Guest guest Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Sadar Pranaams , Shri Bhaskar Prabhuji! Prabhuji writes, ( mAtAji I do respect & worship sri mAtA's maha mAyA shakthi when I offer my pUja to her.) Wow! Prabhuji! That is great. Did you know that Shri RAMACHANDRA prabhuji himself performed extensive Pujas to Sri Durga Mata before undertaking the great war against the ten headed demon Ravana. In fact, Lord Krishna himself instructs Arjuna to offer manasika prayers to Sree Durga Devi before launching the attack against the Kauravas in the Kurukshetra war! One cannot even lift a 'straw' without the Great Mother's blessings leave alone a Gandiva bow! such is her ananya Shakti or Power!!! Prabhuji writes ( In ISKCON also we used to call rAdhA mAyi as the supreme power of godhead & in rAdha mAyi's sahasra nAma, one of the names is mahA mAyi.) YES! Prabhuji, have you seen pictorial illustrations where Lord Krishna is shown washing the feet of smt. Radharani? In ksheera sagara, you see LAKSHMI DEVI sitting at the feet of Ananta Padmanabha and massaging the Lord's holy feet. But the role is reversed when Lord vishnu incarnates as Krishna... In this avatara, Krishna is Radha's shakti! here, Krishna bows down to Radharani as his superior potency! Prabhuji writes ( Sri prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao argues in his book *shankara & adhyAsa bhAshya* that shankara was very much a vaishnava.) Of course ! Shankara was a vaishnavite too ! and prabhuji, who is Vaishnav ? Not someone who just wears the 'Namam' - a vaishnav is one whose very presence reminds you of Bhagwan vishnu. In this sense, ADI SHANKARA WAS THE GREATEST VAISHNAV OF ALL. every time, i see shankara bhagvadapada's picture, i am reminded of Baja Govindam Baja Govindam | Govindam Baja Moodamate || Samprapte Sannihite Kaale | Na Hi Na Hi Rakshati Dukrunkarane | Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, O foolish one! Worship Govinda. The rules of grammar profit nothing, once the hour of death draws nigh. AND of course, in appearance, he looked like a 'shaivITE ' .... Very ASCETIC - - an eka-dandi sanyasi - simple, austere and a perfect sadhu - with an alms bowl ... That is the whole point... it is hard to put Adi SHANKARA into any one category - shakta, vaishnav , or shaivite. He was all this and much more. He WAS A 'KAULA' antah-shaktah, bahih-shaivah sabhayang vaishnavahmatah nana – rupadharah kaulah vicharanti mahitale outwardly A ShaivaITE in gatherings, A Vaishnava; at heart, A Shakta under various forms the Kaulas wander on earth and Prabhuji , let me ask you this? Have you been to Sringeri or kanchi ? and the Pujas that are performed in these temples follow strictly the procedures laid down by the Acharya in devi worship. ANTYONE WHO PERFORMS a SHRI CHAKRA PUJA , HOW CAN THEY NOT BE A SHAKTA? and pray who is a tantrik adwaitha? Tantra does not mean just black magic or witchcraft or the pancha makara sadhana ! Adi shankara followed the 'samayachara' path. He did Manasika puja to Devi . It is not for me to comment whether adi shankara authored 'saundarya lahari ' or 'viveka chudamani' etc... There will be always A 'doubting' Thomas in any group. But i go by what KANCHI PARAMACHARYA SAYS... after acharya, paramacharya !! that is the sampradaya! i have never heard of Ramachandra Rao. I WOULD RATHER BELIEVE KANCHI PARAMACHARYA THAN SRI RAMACHANDRA RAO. and what is this clincal precision, you are talking about Prabhuji! in matters of Brahmnma-jnana, there is no such thing as precision or imprecision. It is all about 'anubhooti' - one's own! Adi Shankara's anubhoothi is uniquely his own. So is shri Ramana's! IT IS NOT FAIR TO DISCUSS 'real and unreal' only in terms of shankara's prastana trayi bhasya. IN order to understand if jagat is really Mithya, you do need to discuss about shankara's other works too! WE are in the 'jignasu' stage only at this moment and therefore until we reach the stage of Brahma Jnana., WE NEED TO DISCUSS THIS TOPIC FROM ALL ANGLES- FINALLY, IT DOES NOT MATTER what i or anyone else calls 'adi shankara' - vaishnav or tantric adwaithin! That is neither here nor there ! Adi shankara Bhagvadapada was a yuga avatara! Jaya Jaya Shankara Hara Hara Shankara! AUM NAMO Maha TRIPURASUNDARI ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Dear AdiMa, advaitin, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16> wrote: > That is the whole point... it is hard to put Adi SHANKARA > into any one category - shakta, vaishnav , or shaivite. > He was all this and much more. Yes AdiMa, you are absolutely right. Adi Shankara was all this and much more. We cannot limit Shankara to any this or that! Love and regards, Chittaranjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 21, 2004 Report Share Posted July 21, 2004 Thank you Chiita ! Whatever i wrote this morning came right from my Heart- right after Brahma-muhurta Meditation. Adi shankara sings thus in the Jivan-Muktananda lahari siváyáç sambhorvá kvacidapi ca vinúïorapi kadá gaïádhyakúasyápi prakaûa tapanasyápi ca kadá Paûhanvai námálim nayana racitánanda salilo munir na vyámoham bhajati gurudèkúákúata tamáç (7) Chanting the many names with tears of joy welling in the eyes, Sometimes of the consort of Siva (Sakti), at times of Sambhu (Siva), sometimes of Vishnu , And then of Ganapati and sometimes of the visible Sun; The sage, with ignorance dispelled by Guru's grace (dèksá), is not at all deluded. (www.kamakoti.org) This is the state of a jivan-mukta. and coming to think of it... Adi Shankara Bhagvadapada ESTABLISHED the shanmathas 1) Ganapathyam ( Ganesha) 2) Sauram (SURYA) 3) Saktam (SAKTHI) 4) Kaumaram (SUBRAMANYAM ) 5) Saivam ( SIVA) 6) Vaishnavam (VISHNU) SO FROM THE ABOVE, IT IS OBVIOUS that we cannot pin down Adi Shankara to ANY ONE MATHA OR SECT! also, i was surprised to read this in Shri BHASKAR PRABHUJI'S POST... (Shankara clearly refuted tantra sAdhana in gIta bhAshya & says worshipping vinAyaka & mAtru gaNa is avaidhika.) i don't know what you mean by Tantra sadhana ? I know Acharya did not believe in 'vamachara' tantra sadhana involving the pancha makara. I cannot believe he did not believe in worshipping Vinayaka. Read what a glowing tribute Adi shankara bhagvadapada pays to Lord Ganesha, the Remover of obstacles... Nitaantikaanta Dantakaanti Mantakaanta Kaatmajam Achintya Rupa Mantaheena Mantaraaya Krintanam Hrudantarey Nirantaram Vasantameva Yoginam Tameka Danta Meva Tam Vichintayaami Santatam. I constantly reflect upon that single tusked God only, whose lustrous tusk is very beautiful, who is the son of Lord Shiva, (Shiva, the God of destruction), whose form is immortal and unknowable, who tears asunder all obstacles, and who dwells forever in the hearts of the Yogis. (www.chennaionline.com) Shankara's works include anAtmA shrI vigarhaNa (Meaning 1, 2). aparokshonubhUti Atmabodha AtmaShaTak.h OR nirvANaShaTak upadeshasAhasrI ekashloki upadeshasAhasrI kashipanchakam kaupIna paJNchakam.h dashashlokI dhanyAShTakaM nirgunamAnasapUjA nirvANama~njarI paJNchikaranam prashnottararatnamAlikA prauDhAnubhUti prabodha sudhAkara brahmajnAnAvalImAlA brahmAnucintanam maniShA panchakaM mAtRipanchakaM mAyA panchakaM yati panchakaM laghuvAkyavRitti vAkyavritti vedAntasiddhAntasArasa.ngrahaH vivekachuDAmaNi sAdhana-pa.nchakam svarUpAnusandhAnAShTakam (sanskrit documents gde) This is only one List. Besides this, ACHARYA HAS COMPOSED MANY DEVOTIONAL HYMNS ON ALL THE GOD/ESSESS INCLUDING subramanya bhujangam, kanakadhara stotram, mahisarasuramardini stotram, lakshmi narasimha stotram, Kamakshi ashtakam, BHASYA ON LALITA TRISHATI, vishnu shasaranama, - you name it and it is there in the list of shankara's collected works! In any event, we are still not competent to say anything this way or that way .... we are all in the world of 'maya' or 'make believe' ! ********************************************************************** one correction to my previous post. acharya and then paramacharya - i said 'sampradaya' i should have said ParAMPARA! It is not for a 'jivi' like me to sing the glories of a mukta-jivi? better still, one who is a videha mukta. Jaya Jaya Shankara Hara hara shankara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 praNAms Sri Adi mAtAji Hare krishna Adi mAtAji : Did you know that Shri RAMACHANDRA prabhuji himself performed extensive Pujas to Sri Durga Mata before undertaking the great war against the ten headed demon Ravana. bhaskar : As far as my knowledge it was shiva linga not durga mAta. However, I dont have any problem, if he had offered pUja to AdiparAshakti :-)) Adi mAtAji : But the role is reversed when Lord vishnu incarnates as Krishna... In this avatara, Krishna is Radha's shakti! here, Krishna bows down to Radharani as his superior potency! bhaskar : Kindly give more details about it mAtAji. This is really interesting. Adi mAtAji : In this sense, ADI SHANKARA WAS THE GREATEST VAISHNAV OF ALL. bhaskar : in this sense if you are saying he is shAkta then it is OK mAtAji, even we can identify him with Christianity, Buddhism etc. etc. also yEkam sat viprA bahudA vadanti. Adi mAtAji : it is hard to put Adi SHANKARA into any one category - shakta, vaishnav , or shaivite. He was all this and much more. bhaskar : This is what I was trying to convey in my previous mail. Adi mAtAji: Have you been to Sringeri or kanchi ? bhaskar : sringeri..yes..had been there several times...kanchi ...no..sofar. AdimAtAji : and the Pujas that are performed in these temples follow strictly the procedures laid down by the Acharya in devi worship. ANTYONE WHO PERFORMS a SHRI CHAKRA PUJA , HOW CAN THEY NOT BE A SHAKTA? bhaskar : mAtAji frankly speaking, it is immaterial for me to decide whether shankara was a shAkta/shaiva/vaishNava...so, I dont have any problem in accepting him as a shAkta in a broader sense. AdimAtAji : I WOULD RATHER BELIEVE KANCHI PARAMACHARYA THAN SRI RAMACHANDRA RAO. bhaskar : you are welcome to do that mAtAji. But those who know Sri SKR's commendable knowledge in our scriptures can not deny the fact that he had some valid points in his arguments. BTW, you can get more details about him in culturalindia.org (?? sunder prabhuji is this correct??) AdimAtAji : FINALLY, IT DOES NOT MATTER what i or anyone else calls 'adi shankara' - vaishnav or tantric adwaithin! That is neither here nor there ! Adi shankara Bhagvadapada was a yuga avatara! bhaskar: yes mAtAji, he is something beyond all these mundane classifications....my humble prostrations to parameshwara svarUpa jagadguru Sri Adi shankarabhagavadpAda. Hari Hari Hari Bol!!! bhaskar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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