Brahmasutrabhashya are commentaries on Brahma sutras. The Vedanta or Upanishadic philosophy is expounded in a series of aphorisms in Brahmasutras (Aphorisms of Brahman) by Vyasa or Badarayana (200 BCE). However, it is difficult to ascertain the historicity and authorship in the tradition of Advaita thought as Govindananda, Vacaspati Mishra and Anandagiri identify Badarayana with Vyasa, Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha and Baladeva mention Vyasa alone as the author of Brahma sutras.
Brahmasutras is divided into four chapters which are -
- Samanvaya (universal),
- Avirodha (non-contradiction),
- Sadhana (means to the realization of truth including meditation) and
- Phala (the attainment of the goal of realization and release.
The chapter are divided further into adhikaranas or
sections. Each section takes up five questions
- Visaya (subject matter) which is a theme of Upanishads
- Vishaya (any doubt) regarding its interpretation
- Purva paksha (the possible view)
- Siddhanta (the finally accepted conclusion)
- Sangati (the harmony between the sections)
There are thus 192 adhikaranas and 555 sutras for instance,
according to Adi Shankaracharya’s interpretation. An adhikarana may run, thus,
to more that one aphorism. In such cases, the first one is the main and the subsequent
ones are secondary. The number of aphorisms differs because the commentators
take sometimes two aphorisms as one and vice-versa.
The oldest of extant commentaries is by Shankara, the
exponent of non-dualism. A vritti by Upavarsha is mentioned by Adi
Shankaracharya and Bhaskara and a vritti by Bodhayana is referred to and often quoted
by Ramanuja in his Sri Bhashya. Adi Shankaracharya does not refer to Bodhyana.
Unfortunately, this work of Bodhayana is not available now. Ramanuja quotes
also from Dramida Bhashya, which evidently belongs to the Bhakti devotional
sect of southern India. Adi Shankaracharya was followed by a host of
commentators on these Sutras – Yadava Prakasha, Bhaskara, Vijnana Bhikshu,
Ramanuja, Nilakantha, Sripati, Nimbarka, Madhva, Vallabha and Baladeva. There
are even some recent commentaries, though not of much value. All these try to
maintain that their system is the one that Badarayana propounded through his
sutras.
A present, however, only five of these great commentators
have a large following – Shankara, the exponent of non-dualism; Ramanuja, the
exponent of Visihtadvaita or qualified non-dualism; Nimbarka, the exponent of Bhedabheda
or the theory of difference and non-difference; Madhva, the exponent of Dvaita;
and Vallabha, the exponent of Suddhadvaita. All these systems seem to be based
on the views of one or the other ancient Vedanta schools to which we find
Badarayana referring in his sutras.