Did Vedavyasa ever write his own commentary on the Brahma Sutras?

Question

The Brahma Sutras were compiled by Vedavyasa, and subsequent acharyas such as Ramanujacharya have written commentaries on them.

But is it known if Vyasa ever wrote his own commentary on them?

Answer 1

No, Bādarāyaṇa Vyāsa did not write commentary on own work Brahma sutras.

Nārāyaṇa Panditācārya, a contemporary of Madhvācārya gave a list of commentators on Brahma sutras. He wrote a biography on Madhvācārya which is called Madhva Vijaya. His works on Madhvācārya are considered authentic because he is the son of Trivikrama Panditacharya, a direct disciple of Madhvacharya. He gave these names in his own commentary on Brahma sutras named Bhāvaprakāśika.

The commentators who wrote commentaries on Vedānta sutras before Madhvācārya are:

1. Bhāratī Vijaya

2. Saccidānanda

3. Śatānanda

4. Udvarta

5. Vijaya

6. Brahmaghoṣa

7. rudrabhaṭṭa

8. Vāmana

9. Yādava prakāśa

10. Rāmānujācārya

11. Bhartruprapancha

12. Dramiḍa

13. Vṛttikāra

14. Vijayabhaṭṭa

15. Bhāskara

16. Piśāca

17. Brahmadatta

18. Viṣṇukrānta

19. Vādīndra

20. Mādhavadāsa

21. Ādi Śankarācārya

Only three commentaries are available for us. They are written by Ādi Śankarācārya, Rāmānujācārya and Bhāskara. Remaining commentaries are only available in footnotes, quotes and mention in other works by them. Other commentaries are lost. As we can see, the name of Vyāsa is not there. So, he didn't write commentary on his own work.

After the time of Madhvācārya, various commentaries were written from different philosophical point of views. For a list of commentaries written on the Vedānta sutras see this answer

Answer 2

No, Vyasa did not write an actual commentary on the Brahma Sutras. However, at least Gaudiya Vaishnavas consider the Srimad Bhagavatam to be the natural commentary on the Brahma Sutras. Here is what this chapter of the Chaitanya Charitamrita says:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives the actual meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra. The author of the Vedānta-sūtra is Vyāsadeva, and he himself has explained those aphorisms in the form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavata. 'The meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra is present in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The full purport of the Mahābhārata is also there. The commentary of the Brahma-gāyatrī is also there and fully expanded with all Vedic knowledge. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the supreme Purāṇa, and it was compiled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His incarnation as Vyāsadeva. There are twelve cantos, 335 chapters and eighteen thousand verses.’

The Chaitanya Charitamrita calls the Bhagavatam Vyasa's Ninja Bhashya or his own commentary on the Brahma Sutras, and it gives a quote that's apparently from the Garuda Purana to back it up.

But while the Bhagavatam may contain the knowledge contained in the Brahma Sutras, it's obviously not a verse-by-verse commentary. However, there is the next best thing, a Vritti or commentary by Vyasa's shishya Baudhayana. Unfortunately it's lost now, but as I discuss in my question and answer here, Ramanujacharya's Sri Bhashya is based on it.