Bōdhāyana Vṛtti — The Ancient Tradition Rāmānuja Recovered
Bōdhāyana Vṛtti (Sanskrit: vṛtti = gloss, explanatory commentary) refers to the ancient explanatory work on the Brahmasūtras attributed to the sage Bōdhāyana — a Vedic authority of great antiquity credited with a comprehensive gloss on Bādarāyaṇa's Brahmasūtras. The work is not extant in its complete form, but its existence and content are attested by Rāmānuja's explicit citations.
Rāmānuja's Claim in the Śrī Bhāṣya: The opening section of the Śrī Bhāṣya contains Rāmānuja's famous declaration that he writes 'following the footsteps of the ancient Bōdhāyana, who composed a detailed Vṛtti on the entire Śārīraka-mīmāṃsā (Brahmasūtras)'. This statement is of crucial importance: Rāmānuja presents Viśiṣṭādvaita not as his own new philosophy but as the proper understanding of the sūtras transmitted from Bādarāyaṇa through Bōdhāyana and preserved in the sampradāya. He is, in his own account, a restorer of an ancient tradition, not an innovator.
The Controversy: Adi Śaṃkarāchārya had composed a famous bhāṣya on the Brahmasūtras, interpreting them in the Advaita direction. Rāmānuja's appeal to the Bōdhāyana Vṛtti challenged this dominance by arguing that there was an older, equally authoritative interpretation. Since the Bōdhāyana Vṛtti manuscript was already rare in Rāmānuja's time — prompting his famous journey to Śāradā Pīṭham aided by Kūrattāzhvān, who memorized large portions — the claim could not easily be dismissed by opponents.
Theological Significance: The Bōdhāyana Vṛtti represents the pūrva-pakṣa tradition from which Rāmānuja claims to argue. It anchors the Śrī Bhāṣya in a historical-textual tradition of Vedic commentary. For Śrī Vaiṣṇava theological method, this move is important: it establishes that the tradition's interpretation of Vedānta is not a sectarian innovation but a recovery of the ācārya-paramparā's original understanding — the very principle underlying Śrī Vaiṣṇava reverence for the unbroken guru-lineage.