Guest guest Posted December 10, 1999 Report Share Posted December 10, 1999 Hi, I'm new on the list. I've been confused for some time too about the various orders, but just recently found this explanation in "Dancing with Siva": Sankaracarya established four main pithas (monasteries) or mathas as centers of Smarta authority, each with a distinct lineage of gurus and a "reigning pontiff" known as the Sankaracarya, and each having one of the four Vedic Great Statements as a mantra. East Cost: Govardhana Matha in Puri, center of the Aranya and Vara orders. Himalayas: Jyotih Matha, near Badrinath, center of the Giri, Parvata and Sagara orders. West Coast: Sarada Matha, in Dwarka, center of Tirtha and Ashrama orders. South: Sringeri Matha, center of Bharata, Puri and Sarasvati orders. A fifth pitha associated with Sringeri is also in the South, in Kanchipuram. Sannyasins of these monastic orders generally have "ananda" attached to their religious name. I am curious to know which Mahavakya is associated with which matha, does anyone know? My guru from my childhood, originally known as Dr. Rammurti S. Mishra, took sannyas later in life to become Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati, but I never had the chance to ask him historical details like this - or it never occurred to me - and he has since died. Namaste, Zo Newell _________________ Why pay more to get Web access? Try Juno for FREE -- then it's just $9.95/month if you act NOW! Get your free software today: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 11, 1999 Report Share Posted December 11, 1999 On Sat, 11 Dec 1999, Zo Newell wrote: > Zo Newell <zonewell > > Hi, I'm new on the list. I've been confused for some time too about the > various orders, but just recently found this explanation in "Dancing with > Siva": > > Sankaracarya established four main pithas (monasteries) or mathas as > centers of Smarta authority, each with a distinct lineage of gurus and a > "reigning pontiff" known as the Sankaracarya, and each having one of the > four Vedic Great Statements as a mantra. East Cost: Govardhana Matha in > Puri, center of the Aranya and Vara orders. Himalayas: Jyotih Matha, near > Badrinath, center of the Giri, Parvata and Sagara orders. West Coast: > Sarada Matha, in Dwarka, center of Tirtha and Ashrama orders. South: > Sringeri Matha, center of Bharata, Puri and Sarasvati orders. A fifth > pitha associated with Sringeri is also in the South, in Kanchipuram. > Sannyasins of these monastic orders generally have "ananda" attached to > their religious name. > > I am curious to know which Mahavakya is associated with which matha, does > anyone know? > > My guru from my childhood, originally known as Dr. Rammurti S. Mishra, > took sannyas later in life to become Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati, but I > never had the chance to ask him historical details like this - or it > never occurred to me - and he has since died. > > Namaste, > Zo Newell > namaste. The four pIThAs and their associated mahA vAkyAs (as per my understanding) are: West: ShAradA maTha; gomatI tIrtham; first pIThAdhipati is hastAmalaka; maTha sannyAsis have the names ending with tIrtha or Ashrama; kshetra is dwaraka; pITha devata is siddheshwara; veda is sAma; associated mahA vAkya with this pITha is tat tvam asi. The regions under control of this pITha are sindhu, souveera, saurAShTra and maharAShTra. East: govardhana maTha; first pIThAdhipati is padmapAda; maTha sannyAsis have the names ending with vana or araNya; kshetra is puruShottama; pITha devata is jagannAdha; veda is R^gveda; associated mahAvAkya is prajnAnam brahma. The regions under control of this pITha are a~Nga, va~Nga, kali~Nga. North: jyotirmaTha; first pIThAdhipati is toTaka; maTha sannyAsis have the names ending with giri, parvata, sAgara; kshetra is badarikAshrama; pITha devata is nArAyaNa; tirtha is alakananda; veda is atharva; associated mahA vAkya is ayam AtmA brahma. The regions under control of this pITha are maru, kashmira, kAmbhoja and pA~ncAla. South: shr^~NgerI maTha; tu~NgabhadrA tIrtham; first pIThAdhipati is sureshwara; maTha sannyAsis have the names ending with saraswati, puri, bhArati; pITha devata is varAha; veda is yajur; associated mahA vAkya is ahaM brahmAsmi; The regions under control of this pITha are andhra, draviDa. karNATa, keraLa. Regards Gummuluru Murthy ----- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 1999 Report Share Posted December 13, 1999 >South: shr^~NgerI maTha; tu~NgabhadrA tIrtham; first pIThAdhipati is >sureshwara; maTha sannyAsis have the names ending with saraswati, puri, >bhArati; pITha devata is varAha; veda is yajur; associated mahA vAkya >is ahaM brahmAsmi; The regions under control of this pITha are andhra, >draviDa. karNATa, keraLa. > Dear G Murthy, You've mentioned DraviDa as seperate from Andhra, Karnataka and Kerala, by which I understand that you mean Tamil Nadu. In ancient Indian history Dravida is genrally used to refer to the gerographical region south of the VindhyAs - all the five current day states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu. So are you quoting from some text regarding the matham information? And is it mentioned the way you've stated - Dravida as distinct from Andhra, Kerala and Karnataka? With respect to the original question regarding the matham at KAnchi : The the matham at KAnchipuram is not affiliated to Shringeri, but considers itself as the true Shankara matham in the Southern India. Rgds, Nanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 1999 Report Share Posted December 13, 1999 On Mon, 13 Dec 1999, nanda chandran wrote: > "nanda chandran" <vpcnk > > > >South: shr^~NgerI maTha; tu~NgabhadrA tIrtham; first pIThAdhipati is > >sureshwara; maTha sannyAsis have the names ending with saraswati, puri, > >bhArati; pITha devata is varAha; veda is yajur; associated mahA vAkya > >is ahaM brahmAsmi; The regions under control of this pITha are andhra, > >draviDa. karNATa, keraLa. > > > > Dear G Murthy, > > You've mentioned DraviDa as seperate from Andhra, Karnataka and Kerala, by > which I understand that you mean Tamil Nadu. In ancient Indian history > Dravida is genrally used to refer to the gerographical region south of the > VindhyAs - all the five current day states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, > Andhra and Tamil Nadu. > > So are you quoting from some text regarding the matham information? And is > it mentioned the way you've stated - Dravida as distinct from Andhra, Kerala > and Karnataka? > namaste. Yes, I am quoting from MaThAmnAyam. It is not certain whether this is the writing of shri Shankara. Apparently, there is good evidence that maThAmnAyam was written by vidyAraNya. The verses referring to the southern maTha are the following: caturtho daksiNAmnAyaH shr^~NgerI tu maTho bhavet saMpradAyo bhUrivAraH bhUrbhuvo gotramucyate padAni trINi khyAtAni saraswatI bhAratI purI rAmeshwarAhvayaM kshetramAdhi varAhadevatA kAmAkshI tasya devIsyA tsarvakAmaphalapradA sureshwarAkhya AcArya stu~Ngabhadreti tIrthakam.h caitanyAkhyo brahmacArI yajurvedasya pAThakaH ahaM brahmAsmi tatraiva mahAvAkyaM samIritam.h aNdhra drAviDa karNATa keraLAdi prabhedataH shr^~NgeryadhInA deshAste hyavIcI digavsthitAH I have translated the last verse as referring to Andhra, draviDa (I assume the reference is to the present day Tamila nAdu), karNATa and keraLa. Adi there may refer to maharAShTra as well, but maharAShTra was specifically mentioned in the western maTha verse. I do not know the significance of reference here to kAmAkshi as the pITha shakti. An alternate verse in this context is the following: tIrthamca tu~NgabhdrAkhyaM shaktiH shrIshAradetica AcAryaH tatra caitanya brahmacArIti vishrutaH tIrtha is tungabhadra. pIThashakti is shAradAdevI. brahmacArI is caitanya ....... > With respect to the original question regarding the matham at KAnchi : > > The the matham at KAnchipuram is not affiliated to Shringeri, but considers > itself as the true Shankara matham in the Southern India. > I am aware of the 'controversy' re ka~nci, but I do not know much about it. > Rgds, > Nanda > Regards Gummuluru Murthy ---- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 1999 Report Share Posted December 14, 1999 namaste. Further to my post of yesterday on this topic, I like to provide a reference here to a series of posts a year ago by shri Ravishankar Mayavaram on AmnAya stotram in the advaita-l. The verses posted by shri Ravishankar seem to be different from what I have, while the essence of the verses is the same. The reference URL is www.eScribe.com/religion/advaita/index.html?mlD=5300 I cannot say whether the AmnAya stotram referred to by shri Ravi is the same as the maThAmnAyam that I have referred here. My thanks to shri Ravi for bringing those postings to my attention. Regards Gummuluru Murthy --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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