The Gods descend

Typically, when avatāras descend, they are accompanied by several other avatāras or aṃśāvatāras who play specific roles to help fulfill the role of the chief avatāra. We already saw in Chapter-4 how an avatāra of Skanda set the ground for Śaṅkara-avatāra by going to the court of King Sudhanvan and defeating the Buddhists in a debate and reestablishing the primacy of Veda-dharma. Even during Śaṅkara-avatāra, several aṃśāvatāras^[1] descended to work with or continue the work (after the completion of Śaṅkara-avatāra) with and after Śaṅkara.

Brahma or an aṃśa of Brahma descended and was born as the great scholar Maṇḍana Miśhra, a disciple of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, who would later face Śaṅkara in the famous battle of wits that he would lose and then become a disciple of Śaṅkara. Maṇḍana Miśhra is identified with Sureśvarācārya who would become the first pītādipathi of the Sringeri Śārada Mutt.

An aṃśa of Maha Viṣṇu would be born as the brilliant scholar Sanandana who would later come to be known as Padmapāda – Padmapāda was younger to Śaṅkara and would go on to become the first Jagadguru of the Puri Govardhana Mutt. He is also known to have founded the Thekke Matham in Thrissur, Kerala, and is believed to have been born in what was then called “Chola-Nādu”. He would go on to write a commentary on Śaṅkara’s Brahmasūtrabhāsya at Śaṅkara’s own request (The Pañcapādikā).  Padmapāda epitomized and lived the very essence of the Guru-Śiṣya parampara. To Padmapāda, the Guru was everything and the Guru’s words were sacrosanct. Once, when Śaṅkara beckoned Padmapāda who was on the opposite side of the shore from Śaṅkara, he simply started walking across the river. It is said that at that time the river was swollen and in spate but miraculously a lotus appeared under every step that Padmapāda took and thus he was borne across the river – that is how he earned the moniker of Padmapāda, he who had a lotus under his feet. Padmapāda also popularized the reflective theory and practice of pratibimbavāda^[2], a key element of Advaita siddhānta.

An aṃśa of Gaṇeśa descended as Ānandagiri who would become one of the most celebrated annotators and “ṭīkākāras” of Śaṅkara’s works. He would go on to author several ṭīkās^[3] and ṭippaṇas^[4] on the Upaniṣad-bhāṣyas of Śaṅkara. It is also said that he was the head of the Dvārakā Pīṭha although some commentators do not agree with the historical accuracy of this.

Ubhayabhāratī who was considered an equal of her husband Maṇḍana Miśhra in terms of scholarship was an aṃśa of the goddess of supreme knowledge, Sarasvatī. She would debate and create a dilemma for Śaṅkara after his defeat of her husband Maṇḍana Miśhra but more on that later.

Maṇḍana-Bhāratī

Maṇḍana Miśhra was given the name Viśvarūpā by his father and that was the name he was known by during his childhood and growing up years. Viśvarūpā was a precocious and brilliant young man, his scholarship and erudition adding to his personality. In addition to his scholarship, Viśvarūpā also grew up into a handsome and very attractive young man. His fame and glory spread far and wide across Bhārata Deśa.

Meanwhile, in a small village situated on the banks of the Sone River^[5] in present-day Chhattisgarh, a young girl was growing up into a beautiful woman whose beauty rivaled her scholarship. Her father had named her Bhārati.

Love and fate have a strange way of intermingling and intertwining with one another. When love blossoms, it knows not boundaries, nor barriers and when it is born out of destiny and carries with it the mark of things to come, then it overflows and breaches the banks of the river of life…

Viśvarūpā was haunted by the vision of a beautiful damsel who seemed to be sometimes running on the banks of a river and sometimes playing divine music on her Vīṇā^[6] her long and delicate fingers plucking at the strings, in tune with the beats of his heart – every twang of the string seemed to send a shiver of pain and pleasure through his entire body, pain at the separation from this woman and pleasure from the vision of her beauty. He lived in a strange world all of his own making where his dreams became real and his days became miserable, he waited for the night when he could travel in his dream to that distant river and spend time with her, speaking in whispers and drinking deeply of her fragrance.

Bhārati felt the pangs as well – of separation and love. She too saw a young man in the prime of his youth, handsome in his appearance and erudite in his scholarship. He visited her in her dreams and assailed her senses during the day. She waited for the night to come, so she could go to the river to receive him and there play the Vīṇā only for him. She felt the caresses of his warm breath as if he was right there with her. When the day dawned and she realized it was all only a dream, she pined for him as he did for her.

Over the course of time, the obsession of love that they felt for each other deprived both of them of sleep and peace. They lost interest in food, and became emaciated and weak, so much so that people who saw them noticed this and asked them what was wrong. For long they kept the secret to themselves but one day, Viśvarūpā’s father accosted his son and pleaded with him to speak the truth. Viśvarūpā then hesitatingly told his father everything and the father realized from the description of the river, that it could only be the Sone River and sent a party of Brahmanas to make enquiries and submit a proposal once they identified the family of Bhārati.

Meanwhile, Bhārati herself was having a similar conversation with her parents and she blurted out the whole truth as well. She also knew intuitively about the arrival of a party of Brahmanas and told her father about it – she had seen the whole conversation that Viśvarūpā had had with his father in her dream and therefore knew of the party and their coming beforehand.

Soon, there was a knock on the door and the party of Brahmanas was invited into the house. They were dressed in white and carried the wooden staffs that travelers carried with them when they traveled long distances on foot. They introduced themselves and their mission and asked for the hand of Bhārati to be given in marriage to Viśvarūpā, the son of Hima Mitra of Māhiṣmatī.

Bhārati’s father responded by saying that this marriage proposal was acceptable to him but he would have to consult with his wife who would be the final arbiter on the matter. For Bhārati’s mother, all this was much too sudden and she was very reluctant to accept a proposal from strangers who had just then walked into their home. She quoted from the Śāstras and told her husband that the Śāstras speak of giving due consideration to seven points before accepting any marriage proposal: family tradition, character, age, looks, learning, wealth, and guardianship. How could they accept this proposal without knowing anything of these or even making some enquiries?

The father however told her of the marriage of Rukmini and Kṛṣṇa and how the king of Kundina accepted Kṛṣṇa’s proposal with no consideration other than the fact that it was Kṛṣṇa who was going to be their son-in law, Kṛṣṇa, whose character was beyond question. Viśvarūpā was Kumārila Bhaṭṭa’s favorite disciple – was there a need for any other certificate of character? And, what to speak of wealth? The wealth of a Brahmana is his learning, not his material assets. It is learning and knowledge that is beyond the grasp of thieves and evil men and knowledge was something Viśvarūpā possessed in abundance.
“The Śāstras also say that the marriage of a daughter must not be delayed, and a good proposal must never be rejected, I think we must accept this proposal, go speak to our daughter, and if she is willing, then we must give our consent”, so saying the Brahmana Viṣṇu Mitra, the father of Bhārati convinced his wife.

Bhārati had no hesitation in accepting the proposal, after all her dream was now becoming a reality. On the instructions of her father, Bhārati who was an expert in astrology quickly fixed the date of the wedding fourteen days from the date of the visit of the messengers. The messengers hurried back and conveyed the happy tidings to Viśvarūpā and Hima Mitra. On hearing this, Viśvarūpā, his father and mother, and a few close relatives immediately set out on the journey to the region of the Sone River for a marriage that would set into play several events that would shape the destiny of a nation and the revival of Dharma – such is the way of fate and destiny.

Śaṅkara!

Meanwhile in distant Kālady Āryambha felt a thrill of pain pass through her – it seemed to start from the bowels of her being and radiate across her body. As she bent over, her water broke, and she called out to Sivaguru. Sivaguru took one look at her and immediately called out to the neighbors and then rushed to be at Āryambha’s side. As the women folk from the agrahāram crowded around Āryambha and Sivaguru walked into the other room, he smiled expectantly, for he knew now that Śiva would be setting foot on earth soon…

Postscript

In chapter-1, the prevailing state of adharma at the time of Śaṅkara-avatāra was discussed and the rationale and need for an avatāra-puruṣa were clarified. In chapter-2 the prelude to Śaṅkara-avatāra and Śaṅkara’s parents were covered and in chapter-3 the promise of the descent was detailed. Chapter-4 was about the victory of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa. Go to the links below to read the chapters:

Chapter-1

Chapter-2

Chapter-3

Chapter-4

To be continued…

 

References:

[1] aṃśāvatāras: typically refers to an aṃśa or portion, in this case, a portion of the divine descends and enters into an individual for the purpose of achieving a specific purpose or furthering a cause aimed at the protection of Dharma and righting the scales of Dharma.

[2] Pratibimbavāda: forms the foundational basis of Advaita Siddhanta – The jīvātman reflected in the mirror is the very same paramātman

[3] ṭīkās – commentaries written on an existing work that expounds and explains the work in greater details

[4] ṭippaṇas – gloss or comment on a pre-existing work

[5] Son River (Hindi: सोन नदी, also spelt Sone River) is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges River near Patna in Bihar. The Sone River is the second-largest southern tributary of the Ganges after the Yamuna River. Available at: Son River – Wikipedia.

[6] Vīṇā – an ancient and divine musical stringed instrument, made of rosewood or ebony, consisting of a long, hollow, fretted stick to which one, two, or three gourds are attached to increase the resonance.