Adi Shankaracharya:
Towering Philosopher-Poet
Shankara’s search for his
Guru
Shankara, at
the tender age of eight, resolved to renounce the world and persuaded a very
reluctant mother to permit her only son to commit to the arduous life of a sannyasi.
He walked long and reached Omkarnath (as Omkareshwar was known at that time) where
he knew he would meet his Guru.
Guru
Govindapada, disciple of Goudapada who had been taught by Shuka, son of Vyasa,
was in deep meditation (samadhi) inside a cave. Shankara offered shashtanga
danda pranam to his Guru from outside the cave, and the Guru knew that his long-awaited
true shishya had arrived. Yet, he asked: Who are you? Maybe, he wished to gauge
the current level of attainment of his illustrious disciple.
Shankara
composed and recited a hymn in ten stanzas which is known as Dasha Shloki. Each
stanza ends with the refrain:
तदेकोऽवशिष्टः शिवः केवलोऽहम्
Tadeikovashishtah Shivah kevaloham : tat+eka+avashishta+Shivah+kevala+aham
“that one
which remains (after the sublation of all else) - that auspicious absolute
(Self) am I.”
Who I am
No one was
witness to this exclusive meeting between the guru and the shishya, but we have
a popular anecdote. Some claim that Shankara replied to the guru’s query (Who
are you?) by instantly composing and reciting Dasha Shloki, others claim it was
Nirvana Shatakam (six shlokas), or only the first three shlokas of Nirvana
Shatakam.
It really
does not matter, but it is significant that both Dasha Shloki and Nirvana
Shatakam are strikingly similar in their core content, thought, style of
composition and presentation. Both adopt the hugely popular Vedic and Vedantic
method of arriving at the Truth by a series of negations - Neti, Neti, Neti, Not
This, Not This, Not This - of all that is untrue. (na tatra chakshurgacchati na
vak gacchati no mano, na vidmo na vijanimo …)
Dashashloki
The first
shloka of Dashashloki’s declares:
Neither
earth, nor water, nor fire, nor air, nor ether, nor sense-organ, nor their
aggregate (am I) because all these are inconstant and in perpetual flux. That
which is the one established in sleep, that one which remains (after the
sublation of all else) - that auspicious absolute (Self) I am.[i]
Nirvana Shatakam
Nirvana
Shatakam, also known as Atman Shatakam, is in six shlokas, and one of Shankara’s
most eloquent and contemplative compositions . The first shloka pronounces:
‘I am not the
mind, intellect, ego, or consciousness,
Nor the
faculties of hearing, tasting, smelling, or seeing,
Nor the sky
nor earth nor fire nor wind,
I am Chit-Ananda
– Supreme Consciousness, Subtle Awareness of Bliss,
Verily, I am
Eternal, I am Eternal’.[ii]
Brahmajnanavali
Brahmajnanavali
Mala also captures the essence of Vedanta Advaita - of non-duality between
atman and Paramatma. All creation is imbued with the same divine benediction; there
is no distinction between That and Thou (Brahmavakya: Tat Tvam Asi - That Thou
Art), he taught.
In Brahmajnanavali
Mala, he provided a succinct summary of Vedanta philosophy and world-view:
ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः।
Meaning:
Brahman is
Truth, Jagat (the visible, transient world) is unreal, illusory; the jiva is
Brahman itself and not different.
The essence
of Vedanta is captured in three crisp pronouncements: - (a) Brahma Satyam, (b)
Jagat Mithya, and (c) Jivo Brahmaiva naparah (Jiva+Brahman+eva+na+aparah).
Shankaracharya’s pithy yet eloquent poetry reminds us of the four Mahavakyas (Great Statements or Sayings) of the Upanishads. Only a great philosopher-poet-teacher could have conveyed a summary of Vedanta Advaita with such conciseness and clarity.
-1.jpg)
(Adi Shankara Gufa-Shankaracharya Temple-ASI monnument No-N-JK-58, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. Image Source: Wiki Commons)
Shankara at Omkarnath
Under his
guru’s guidance, Shankara mastered all the scriptures by the age of twelve, and
wrote bhashyas (commentaries) on Prasthana Trayee (Upanishads, Bhagavat Geeta,
and Brahmasutra) by the age of sixteen. (dvadashe sarvashastrakrut shodashe
krutavan bhashyam).
As directed
by his guru, he thereafter, went and lived at Kashi for the next stage of his
spiritual development.
Chandala as Guru
Why did Guru
Govindapada send to Kashi his shishya Shankaracharya who had already mastered
the entire scripture and had written erudite commentaries on Prasthana Trayee –
the three cardinal texts of Vedic and Vedanta philosophy and religion? Did the
Guru feel that Shankara had to learn more, and live some of the tenets of Advaita
Vedanta he was intellectually aware of?
Thus goes the
story. Once Adi Shankara, after his bath at Ganga was hurrying for his morning
worship of Kashi Vishwanath. Spotting a Chandala accompanied by four dogs
approaching from the other side, Shankara asked him to step aside, upon which
the Chandala asked Shankara: If the same brahman resides in you and me, how can
I possibly pollute you?
In Maneesha
Panchakam, the Chandala raises three fundamental queries:
O Saint, you have asked me to move away from your path;
pray tell me, do you desire the removal of my gross, physical body (annamaya
kosha or sthula sharira) which is the same as your physical body; or my subtle
body (consciousness or vigyanamaya kosha)) which is the same consciousness as
yours?[iii]
Doesn’t the same
sun that shines on Ganga also shine on the water bodies in the chandala colony?
Is there any difference between the water in a golden pot and in an earthen
pitcher?[iv]
Provoked by
these contemplative questions, Shankaracharya realised brahmagyana in a flash,
and honoured the Chandala as Guru.
चाण्डालोऽस्तु स तु द्विजोऽस्तु गुरुरित्येषा मनीषा मम।।2।।
Chandala, as
knowledgeable as a dvija or brahmin, is my Guru, I declare with firm conviction,
wrote Shankara in Maneesha Panchakam.
Shankaracharya at
Omkareshwar
Adi Guru
Shankaracharya’s statue (108 ft tall, made in ashta-dhatu) will be inaugurated on 21st September, 2023 at Omkareshwar, and this pious place of
pilgrimage, seat of one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in the country, may be known
in future, possibly, as Ekatma Dham.
Shankaracharya,
of course, has a stature far taller than any tall statue; and as a Vendanta
exponent, thinker, philosopher, poet, and institution-builder; he belongs not
merely to Kaladi, his place of birth in Kerala, or to Sringeri, Dvaraka,
Badrika, and Puri, where he set up mathas, or to Omkareshwar where he was
mentored by his Guru Govindapada, or to Kashi where he gained brahmagyana from
a chandala.
Adi
Shankaracharya belongs to all Bharata Varsha, and to all humanity, too.
***
Comments on the Blog
M.M.Upadhyaya
शंकराचार्य भारतीय दर्शन और भारतीय सांस्कृतिक इतिहास की एक महत्वपूर्ण घटना
हैं जिसने न केवल हमारे देश को 8 वीं शताब्दी में होने वाली विघटनकारी
ताकतों से बचाया वरण समग्र रूप से धर्म और सामाजिक परंपराओं अथवा मान्यताओं को एक
सुनियोजित सोच दी ।
उस समय अल्प आयु में ही उन्होंने दिव्य ज्ञान प्राप्त कर लिया था और देश के
चारों कोनों में भारतीय दर्शन के आस्था के केंद्र को स्थापित कर स्थाई
रूप से आने वाली पीढ़ियों के लिए ज्ञान की पाठशालाएं
स्थापित कर दी ।
शंकराचार्य का होना एक अभूतपूर्व ऐतिहासिक घटना है क्योंकि उनके बाद अगले 1300 वर्षों में कोई ऐसा प्रभावशाली व्यक्तित्व इस पृथ्वी पर नहीं आया जिसने इतनी
सीमित संसाधनों से बौद्धिक संसार को ज्ञान के अद्भुत चक्षु प्रदान
किया।
शंकराचार्य द्वारा विभिन्न विषयों पर लिखे गए भाषण प्रासंगिक है। हमारा देश
सौभाग्यशाली है की सदियों से हमारे ऋषि मुनियों और ज्ञानी जन अथवा कवियों ने
अपने-अपने क्षेत्र की चेतनता को ज्ञान रूप में परिवर्तित किया और समाज में उसे
विस्तारित किया ।
इस श्रृंखला का एक पड़ाव शंकराचार्य भी है। कई बार इस ज्ञान की बहुलता के कारण
भारतीय दर्शन को पढ़ने सीखने और समझने वालों के सामने बहुत बड़ी चुनौती उत्पन्न
होती है कि बदलते हुए 21वीं सदी के भारत में 2000 वर्ष पूर्व की कि ज्ञान को साथ रखना है और बीच के 2000 साल में जो विवेचना है जो विभिन्न ज्ञानी जन और हमारे पूर्वजों ने की है उनको
कितना आत्मसात करना है।
यही एक सतत प्रयास है जो हमें हमेशा एक छात्र की मुद्रा में रखता है और
निरंतरता पर कुछ नया करने और सीखने के लिए प्रेरित करता है। भारतीय संस्कृति और यहां विभिन्न धर्मो जिनमे जैन और
कुछ हद तक बौद्ध धर्म भी है, ने समाज को अलग-अलग सोच दी
है जिसको मानने वाले आज भी लाखों में है क्योंकि उनको उनके गुरुओं की बातें
प्रासंगिक लगती है। शंकराचार्य द्वारा स्थापित चार पीठ आज ही उत्तराधिकारी
शंकराचार्य द्वारा सुशोभित है और अपने तरीके से समाज में चेतना जागृत कर रही है
जिनका सबका प्रयास व्यक्ति में आत्मज्ञान को विस्तारित करना ही है और जो विभिन्न
प्रकार के भ्रम जाल सामाजिक परिस्थितियों के कारण निर्मित होते रहते हैं उनसे बचाव
करना ही है।
शंकराचार्य
को उनके जीवन काल में मंडन मिश्र ने शास्त्रार्थ करने की चुनौती दी थी उसे के एक चरण में उनकी की पत्नी को सामने आना पड़ा और
शंकराचार्य भी उन सवालों के सामने निरुत्तर हो गए थे। हालांकि बाद में उन्होंने जब शंका समाधान किया तो उन
की पत्नी भी शंकराचार्य की शिष्या बन गई।
वर्तमान
समय में हमारे धार्मिक ग्रंथ इतनी संख्या में है कि प्रत्येक के ज्ञान को समझना
अपने आप में बहुत ही कठिन कार्य है । 8 शताब्दी के शंकराचार्य का
समय उनकी आवश्यकता का था आज नवीन ज्ञान नवीन परिस्थितियों में एक नए ही प्रकार के
आधुनिक युग को समझना और समाज में प्रचलित अंतर्द्वंदों का विश्लेषण करते हुए
रास्ता बताने वाले आचार्य की आवश्यकता प्रतीत होती है। ""गुरु बिन ज्ञान
कहां से पाऊं "" वाली बात हमारे देश में बार-बार कही जाती है हम सबको
गुरु मिल जाए यह अपने आप में ही एक दुर्लभ वस्तु है । शंकराचार्य का स्मरण और उनके
लिखे हुए लिखे को पढ़ना और समझना व्यक्ति को एक दूसरे ही बौद्धिक स्तर पर ले जाने
वाली घटना होगी । यह वो स्तर होगा जहां व्यक्ति हाथों आठों पहर की छटपटाहट से मुक्ति मिल जाये।
बहुत ही सार्थक ब्लॉग लिखने पर आपको बधाई
Resources
1. Sankara: The Missionary, Central
Chinmaya Mission Trust, Mumbai
2. https://www.shankaracharya.org/nirvana_shatkam.php
3. https://www.kamakoti.org/shlokas/kshlok28.htm
4. Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s
Greatest Thinker – Pavan K. Varma, Tranquebar Press, 2018
5. Madhya Pradesh me Adi Shankaracharya
(Hindi) – Hiralal Shukla, Swaraj Sansthan Sanchalanalaya, Department of Culture,
Government of Madhya Pradesh
6. https://www.sankara.iitk.ac.in
7. https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_z_misc_general/parApUjA.html
8. (http://vedantastudent.weebly.com/the-three-sources-prasthanatrayi.html)
9. You Tube has many excellent
renditions of Adi Shankara’s hymns and verses of which my favourites are those
by Uma Mohan (Nirvana Shatakam), Swami Brahmanada (Brahmangyanavali)
[i] न भूमिर्न तोयं न तेजो न वायुः
न खं नेन्द्रियं वा न तेषां समूहः ।
अनेकान्तिकत्वात् सुषुप्त्येकसिद्धः
तदेकोऽवशिष्टः शिवः केवलोऽहम् ॥ १॥
[ii] मनोबुद्ध्यहंकारचित्तानि नाहं
न कर्णं न जिह्वा न च
घ्राणनेत्रे।
न च व्योम भूमिर्न तेजो न
वायु
श्चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं
शिवोऽहम्।।1।।
[iv] किं गङ्गाम्बुनि बिम्बितेऽम्बरमणौ
चाण्डालवीथीपयः
पूरे वाऽन्तरमस्ति
काञ्चनघटीमृत्कुम्भयोर्वाऽम्बरे ॥
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