Bhojavritti, also known as Rajamartandavritti, is a commentary on Yogasutra of Patanjali. Bhoja, the well-known versatile king of Malava (1018 – 60 CE), is the writer of this commentary. His other works are on rhetoric, Ayurveda, architecture, sculpture, science of war, and technology.
Vritti is defined as a commenatary on the internal meaning
of the sutra (aphorism). Bhoja has faithfully followed this dictum in his vritti.
He declares in the introduction that he has explicitly explained the meaning of
the sutras and avoided unnecessary expansion and therefore the vrittis
meticulously explain each term of the sutra.
Bhoja has heavily relied upon Vyasabhashya, the most
authentic commentary on Yogasutra, and has also consulted Tattvavaisaradi of
Vachaspati Mishra, a commentary on Vyasabhashya. However, he differs at times
from these two predecessors. For example, while explaining the term Ananta of
the sutra 2.47, both Vyasa and Vachaspati state that concentration on Seshanaga
or Anantanaga helps in the asanasiddhi, but Bhoja interprets ‘ananta’ as
akasha.
Bhoja gives a gist of each chapter at the end of the pada
and while concluding the vritti, he presents a discussion on the nature of
atman in other philosophic systems such as Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vedanta, Bauddha,
Jaina and Shaiva. This comprehensive study enhances the value of this vritti.
This vritti is referred to by some later works on Yoga such
as Yogacintamani of Shivananda and Lalita-sahasra-bhashya of Bhaskaracharya.