109. Todarānanda
Volume I: Part II pp. 907–914
Todarānanda stands as an extensive encyclopaedia encompassing religious law, astronomy, and medicine. Significant portions of this work, specifically two parts on Sarga and Avatāras, have been published by Dr. P. L. Vaidya. This monumental compilation is intimately connected with Toḍarmal, whose family and ancestors are also discussed in relation to its origins. The Todarānanda is meticulously structured into twenty-two distinct sections, known as saukhyas, each of which is further subdivided into harṣas. Its composition spanned a considerable period, from 1572 A.D. to 1589 A.D., concluding in the very year of Toḍarmal’s demise. The chapter provides an account of the work's overall extent, alongside details of some of these saukhyas, with particular mention of the Jyotiḥsaukhya, which was completed in 1572 A.D. Additionally, other relevant works useful for understanding the history of Toḍaramalla are noted. Regarding its authorship, Dr. Vaidya's ascription of the Todarānanda chiefly to Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa is presented as not acceptable. Instead, the specific authorship of the Jyotiḥsaukhya, for instance, is attributed to Nīlakaṇṭha.
— Synopsis by P.V. Kane, from History of Dharmaśāstra
109. Todarānanda
109. Toḍarānanda
Rājā Toḍaramalla, the celebrated finance minister of Akbar, compiled an extensive encyclopædia of civil and religious law, astronomy and medicine. I gave in the first edition some in- formation about this work gathered from several sourceṣ No part of the work had been printed when the first edition of the first volume was published in 1930. In 1945 Pandit K. Madhav Krishna Sarma contributed a paper on Toḍarānanda to the Journal of the G. J. R. I. of Allahabad, vol. III. pp. 63-66. There he stated that the Anup Sanskrit Library at Bikaner has the most complete set of the parts of the Toḍarānanda. In 1948 Dr. P. L. Vaidya published a volume containing two parts of the text of the encyclopaedic work viz. on Sarga (creation of the world ) and Avatāras, in the Gaṅgā Oriental Series of Bikaner with a Foreword by Sardar K. M. Panikkara ( the then Prime Minister of the Bikaner State ), with a learned Introduction (by Dr. Vaidya), Text ( in 386 pages ) and some Appendices ( Appendix A, giving a brief sketch of the life of Rāja Todar- mal, B containing a few stanzas glorifying Todarmal found in Maṇirāma’s Padyasaṅgraha and three verses from the Benares Draupadī-Kuṇḍa Inscription of Samvat 1616 (i. e. 1589 A. D.) inscribed by order of Todarmal, Appendix C ( pp. 395-414 ) supplying information on several sections of the Todarānanda derived from msṣ in different librarieṣ
Dr. Vaidya (in his Introduction pp. XVII–XXXI) brings to- gether valuable information about Todarmal and his work.
After a few Introductory verses containing obeisance to Brahman, Kṛṣṇa, Gaṇeśa and Manu ( in six verses ), a few verses ( I. 7-18 ) deal with the family and ancestors of Todarmal. Todarmal came of a Kṣatriya family of Oudh called Tāṇḍana. The first ancestor named is Bāla ( I. 7 ) who was a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. His son was Attali – son Dāma ( Dāmodara ) – son Assū ( a warrior and devotee of Kṛṣṇa ) – his son Dvārakādāsa, patron of learned men – son Dvijamalla – son Bhagavatīdāsa – son Todara- malla born at Laharpur in Oudh. The family was in straightened circumstances owing to Bhagavatīdāsa’s large charities which the Pandit ( who composed the Intro. verses ) says uprooted poverty for a long time ( Intro. v. 13 ). He had to accept service under Akbar as a clerk. Akbar soon found out Todarmal’s great talents and sent him to Gujarat ( which had recently been con- quered by him ) as a gifted revenue settlement officer and also a warrior. Later, Akbar sent him to Bihar and Bengal for the same purpose. Akbar made him a commander, Wazir and Diwan in 1582 A. D. ). Todarmal was not only endowed with high qua- lities but was also highly interested in learning and spent much of his wealth in charities, in building or renovating temples, consecrating images of Kṛṣṇa and constructing large tanks and wellṣ He is said to have rebuilt the temple of Viśveśvara at the instance of Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa about 1585 A. D. This temple was later demolished in 1669 A. D. by Aurangzeb. The Todara- nanda is divided into 22 sections called Saukhyas and each Saukhya has sub-sections called harṣaṣ 109. Toḍarānanda
The question is whether Todarmal is the author of the work called Toḍarānanda, that he was the inspirer, there can be no doubt. Verse 19 ( of Introduction ) states that he called together learned Pandits of pure character, honoured them and instructed them to compile this work which would be the quintessence of the several Purāṇas and Smṛtiṣ1 Dr. P. L. Vaidya says that the Toḍarānanda must have been composed between 1572 A. D. and 1589 A. D. (the year in which Todarmal died). We have also to remember that the extent of the Encyclopaedia (as Dr. Vaidya says on p. 414 ) cannot be fixed with certainty, since the Rājanīti and Karmavipāka sections have not yet been traced and the Śrāddhasaukhya Mṣ has no beginning nor enḍ He further says that we can roughly ascertain the extent of the remaining sections which put together comes to be of 72150 Ślokas (each śloka of 32 syllables). He further conjectures that the extent of the entire Toḍarānanda may be in the neighbourhood of 80000 Ślokaṣ
The several parts of that encyclopaedia dealing with ācāra, dāna, vyavahāra, śrāddha, viveka, prāyaścitta, samaya were called saukḥyaṣ An account of some of the saukḥyas that were avail- able to me may be concisely given here. The Vyavahārasau- khya ( D. C. mṣ No. 366 of 1875-76 ) begins with an invocation of Śiva, speaks of the pārasika emperor2 (Akbar) of Hind (India) and then deals with the several topics of judicial pro- cedure such as the king’s duty to look into disputes, the sabhā, judge, meaning of the word vyavahāra, enumeration of 18 vyavahārapadas, time and place of vyavahāra, the plaint, the reply, the agent of the parties (pratinidhi), pratyākṛita, the superiority of one mode of proof over another, witnesses, documents, possession, inference, ordeals and oaths, grades of punish- ments and fineṣ The Vyavahārasaukhya does not dwell on the exposition of the several titles of law. Besides the smṛti writers, it principally relies on the Kalpataru, the Pārijāta, Bhava- deva, the Mitākṣarā, the Ratnākara, Harihara, and Halāyudha. The several sections are styled harṣaṣ
The Vivāhasaukhya (D. C. Mṣ No. 916 of 1886-92 in folios 54) is chiefly concerned with the astrological aspects of marriage viz. the proper year, month, day, zodiacal sign, nakṣa- tra for marriage, good characteristics of a marriageable girl and bridegroom; proper age for marriage for a girl and a male; many authors and works are quoted (most of which are men- tioned below).1370
The Śrāddhasaukhya (D. C. mṣ No. 257 of 1884-87) is an extensive work and deals with the usual topics such as the differ- ent kinds of śrāddhas, the time and place for śrāddha, the proper brāhmaṇas, sapiṇḍīkaraṇa &c. The sections of this work also are divided into harṣaṣ Besides those enumerated above the authors and works mentioned are noted below.1371
The Jyotiḥsaukhya (D. C. mṣ No. 915 of 1886-92) consti- tutes the Saṃhitā branch of Indian astronomy and deals with 109. Toḍarānanda
such topics as the results of eclipses, the appearance of comets, the rise of Agastya, Ursa major, the signs of the Zodiac &c. It frequently refers to Kāśyapa, Garga (or Vṛddhagarga), Parāśara, Mayūracitra, Varāha. The colophons state that Toḍaramalla was a scion of the Tāṇḍala (or - na) family and that the work was compiled by Nīlakaṇṭha at the order of Toḍaramalla.3 This Nīlakaṇṭha appears to be the author of the Sañjñātantra on which a commentary was written by his son Govinda in 1622 A. D., in which it is stated that Nīlakaṇṭha was honoured by Akbar and had composed the Toḍarānanda.4 In the Tājika-Nīlakaṇṭhī of Nīlakaṇṭha it is stated that the author composed works on the three branches of Jyotiṣa which gave delight to Toḍara.5
The Jyotiṣaukhya was composed in śaka 14946 (i. e. 1572 A. D.). The mṣ of the Vyavahārasaukhya bears at the end the date samvat 1638 (1581-827 A. D.) which seems to be the date of its compositioṇ Toḍaramalla was a man of versatile geniuṣ He distinguished himself as an able commander as well as a great financier and statesmaṇ The Toḍarānanda gives some information about the family of Toḍarmal and his ancestors (as briefly set out above). Besides, Blochman's English translation of the Ain-i-Akbari (Vol. I. pp. 351–52) gives some informatioṇ On p. 352 we are told that his son Dharu i. e. Govardhanadhārī) was a commander of 700 horse and was killed in a campaign in Sindh. Beveridge's Akbarnama (Index Vol. p. 62) refers to two sons of Toḍarmal viz. Dhari (i. e. Govardhanadhārī) and Kalyāṇa. Other useful works are; Vincent Smith's biography of Akbar in the series called “Rulers of India”; and Dr. A. S. Altekar's History of Benares (pp. 39–43). Toḍarmal was born at Laharpur in Oudh and not at Lahore as is often stated (vide Blochman's translation p. 620) and he died on 10th November 1589 A. D.
Dr. Vaidya's edition of the first two parts (on p. 6 verses 24–27) enumerates the twentytwo parts (called Saukhyas) in which the subjects were distributed (vide not below).8
Several parts of this huge work are described as viracita (composed) by Todarmalla e. g. the printed text of Dr. Vaidya's edition of the first two Saukhyas (vide note below). Dr. Vaidya (in Intro. p. XXVI) argues that these words are not to be taken literally, that all that is meant is that Todaramalla conceived the project and provided for all the expenses incurred in engaging learned Pandits for collecting the material, for arranging it under proper heads and making copies of the several parts of it. I agree with him in this matter. But Dr. Vaidya goes further and argues (Introduction pp. XXVII–VIII) that considering all the facts he would ascribe the authorship of the Todarananda to Nārāyaṇabhatta chiefly (p. XXVIII of Intro.). I demur to this conclusioṇ In verse 19 of the Introduction quoted above, it is expressly stated that Todarmal invited learned men of pure character and directed them to compose the work. There was nothing to prevent him from saying that he called ‘Bhaṭṭa-Nārāyaṇa’ among the Pandits to preside over the task of preparing a huge work on Dharmaśāstra.
Dr. Vaidya agrees (p. XXX of Introduction) that the work was undertaken and finished between 1572 to 1589 A. D., the year in which Todarmal dieḍ
To me it appears probable that Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa refused to undertake such a heavy task because he had become old (in 1572 he would have been about 59 years old ). There is ano- ther important circumstance indicating that Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa must not have anything to do with this encyclopaedia, since we know for certain that the Jyotiḥsaukhya, ( a part of the Toḍarānanda ) was composed by Nīlakaṇṭha, son of Ananta ( vide p. 398 of Dr. Vaidya's edition ). If the name of one Pandit Nīlakaṇṭha is expressly mentioned as regards the Samhitāsaukhya, no acceptable reason can be advanced as to why Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa's name is not mentioned anywhere, if he had been responsible for the other parts of the encyclopaedia or for the whole work. It may be noted that the Toḍarānanda came to be mentioned as an authoritative work at least from about 1610 A. D. For example, the Nirṇayasindhu ( of Kamalākarabhatta ) cites it and so does the Vyavahāramayūkha of Nīlakaṇṭha, paternal cousin of Kamalākara ( vide note below ).1378 The Vivāhasaukhya refers to the Rājanītisaukhya, to the Gaṇitasaukhya, Saṁskārasaukhya, Horāsukhya ( these last three said to be already composed ).1379 The Marathi magazine ‘Itihāsasaṁgraha’ publishes an in- scription on a stone found in the Draupadīkuṇḍa at Benāres wherein it is said that Toḍara of the Ṭanḍana family construc- ted that beautiful reservoir in 1646 of the Vikrama era9 (i. e. 1589 A. D.). Therefore it follows that literary works were com- piled under the patronage of Todarmal between 1570-1586 A. D.
It is not possible for reasons of space to deal with all or most of the Saukhyas of Todarānanda but it would be interesting for scholars to know something more of one or more of the other Saukhyas like the Vivāhasaukhya of this large Saukhya called Todarānanda.
He begins by saying that the person who has completed his studies (snātaka) and has returned from the Gurukula is required by the Smṛtis e. g. Manu III. 2, VI. 34 to become a householder. Therefore our śāstras require every young man to be married and in order that he should get married he has to look into the Astrological matters which are omitted here. Manu and others praise Vivāha very much which is unnecessary to set out here. Manu recommends (chap. IX) a girl that has attained puberty to be married by her parents and guardians to a worthy bride-groom and that if such a bride-groom is not secured she might remain unmarried for her life. While arranging for the matter parents or guardians require that an astrologically proper conjunction of heavenly bodies is secureḍ According to Saṁskāra-saukhya based on Parāśara and other writers the girl should be married between 8 to 10 yearṣ One writer called Śrīdhara in his work called Vivāhapaṭala quotes that the marriage may be performed at all timeṣ Many authors and works have been quoted in this Vivāhasaukhya No. 916 of 1886– 92 at B. O. R. I. Dozens of Smṛtis and authors are quoted as also astrological and astronomical workṣ But it is not possible to enter into greater details here for want of space.
It refers to the Gaṇitasaukhya on fol. 26 a. He also refers to Horāsaukhya on folio 46b, Rājanīti-Saukhya on folio 53 b.
This mṣ is well written and the present author feels that an edition of it can be easily brought out on one mṣ alone.