Two shlokas in praise of Shri Shankara

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Pranams to all.

 

The following two shlokas in praise of Shri Shankara are from the Shankara

Digvijaya of Swami Vidyaranya.

 

 

 

avidyArAkshhasyA gilitam akhilesham paraguro

 

picaNDam bhitvAsyAH sarabhasam amushhmAdudaharaH |

 

vRitAm pashyan rakshhoyuvatibhiramushhya priyatamAm

 

hanUmAnllokeDyaH tava tu kiyatI syAn mahitatA ||9.28

 

 

 

9.28. O supreme Guru! Hanuman, who merely saw Sita, the consort of the

supreme Lord (Rama), surrounded by female demons (and went back and reported

to Lord Rama) is worshipped by all. That being so, how much greater should

be your glory, since you tore open the belly of the female demon in the form

of avidyaa who had swallowed the supreme Being (brahman) and brought brahman

out!

 

 

 

ajnAnAntargahanapatitAn AtmavidyopadeshaiH

 

trAtum lokAn bhavadavashikhAtApapApacyamAnAn |

 

muktvA maunam vaTaviTapino mulato nishhpatantI

 

shambhormUrtishcarati bhuvane shankarAcaryarUpA ||4.60

 

 

 

 

 

4.60. Lord Shiva has incarnated in this world as Shankaraachaarya in order

to save the people who are struggling in the dense forest of ignorance and

are being roasted in the heat of the forest fire, by imparting the knowledge

of the Self to them. For taking this incarnation Lord Shiva emerged from the

foot of the banyan tree from where he used to instruct his disciples, the

sages sanaka, sanaatana, sanandana and sanatkumaara, in his form as

dakshiNAmUrti and also gave up the method of instruction through silence

which he had adopted for teaching them. (The four sages had the capacity to

grasp instruction given through silence. Since ordinary human beings do not

have that capacity, he gave up silence and instructed through speech when he

took the form of Shankaraachaarya. The four sages are the mind-born sons of

the Creator God brahmA and so they are divine beings. It is one of these

sages who imparted brahma-vidyaa to sage nArada in the chAndogya up.)

 

 

 

These shlokas have been posted in Devanagari script with word-by-word

meaning at the following website:

 

 

 

www.geocities.com/snsastri/sankara-slokas.pdf

 

 

 

Regards,

S.N.Sastri