Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 16,194

Date uploaded in London – 13 September 2026

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Words beginning with letter V

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Vachaspati Mishra

Vācaspati Miśra, c. 10th century CE, was a gṛhastha scholar from the Mithilā region in modern Bihar state (bordering Nepal). He was knowledgeable in several disciplines connected to the Dharma and is traditionally hailed as a sarva-tantra-svatantra.

The uniqueness of Vācaspati Miśra was his ability to write on almost every darśana with the perspective of an insider. This is perhaps unparalleled in the history of the Dharma. Perhaps his most well-known work is the Bhāmatī, an exposition of Adi Shankaracharya’s Brahmasūtra Bhāṣya.

Vācaspati Miśra is a colossus among the Indian philosophers. One of the great Maithila scholars of the period, Vācaspati Miśra came from a family of Mīmāṃsakas and made his fame as an authority on that topic, on which he says himself. He was, the teacher of Smārta Vardhamāna, author of Danḍaviveka.

Vācaspati Miśra’s family appears to have lived in several different villages of Mithila

Vācaspati Miśra has to his credit nine valuable treatises contributed to different orthodox systems of philosophy. On the basis of the internal evidences provided by these works, modern scholars arrange them in the following chronological order.[15]

1) Nyāyakaṇikā: This is a commentary on Vidhiviveka, a Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā work of Maṇḍanamiśra.

2) Nyāyasūtroddhāra: This is a compilation of the Nyāyasūtra fixing the readings of the text of the sūtras.

3) Nyāyasūcīnibandha: This arranges the same Nyāyasūtra.

4) Nyāyavārtikatātparyaṭīkā: This work also known by its shorter and more popular name, ‘tātparyaṭīkā’, is an extensive commentary on the Nyāyavārtikā of Uddyotakara Bhāradvāja.

5) Tattvasamīkṣā: It is generally believed to be a commentary on the Brahmasiddhi of Maṇḍanamiśra. But it has been recently suggested that this is also an independent Mīmāṃsa treatise of Vācaspati Miśra. This work is lost.

6) Tattvabindu: This is also an independent Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsa treatise of Vācaspati Miśra.

7) Sāṅkhyatattvakaumudī: This work, known briefly as Tattvakaumudī, is a brilliant commentary on the famous Sāṅkhyakārikā of Īśvarakṛṣṇa.

8) Yogatattvavaiśāradī known also by its shorter title Tattvavaiśāradī: This work is a commentary on the Pātañjalayogasūtrabhāṣya of Vyāsa.

9) Bhāmatī: The full title of this work is perhaps Śārīrakabhāṣya bhāmatī. This is the earliest known exhaustive and complete commentary on the Brahmasūtraśāṅkara-bhāṣya.

It is interesting to note that in a verse in the epilogue of the Bhāmatī Vācaspati Miśra gives a full list of his own works arranged exactly in the above order suggested by the modern researchers. In the Indian tradition Vācaspati Miśra is again perhaps the first writer to give a complete list of his works, that too in a chronological order.

Date

1. Since Vācaspati Miśra refutes Bhāskara in his Bhāmatī, he must be 10th century at earliest.

2. Vācaspati Miśra quotes Dharmottara respectfully, so must have lived a century or so after him. Since Dharmottara is 9th century C.E, Vācaspati Miśra must be 10th century C.E.

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Vaidehi

Vaidehi is an alternate name for Goddess Sita that means “princess or daughter of the Videha kingdom”.  Sita’s father, King Janaka, ruled the ancient kingdom of Videha. In ancient times, people often named princesses after their home kingdom. King Janaka was also called Videha because he lived free from worldly attachments. Because he was Videha, his daughter became Vaidehi.

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Vaikuntha

Vaikuntha is the eternal celestial abode of the Hindu god Lord Vishnu and his consort Goddess Lakshmi.  The word Vaikuntha translates from Sanskrit as “a place without anxiety” (vai means without, and kuntha means anxiety or distress). It exists completely outside the temporary, material universe and is free from time, fear, birth, and death.It serves as the ultimate destination for pure devotees and liberated souls who achieve moksha (salvation). Scriptures describe the realm as self-illuminated by divine energy, featuring golden palaces, jewel-studded buildings, and lush hanging gardens.  Puranas and Vaishnava traditions often place Vaikuntha—also known as Vishnuloka or Param Padam—far above the material worlds in the direction of the Capricorn constellation (Makara rashi).

Vaikuntha Ekadashi is a sacred Hindu festival dedicated to Lord Vishnu, observed on the 11th lunar day of the waxing fortnight in the Tamil month of Margazhi (December–January). Devotees believe that the gateway to Lord Vishnu’s celestial abode (Vaikuntha) opens on this day, granting liberation (moksha) from the cycle of birth and death. Observing a fast on this single Ekadashi is considered equal in merit to fasting on all 23 other Ekadashis of the year. Mukkoti Ekadasi: Also known as Mukkoti Ekadasi, it is believed that three crore deities gather in Vaikunth during this auspicious occasion. The next Vaikuntha Ekadashi falls on Sunday, December 20, 2026.

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Vajasneyi

Vajasaneyi is the name of the primary mantra collection (Samhita) of the Shukla Yajurveda and the school of Vedic study founded by the ancient sage Yajnavalkya.   It includes 40 chapters of verses and prayers used by priests during Vedic ritual sacrifices (yajna). The 40th chapter is the Isha Upanishad, a major philosophical text.

Vājasaneyī (वाजसनेयी).—(VĀJASANEYAS). A group of Priests. Priest Yājñavalkya was one of the disciples of Yajur Veda-group of Vyāsa. Of the line of disciples, Yājñavalkya had fifteen disciples. They were called Vājasaneyins or Vājasaneyas.

The Yajus—collection received from the god Sun were divided into fifteen groups by Yājñavalkya and given to each of his disciples. From that day onwards, his disciples became famous by the name Vājasaneyas. (Br. U 7-3-7).The name Vajasaneyi is derived from Vajasaneya, patronymic of sage Yajnavalkya, an authority and according to tradition, founder of the Vajasaneyi branch.

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Vajra

Vajra (वज्र):—[from vaj] mn. ‘the hard or mighty one’, a thunderbolt that of Indra, said to have been formed out of the bones of the Ṛṣi Dadhīca or Dadhīci  and shaped like a circular discus, or in later times regarded as having the form of two transverse bolts crossing each other thus x; also applied to a thunderbolt in general or to the lightning evolved from the centrifugal energy of the circular th° of Indra when launched at a foe.

Vajra (वज्र):—It is mentioned in the Ṛgveda mostly as a weapon of Indra. It is suggested that it was originally made of stone and later of bone. a weapon shaped out of Dadhīci’s limbs by Viśvakarman for the use of Indra; with this Indra was able to break the back of the mountains. By this Vṛtra was slain. But it was of no use against Namuci.

Diamond is also called Vajra. It became Vairam in Tamil, because Brahmin women spoke Prakrit at home like women found in 2200 year old Kalidasa’s works. In other words, it is the spoken form of Sanskrit.

Vajra is the symbol of sacrifice; Dadhichi Rishi gave his own backbone to destroy the evil forces.

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Vakyapadiya

The Vākyapadīya is an ancient Sanskrit masterpiece on the philosophy of language and grammar written by the poet-grammarian Bhartṛhari around the 5th century CE. The Vakyapadiya is an ancient Sanskrit text dealing with the philosophy of language. Bhartrhari authored this book in three parts and propounds his theory of Sphotavada (sphota-vada) which understands language as consisting of bursts of sounds conveying their meaning, as opposed to the theory of Varnavada (varna-vada) which states that language is interpreted as a combination of indivdual letters.Three Books (Trikāṇḍī): Divided into Book 1 (Brahma-kāṇḍa on the spiritual reality of the word), Book 2 (Vākya-kāṇḍa on the sentence), and Book 3 (Pada-kāṇḍa on individual words and meanings). Famous verses argue that all human knowledge and awareness are fundamentally intertwined with language.

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Vala

Vala (वल).—(bala) An asura.

In the Rig Veda, Vala is a demonic rock enclosure or cave personified as an asura (demon) who traps the stolen morning light, dawn (Ushas), and radiant divine cows. Mention is made about this asura in many hymns in the Ṛgveda.

Translating to “enclosure” or “cave” in Vedic Sanskrit, Vala is described as the brother of Vrtra (the serpent of drought) and son of Tvashtr, sharing the root meaning of covering or blocking.

The god Indra—strengthened by drinking Soma and aided by divine allies like Brhaspati, Trita, and the Angiras (Angirasas) rishis—shatters Vala’s stone cavern to release the imprisoned cows (representing light rays and illumination) back to the world. While Indra typically uses his thunderbolt, certain hymns (such as RV 2.24) describe Brahmanaspati or Indra breaking open Vala using spiritual power, divine sound, and true prayer (brahman) rather than physical weapons. In esoteric and spiritual commentaries (such as those by Sri Aurobindo), Vala symbolizes the forces of darkness and the subconscious mind that block human perception from reaching the supreme truth. It is stated in Padma Purāṇa, Bhūmikhaṇḍa, how Indra killed this asura.

One day Vala went to the sea for his evening worship. Devendra saw the asura, shining with the radiance of celibacy and the divine rod and deer-hide, praying on the sea-shore. Instantly Indra cut him into two with his weapon, the thunderbolt. Vala fell down motionless

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Valmiki

Valmiki was a Maharishi, a great saint, who portended the story of Lord Rama. He is regarded as the first poet in Sanskrit language and hence, also revered as Adi Kavi. He composed the first poem, RAMAYANA, wherein he brought himself into this epic.

Interestingly, after he repented for his sins, he was initiated by the Great Sage, Narada, to meditate on the name, “Rama”, with the purpose of bringing in balance and further Spiritual upliftment to become a Saint.

The First Verse in Sanskrit

Strangely enough, the words of the first shloka were curse words from the Maharishi. One day, as he was bathing in the river Ganges, he saw a crane (kraunch) couple mating. He was extremely happy and experienced bliss seeing the birds. Suddenly, the male bird was hit by an arrow, and died. The female bird screamed in pain and died immediately. Anger came upon Valmiki and he cursed the hunter in a haste. This spontaneous curse became the first verse in Sanskrit. The curse literally meant, “Oh hunter, may you not get rest for eons, for you killed a ‘Kraunch’ from the pair, when they were in so much bliss”. After calming down, when he looked upon the curse from a higher perspective, it sparked a vision to create a Mahakavya, which is known as Ramayana.

Valmiki’s Life before Transformation as a Saint

He is said to be a robber named Ratnakkardah in his early life. He lived in a forest and his wife and children were in a town nearby. Before that, he was a soldier and he used to kill soldiers who behaved brutally towards the women of those who lost the war. That made the king and other soldiers go against him. So, he had to escape from there. Later, he became a robber and lived in a forest.

One day as sage Narada passed through the forest, Ratnakkardah threatened to kill him, if he did not give away all the wealth that he had. Narada did not get afraid, and instead asked him why he was committing such a sin. Ratnakkardah did not consider this to be a sin and justified that he was robbing others of wealth in order to take care of his family. To this, Narada questioned if his family would be willing to share the sins that he was earning while using the money from such wrong doings? Ratnakkardah had never thought about this earlier. He tied Narada to a tree and hurried home to check with his family. His family disagreed to share his sins. They said that it was his responsibility to earn for them and that they had nothing to do with how he earned the money.

Suddenly, reality dawned upon him and he realized the negative entitlement that he was generating by his actions. He ran back to Narada and pleaded him to help and save him from all the sins that he had committed.

Narada was delighted at this change and initiated him to repeat the sacred name “Rama” with his mind and soul to get uplifted. As Ratnakkardah found it difficult to pronounce the word Rama, Narada suggested him to repeat the word “mara” instead. And slowly, he was able to chant the name “Rama”.

There are a few different versions of this story, but essentially, he was initiated to chant the mantra of “Rama”. With this immense tapas he became a great saint and came to be known as Valmiki (the one who came out of an ant hill, which was formed around him during the long intense tapas). He later went on to write the epic of Ramayana.

The “RAMA” Mantra

You can notice here that the mantra “Rama” was chanted even before Lord Rama was born. Hence, you can observe this indication in many bhajans as “Ram se bada Ram ka Naam”.

अंत में निकला ये परिणाम, ये परिणाम,

राम से बड़ा राम का नाम ..

Anth  mein  nikala   ye parinam  ,Ye parinam

Ram se  bada  Ram Ka nam

At the end emerged this result  , thus result

The name of  Rama is greater  than Rama

Tags- Vachaspati Mishra , Valmiki, Vala, Vajra, HINDU DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH AND TAMIL 132; இந்து மத கலைச்சொல் அகராதி-113

To be continued…………………..