Ubhaya Bharti: Her Intellectual Odyssey of Becoming Vidushi Bharti

Did you know that a woman philosopher and scholar defeated Shankaracharya in a debate which lasted for 21 days? If not, keep reading to meet one of the highly learned and ingenious female scholars of vedic times. She debated with Shankaracharya on behalf of her husband when he started losing and emerged victorious. Ubhaya Bharti’s odyssey of becoming Vidushi Bharti is really beautiful and insightful. She was the paragon of women’s intelligence and knowledge. She demonstrated through her intellect that women are at par with their male counterparts. Some people also argue that Vidushi Bharti’s story is just a folklore because there are no traces of her besides this major event.

Ubhaya Bharti was born in a Brahmin family in Bhatapura village in Madhubani. She was married to Mandan Mishra of Saharsa district. They were a happy couple living peacefully and lovingly. They both had profound knowledge about vedas and always followed vedic way of life. They sincerely adhered to all the rituals and rites and worshipped God. The couple had adopted Mimansa philosophy which seeks the inquiry of the soul or self-introspection. They cherished nature and dwelled in complete harmony with it.

It is said that one could easily spot their house with the help of parrots hanging outside in a cage discussing ontological and epistemological issues of the vedas. Such was the intellect level of the couple.

In vedic period scholarly discourse was a common thing between two scholars to test each other’s knowledge. They would ask questions from each other. So, one day Shankaracharya, who was considered a great scholar and sage of that time, came to debate with the husband of Ubhaya Bharti, Mandan Mishra. Another scholar Kumaril Bhatt had advised Shankaracharya to go and meet this knowledgeable couple.

Mandan Mishra at first was not very happy to find Shankaracharya there but later he accepted his arrival. Both the scholars, Mandan Mishra and Shankaracharya were equally intellectual and incisive. Ubhaya Bharti was appointed the moderator of their debate. When the debate began Mandan Mishra failed to answer a few questions of Shankaracharya and was on the verge of losing when his wife Ubhaya Bharti intervened and questioned him how he could claim to possess the entire knowledge of vedas when he was a celibate and had no idea of carnal desires and Kamasutra.

This caught him off guard since he really didn’t have any knowledge or experience of sensual essence of human lives. Ubhaya Bharti asked him to seek that knowledge first and then come for debate again. After this incident Shankaracharya started learning about tantric principles and left his body and entered the body of a dead king named Amaru in Kashmir. Entering into a new body Shankaracharya experienced the sexual pleasure. Then he returned back to his original body again and went to Ubhaya Bharti telling her his knowledge of sexual pleasure and Kamasutra.

Finally, Ubhaya Bharti declared Shankaracharya the greatest vedic scholar. Impressed by her intellect Shankaracharya also rechristened her as Vidushi Bharti.  Shortly after this incident Mandan Mishra renounced the wordly allurements and became a wandering ascetic and Vidushi Bharti walked her way with Adiguru.

Achievement

The remarkable achievements of Vidushi Bharti are:

1. Ubhaya Bharti played a crucial role in promoting education for women. Through her deep and profound knowledge, she exemplified that women can also have great understanding of vedas if provided with education.
2. She was bestowed upon with the title of Vidushi Bharti because of her extreme and great knowledge.
3. She debated with and defeated Shankaracharya. Their discourse lasted for 21 days.
4. She was the epitome of a loving, obedient, and caring wife who stood for her husband when he was on the verge of losing.

Legacy

Ubhaya Bharti’s achievements underscore her role as an eminent scholar in Indian philosophical traditions, particularly in the context of classical debates and discussions on Vedanta. She was a pioneer of women education. She was revered by even the great scholar Shankaracharya himself. It speaks a volume about her knowledge and intellectual prowess. She is an inspiration for all the women today.

She is the embodiment of a devoted wife and an intelligent woman. She didn’t flinch even once in questioning Shankaracharya. We can learn a lot from her life story. Albeit she is no more but her legacy continues to inspire millions of us.