Śaṅkara Charitam – a retelling – Chapter 15

Śaṅkara takes leave of his Guru (continued)

Śaṅkara contemplated deeply on all that had happened up to that moment – his brief childhood, the loss of his father at the tender age of three, his upanayana ceremony, the incident at crocodile ghat and his taking saṃnyāsa at the age of eight. He ruminated over what his Guru Govinda Bhagavatpāda had told him was to be his life mission – “Establish the pristine truth of the Vedas and Vedanta – Shuddha Veda Dharma and Advaita Siddhanta of oneness – that in all of the apparent diversity and differences there is a thread that connects it all, like the string that holds the beads of a necklace…” This is the message that the Guru had received from the venerable Vyasa-muni himself and he had passed it on to his greatest student.

This was the very purpose of his avatāra and he had do it as quickly as possible because he did not have much time at his disposal. He had been promised eight years of life at the time of his birth, that had been doubled to sixteen when he took saṃnyāsa at that age – saṃnyāsa is considered “death” in the material sense and the severance of all things connected to world of Saṃsāra, therefore Śaṅkara had died in a sense and taken a new birth as a saṃnyāsi – he had leapfrogged across the three stages of varnāśramadharma and become a saṃnyāsi at the tender age of eight.

He was also acutely aware of the lack of time on his side. In a strange twist of fate, he who was the master or Kāla himself seemed to be at its mercy! Perhaps, he who was the supremely silent guru Dakṣiṇāmūrti himself in human form, wanted to go back to the source from where he had descended and spend as little time as possible in the world.

Kāśi was the name that entered his mind’s eye and then echoed in his ears – the greatest city in Bharatavarsha, home to the greatest minds in the wide world – panditas^[1] of great repute and representatives of every know school of Darśana^[2] lived in Kāśī the city whose name literally means the light that shines on the road to mōkṣa – the mōkṣa-dvāra as well as mōkṣa-puri, the city of eternal effulgence, where Śiva dwells in everything and everything dwells in him – he who envelops, pervades and interpenetrates everything. Kāśi is the city he never leaves – the city that is Avimukta, meaning the city that is never forsaken by Śiva.

It was at this moment that his Guru too emerged from within the cave and Śaṅkara fell at his feet, seeking his blessings. The Guru fully endorsed his disciple’s plan. In fact, he had wanted to tell his student to go to Kāśi as the first step in the unfolding of his great mission of Lokakśema. Govinda Bhagavatpāda also spoke of the glories of the city of Kāśī and of how it would be the ideal launchpad for Śaṅkara. Kāśi during Śaṅkara’s time was home to Panditās (experts) from 56 different Darśanas and independent kṣetras from across Bhāratavarṣa. Govinda Bhagavatpāda told Śaṅkara to start with the writing of a Bhāṣya (commentary) on the Brahma Sūtras of Vyāsa (also known as Bādarāyaṇa).

If he could establish the pristine philosophy of Advaita Vedānta through teaching, debating, writing, expounding, and traversing the length and breadth of the country then his life mission would be completed. What better place to begin from than the place considered the cultural heartbeat of the world – a place where every victory would be amplified manifold and create the launchpad for Śaṅkara-Digvijaya – the victory over all the quarters of the universe? Śaṅkara was ready and over the next few years he would take the whole world by storm – a story that will unfold over the course next few chapters but will need to wait for now.

An important and defining event had taken place just before Śaṅkara had been drawn into the cave by his Guru. It was an event that not only foretold what was to come but also demonstrated to the world who Śaṅkara really was – an avatāra-puruṣa. We will need to go back in time a little to the moment when Śaṅkara was nearing the end of his journey of reaching his Guru’s dwelling place to relive that event.

As the boy slowly made his way to the mouth of the cave to meet with his Guru, he noticed how Narmada seemed to be angry, she was threatening to break her banks and flood the village – submerge all the homes while washing away the few possessions the people of the village possessed. He also saw a large mass of people moving towards the mouth of the cave where the quiet sage lived. Although this sage rarely emerged out of the cave and seemed to be forever lost to the outer world, the simple village folk knew instinctively and intuitively that they could find help there. As the crowd made its way towards the cave, they saw a very young boy standing there. His whole body seemed to shine with Brahmatejas^[3] and there was the sparkle of the all-knowing divine in his eyes – deeper than the deepest ocean and fathomless like the vast sky.

The boy looked at them and knew what they wanted and, more importantly, what he needed to do. He looked towards the Narmada, at the frothing waves and swirling currents and then gently gestured with his right hand, inviting her to calm down and rest awhile in his Kamaṇḍalu^[4] The crowd of people were on that day witness to the most awe-inspiring sight they had ever seen – the angry water-goddess, who until then had been threatening to wash away the entire village, suddenly calmed down and resumed her graceful flowing gait, settling down below her banks. A little jetstream of water appeared to enter the Kamaṇḍalu and merge with the water contained therein, as if in acknowledgement of who was asking her to calm down.

Śaṅkara now stood at the mouth of the same cave and this day, Narmada flowed gently and leisurely – the import of the moment was not lost on her as well. Śaṅkara was ready. His life mission had been determined and endorsed by his Guru, he was ready to take on the world, he fell at his Guru’s feet once more, received his blessings and then started walking in the direction Kāśi – Śiva was entering the city of Śiva. He had promised that he would never forsake this city and the city needed him now more than at any other time and here he was as Śaṅkara ready to redeem that promise and embark on his Digvijaya.

Guru Parampara

The story thus far has traversed along two tracks – while one track traced the events prior to the birth of Śaṅkara, the purpose of his avatāra and his childhood leading to his taking Saṃnyāsa, the second track focused on the life histories of Śaṅkara’s Guru, Govinda Bhagavatpāda and Parama-Guru (his Guru’sGuru),Gauḍapāda. Both tracks converge at the epochal meeting of Śaṅkara and Govinda Bhagavatpāda at Ōṃkārēśva. At this juncture, as Śaṅkara embarks on the second leg of his short but eventful life, it is a good time to make a small segue and examine the lineage of the Gurus who form the Guru Parampara, leading up to the advent of Śaṅkara. It is interesting to note that Gauḍapāda is the first in the line who is a Saṃnyāsi – someone who formally took Saṃnyāsa. All the earlier Gurus in the parampara were not formal Saṃnyāsis, because they did not have the need to even take up Saṃnyāsa – they had transcended the very bounds of the varnāśramadharma – brahmacarya, gṛhasta, vānaprastha and saṃnyāsa. They were all Ativarnāśramis – boundless, unlimited, sky-clad beings who have transcended all bounds of samsara and therefore outside the boundaries of the varnāśramadharma.

Dakṣiṇāmūrti, Nārāyaṇa, Brahma, Dattātreya, the Deva-Gurus and then the great Deva-Ṛṣis including Vasiṣṭa, Parāśara, Vyāsa, Śakti, Śuka, and many others, followed by the Saṃnyāsa-Ṛṣis that includes Gauḍapāda, and Govinda Bhagavatpāda make up this long, illustrious, and unbroken lineage of Gurus. It is interesting to note that the Deva-Ṛṣis did not take up Saṃnyāsa, there was no need for them to take up Saṃnyāsa because they were Ativarnāśramis who had transcended the bounds of varnāśramadharma – no need to wear Kāṣāya-vastra (saffron colored clothes), give up the sacred thread and so on. Some of them like Dattatreya and Śuka were Avadhūtas also known as the Digambarās which is a compound word consisting of Dik meaning the eight quarters or directions, ambarā can mean the sky as well as a cloth – that is why Avadhūtas and Digambarās are referred to as the sky-clad monks who do not wear a shred of cloth on their body. We know that Gauḍapāda, and Govinda Bhagavatpāda and later Śaṅkara took up Saṃnyāsa as per the rules of varnāśramadharma, as did all the others in the lineage leading up to the present day Śaṅkarācāryas.

Thus, we see that the Guru-parmapara includes four classes or categories – Devas or Deva-Gurus, Deva-Ṛṣis who had no need for Saṃnyāsa, and then the Ṛṣis who took up Saṃnyāsa. The Devas and Devatas are a class of beings higher than the Manusyas. Between the Devas and the Manusyas are the Deva-Ṛṣis – a separate category of Mantra-Draṣṭās, literally “seers” of the mantras. Where do these mantras come from? They come from the breath of the Devatas – this is why the Vedas are said to be “Niṣvasitam” the life-breath of the supreme – the fountainhead of Sanatāna Dharma – those who were able to connect to this life-breath of the supreme and then codify them into mantras and sutras and therefore they are called Mantra-Draṣṭās. This category of beings is referred to as Arṣvam, with the fourth category being the Asuras. This is also the reason that all of us are said to have three types of Ṛṇas.

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. Chapter-5 is about Maṇḍana Miśhra and Bhārati’s love for each other and the descent of Śaṅkara. Chapter-6 is about the death of Śaṅkara’s father and the marriage of Maṇḍana Miśhra and Bhārati. Chapter-7 is about the genius of Śaṅkara and how as a five-year-old he composed the Kanakadhārā stōtram. In chapter-8, events preceding and foreshadowing Śaṅkara’s Saṃnyāsa are covered. In chaper-9 continues the process of Śaṅkara’s Saṃnyāsa and summarizes the different types of Saṃnyāsa and how it is taken up depending on the context. In Chapter-10, Śaṅkara starts his life as a saṃnyāsi and takes his first steps toward his Guru, his destiny. Chapter-11 is a prequel and traces the events that lead up to Śaṅkara’s meeting with his Guru and the brief events that trace the lives of Gauḍapāda and Govinda Bhagavatpāda. Chapter-12 discusses the epochal meeting between Śaṅkara and his Guru and continues the flashback into the story of Gauḍapāda and Govinda Bhagavatpāda. Chapter-13 is about Śaṅkara and Govinda Bhagavatpāda and what the latter teaches the former. Chapter-14 titled Aja Bakṣiṭha Bāśyaṃ, discusses the experience of Śaṅkara’s Guru Govinda Bhagavatpāda learning from Gauḍapāda, cursed to be in the form of Brahmarākṣasa and how Śaṅkara’s education at the Guru’s feet comes to a close.