Adi Shankara, Lord Shiva and the Divine Leela
Chittaranjan Naik
THE DIVINE LEELA OF DHARMA-STHAPANA IN KALI YUGA
Om Sri Gurubhyo
Namah
Om Matah Annapurneshwari
Om Pitah Maheshwarah
When the time for establishing dharma arrives on earth, God Himself comes down
in the form of an avatara to lay secure its foundations. But God does not come
alone. It is said that the gods in heaven accompany Him; they descend to earth
to assist one another in the Leela. When Maha Vishnu descended to earth at the
end of Dwapara Yuga for establishing dharma on earth, the gods came with Him as
the Yadavas and Pandavas. Likewise when, after this pavitra-bhumi had been
ruled by nastika schools for over a thousand years and Lord Shiva came to
earth to reinstate Sanathana Dharma in Kali Yuga, many of the gods came
down with Him.
It was none other than Shiva Himself who came down to earth to lay the foundation
of Sanathana Dharma in bhumi-loka. The shaven-headed form of the sannyasa that
Lord Shiva incarnated as is mentioned in the Sri Rudra. In the Sri Rudra which appears
in the middle of the Yajur Veda, that is, the Veda which appears in the middle
of the three primary Vedas, Shankara, the incarnation of Shiva in the shaven-headed
form, is referred to in the following words:
"namah kapardine ca vyuptakesaya"
("Thou art the one with matted locks; and Thou art the shaven-headed
one")
Again, the Vishnu-dharmottaram, which is a parista of the Vishnu Purana,
mentions a yaksha named Pushkara teaching Sri Rama the meaning of the Rk
verses. In this context, it also refers to a verse in the Rig-veda mentioning
that when Advaita-tattva is forgotten on earth, Lord Shiva would come as an
avatara and He would bless the people with knowledge even as a cow protects its
calf by giving it milk:
"sriramam pratipuskarabhindhamahayaksena vedatraya-
vyakhyanavasare visisya kathitam srivisnudharmottare
etam yadhenumupahvayami sudughamityrg-gatam sankaracaryam
sisyacatustayena sahitam vande gurunam gurum"
The Vayu Purana too mentions that
Shiva would come as the Guru along with four sisyas:
"caturbhih saha sisyaistu sankaro'vartarisyati"
The Leela that was played out in Aryavarta at that time was intimately related
to the Vedic structure of Dharma. In this bhuloka, the means of establishing
the Vedic structure is to establish Mimamsa with the help of tarka or Nyaya
Shastra. Thus, when the time came once again to establish the supremacy of
Sanathana Dharma in Aryavarta, it was with the help of Nyaya that Dharma had to
be established because the Buddhist logicians had corrupted the very structure of
logic. Only after that came Mimamsa Shastra. For many hundreds of years the
Nyayayikas had engaged the Buddhist logicians in debate. Now the time had come
for its conclusion.
It would be appropriate at this point to mention that Sanathana Dharma consists
of two aspects: Pravritti Dharma and Nivritti Dharma. These two are not two
different Dharmas, but reflect two stages of the journey of the jivatman to the
Truth of the Vedas. Pravritti Dharma is the path to chitta-shuddi whereby the
jivatman endeavors to shake off his bad karmas and samkalpas until its mind
becomes clear like a crystal lake and makes it transparent enough for the
revelation of the Supreme Truth to take place. And when the consciousness of
the jiva has awakened to the transitoriness of all pleasures in samsara, and he
begins to seek the Truth, then comes the saving boat of Nivritti Dharma to
guide the jivatman to the Supreme Felicity of Eternal Truth. These two Dharmas
are revealed by Purva Mimamsa and Uttara Mimamsa respectively.
Thus it was first Nyaya, then Pravritti Dharma, and finally Nivritti Dharma
that was to be established, in that order, before Sanathana Dharma could be
made secure on earth. And so it came to happen.
So, who were the other devatas that came down to earth along with Lord Shiva
when Sanathana Dharma was being established on earth in this Kali Yuga?
Lord Subramanya came as Kumarila Bhatta. He achieved the gargantuan task of
defeating the Buddhists by demonstrating through Nyaya that the Buddhist tenets
were illogical and that the Vedas alone are the source of Dharma. His two major
works, Slokavartika and Tantravartika, reflect these two aspects of the use of
Nyaya and Mimamsa. But the task of re-establishing Nyaya as the foundation for
maintaining the authority of the Vedas – as it had prevailed in the past - was
achieved by the great Nyayaika, Udayanacharya, a little while later. Udayana
was an amsha of Lord Vishnu, and it was he that established Nyaya Shastra, an
arm of the Vedas (upanga), once again on earth on a firm foundation. The work
of Udayana was later elaborated by Gangesa Misra in the form of Navya Nyaya;
and Navya-Nyaya thenceforth became the platform for vada in Aryavarta. These
two - Kumarila and Udayana - took on the Buddhists until all trace of
Buddhist logic was wiped out from this holy land.
Kumarila Bhatta learnt all the nuances of Buddhist logic by becoming a sisya of
Buddhist Gurus, and finally demolished them through vada. Thus was established
the foundations of Purva Mimamsa and Vedic Yajnas once again on earth. Having
defeated the Buddhists, Kumarila, in accordance with the Dharma Shastras (which
enjoin the prayaschita of burning oneself on a slow-fire for one who betrays
one's Guru) sat on a pyre of burning paddy-husk and immolated himself in the
fire. It was at this time, when his body was being consumed by the fire of
paddy-husk, that Shankara came to him asking him for vada and was diverted to
meet his sisya, Mandana Misra, instead.
Mandana Misra was none other than Brahma who had come down to earth as a
proponent of Purva-Mimamsa and later as a sisya of Adi Shankara. His wife,
Ubbaya Bharati, also known as Sarasvani, was Saraswati herself incarnated on
earth. Having defeated Mandana Misra, Shankara went around the country
defeating all the proponents of the various schools until the Nivritti Dharma
of the Vedas was established once again on the soil of this ancient land of
Aryavarta. Due to the work done by Kumarila, there were hardly any Buddhist
logicians left during the time of Shankaracharya.
Subramanya incarnated twice in this Leela, as Kumarila Bhatta in the north, and
as Jnanasambhanda in the south. Jnanasambandha defeated the proponents of the
other non-Vedic school that prevailed in Aryavarta at that time, i.e., Jainism,
and thus the ground was laid for Sanathana Dharma to arise both in the north
and the south.
In was in this Leela that Adiseshan came as Govindapada, the Guru of Shankaracharya. But that is another story connected not only with Mimamsa, but
also with Yoga, Vyakarana and Ayurveda.
(Amshas of) Sri Vishnu too incarnated twice in this Leela, as Udayana, the
Nyaya logician, and also as Padmapada, the sishya of Shankaracharya. Padmapada
was a perfect sishya. It is told that once, when his guru called out to him, he
was standing on the far side of the river. But without giving any further
thought to where he was, he at once began to walk on the water in order to
comply with the order of his guru. It is said that a host of lotus flowers
bloomed in the lake to support his legs as he walked across the river, and
hence he came to be called 'Padmapada'. Padmapada is the author of Pancapadika,
the book which became the source-book of the Vivarana school of Advaita.
Actually, this book was burnt by Padmapada's uncle. But Padmapada had earlier
read out the commentary on the first four sutras to Shankaracharya, and this
was narrated to him by the Acharya after the book had been burnt. That is why
the commentary on only the first four sutras are in existence today.
Brahma also incarnated twice in this Leela. Once as Mandana Misra (who came to
be called Sureshvara after he became a disciple of Shankara) and then again,
later, as Vacaspati Misra of the Bhamati fame. Bhamati, the name of the Advaita
work written by Vacaspati, was actually the name of his wife. Now why did
Vacaspati, a proponent of Nivritti Dharma, name the book after his wife like a
man attached to a woman? It is said that when Vacaspati sat down to write the book,
he became so absorbed in writing that he wrote continuously for many months
without a break. Then finally, when the book was completed, he looked up. And
he saw a young girl standing in front of him with a plate of food on her hands.
`Who are you?' he asked her, 'what is your name?' The girl smiled a shy smile
and replied: 'I am Bhamati, your wife.' For many months, she had served her
husband like a faithful wife, taking care of his smallest needs when he had sat
absorbed in writing the book, self-effacing to such an extreme degree, that it
now brought tears to Vacaspati's eyes. In recognition of her service, which she
performed in the true manner of an arya wife, he took up his quill and wrote
`Bhamati' as the title of the work he had just completed. That is how the book
came to be called `Bhamati'.
Before I close this narration, I would like to mention that the Vivarana school
and the Bhamati school are two arms of Advaita, both of them contained in
Shankara bhashya and very intimately connected to each other, and which take
slightly different perspectives with respect to upadhi as abhasa and as
avaccheda. The one was written by an amsha of Lord Vishnu and the other was
written by an amsha of Brahma. And the oppositions to these schools came from
the amshas of Adisehsha and Vayudeva among others. Such is the Leela of the
Lord!
*****
(Adapted from 'Adi Shankara - His life and Times' by Sri Chandrashekharendra
Saraswati Mahaswamigal of Kanchi Math)
Om Namah Shivaya
Chittaranjan Naik
Om Sri Gurubhyo Namah
Om Mata Annapurneshwari
Om Namah Shivaya
Advaita Vedanta is anadi sampradaya. In this chaturyuga, it was first revealed by
the Rishi Narayana, one of the twin avataras of Lord Vishnu. The Guru
Sampradaya starting from Narayana and leading up to Shankara is as follows:
Narayana
Padmabhuva
Vashishta
Sakti
Parasara
Vyasa
Suka
Gaudapada
Govindapada
Shankara
From Narayana to Suka, the succession was from father to son. Hence it is
called Putra-Parampara. From Suka to Shankara, the succession was from
preceptor to disciple, and is called Sishya-Parampara.
The lives of the sages from Narayana to Suka are fairly well-known for they
have been narrated at length in the Puranas. The life of Sri Shankaracharya is
also well-known. But there is very little known about the lives of Gaudapada
and Govindapada except for the brief glimpses we get of them in the Shankara Vijayas.
Here we shall try to throw a little more light on the biographies of these two
great personages.
Grammar came out of the damaru of Lord Shiva when He was dancing the Cosmic Dance
of Lord Nataraja. Among the gods who watched that dance were Panini and Adisesha.
Out of the fourteen sounds that were produced by Lord Nataraja's damaru, came
the fourteen sutras that Panini committed to memory and wrote as the Vyakarana
Sutras. Since these sutras were produced by Lord Nataraja's damaru, they are
called the Maheshwara Sutras. Because the number of chapters in the book were
eight, it also came to be called the Ashtadhyayi.
It is said that nobody can understand Panini's Grammar without the aid of a commentary.
In order to give to mankind a bhashya on Panini's Ashtadhyayi, Adisesha, who
was also witness to that Cosmic Dance, incarnated on earth as Patanjali and
wrote the Great Commentary, the Maha Bhashya. It is said that only Adisesha who
has a thousand heads with thousand tongues could have produced such a great
bhashya.
After Patanjali composed the Mahabhashya, the news spread throughout the length
and breadth of Aryavarta. Students flocked to Chidambaram, where Patanjali
was living at that time, to learn the
Mahabhashya. A thousand students went to him seeking instruction. Patanjali
taught them in the thousand-pillared hall in the Tempe of Nataraja at
Chidambaram.
Before starting to teach, Patanjali thought that it would be difficult to clear
the doubts raised by all the 1000 students with only one mouth. He therefore assumed
the form of Adisesha with a thousand heads and thousand tongues so that he
could teach and clear the doubts of each of those students. But since it is not
possible for a mortal to face Adisesha's poisonous breath, which can reduce a
man to ashes if he were to inhale even a small part of it, Adisesha taught the
students by sitting behind a screen. Before he began the great teaching, he put
forth two conditions to the students:
i) That nobody should leave the hall without taking permission, and if any did so,
he would become a brahma-rakshasa.
ii) That nobody should try to look behind the screen
Having put these conditions, Adisesha began to teach with one thousand mouths from
behind the screen. After some time, one of the students got a doubt, "How does
the teacher, being one, instruct so many of us at the same time?" Slowly, he
parted the curtain to look in and see the teacher. At once, the sight of Adisesha
and the poisonous fumes that emanated from his tongues reduced all the students
into a heap of ashes. The number of those who were destroyed was nine hundred
and ninety nine. One student, who was particularly dull-witted and couldn't
understand the teaching well, had gone out for a while. He was the sole survivor
of the 1000 students.
Patanjali was sad to see what had happened. While he was mulling over what to do,
the lone student who had gone out, not knowing the disaster that had meanwhile occurred
within the hall, walked in. Patanjali was overjoyed to see that at least one
student was alive. Though he was dull-witted, he bestowed his grace upon that
student and said: "May you get to know all that I know. But because you
went out without permission, you will assume the form of a brahma-rakshasa. Yet,
there is a means of salvation for you from this predicament. When you come to impart
the instruction you receive from me to a student who is fit to imbibe it, you
will be released from this curse."
The student to whom Patanjali bestowed his grace was Gaudapada. He is known as Gaudapada
because he is from Gauda land (modern Bengal).
Gaudapada went to the Vindya region and sat on a tree as a brahma-rakshasa. The
Vindyas are in the middle of Aryavarta dividing the north and the south, and travelers
from the north to the south or from the south to the north normally passed
through the Vindyas. The region of Aryavarta to the north was known as Gauda-desha
and the region to the south was known as Dravida-desha. Gauda-desha was divided
into five sections known as Sarasvata (Kashmir), Kanyakubja (Punjab), Gauda
(Bengal), Utkara (Orissa) and Maithila (Bihar & Nepal). Dravida desha was
also divided into five sections known as Andhra, Karnataka, Maharashtra or
Saurashtra, Gurjara, and Dravida. This was the geography of Aryavarta before
its history was corrupted by the concocted theory of Aryans and Dravidians. Be
that as it may, let us proceed with the story.
Gaudapada sat upon the tree and waited for brahmanas, for brahmanas are the
food of brahma-rakshsas. Whenever a brahmin approached the tree, Gaudapada
jumped down and assumed the form of a brahmin himself and asked the traveler a
question on grammar. Those were the days before the Mahabhashya had become
known to the people, and it was very difficult for anyone to know the correct
answer to the subtle question of grammar that Gaudapada put to them. So, the brahmin
travelers replied with wrong answers. Immediately Gaudapada, the
brahma-rakshasa, pounced upon them and ate them up. This went on for
many years and there was not a single brahmin who could answer the question put
by Gaudapada.
Then one day, after a great number of years had passed in this way, there arrived on that path a comely brahmin
boy. On seeing him, the brahma-rakshasa felt very happy and
thought that he would make a delicious meal. Gaudapada asked him the usual
question on grammar, and he was surprised when the boy replied with the correct answer.
At once Gaudapada felt elated and pleased and he said: "All these days I have
waited for a suitable student. You are my proper disciple. Whatever knowledge
my teacher imparted to me, I shall impart it all to you. Where do you want to go?" The
boy said: "I am on my way to Chidambaram in order to learn grammar from
Patanjali." On hearing this Gaudapada remarked: "The story of Chidambaram
is all over. I shall teach you here. That Mahabhashya remains with me. Sit down
here."
Gaudapada taught the boy for 9 days, continuously, without food or sleep, until
finally the entire Mahabhashya was transmitted from teacher to student. The boy
had no quill and ink to write, so he made an incision on his thigh and with a twig
that he broke from a branch he wrote using the blood that flowed from the incision
as the ink. For 9 days he wrote, with no break, no sleep, no food, no rest. Finally,
after 9 days, he tied up the leaves on which he had written the instructions
into a bundle.
After Gaudapada taught the boy, he was released from the curse. He then went northward
searching for a guru. Having heard that Sukadeva was identified with the entire
universe, he felt a desire to become his sishya and learn from him. After a
long search he met Suka at Badari and was initiated by him into Advaita Darshana.
But who was the boy who received the instruction from Gaudapada? His name was Chandra
Sharma. Who was Chandra Sharma? He was none other than Adisesha himself. After
seeing that no mortal man could answer the question put by Gaudapada, he incarnated
himself on earth in the form of Chandra Sharma in order that the Mahabhashya
may not be lost to mankind. He it was that answered Gaudapada and set him free
from the curse and preserved the Mahabhashya.
Chandra Sharma went a little distance and lay down and slept. He was very tired
after 9 days and he went into a deep sleep. Meanwhile a goat came along and ate
a portion of the bundle of leaves that he had left on the ground. Chandra
Sharma got up from his sleep and saw that a portion of the bundle was missing.
He tied up the remaining leaves and went to Ujjayini. What remains of the
Mahabhashya today is the portion that was not eaten up by the goat. The missing
portion is called Aja-bhaksita-bhashya (i.e., the portion of the bhashya that was
eaten by the goat).
On reaching Ujjayini, Chandra Sharma arrived at the house of a Vaishya. Being tired,
he went to sleep on the veranda. He was in deep sleep for many days. The Vaishya
had a daughter. She tried to wake him up, but on failing to do so, she realized
that he was unconscious. Seeing the brilliance on the face of Chandra Sharma,
she wanted to preserve his life. So she smeared his body with cooked rice water
crushed in buttermilk which was the equivalent of saline in ayurveda shastra
those days. After repeating this for a few days, Chandra Sharma woke up. He
then collected the bundle of leaves and starting reading them. Thereupon the householder
Vaishya stopped him and asked him to marry his daughter. "My daughter took
great effort to save your life. She wants to marry you." Chandra Sharma
thought within himself: "Is it for this that I received the instruction in
grammar?" He told the householder that he had no intention of marrying.
The householder then took Chandra Sharma to the court of the king to settle the
matter.
When the king saw Chandra Sharma, he too wanted to give his daughter in
marriage to him. He called his minister to ask whether such marriage was in
accordance with the shastras. Unfortunately for the king, the minister too saw the
brilliance on Chandra Sharma's face and wanted him to marry his own daughter. Thus
all the three, the VaishyA, the king and the minister wanted Chandra Sharma to
marry their respective daughters. What was Chandra Sharma to do? He married all
the three and lived with them until he begot a son by each of them. Then he renounced
the world and went in search of a guru.
After searching in various places, he finally went to Badari and met his old guru
who had taught him grammar. He learnt that Gaudapada had become a sannyasi. He
too took sannyasa from him. From then on, he was called Govinda Bhagavadpada. The
teachers in the tradition from Suka onwards are known as parivrajakas, or wandering
monks. While Govinda Bhagavadpada was staying at Badari, Vyasa came there and
addressed him thus: "For the purpose of writing a bhashya on the Brahma-Sutra
composed by me, Ishwara Himself is going to be born as avatara. He will take
sannyasa. In conformity with the tradition in the world, there should be a
teacher to initiate Him. You go to the banks of the Narmada and stay at the foot
of the Ashwatta tree there. As soon as He comes to you, you will initiate Him."
Thus it was that Govinda Bhagavadpada went to Narmada and initiated the young
sannyasi Shankara when he came there seeking a Guru. And thus it was that He,
Lord Shiva Himself, who gave grammar to the world through Panini and Adisesha
now became a disciple of Adisesha.
*****
(Adapted from the book 'Adi Shankara - His life and Times' by
Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati Swamigal of Kanchi Math)