Vijñānabhikṣu (also spelled Vijnanabhikshu) was a Hindu philosopher from Bihar, variously dated to the 15th or 16th century,[1] [2] known for his commentary on various schools of Hindu philosophy, particularly the Yoga text of Patanjali.[3] His scholarship stated that there is a unity between Vedānta, Yoga, and Samkhya philosophies, and he is considered a significant influence on Neo-Vedanta movement of the modern era.
Vijnanabhiksu wrote commentaries in the 15th century on three different schools of Indian philosophy: Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, and Yoga. He integrated them into a nondualism platform that belongs to both the Bhedabheda and Advaita (nondualism) sub-schools of Vedanta.[4] According to Andrew Nicholson, this became the basis of Neo-Vedanta. His integration is known as Avibhaga Advaita ("indistinguishable non-dualism"). His sub-commentary on the Yoga Sutras, the Yogavarttika, has been an influential work.[5]
According to Andrew Fort, Vijnanabhiksu's commentary is Yogic Advaita, since his commentary is suffused with Advaita-influenced Samkhya-Yoga. Vijnanabhiksu discusses, adds Fort, a spiritually liberated person as a yogic jivanmukta.[6] [7]
Vijnanabhiksu was a staunch critic of Shankara's strict non-dualism, which he viewed as crypto-Buddhist. He reinterpreted the Brahma Sutras to reflect Samkhya's metaphysical dualism of prakrti and purusha. He taught that Brahman, characterized by pure consciousness, is the Inner Ruler (antaryamin) of both prakrti and purusha. He explained the universe's creation through maya as an evolute of the eternally real prakrti, asserting that the world is not illusory.[8]
Vijnanabhiksu's commentary, Sāṁkhyapravacanabhāṣya, on the Samkhya Sutras challenges the traditional interpretation of the Samkhya Sutras by arguing that, contrary to appearances, Kapila actually believed in the existence of God.[9]
Nicholson mentions Vijnanabhiksu as a prime influence on 19th century Indology and the formation of Neo-Vedanta. According to Nicholson, already between the twelfth and the sixteenth century,
The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Mikel Burley. Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus, and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other", which started well before 1800. Both the Indian and the European thinkers who developed the term "Hinduism" in the 19th century were influenced by these philosophers.
Little good work has been written in English on Vijñānabhikṣu, and most of the texts in his large corpus have yet to be edited and published in Sanskrit, let alone translated into English.
Some major texts attributed to Vijnanabhiksu include:[10]