Śaṅkara sets off on his own towards Kāśi, at the behest of his Guru who tells him to spread the knowledge of the Vedas in Kāśi, because Kāśi is the epicenter of Dharma, the place where Śiva, dwells in every stone, tree, building, air, water, and soil.
Śaṅkara Charitam – a re-telling – Chapter16 – Ōṃkārēśvar to Kāśi
Ōṃkārēśvar to Kāśi
Śaṅkara started walking in the direction of Kāśi. Ōṃkārēśvar to Kāśi is a little less than a thousand kilometers, 979 kilometers to be exact – this, however, is as per the infrastructure available today. During Śaṅkara’s time, it must have been much more difficult, and he must have traversed forests and dangerous terrain before he made it to Kāśi, a long and arduous journey that must have taken several weeks. Even as Śaṅkara makes this walk to fulfill his destiny, it gives us an opportunity to examine in greater detail, the Guru Parampara of the Śaṅkarācāryas and how this has shaped Saṃnyāsāśramadharma and in a sense Hindu Dharma itself. We will pick up the treads of Śaṅkara’s journey later in this chapter.
Guru Parampara (part 2)
In the earlier chapter, the lineage of Gurus in the Śaṅkara Parampara was discussed. It is from Śaṅkara onwards that the formalization of the rules, procedures, and practices of the Śaṅkara maṭhams became codified and a formal procedure for selecting a successor ācārya and the process of succession were also delineated. All Maṭhādhipathis in the Śaṅkara Parampara are Saṃnyāsis and each one of them is referred to as Śaṅkarācārya. This is also the reason why there was a need to prefix Śaṅkara’s name with Ādi meaning the first in the lineage of Śaṅkarācāryas. It is interesting to note that he is credited with being the first in the line although his guru Govinda Bhagavatpāda and his Guru’s Guru, Gauḍapāda occupy an important place in the Guru Parampara, and they too received Saṃnyāsa-Dīkṣā unlike the earlier/ancient Gurus of this Parampara. We can think of two reasons for this:
- Śaṅkara was the first to recognize the grave danger that Hindu Dharma was facing from Buddhism in particular and the general deracination that had taken place among the Hindu population – the disdain for the Śāstras, disinterest in rituals, collapse of the varnāśramadharma (Buddhism’s emphasis on Saṃnyāsa being a chief factor), and an exclusive focus on materialism to the detriment of the Adhyātmic or spiritual side of life were all factors that contributed to the rapid collapse of Hindu Dharma – recall Chapter-2 where the Devas petitioned Mahādeva for a solution to the impending crisis and he agreed to descend as Śaṅkara. Śaṅkara’s genius lies in the fact that he not only recognized this danger for what it was but also organized Hindu society, re-established the Dharmic order, created a corpus of commentaries and reference material and a lineage that would not only continue his legacy but also be at the forefront of protecting, propagating, and establishing Dharma across the country.
- The second aspect is that Śaṅkara was/is accepted as an avatāra-puruṣa and an aṃsa-avatāra of Mahādeva. This too is an important factor in his being considered as the Ādi Guru of the Śaṅkarācārya Parampara.
The Śāstras speak of two primary types of Saṃnyāsa[1] – Vividiṣā-Saṃnyāsa and Vidvat-Saṃnyāsa. The former refers to a state of being where a seeker has an intense desire and yearning for the “truth” and wants to experience the state of Samādhi, the reality of the pristine ātman, and the joy of Brahmānandam (the supreme joy of experiencing the truth of Brahman). He feels that so long as he continues to live in Gṛhasthāśramadharma, he would not be able to fulfill this desire and therefore he takes up Saṃnyāsa following the rules laid down in the Śāstras, giving up his earlier life and starts the process of ātma-vichāra (enquiry of the self), makes steady and gradual progress till the time he starts to experience the state of ātma-sākṣātkāra (the vision of the reality of the self that dwells within each of us) – it is at this stage that he becomes “Vidvat” literally the “knower” of the self. At this stage, he feels that the rules of Saṃnyāsa and Yati-Dharma too are no longer required because he has transcended the limitations of the individual self and has merged himself with the transcendental supreme truth of eternal existence – he has found true freedom and therefore drops even the paraphernalia of the Saṃnyāsi, the Kamandalu (water pot), Dhandam (staff), and Kāṣāya-vastra (saffron robes). Once the “taste” for that state of bliss is developed then even the rules of Saṃnyāsāśrama become stifling and therefore he becomes an Athyāśrami – he who has logged out of the bounds of āśramadharma itself and lives in the world as a Jīvanmukta (he who is liberated even while alive).
The second type of Saṃnyāsā, called Vidvat-Saṃnyāsa is Saṃnyāsa that occurs in a flash – Swami Vivekananda called it “the quantum leap” when a seemingly normal person suddenly develops such intense virakti (very strong disinterest in worldly affairs, in this context) along with the accumulated karma-phala that makes this quantum leap possible, dragging him across the liminal space that separates the material from the spiritual domains. There are a few known examples – Ramana Mahaṛṣi being the most well-known, Sadasiva Brahmendra, less well known, Chinna Jamiyar, and Sivan Sar almost unknown. These are the classic Athyāśramis who leapfrog the āśramadharma-vyavasthā and go straight to being Jīvanmuktas. It is precisely because this quantum leap is such a rarity that this type of Saṃnyāsā is not bestowed on someone, no one is going to give Dīkṣā – it just happens. This is also the reason that the most common type of Saṃnyāsa which is in line with the rules of Śāstras is the Vividiṣā-Saṃnyāsa discussed earlier and that is what is given as Dīkṣā in almost all cases. We saw in the previous chapter that the earliest Gurus in the Śaṅkarācārya Parampara were all Athyāśramis and in a way those who had not taken Vividiṣā-Saṃnyāsa, some of them even born perfect, like Dattātreya for example. It is from Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkarā’s paramaguru and then Govinda Bhagavatpāda, Śaṅkarā’s Guru that we see the formal Dīkṣā and Saṃnyāsa according to the Śāstras, i.e., Vividiṣā-Saṃnyāsa. It is to Śaṅkarā’s credit that he institutionalized this process and created the longest-standing continuous lineage of ācāryas who would work to protect and propagate the Dharma.
Ōṃkārēśvar to Kāśi (continued…)
As Śaṅkara walked towards the city of Śiva, Kāśi he often looked up at the sky – it reminded him of the “Bṛhat” the immense vastness of the cosmos. He had found the “Satyam” the eternal truth of existence and in finding that he found that he was in perfect Ṛtam with all of life – the pristine blue sky in the background and the white cotton wisps of the clouds, the chirping of the birds, the hum of the wind blowing through the trees, the chatter of the insects, and the growls of the wild beasts – he found the same divine principle animating each one of these, unity in all of the diversity…
The sky in particular, reminded him of his Guru’s parting words:
“The clear blue sky represents the broad chest of Viṣṇu, the scattered clouds are the spattering of sandal paste on his body, the Sun is the brilliant Kaustubha-mani signifying his supreme suzerainty over the universe, the lightning that bridges the sky and the earth is Nandaka, the sword that severs the illusory screen of Māya, the rumble of thunder is the sound of Kaumodakī, the gadā (mace) that shatters delusion and captivates the mind, the eternal sound of Pranava that reverberates across the universe emanates from his Pāñcajanya the Śaṅkha (conch) of ‘five-elements’ – this is the substance of the last verse of the Sri Viṣṇu Pāñcara-Stotram of the Brahmāṇḍa Purana that states:
‘जले विष्णुः स्थले विष्णुर्विष्णुः पर्वतमस्तके।
ज्वलामालाकुले विष्णुः सर्व विष्णुमयं जगत्’
Everything in this world is a manifestation of Viṣṇu and this universe is imbued with his essence…”
Now, when Śaṅkara looked at the streams along the way, he could relate to what his Guru had told him, using the sky as an allegory – he saw that the blue of the sky reflected in the clear water of the stream was Viṣṇu, the foam that clung to the surface of the water was Viṣṇu’s inseparable consort Śri, and the lotuses and water lilies with their upturned faces, seemed to him like the faces of the seekers of truth – the blossoming of the lotuses and lily’s at the touch of the sun’s rays signifying the flowering of supra-consciousness. Śaṅkara’s Guru also instilled in him the principle of abheda (no difference whatsoever) between Viṣṇu and Śiva, both, forms of the one divine consciousness – it is this principle that would inform all of Śaṅkara’s works and teachings and imbue them with the eclecticism that is his unique and stellar contribution to Dharma.
It was late in the night and Śaṅkara found a temple courtyard where he could meditate, rest, and spend the night. As he sat there with his back resting against the cool granite pillar, he was reminded of the specific task his Guru had told him about[2]:
“Saṃnyāsis like us spend the four months of the monsoon season, the Chātur-māsya in quiet contemplation and meditation, building up our Śakti and Brahma-Tejas. Then, for the rest of the year we travel from place to place, talking, discoursing, and preaching Dharma – that is our role. That is why we are ācāryas – those who practice what they preach (ācārana) and those who walk the talk (cārana). You must travel to the city of Śiva, Kāśi because it is the epicenter of Dharma, the place where Śiva, dwells in every stone, tree, building, air, water, and soil – there’s nowhere that he doesn’t exist – it’s his city, YOUR CITY, go there and re-establish the supreme truth of the Vedas. You will teach and explain, discuss and debate, write and comment with the intent to clarify and reveal the secrets and true purpose of the Vedas and Vedanta. In short you will be the cool rain-shower that will douse the twin fires of worldliness and disdain that our own people have for Dharma and bring back all those people who have abandoned the folds of Dharma and moved to other newer sects.”
Govinda Bhagavatpāda continued:
“I was told about your advent and what you would achieve by none other than the great Sage Vyasa himself. He told me that I would be able to recognize you from your feat of controlling the Narmada in your Kamandalu (see previous chapter). You are destined to restore the spiritual greatness of this land – go fulfill your destiny…”
The young boy on whose little shoulders rested the burden of the entire country slipped into a dreamless sleep. Tomorrow, he would get up again and start the long walk towards “his city”.
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. Chapter-15, titled Guru Parampara, explores of the Śaṅkarācārya Parampara.
To be continued…
Go to the links below to read the chapters:
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References:
[1] Adapted from “Deivathin Kural” (The voice of God), R. Ganapathi, Volume-5, Chapter: “Sanyasis in Guru Parampara”. Pg:424-427.
[2] Sankara Digvijayam, Canto-5: “Embracing Sanyasa” Pg: 54-57. Madhava-Vidyaranya, English Translation, Swami Tapasyananda, 2009; Published: Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai.
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