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Written by Rajesh Anand
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 In Mithila, Lord Shiva is still worshipped by this name. Once, Vidyapati wastravelling with Ugna and it was a hot summer day and Vidyapati was feeling very thirsty. Seeing no trace of water in the vicinity, Vidyapati felt helpless. Ugna offered to go out and search for water. After a while, Ugna returned with a lota (pot) full of water. Actually, Ugna who was Lord Shiva himself, pretended that he had set out to fetch water but had in fact taken out the Gangajal from the mats of his hair. When Vidyapati tasted the water he felt that this was no ordinary water and immediately felt suspicious. He accosted Ugna and Ugna had to admit His real identity by showing His real form. However, Ugna put a condition that Vidyapati should maintain complete secrecy about this episode and if he ever revealed the secret, the Lord will disappear. Sometime later, it so happened that Vidyapati's wife got very angry at her servant Ugna and started to beat him. At this instance, Vidyapati could not tolerate it and asked his wife not to beat Ugna as He was Lord Shiva Himself. No sooner Vidyapati had uttered these words, as Ugna had warned, He disappeared and was never to be seen again.
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Written by Rajesh Anand
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Vachaspati Mishra is a name which no serious scholar of Indian philosophy can afford to ignore.
Regarded as one of the greatest scholars and logicians of India of his time , Vachaspati Mishra wrote erudite commentaries on the important works of almost all the schools of Indian philosophy. Researchers place him in the league of Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya and rightly so.
Vachaspati was was born in the Mithila region in Bihar in 10th century AD.
There is considerable debate among historians about his date and place of birth. Vachaspati himself gives the date 898 for one of his works, Nyayasuchinibandha. (न्यायसूचिनिबन्ध) . It is however not known if he means the Saka calander or the Vikrama one. If we assume the latter, then this work was written in AD 841. This date, however, is disputed among scholars . (1)
According to one view , Vachaspati lived in Tharhi village in Darbhanga district where " even today there is a tank associated with his wife's name, on the side of which, it is believed,he had his house". [Mishra]. Some other scholars are of the view that he belonged to Badgama which is now in Saharsa district bordering Darbhanga . There seems to be an agreement, however, that Vachaspati hailed from the Mithila region.
Vachaspati wrote a number of books and devised a number of formula but he is most famous for his book called Bhamati (भामति ). It is the commentary on Brahm sutras (also called Vedanta Sutra). Brahm Sutra, compiled by Ved Vyasa in pre-recorded history, has 555 aphorisms or sutra, its very first sutra "athato brahm jijgnasa" (one should inquire about Brahm or God) is a very famous line for a seeker on the path of spirituality. Vedanta is one of the six major streams of Hindu philosophy, the others being Nyay (Gautam), Vaisheshik (Kanad), Mimamnsa (Jaimini), Sankhya (Kapila) and Yoga (Patanjali).
The naming of his commentary on Brahma Sutras has a very interesting story which has become part of Mithila folklore.
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