Social and political background of Cakrapāṇidatta

In eighth century CE, the Eastern India witnessed turbulent and anarchic phase. The minor Vedic and Buddhist chieftains of Bengal were engaged in a perpetual struggle for seizing the power. The people of Bengal of that time had become the victims of perpetual tussle for survival in power by the warring factions.⁷⁶ The state is deemed as mātsyanyāya⁷⁷ i.e. destruction of weaker by the stronger⁷⁸. The people of Bengal reacted to this turmoil and mobocracy by electing the popular hero Gopala as the central authority through a bloodless cue, there by ending the age-old state of anarchy, paying the way for establishing the Pāla dynasty⁷⁹. M.M.Hariprasadśastri construes some connection for Pāla kings with Buddhist chieftains Khaḍgas⁸⁰. B.K.Sarkar accentuates the significance Pāla dynasty to the socio cultural life of India:

“The epoch of their (Pālas – 780 CE to 1175 CE) hegemony in Indian history is a brilliant sequel to the splendid epoch of imperialism, religious tolerance and eclecticism, colonizing activity and social amalgamation which it had been the policy of the great Harṣa to pioneer and direct. Their services to making of Indian national culture deserve the same meed of homage, therefore, from historians as those of Harṣa.”⁸¹

Unlike their predecessors, the later Pāla kings acceded to the Hindu elements due to the silent religious revolution taking place then in Bengal⁸². During the reign of Nayapāladeva, making a distinction between Buddhism from Tantric Śaivism impossible and infact the two sects in an amalgamated state.⁸³Atisha, alias Dīpāṃkaraśrījñāna, the head of Vikramaśila monastery, guru of Nayapāladeva, practiced a Buddhism which had much in common with the Tantric Hinduism⁸⁴. Cakrapāṇidatta belongs to this era, when Bengal was undergoing transition from Mahayana Buddhism to Hindu Tantric Śaivaism, which later taken by the Vedic and puraṇic Hindu order⁸⁵. The eclectic nature inherent in the social fabric of Bengal remained intact even after consorted efforts from various quarters to overthrow it⁸⁶. We can state without any ambiguity that the works of Cakrapāṇidatta will carryover elements influenced by the undercurrents of socio-religious affairs of the time and the ideas attached to it. While discerning the Cakrapāṇidatta’s commentary, one may see the variegated streams of thoughts from various systems entwined in an undifferentiated manner or even in a state mutually contradictory mode. The author strongly feels that judgment about his merits and fallacies should be made only on the light this extraordinary socio-political and historical scenario after analysis of the nuances of Āyurvedic theory and practice reflected in the commentary.

Religious persuasion of Cakrapāṇidatta

The introductory verses of both his commentary works i.e., Bhānumatī and Āyurvedadīpikā and that of Cakaradatta reveals that Cakrapāṇidatta belongs to the fold of Purāṇīc Hindu religion⁸⁷.In these verses he evokes brahma, sarasvasti, śiva, aśvinidevas and also the sages or ṛiṣis⁸⁸. The first verse of dravyguṇsaṃgraha is dedicated to Siva. The Cakrapāṇidatta follows the traditional notion about the identity of Caraka. Patajñali, the celebrated author of yogasūtra, the author of vyākaraṇamahābhāṣya and the treatise of Caraka are reckoned as the same individual⁸⁹. Apart from Cakrapāṇidatta we can see this convention where threefold authority is attributed to Patañjali in Yogasūtravṛtti of Bhoja; Śivarāma’s Kāñcanadarpaṇa on Subandhu’s Vāsavadatta, Rāmabhadrādīpikā’s Patañjalicarita, Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya and Vijñānabhikṣu’s Yogavarṭṭikā⁹⁰. Cakrapāṇidatta reveals his Brahminical orientation.⁹¹His own verse reveals his affiliation to the ritualistic school of Vedas - the Bhaṭṭamīmāṃsa⁹². Āyurvedadīpikā also reflects his allegiance to the Bhāṭṭa tradition⁹³. The influence of purāṇic religion is well reflected in Āyurvedadīpikā. Though his commentary carries the shades of influences related to Buddhist intellectual tradition, we are not getting any evidences those points towards any Buddhist orientation in the religious side.

The term atha is related to many meanings⁹⁴, Cakrapāṇidatta explains it in the sense of maṅgala or auspiciousness. The practice of maṅgalācaraṇa is done at the beginning, middle and the end of the śāstras by the learned or virtuous persons.⁹⁵Cakrapāṇidatta explains the adherence to maṅgalācaraṇa in text is because of the fact that Caraka being a virtuous person acts in tune with conduct of virtuous person⁹⁶. The reason for such an allusion is said to be based on its sanction found in the smṛti literature⁹⁷. Here we can clearly see the influence of bramaṇical religion, especially the puraṇic notions⁹⁸. The purāṇic period instructs a strict adherence to the usage of atha in the beginning of all śāstrā-s in rather blind manner.⁹⁹ This is also reflected in the Bhaṭṭotpala’s commentary on Bṛhatsaṃhitā.¹⁰⁰ Appayadīkṣita tries to provide a rational explanation to the usage of the term atha in the beginning of each treatise. According to him the term is used in the sense of beginning to invite the special attention towards the speaker, though the sense of articulation is conveyed even without its usage.¹⁰¹ A similar attempt to demystify the term athā is found in Narasiṃhabhāṣya of Rasavaiśeṣikasūtra. It deviates from the conventional renderings in explaining the articulation athā; tries to ratify its usage within the realms of rational thought¹⁰². The auspiciousness of aṣṭapada is further emphasized while commenting the title of first chapter of sūtrasthāna and explaining the synonyms of nidāna¹⁰³. Cakrapāṇidatta was particular about the purity of familial lineage, which is a feature of Brahmanical belief¹⁰⁴.