Gaudiya Vaisnava perspectives on Sri Sankaracarya

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Recently on Achintya there was some discussion of Gaudiya Vaisnava

perspectives on Sri Sankaracarya, and the oneness or difference of their

teachings. What follows is an excerpt from Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's

philosophical novel Jaiva Dharma that is relevant to this topic.

 

 

At this juncture, Sannyasi Thakura said with folded hands, "Dear master, at

every moment, I am realising the incomparable excellence of the pure

Vaisnavism that Sri Sacinandana has preached. I also perceive the deficiency

of the monistic philosophy propounded by Sri Sankaracarya. Yet, I cannot

refrain from asking you this question, which keeps vexing me, "Is

advaita-siddhi, the state of oneness attained by merging with the impersonal

Supreme, any different from the mahabhava, the pinnacle of spiritual love,

that Sri Caitanya embodied and exhibited ?"

Paramahamsa Premadasa Babaji prostrated himself respectfully upon hearing

the name of Sri Sankaracarya. He said, "My dear sir, always remember this:

....sankarah sankarah saksad... `Sri Sankaracarya is Lord Siva himself.' Sri

Sankaracarya is the spiritual preceptor of all the Vaisnavas and for this

reason Sri Caitanya has acclaimed him as an acarya, great preceptor. Sri

Sankaracarya is a perfect Vaisnava.

"At the time of his appearance, India urgently required a guna-avatara, an

incarnation who presides over the material nature, because the spread of the

voidistic philosophy of Buddhism had caused India to practically give up the

cultivation and study of the Vedas, as well as the practice of

varnasrama-dharma, the Vedic social system. Nihilistic Buddhism, known as

sunyavada, directly denies the existence of a personal God and although

hinting at the principle of the jivatma, the eternal spirit soul, Buddhism

remains in essence anitya-dharma. In those days, the brahmanas had all but

forsaken the Vedic religion and converted to Buddhism.

"At this historic moment, the extraordinarily powerful Lord Siva appeared as

Sri Sankaracarya and reinstated the pristine glory of the Vedas by

transforming nihilistic Voidism into monistic Brahmanism. This was a

spectacular achievement, for which India will always remain indebted to Sri

Sankaracarya. Works in the world may be judged by two standards. Some works

are tat-kalika, specific to a particular time, and others are sarva-kalika,

for all time. Sri Sankaracarya's achievement, which resulted in great good

for human society, belongs to the former category. He laid a firm

foundation, upon which Sri Ramanujacarya and Sri Madhvacarya later

constructed the grand edifice of pure Vaisnava philosophy. Therefore, he is

one of the greatest benefactors and historic torchbearers of the Vaisnava

religion.

"The spiritual guidelines Sri Sankaracarya laid down act as beacons to the

Vaisnavas on their path of spiritual progress. For instance, sambandha-jnana

-- knowledge of the eternal relationships between the jiva, prakrti, and

Bhagavan -- is absolutely essential for the conditioned jivas. The Vaisnavas

and Sri Sankaracarya share the understanding that the cit-vastu, spiritual

existence, is supramundane and transcendental to the subtle and gross

material bodies of the external material nature. They are also of the same

opinion regarding the spiritual nature of the jiva. They agree, too, that

liberation means giving up one's attachment to the material world. Up to the

stage of mukti, the Vaisnavas concur with Sri Sankaracarya on many

philosophical points. Sri Sankaracarya also taught that a soul purifies his

consciousness by worshiping the Supreme Lord, Sri Hari, after which he

attains mukti.

"What Sri Sankaracarya remains silent about, however, are the wonderful

realizations the jiva experiences after attaining mukti. Sri Sankaracarya

was confident that once the jivas were set on the path of liberation

attainable by worshiping the Supreme Lord, Sri Hari, they would gradually

develop a taste and an attachment for devotional service and ultimately

become pure devotees of the Lord. Hence, Sri Sankaracarya -- after plainly

indicating the proper way -- did not delve further into the esoteric aspects

of Vaisnava philosophy. Those who scrutinizingly study Sri Sankaracarya's

commentaries can comprehend his underlying intention, but those who ponder

only the external and superficial aspects of his teachings are diverted from

the Vaisnava path.

"From a certain viewpoint, advaita-siddhi and the mahabhava of prema may

seem identical. However, the narrow understanding of spiritual oneness in

advaita-siddhi is certainly different from the devotional ecstasy of prema.

A brief explanation should suffice to highlight their differences.

 

 

See Jaiva Dharma ch. 2 for the continuation.