older brother’s wishes for the good of the
family as a whole.
Bharavi
(6th c. C.E.)Sanskritdramatist who is
best known as the author of the drama
Kiratarjuniya. This play describes the
meeting between the god Shiva, dis-
guised as the tribal hunter Kirata, and
the warrior-hero Arjuna. Arjuna is one
of the five Pandavabrothers, who are
the heroes of the epic Mahabharata. In
Hindu mythology, Arjuna is the world’s
greatest warrior, but he is also afflicted
with pride. The play describes how the
arrogant Arjuna becomes humbled at
the hands of this tribal hunter, who in
contemporary terms would be of very
low social status. In the end, however,
Shiva reveals his true form to Arjuna and
blesses him for his valor.
Bhartrhari
(5th c. C.E.) Sanskritpoet-philosopher
who authored the Shatakatrayam
(“Three Hundred”), a three-part collec-
tion of poems on political life, love, and
renunciation. According to legend,
Bhartrhari was born the sonof the brah-
minVidyasagara and his shudrawife,
Mandakini. Vidyasagara was the adviser
to the king of Kalinga and was given the
kingdom upon the ruler’s death; after
Vidyasagara’s death Bhartrhari’s brothers
designated him as king. Bhartrhari was
very happy until he realized that his wife
was being unfaithful to him. When her
secret was discovered she tried to poi-
son him. Completely disillusioned,
Bhartrhari renounced the world to live
as an ascetic, during which time he
reputedly composed his poetry.
Although this is a good story, since
many of these poems stress the degra-
dation inherent in courtly life,
Bhartrhari was most likely a courtier. His
poetry treats all of the conventional pur-
poses of life. The first two sections are
about power (artha), sensual desire
(kama), and righteous action (dharma),
whereas the final section is concerned
with the ultimate end, or liberation of
the soul (moksha). For further informa-
tion see Barbara Stoller Miller (trans.),
The Hermit and the Love-Thief, 1978.Bhartrprapancha
(7th c. C.E.) In Indian philosophy, the
first exponent of the Bhedabhada
(“identity-in-difference”) philosophical
school. The period during which
Bhartrprapancha flourished is uncer-
tain, but he precedes the eighth-century
Bhedabhada commentator Bhaskara.
The Bhedabhada position identified
three levels of being: the Ultimate
Reality known as Brahman, the “wit-
ness” consciousness (sakshin) in the
human being, and the world. This
school paradoxically asserted that these
three levels were identical, yet different.
Thus the world is identical to Brahman
but subject to change and decay, unlike
Brahman. In the same way, while each
human soul is identical to Brahman, it is
also subject to bondage and reincarna-
tion (samsara), unlike Brahman. TheBharavi
An image of the god Vithoba. Bharud poetry was
composed by poet-saints in the Varkari Panth,
a religious community devoted to Vithoba.