Gaga Bhatt

Vishveshvara Bhatta (IAST: Viśveśvara Bhaṭṭa), popularly known as Gaga Bhatt (from Gāgā Bhaṭṭa) was a 17th-century Brahmin scholar from Varanasi, best known for presiding over the coronation of the Maratha king, Shivaji Raje.

Gaga Bhatt was renowned as Vedonarayana ("greatest exponent of Vedic discourse"). The Bhatta family originally hailed from Paithan, Maharashtra who belongs to Vishwamitra gotra.[1] His great grandfather Nārāyaņa Bhațța was a well-known scholar and his notable works on smriti include, Prayogaratna, Tristhalisetu and Antyeșțipaddhati. His grandfather was Rāmakŗșņa Bhațța, the eldest son of Nārāyaņa. His father Divākara Bhațța, the eldest son of Rāmakŗșņa was an author on smriti. His works include, Bhațțadinākara, Śāntisāra and Dinākaroddyota. His uncle, Kamalākara Bhațța, was also a noted scholar, mostly known for his Nirņayasindhu, a popular work on smriti. Gaga Bhatt himself is known for his Bhațțacintāmaņi, a work on Mīmāṃsā.[2]

Gaga Bhatt's first reference appears in 1640 where is noted as a member of the assembly of Pandits in Kashi deciding upon the rights of a Shende Golak family. Gaga Bhatt has previously met Shivaji Maharaj more than a decade before his coronation year of 1674. In 1663, he came to the Deccan. At Rajapur, Maharashtra Shivaji Maharaj invited him to preside an assembly of 15 Pandits to decide on the rights of the Saraswat Brahmin community to end a local dispute. The decision at this assembly in April 1664 is prefaced by praise or prashasti for Shahaji Raje and Shivaji Maharaj by Gaga Bhatt.[3][4]

Gaga Bhatt appeared without invitation in the chronicles of Sabhasad and Chitragupta, when he decided to visit his court after hearing about the fame of Shivaji Maharaj. He was impressed with Shivaji Maharaj court and their treatment of him, quoting:

The forms of Kshatriya duty have been utterly extinguished during the Kali Yuga. The earth is overrun with Yavanas ( Mahomedans ) who have usurped the thrones of kings. No spark of valour is left in the warriors of the Solar or the Lunar race. Sacrifices are stopped ; forms of duty forgotten ; the Brahman Dharma eclipsed ; the great shrines have lost their expiatory virtue. It is only you who have put forth great valour, defeated the Mahomedan sultans, quieted Aurangzeb, vanquished his pro-consuls, won a great kingdom, and maintained in your power a hundred thousand cavalry, three hundred and sixty forts, and great wealth and possessions. This being so, you are yet without a consecrated throne. It is, therefore, my wish and the wish of many other people of Sawraj to crown you king and have you saluted as a king of the royal umbrella by other rulers. Without a formal crowning a ruling king has no honour. By getting yourself formally crowned, you will complete the humiliation of Aurangzeb and the other sultans. Do you, therefore, indulge us in this our desire?

— Takakhav, N. S., The Life of Shivaji Maharaj p. 354

References
  1. Chhatrapati Shivaji By Bhawan Singh . Page 78.
  2. Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭa (1985). Richard Salomon (ed.). The Bridge to the Three Holy Cities. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. xxvi–xxvii. ISBN 978-0-89581-647-4. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  3. Viśveśvara Bhaṭṭa (1960). Bendrey, V. Sitaram (ed.). Coronation of Shivaji the Great (Gagābhaṭṭakrlaḥ: Śrīśivarājabhiṣekaprayogaḥ): or, The procedure of the religious ceremony performed by Gagabhatta for the consecration of Shivaji Maharaj as a Sawraj’s king. pp. 24–27.
  4. Gajanan Bhaskar Mehendale (2012). Shivaji His Life and Times. Param Mitra Publications. p. 480.
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