व्यवहारमयूख (नीलकण्ठ भट्ट - पश्चिमी भारत की हिन्दू न्याय-संहिता एवं व्यवहार कोष)

INTRODUCTION
Information about the family of Nīlakantha can be gleaned from several
sources. S'aṅkarabhaṭṭa, the father of Nīlakantha, wrote an account of
the family called Gādhivaṁs'ānucarita. This work was so called because the
gotra of the family was Vis'vāmitra. The work was brought to the notice of
scholars by the late Mahāmahopādhyāya Haraprasād S'āstrī (vide Indian
Antiquary, vol 41 pp 7-13) Pandit Kāntanāthabhaṭṭa published at Mir-
zapur in 1903 a poem called 'Bhaṭṭavaṁs'akāvyaṁ' in ten sargas (cantos)
and 409 verses, in which he gives a detailed history of the family to which
both he and Nīlakaṇṭha belonged. Besides, the numerous works composed
by the members of this family during the period of several centuries furnish
considerable material for constructing a brief but reliable history of the family.
The home of the family was at Paithan in the Deccan on the Godāvarī.
The gotra of the family was Vis'vāmitra or Gādhi. The most ancient ances-
tor named is Nāgapās'a or Nāganātha, whose son was Cāṅgadeva, whose son
was Govinda. The real history of the family begins with Rāmes'varabhaṭṭa,
son of Govinda. Rāmes'varabhaṭṭa was a very learned man, had numerous
pupils, cured of leprosy the son of an influential Mahomedan officer of the
Ahmednagar kingdom and travelled extensively. When on a pilgrimage to
Dvārakā his first son Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa was born to him in s'ake 1435 (1513 A.D.).
Rāmes'varabhaṭṭa migrated eight years later to Benares. He had two more
sons S'rīdhara and Mādhava. Rāmes'vara died at a very advanced age and
his wife became a satī.
Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa learnt all the s'āstras at the feet of his father. He van-
quished Maithila and Gauḍa paṇḍits at the house of Todarmal, the famous
financier, scholar and statesman in the reign of Akbar. He was the most
illustrious member of his family. He was very fond of copying and collecting
Sanskrit manuscripts. He is said to have rebuilt the famous temple of
Vis'ves'vara at Benares that had been razed to the ground by the Mussalmans.
For his great learning and piety Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa was given the title of
'Jagadguru' and his family was given the first place of honour in the assembly
of learned brāhmaṇas and at the recitation of the Vedas, which latter distinc-
tion, it is said, still continues in the family. Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa wrote the
Prayogaratna, Tristhalīsetu and several other works.
Nārāyaṇabhaṭṭa had three sons, Rāmakṛṣṇa, S'aṅkara and Govinda. Rāma-
kṛṣṇa was a very learned man and a great student of Mīmāṁsā. S'aṅkara-
bhaṭṭa was a profound mīmāṁsaka. He wrote a commentary on the S'āstra-
dīpikā, a work called Dvaitanirṇaya, the Mīmāṁsābālaprakās'a, the Dharma-
prakās'a and several other works.
Rāmakṛṣṇa had three sons, Dinakara alias Divākara, Kamalākara and
Lakṣmaṇa. Dinakara wrote the Bhaṭṭadinakarī, the S'āntisāra, the Dinakara-
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