Fwd: Advaita Sharada - Excellent project started today by Sringeri Sharadha Peetam to propagate the teachings of Adi Shankara.

[विश्वासो वासुकिजः (Vishvas Vasuki)]

घोषणात्मकमिदं

​ पत्त्रं‌ नैकत्र प्रेष्यते - (संस्कृतसन्देशश्रेणिः samskrta-yUthaH <sams...@googlegroups.com>, bhAratIya vidvat pariShad भारतीयविद्वत्परिषद् <bvpar...@googlegroups.com>, rAShTriya-shikshakagana राष्ट्रिय-शिक्षकगणः)​

FYI......

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Hari Ramasubbu <hari.ra...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, May 15, 2014 at 6:16 PM
Subject: Advaita Sharada - Excellent project started today by Sringeri Sharadha Peetam to propagate the teachings of Adi Shankara.
To:

http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/

Advaita Sharada Project

Over a century ago, the 33rd Jagadguru of Sringeri, Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Narasimha Bharati Mahaswamiji led the first ever compilation of the complete works of Sri Adi Shankaracharya -- Sri Shaankara Granthavali. In keeping with this tradition and sensitive to our technology age, the presiding Shankaracharya of the Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji is blessing and guiding the Advaita Sharada Project.

The goal of the Advaita Sharada project is to make available our ancient Shastric texts (in particular Vedantic texts) for access via the Internet and other computer-based devices like tablets and smartphones. Leveraging audio, video, commentaries, sub-commentaries, notes, tags and hyperlinks, we hope to provide a platform for in-depth research and additional learning for seekers, scholars and students. We also plan to create a learning platform to introduce the Upanishadic philosophy of Advaita for beginners and early aspirants.

Invoking the blessings of Goddess Sharada (the presiding deity of Sringeri Sharada Peetham) and reflecting the Upanishadic teachings as expounded by Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the project has been named "Advaita Sharada".

First offering: Shankara Prasthanatraya Bhashya

The first offering of Advaita Sharada is a text searchable, extensively hyperlinked Intenet edition of the Sri Shaankara Granthavali, published by the Vani Vilasa Press, Srirangam. This is a result of a collaborative effort between Sri Shankara Advaita Research Centre, Sringeri, andSriranga Digital Software Technoloiges, Srirangapatna. 

The source text in Unicode was provided by The Sringeri Math at Srirangam; it is scrutinised and proofread at the Sri Shankara Advaita Research Centre, Sringeri. The XML markup scheme and the technology framework for the Internet edition was developed by Sriranga Digital Software Technologies, Srirangapatna. This Internet edition was released on Shankara Jayanti - the Vaishakha Shukla Panchami day of the Jaya Samvatsara - 4th May 2014 by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji

In forthcoming releases, we will introduce multimedia, commentaries, sub-commentaries and tags for these Bhasyas. We invite you to register and view this first release.

--
--
Vishvas /विश्वासः

[Nabanarayan Bandyopadhyay]

A lot of thanks and congratulations for the endeavour.

Nabanarayan Bandyopadhyay

--
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
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[Mahakant Joshi]

Many many congrates  to this grate work.

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

namo vidvadbhyaH,

 

Over the last two decades, Sri Shankara Advaita Research Center at Sringeri (http://www.sringeri.net) has been making steady progress in digitizing the record archives of the Sringeri Sarada Peetham and getting out rare Advaita texts in print. One example is the first printing of vaktavyakASikA, a pre-vivaraNa commentary by uttamajna yati on the pancapAdikA, padmapAda's partial commentary on Sankara's brahmasUtra bhAshya, edited with critical comments and footnotes by the fine young vidvAn, Sri Naveen Holla.

 

Meanwhile, Sriranga Digital Software Technologies, based out of Mysore/Srirangapatna, has been involved in many projects that would be of general interest to members of Bharatiya Vidvat Parishat. For example, they have made available, in electronic format, a number of publications brought out by various important Indian institutions, including the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Sri Ramakrishna Math and Mission. Prof. Yogananda Sastry, the founder of Sriranga Digital, has put together a dedicated team with capabilities of a high order in optical character recognition, text editing and Unicode encoding. If you can read Kannada script, you can get an idea of some of their work at http://www.sirinudi.org/index.php.

 

Both institutions had separately started working on creating digital versions of Sankara's prasthAna traya bhAshyas a few years ago. Independently, I had proposed that to truly understand Sankara, scholars should step away from viewing his commentaries as if they were individual books and should instead read them in an interconnected fashion, much like how one would follow through hyperlinked material on a web portal. This idea is described in some detail in my article (SAnkara granthAH katham otAH protAS ca?), which appeared in a felicitation volume in honor of Prof. Rukmani, announced here a year ago.

 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/bvparishat/rukmani/bvparishat/KlzFep5KSow/Oap6SWS7ih0J

 

In Dec 2012, during the time that the Sringeri Jagadguru, Swami Bharati Tirtha, was staying in Hyderabad, I had passed along this hyperlinking idea to both Sri Anand from the Sringeri Research Center and Prof. Yogananda of Sriranga Digital, with the suggestion that an electronic archive of these seminal texts would have much added value if this hyperlinking were incorporated in a consistent manner as well. Interestingly enough, these conversations happened on a day when I met one of the leading lights of BVP, Prof. Korada Subrahmanyam, in person, thanks to the good offices of Sri Siva Senani Nori, another member of BVP.

 

Things have progressed very well over the last year and a half. The Sringeri Peetham and Sriranga Digisoft have pooled their resources and their work together, resulting in a high quality electronic archive of the prasthAna traya bhAshyas. Not only the hyperlinking concept, but also various other features, such as incorporation of audio files and search functionalities, have been implemented beautifully. Using the electronic archive now available at http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net, it is possible for a scholar to navigate seamlessly from one bhAshya to another and back, through the hyperlinked vishaya-vAkya-s and other source text citations. Some upanishat texts like kaushItakI and SvetASvatara, which Sankara often cites but has not commented upon, have been made available as basic source texts, without any commentary. This archive is the first comprehensive online resource that collects all the central Sankaran commentaries in one place, in one self-consistent format that is easy to read, rendered in contemporary Devanagari script. It was released online by the Sringeri Acharya just a couple of weeks ago, on the occassion of this year's Sankara Jayanti.

 

A very useful search function has also been included in this release. For example, one could search for the term "Anandamaya" in one or more bhAshyas and correlate what they say, from taittirIya and mANDUkya upanishad bhAshyas to the AnandamayAdhikaraNa and AnandAdyadhikaraNa in the sUtra bhAshya. Or, one could search for "citta vRtti nirodha" or "samAdhi" and find out what is said about yoga in these various texts. Thus, whether through use of the hyperlinks encoded into the archive or just by using the search function or perhaps using both features, one can gain a more comprehensive view of what Sankara says about a particular topic than the usual methods adopted hitherto with printed publications. The online archive is geared to help both a paNDita/mumukshu in a traditional instructional context and the academic critical scholar in a modern university context. Needless to say, such an approach could be applied across the board to other fields as well, which would greatly aid the study of vast amounts of Indian knowledge material. Personally, I am immensely pleased that the Sringeri Sarada Peetham, in keeping with its central historical legacy in the Sankaran tradition, is the first official provider of this online content in the service of the advaita vedAnta darSana.

In order to regulate user traffic and authenticate access, a user registration is required. I request BVP members to make use of the archive and pass along your valuable critical feedback. It will be very highly appreciated and used to improve the archive content and its usability. The material already available is certainly a vital starting point at this juncture and plans are already on to add to it and improve it over the near future.

With best regards,

Vidyasankar

[dhaval patel]

very good presentation.

Thanks for sharing the link.

--

निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
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www.sanskritworld.in

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Dear Vidyashankarji,

You said as follows "  

Quote

I had proposed that to truly understand Sankara, scholars should step away from viewing his commentaries as if they were individual books and should instead read them in an interconnected fashion, much like how one would follow through hyperlinked material in a web portal."

Unquote

It is no denying that one should read the prasthana-trayas. However don't you think that the Bhagavad Gita has its own highest status and can be regarded as a stand-alone text, if we are to accept the following statement in the Gita-Mahatmya from the Varaha Purana and that Shankara-bhshya on the Bhagavad Gita too must not have undermined that status of the Bhagavad Gita ?

"Geetaa sugeetaa kartavyaa kimanyaih sashtra vistaraih yaa svayam Padmanaabhasya mukhapadmaad vinishritaa."

Regards,

Sunil KB

--

[parAmbikA]

Thanks for sharing the link for search-able prasthAnatraya bhASya.

[V N Jha]

A great service to humanity !

VNJha

--

निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
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Residence
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Phone; 91-20-27201458(R)
Mobile : 09890215441

[श्रीमल्ललितालालितः]

Thanks to all who are involved in this effort.

I've tried multiple times to register, but always failed. After filling the registration detail, a page with title only is shown. No confirmation, nothing.
I've written to web-master.
Could anyone tell me what I should do ?

Thanks for sharing the link for search-able prasthAnatraya bhASya.

On Friday, 16 May 2014 10:23:38 UTC-4, विश्वासो वासुकेयः wrote:

http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/

-- 
श्रीमल्ललितालालितः
www.lalitaalaalitah.com

[Ajit Gargeshwari]

I could register.  I wonder why Lalitaji could not.  Questions about the website the technical part should be discussed with the website administrators. On the content and suggestions towards it BVP scholars can and should respond.

Regards
Ajit Gargeshwari
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे।।2.20।।

--

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

 

Dear Sunilji,

 

Please note, I'm not saying that reading the Sankara bhAshyas in a hyperlinked manner is the only way to read the Sankara bhashyas. I'm saying that while people are used to viewing them only as standalone texts, a more comprehensive understanding of Sankara can be developed if one reads the various commentaries in an interconnected manner.

 

For example, those who think advaita vedAnta just completely rejects yoga start (and often end) with the bhAshya on the sUtra that says etena yogaH pratyuktaH. Their horizons would be widened if they appreciated the fact that a number of other sources within the main prasthAna traya bhAshya corpus say a number of different things about yoga, in appropriate contexts.

 

Another example: those who point to the extreme contrast between karmA and jnAna in the Sankaran system may find a few surprises if they search the bhAshyas for what Sankara says about niyama vidhi as opposed to apUrva vidhi in the context of jnAna.

 

I hope the nuance in the approach for study purposes is clear. All this has nothing to do with the status of the Gita as the permier Smriti prasthAna within vedAnta itself.

 

Best regards,

Vidyasankar

 

ps. There may be some technical glitches in the registration interface once in a while. If users clear their cache and try to logon again after registration, it goes through successfully. I've already passed along this issue to the site admin.

[Aurobind Padiyath]

Dear Vidyashankarji,

I appreciate your views and also would like to add that many of the objections raised in the Bhashyas were to systems prevalent then and was to make those who blindly was thinking that thier's are the only true path to Moksha.
I do not think Sankara himself has objected to those practices, but guided them saying it is due to Adhikari bheda. While acknowledging the existences of those various teachings and practices, Sankara had also guided them to move forward by showing the fallacies of those teachings and practices as not the culminating one in Moksha. Saying Karma is in the realm of Ajnana or Avidya which in turn gives rise to Kama that which prompts to further Karma and becomes a vicious cycle. And since the products of Kama and Karma lead you away from the Truth only uprooting of Avidya will end the cycle. So all are justified until that happens.

A doctor conducting surgery on a flying elephant is fully justified in dream but will hold no waters in waking and the same surgery on a organ in waking has no existence or any pain in deep sleep. All three states are in Avidya and only Jnana of the Paramarthata will expose the fact of those three states.

So learning the Prasthanathraya also has to be done in proper stages and system so that the Sadhaka is taken from Kindergarten to Masters. Reading those or studying them at random will only give rise to confusion.

Hari Om!!

Aurobind

[Nagaraj Paturi]

Where is the stand-alone nature of Bhagavadgita contradicted in the quoted words of  Sri Vidyashankarji?  Where was there any क्षति to the greatness of Bhagavadgita in these words ? :

 

"I had proposed that to truly understand Sankara, scholars should step away from viewing his commentaries as if they were individual books and should instead read them in an interconnected fashion, much like how one would follow through hyperlinked material in a web portal."

 

His words are very clearly about Shankara's commentaries but not the original texts. Inter-textuality of a commentator's various commentaries goes without saying. That there is a need to understand an author through a holistic, comprehensive and integrated understanding of his different works deserves no denial. 

 

That said, एकवाक्यता among various original  Vedic texts themselves in general and the three members of  Prasthaanatraya in particular is to be comprehended and recognized without any विरोध to the greatness of each of those texts.

 

Bhagavtpada Shankara can certainly help us comprehend this एकवाक्यता among the original Vedic texts.

 

Sri Vidyashankarji is alerting us to pay attention to the एकवाक्यता among various commentaries of Shankara.

 

Regards,

 

Nagaraj

 

  

--

निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
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[sunil bhattacharjya]

Dear Vidyasankarji,

Thank you for your reply. 

As regards the Jnana and Karma, there is this simplified statement that  even the gods are jealous of the human birth. It is the human birth alone that not only gives us the scope to acquire /  attain Jnana,  but also to practise living as a Jnani, that is, to perform Karma as appropriate to the Jnana (of the  Jnani), in this Karma-bhoomi. Just acquiring Jnana without practising to live a life appropriate to that Jnana, makes the Jnana practically useless.  The Jnani cares for others as much as for himself and his action reflects that and that is also the acid test  for the Jnana. 

Regards

Sunil KB

--

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

Dear Sri Padiyath,

 

You make valid points, but let me hasten to add that the purpose of this archive is not to encourage people to disregard adhikAra bheda, nor to disregard the need for a traditional guru. It is not as if anyone can simply read the prasthAna traya source texts and/or their Sankaran commentaries at random and hope to understand everything that is contained in them.

 

The Sringeri Matha always emphasizes a very rigorous plan of traditional study, but was one of the earliest publishers of a comprehensive set of Sankaracharya's works among the traditional institutions. Advaita Sharada, the new searchable and internally hyperlinked text archive, is not geared towards the dilletante reader. It is only meant to be a resource for the serious scholar, whether traditional or modern, such as the members of this and similar fora. In the 20th century, such a person would have gone to a library or to the nearest Ramakrishna Math bookstore, got all the bhAshyas and their translations in print and kept them all ready on the desk, to open as and when needed. In the 21st century, the printed book is increasingly yielding way to the electronic text and this archive aims to be a comprehensive resource in this format, that is all. A traditional guru could use it as a teaching aid and the serious scholar can use it as a reference resource. If they do, that would be the best realization of its goal.

 

Best regards,

Vidyasankar

[V Subrahmanian]

This resource can be used beneficially by non-advaitin scholars/sadhakas too.  Whenever they wish to know what the ShAnkaran/Advaitic interpretation of a particular upanishadic mantra/brahmasutra/bhagavadgita verse, they can easily obtain it in this facility.  They can search for advaitic interpretations/explanations of concepts like avidyA, bhrama, aikya, etc. through the search/find facility and use the parts of the bhashya in their essays, notes, articles, books, talks, discussion posts, etc.  Since the copy facility is available the use of the resource is immense.

subrahmanian.v   

--

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

I just realized that I had made an error in an announcement to BVP about the first release of the Advaita Sharada archive, back in 2014.

The work of editing and annotating vaktavyakASikA was done by Dr. M. L. Narasimha Murthy, a vedAnta vidvAn. I had typed in a wrong name and didn't notice it till now. This text is included in the updates that were released last week.

Best regards,

Vidyasankar