Late 15th century 'ragging'

Raghunatha Shiromani (रघुनाथशिरोमणि), one of the leading exponents of the Navya Nyaya (नव्यन्याय) school of Indic philosophy, was born in Nabadwip (नवद्वीप), Bengal, in c. 1477 CE. For his valuable academic contributions, he enjoyed semi-legendary status in Bengal until at least the early 20th century. Naturally, there is a large body of unverified anecdotes about him and impromptu epigrams attributed to him. I recount one such anecdote below.

At the age of twenty, Raghunatha traveled to Mithila to join the Chatuspathi (चतुष्पाठी, a residential academy imparting Vedic education) run by Pakshadhara Mishra (पक्षधरमिश्र), who was at that time the foremost Navya Nyaya scholar, as a pupil. Raghunatha was born with only one functional eye, which earned him nicknames like Kana Ragunath (কানা রঘুনাথ), Kana Bhatta (কানা ভট্ট), and Kana Shiromani (কানা শিরোমণি), the Bengali word Kana (Sanskrit kANa (काण)) meaning "one-eyed". The Maithila students of Pakshadhara, being students, allegedly greeted the newcomer from Bengal with the following couplet.

Devanagari text:

आखण्डलः सहस्राक्षो विरूपाक्षस्त्रिलोचनः|

वयं द्विलोचनाः सर्वे को भवानेकलोचनः||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

AkhaNDalaH sahasrAkSo virUpAkSastrilocanaH|
vayaM dvilocanAH sarve ko bhavAnekalocanaH||

Loose translation: Indra has a thousand eyes, and Shiva has three. We are all two-eyed here. Who, then, are you, one-eyed gentleman?
[An alternative reading, where the first word vayaM (वयं), "we", of the second hemistich is replaced with anye (अन्ये), "others", is also documented.]

According to some sources, the above words were spoken by Pakshadhara himself. The question could also have been posed to Raghunatha, to test his presence of mind, by one of the five interviewers or dvArapaNDitas (द्वारपण्डित), "doorway scholars", employed by Pakshadhara at the entrance to his academy, whom one had to satisfy in order to gain admittance to the hallowed grounds. (Of course, the entire episode might have been invented by one of Raghunatha's admirers.)

Ragging, hazing, or bullying – whatever you want to call it – Raghunatha was not one to take it lying down. It is also known from various sources that humility was one quality he did not have. Unfazed, he responded and introduced himself in the following verse, just altering some of the words of the taunting question hurled at him.

Devanagari text:

आखण्डलः सहस्राक्षो विरूपाक्षस्त्रिलोचनः|

यूयं विलोचनाः सर्वे वयं न्यायैकलोचनाः||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

AkhaNDalaH sahasrAkSo virUpAkSastrilocanaH|
yUyaM vilocanAH sarve vayaM nyAyaikalocanaH||

Loose translation: Indra may have a thousand eyes, and Shiva may have three. You are all devoid of vision, but I see only through the eye of Nyaya (implying that I am the only one possessing true vision).

Sources: "Personalities of Navya Nyaya", Sri Kamakoti Mandali. I came across a slightly different version of the story (which I intend to post later) in the Bengali book Sahityik Kautuki (সাহিত্যিক-কৌতুকী), "writers having fun" (roughly), published in 1961.

Notes: To the best of my knowledge, there is no single English-language equivalent of the technical term Nyaya; it denotes an ancient and sophisticated branch of study that has significant overlaps with several present-day academic disciplines such as logic, epistemology, and ontology. Nyaya is traditionally ascribed to Akshapada Gautama (अक्षपादगौतम), and the Navya Nyaya phase in the evolution of this philosophic system was formally founded in the 13th century CE by Gangesha Upadhyaya.