Bhartrihari

Bhartrihari, who flourished around the fifth to sixth century CE, was an Indian philosopher of language, linguist and poet known for his contributions to linguistics, grammar and philosophy, believed to have been born in the fifth century in Ujjain, Malwa, India, where he decided to live a monastic life while remaining unable to fully detach from worldly life, and lived as a yogi in Ujjain until his death. He is best known for the Vakyapadiya, a treatise on sentences and words, the Mahabhasyatika, a commentary on Patanjali's Mahabhashya, the Vakyapadiyavrtti, a commentary on the first two books of the Vakyapadiya, the Sabdadhatusamiksa, and the three-hundred-verse collection Satakatraya; his philosophy is marked by the concept of Shabda-Brahman, that ultimate reality is expressed through words, positing that language and cognition are linked and that understanding grammar can lead to spiritual liberation. His works have been studied across Indian philosophical traditions including Vedanta and Mimamsa, and his Satakatraya continues to be revered, studied and translated into many languages.