Part 7 - Sri Sankara Vijayam

Thanks to my spiritual Friend Subramanian Garu for sharing this information.

Sankara said that the Upanishads and Brahma Sutram are not seeking a reference to worship of any personal god or Saguna Upasana.Saguna Upasana came when the man could not grapple with the formless Brahman.First he resorted to worship of five elements and found the Space to be formless and identified the Pure Space as Brahman.That way, Saguna Upasana gives room to go beyond. Saguna Upasana is seeking reference only to
Puranas and the two epics.

In Mookambika temple, the pandits wanted him to ascend to the Sarvajna Peeta.Before that they said that they should be convinced about Sankara's way of treating Brahman also as of Devi's form.They told him to throw a golden ring into a Sri Chakra which is placed a little far off.If Sankara could correctly throw the golden ring around Sri Chakra, they would agree that Devi also agrees to Nirguna Brahman meditation!

Padmapada laughed at this circus business!But Sankara agreed to the experiement and succeeded in winning too!Then the pandits garlanded him and called him to Sarvajna Peeta ascension.

In Kollur, one miracle took place.There were a couple whose son had died.Sankara went to their house and raised the child from death.

From Kollur, Sankara went to Srivali village. It is a village of 1000 brahmins who were doing agni-hotra, fire sacrifices.There was one such brahmin by name Prabhakara.He had a child, who was not speaking and appearing as a dunce right from his early childhood.The boy had always a vacant look, never talking to anyone, never doing any work, including basic work of eating etc., Several retributory sacrifices were made by Prabhakara to have the son cured.But nothing happened.He was finding his life quite miserable.

When the local population came to know about Sankara's miracle in Kollur, they invited him and Sankara came to the village to see the child.

When Sankara came and looked at the boy, the boy who had hitherto never did a direct look at anyone in life, looked at Sankara intently and Sankara also looked at him intently. The boy then looked at Padmapada and exchanged the look with him.Padmapada immediately knew the problem.But he wanted to witness the entire drama once again, silently.

Sankara slowly asked the boy:Who are you?Whose son are you?Who is your father?Where is your house?From where are you coming?What is your lakshya, goal?

The child replied in melodious verses which are collected now as Hastamalaka Stotra.

Sankara was pleased.He called him, Hastamalaka, the amla fruit on the palm, since he knew the Self so clearly.

The father of the boy became speechlesss with wonder at these words.Sankara told him:"He has become your son because of his incomplete austerities.This is your good fortune.He will not be of any use to you in this world.Let him stay with me."Sankara thus bade him to go back, and taking the boy with him.

The other disciples asked Sankara:How did this boy attain this state of Brahman without sravana, (hearing) etc.,?Sankara replied:His mother left her two year old child in the care of a great and highly accomplished yogi who was practising austerities on the bank of Yamuna while she went to bathe in the river with some women.The child toddled towards the water and was drowned.

The yogi, out of compassion for the disconsolate mother forsook his body and entered that of the child.That is why this boy had attained this high state.

Hastmalaka thus became the third disciple of Sankara and theyoungest.

Sankara proceeded from Srivali village to Srungagiri.The king Aditya Varma welcomed him, with all gifts and presentations.He continued his teaching of Upanishads, Brahmasutram etc., Hastamlaka heard these teachings for the first time.

In Srungagiri,Padmpada developed a small sankalpa, determination, to build a Math in the name of his Guru Sankara.Sankara kept silent without saying yes and no.He told Padmapada:A snake will always live in the holes dug out by frogs and rats and will not have its own house.We, Sannyasis, should also be like that.We should not become a Matathipathi, chief of Maths.

(Here, Brahmasri Nochur told a nice story.There was a dog howling on the forest, near a mediating sannyasi. Sannyasi became annoyed and threw a stone at that dog.The dog died.Both sannyasi and the dog went to hell.Yama, the king of death asked the dog:What punishment should I give to the sannyasi? You tell me, because you are the aggrieved. The dog said: 'Sir, you make him a Matathipathi. a chief of Maths.'Yama was puzzled and asked:Why?Why?.

The dog said:"Sir, I was also a Matathipathi and then became dog, in the next birth.As Matathipathi, I became greedy.I wanted to expand the Math,construct hospitals, schools.I wanted to run TV channel.I became more and more greedy.I started asking for money, more and more money.I did a lot of misdeeds to achieve my goal and thus became a dog! So, if this Sannyasi is made to become a Matathipathi, he will also end up like me, as a dog!")

Sankara here composed the famous Siva-Aparadhamana Stotram and Kaupina Panchakam.Hymn to Siva, for fivegiveness for transgressions, and five verses on the glory of codpiece.

Sources:

1) http://www.arunachala-ramana.org/forum/index.php?board=10.100
2) http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/01/hastamalaka-stotra.html
3) http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/03/kaupeena-panchakam-by-sri-adi.html
4) http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2010/04/siva-aparada-kshamapana-stotram-by-adi.html