Adi Shankara part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

This mesg is from a link called Emptiness.

As we all know that Sri Adi Shankara was the main Soul who have

brought us all here to adore Devi Mookambika. Therefore I would like

to post this topic on Behalf of us all here as a token of Love to

Sri Adi Shankara.

I know that it is a big post but if and when you do have time

please do read.

 

Regards,

Babitha

 

About 2500 years ago was born, in a village called Kalady, a boy

for a scholarly and vaidik Brahmin couple, Sivaguru and Aryamba, and

this boy was to become, in later years, the greatest philosopher the

world has ever seen. He was Shankara, known as Adi Shankara, the

world over.

 

During His short sojourn, He travelled through the entire Bharatha,

on foot, preaching His philosophy of Advaita and taking many

disciples from the four corners of the country, chief among them

being four.

 

He restructured all the 72 forms of desultory religious practices

into acceptable norms and laid stress on the six ways of worship

based on Vedas. He discussed with many a scholar during His long

journeys in the country and was the cause for many philosophical

treatises establishing the concept of Advaita, with commentaries on

Brahma Sutras, Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Ten Principal Upanishads and a

few other works and poems in praise of various Vedic dieties.

 

Shri Shankara composed a number of hymns to foster the sense of

devotion in the hearts of men and this is His greatest service.

Bhaja Govindam is one among His many works and in this short garland

of poems in praise of Lord Govinda (Krishna), He dwells upon the

ephemeral nature of life upon the greatness of Guru, Bhakti, etc.

Some immature critics of Indian Philosophy believe and say that the

way of devotion is different from the way of knowledge. The learned

employ this distinction to emphasise a particular theses on which

they discourse in different contexts. We should not get confused by

this and fail to understand the truth. When intelligence matures and

lodges securely in the heart, it becomes wisdom. When that wisdom is

integrated with life and issues out in action, it becomes devotion.

Knowledge which has become mature is spoken of as devotion. If it

does not get transformed into devotion, such knowledge is useless

and tinsel. To hold and to say that Jnana and Bhakti, knowledge and

devotion, are as different from each other as gold is from baser

metal is to expose one's ignorance. Unless the senses are

controlled, knowledge will not obtain a fort-hold in the heart.

Wisdom will not come into being. How is one to trestrain the native

impulsion of the senses? The heart cannot be chastened if desires

and attachments are not eschewed. Its attachment is to be completely

extinguished and if the mind should be released from it, the mind

must be turned towards God. It must be realised that except through

devotion to God, there is no other effective way to restrain the

senses. Sri Shankara has packed into the " Bhaja Govindam " song the

substance of all the vedantic works that he wrote and he has set the

truth of the union of devotion and knowledge to melodius music which

delights the ear and our soul.

 

There is a story attached to the composition of the present Hymn.

Acharya Shankara, it is said, was walking along a street in

Varanasi, one day, accompanied by his disciples. He heard the sound

of grammatical rules being recited by an old scholar. Taking pity on

the scholar, he went up to him and advised him not to waste his time

on grammar at his age but to turn his mind to God in worship and

adoration. The Hymn to Govinda was composed on this occasion.

Besides the refrain of the song beginning with the words " Bhaja

Govindam " , Shankara is stated to have sung twelve verses, hence the

hymn bears the title " Dvadasamanjarika-Stotra " (A hymn which is a

bunch of twelve verse-blossoms). The fourteen disciples who were

with the Master, then, are believed to have added one verse each.

These fourteen verses are together called " Chaturdasa-manjarika-

Stotra " (A hymn which is a bunch of fourteen verse-blossoms).