalakshana."
Logic is a form of mental wrestling. There is no fault in teacher and student engaging in battles of reasoning. A fierce debate ensued between Pakshdhara Mishra and Raghunatha. Numerous scholars and students from various parts of Mithila began gathering there.
The heated debate also sparked various taunts. Pakshdhara said:
Bakshoja-panakrit kana sanshaye jagrati sphutam. Samanyalakshanam kammadakammadavalupyate.
Meaning: You milk-drinking child (with immature intellect), one-eyed (lacking proper scriptural vision), dwelling in doubt; how do you suddenly seek to destroy Samanyalakshana?
Raghunatha replied:
Yoandham karotyakshimantam yashcha balam prabodhayyet. Tamevadhyapakam manye tadanye namadhaarinah.
Meaning: One who gives sight to the blind, who enlightens the child—him I consider a true teacher; the rest are merely "bearers of the teacher's name."
Then in the debate, Raghunatha clearly demolished Pakshdhara's arguments piece by piece, but Pakshdhara, though understanding that Raghunatha's position was irrefutable, could not graciously admit defeat; instead, he insulted him with words like fool, atheist, heretic, and so forth. The assembled Maithil scholars and students supported Pakshdhara's harsh words with shouts and abuse.
The students said:
Akhandalah sahasrakshho viruupakshastrilochanaḥ. Anye dvilochanaḥ sarve ko bhavan ekalochanaḥ.
Meaning: Indra has a thousand eyes, Shiva has three eyes, all others have two eyes; who are you, O one-eyed one?
Shouting "one-eyed" does not truly constitute victory in debate. But that day, Raghunatha returned home from the assembly hall, thoroughly defeated by all of Mithila's cries of "one-eyed, one-eyed." When he calmly recalled each of his words, realizing that throughout several days of debate he had not used a single inappropriate or discourteous expression and that his logic was entirely irrefutable, he became very angry.
Raghunatha was only 22 or 23 years old—anger was natural. He resolved to go to Pakshdhara's house and begin the debate anew. Away from the shouting crowds, if Pakshdhara, when pressed in argument, would honestly admit defeat, then good—he would return to his country and propagate his own views; otherwise, he would end everything by destroying both Pakshdhara's life and his own with the sword.
It was the full moon of autumn that day. Pakṣadhar's wife was saying, "Is there anything purer than this moonlight?" Pakṣadhar was then thinking of Raghunath, ashamed of his own duplicitous and unjust behavior. He said, "A young logician has come from Nabadwip. His intellect is purer even than this moonlight!"
A Brahmin's rage is like fire in bamboo leaves. By then, Raghunath's anger had subsided as he stood there sword in hand. He had reached his guru's house and was about to turn back, filled with remorse. Hearing his teacher's words, he threw down his sword and prostrated himself at his guru's feet, confessing that the very intellect his guru was praising had brought him there with a sword to commit the sin of killing his teacher.
Finding his disciple, Pakṣadhar embraced him warmly, soothing his self-reproach and the infinite remorse born from his improper humiliation of a worthy student, and found strength in the righteous path befitting a Brahmin.
The very next day, calling everyone together, Pakṣadhar clearly acknowledged his defeat. All those doctrines that had been accepted as irrefutable and infallible were proven false by Raghunath's extraordinary intellectual power. Raghunath became the crown jewel of all India. When he came to Nabadwip and established his school, students from every province of India came to learn logic and philosophy from him.
During his studies in Nabadwip, Raghunath had a very sweet relationship with Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (then he was merely Nimai Pandit). One day, Raghunath was sitting under a tree, pondering the resolution of some complex issue. The whole night had passed; birds were dropping their excrement on his body; Raghunath was completely oblivious. Nimai came and sprinkled water from his water pot on Raghunath's head and asked, "What are you sitting here thinking about?" Raghunath said, "What's the point of telling you?"
As they talked, Nimai raised certain questions that led Raghunath to the exact resolution he had been seeking. Raghunath immediately said, "Brother, what I couldn't resolve in three days of thinking, you've settled in a single moment! You must surely be a great soul!"
It is said that after Raghunath began writing his commentary on logic called 'Didhiti,' when Nimai read him one of his own commentaries, he saw Raghunath become utterly dejected and crestfallen. Then Nimai said, "Brother, I don't wish to be a rival on your path to the fame you desire in this fruitless scholarship; I'm throwing my commentary into the Ganges."
Therefore, logic is not man's ultimate goal; it is necessary only for refining the intellect. Along with this, gaining good conduct through scriptural authority, devotional inquiry for knowledge of the self or eternal truth, and devotional yoga practice for direct realization should be the ultimate aim!
Raghunath left behind many works: Vyutpattivada, Lilavati Commentary, Tattvachintamani, Didhiti, Advaiteshvaravada, Brahmasutra Commentary, and others.
A man named Harghosh provided space for Raghunath's school in his vast cowshed, accommodating his numerous students. Since then, people have called that place filled with students' chatter "Harghosh's Cowshed."
In Mithila, Raghunath is famous by the name Kana Bhatta Shiromani. Raghunath also had poetic talent. But he didn't consider it important; if he had, he could have written an excellent and valuable epic poem. When someone praised his poetry, he said,
Kavitvam kimaho tuccham chintamanimaniṣiṇaḥ। Nipitakalakatusya harasyevahikhelanam।।
Just as wearing serpents is mere play compared to Mahadeva's drinking of poison, so composing poetry is a trivial task for those learned in the most difficult Chintamani or logic.
Ah, what beautiful poetic power this very verse displays!
When his guru once urged Raghunath to marry, the lifelong celibate replied, "Didhiti is my son, Lilavati is my daughter. People marry to have sons and daughters. Bless me that my son and daughter may be immortal."
Looking at Raghunath's life, I wonder in amazement: with what single-minded devotion and practice does one achieve such complete mastery in any field!