Prefatory Remarks
(1-17) 1. Offering my prostrations to Sri Vidyatirtha (my Guru), who is one with the Self of all, I am attempting to give here a clear and precise summary of the ancient literature connected with the glorious life of Acharya Sankara (or of the book named Purasankarajaya). 2. In a small mirror, even the big forehead of an elephant can be clearly seen. Even so, in this, my brief work, you will get the essence of all the extensive accounts about Sankara and his teachings. 3. The intensely enjoyable taste of sweetness is enhanced by the intervention of other tastes. Similarly, my literary endeavour, however defective, will only enhance the delectableness of what ancient poets have written on the subject. 4. May the great commentator Sankara accept the offering of my poesy even amidst the vastly superior writings on him by poets of old. For, did not Lord Mahavishnu, though living in the midst of the milk ocean, yearn for the milk offered to Him by the milkmaids of Vrindavana? 5. The great world teacher Sankara defeats even the thousand-tongued Adisesha by the sweet and constant flow of his words resembling a perennial spring in the nectar ocean. I am attempting to narrate the most delectable excellences of that world teacher-the great Sankara of transcending greatness and goodness. 6. Where is the glory and greatness of Sri Sankara, which, in a subtle fashion, spreads everywhere like the fragrance of jasmine flower, transcending the barriers of space and time, and where am I, a creature of very little powers and talents? In spite of this disparity, I am attempting this unequal task only because of my faith in the support of the merciful look of benediction that my Guru has bestowed on me. 7. By using my literary talent in this way, I am cleansing it in the waters sanctified by the glories of the Lord, and thus ridding it of the dirt it has accumulated through its deployment in the praise of mean and proud men whom wealth
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has raised to the ranks of pretenders to greatness. 8. By indulging in insincere praise of the goodness and magnanimity of kings, which are really non-existent like the son of a barren woman or the horn of a hare, my poesy has become extremely impure. Now I shall render it pure and fragrant by applying to it the sweet and cooling sandal paste fallen from the body of the danseuse of the Acharya’s holy fame and greatness, as she performs her dance on the great stage of the world. 9. May this grand poem, which follows the traditions set by the great poet Kalidasa, (or composed by the poet with the title of ‘modern Kalidasa’) be for men of culture and character a heavenly flower plant offering basketfuls of poetical flowers, with which they could perform with delight their worship of the great Sankara, who was none but the grace of Siva embodied as man! 10. It may be that this poetical work of. Navakalidasa (modern Kalidasa), though artistic, lofty and meri- torious, and though viewed with approval by cultured and scholarly men and holy personages, none the less meets with carping criti- cism at the hands of perverse scholars and evil-minded poets, just as the cow, a noble animal, meets with slaughter at the hands of barbarians (Turushkas). 11. But why speculate too much on these lines? There are numbers of liberal-minded men, always sporting in the stream of benevolence, and ready to value others’ com- positions as pearls, to whom I could dedicate this work. And above all, there are the great Sankara and my spiritual teacher, on whose gracious approval I can certainly depend. 12. There have been some who attempted to expound the glory of Sri Sankara, but were forced to give up the attempt after having written only two and a half lines on it. For, so deep and profound is the subject. Under the circumstances, am I not, in making this present attempt, like a daring but silly child lifting up its hands to catch the moon? 13. May my great spiritual preceptor continually cast on me his merciful glances, which are like the train of waves on the ocean of milk and which can make even the dumb eloquent (mūkam vāchā- layitum). Nothing is impossible for one to achieve, if backed by the grace of the Guru. 14. May the merciful goddess Saraswati, whose glory even the great Advaitic teacher Sankara has sung, take her seat on the throne of my tongue and render it capable of such a tremendous flow of words, that it will put to shame even the sonorous sound of the flow of the Ganga cascading from the
PROLOGUE [[3]] matted locks of Siva engaged in his Cosmic Dance! 15. “How transcendent is the greatness of Acharya Sankara-and how petty am I! Why submerge in the ocean even the little reputation I have acquired, and efface it thereby, by making me do the impos- sible?” so saying, the frightened genius of every poet takes to wings when he applies it to the depiction of the glory of Sankara. O Teacher, so profound is Thy greatness! 16. There is the danger of the deer of my poesy becoming a target for a band of cruel hunters that tribe of poetasters, who consider indulgence in recondite grammatical usages, in long-winded constructions, and in vocabulary lifted from the depths of dictionaries, as the hall- mark of great poetry. 17. But blessed are the readers of a poem whose hero is no less a personage than Sankara, the incarnation of the great God Siva; which is dominated by Santi (Peace), the most sublime amongst the poetic sentiments beginning with Sringara (erotic love); which is capable of bringing about the destruction of ignorance, the cause of transmigration of Jivas; and, whose author is a poet of established fame like Vyasa.1 The readers of such a work must consider themselves fortunate.
(18-26) The subject is treated in sixteen chapters, divided as follows: first, Prologue; second, Birth of Sankara; third, Earthly Manifestation of the Devas; fourth, Life-story upto the Age of [[1]] 1. This meaning of the second half of the verse translated above is as interpreted by the commentator of this work. It is amenable to another translation also. The second half of the Sanskrit original is as follows: Yatravidyaksatirapi phalam tasya kavyasya karta dhanyo vyasacalakavivarastatkritijnasca dhanyah. It can mean: “Which is capable of bringing about the destruction of ignorance, and whose author is the blessed poet Vvasachala. Its readers too are indeed fortunate!” This is one of the many verses of Vyasachala’s work quoted in this poem or found in both works alike. T. S. Narayana Sastri and others of his line of thinking make much of this verse for traducing this poetical work attributed to Madhava-Vidyaranya. It proves nothing more than that Vyasachala’s poem is one of the source books of this poem-a fact admitted by the poet already in a general way in the very first verse when he states that his work is a summary of all the vast literature on Sankara. Indebtedness to Vyasachala is admitted also by Govindanatha in his Acharya- charita, another Sankara-vijaya. Vyasachala’s must, therefore, have been consi- dered as one of the authoritative texts, inspite of its incompleteness and other defi- ciencies. It has also to be noted that in many of his other works also Vidyaranya quotes extensively from well-known authorities on the subject without specially mentioning their names. Knowledge of the famous originals seems to be taken for granted. It is a feature of his literary technique. See Introduction. [[4]]
Eight; fifth, Adopting of Sannyasa; sixth, Establishment of the Pristine Philosophy of Self-knowledge; seventh, Meeting with Vyasa; eighth, Controversy with Mandana; ninth, Establishing Claim to Universal Knowledge in the Presence of Saraswati; tenth, Acquirement of Knowledge of Sex-Love; eleventh, En- counter with the Fierce Bhairava; twelfth, The Coming of Some Disciples; thirteenth, Preaching of Brahmavidya; fourteenth, Pilgrimages of Padmapada; fifteenth, Triumphal Tour; and sixteenth, Accession to Sarada Peetha.
Spiritual Degeneration and the Mission of the Devas
(27-39) We shall now narrate for the edification of the good and the wise, the life-story of Sankara, hearing which even once, the mind of man is purified. The Devas once resorted to Siva, the Lord of the Silver Mountain, for seeking a favour, just as they approach the Icy Moon seated on the eastern horizon for the sake of Amrita (nectar). Believing that they could attain their end by the favour of Siva, they addressed Him thus with folded palms: “In days of yore, it was to favour us that Lord Vishnu incarnated Himself as the Buddha and diverted unrighteous men from contaminating the Vedic path, by preaching a new religion for them. But today, the country is filled with the heterodox followers of that religion, as night is by darkness. They are indulging in carping criticism of the Veda, declaring it to be just a fraudulent means of livelihood for a few, and condemning its teachings on the duties of Varnas and Ashramas as mere superstitions. As people have given up the orthodox Vedic path and become heretics, there is none to do the daily devotional acts like Sandhya, or to take to the life of renunciation. The mere utterance of the two syllables ‘Yajna’ will make them close their ears. Under such circumstances, who will perform Yajnas and other Vedic rituals? And how will we, Devas, receive the offerings due to us? The followers of the cults of Siva and Vishnu bear on themselves the emblems of the Linga and the Chakra, but they too have given up Vedic rituals, just as evil men abandon mercy. There is no form of humiliation that these infatuated men have not inflicted yet on the sacred Vedas, which are solely devoted to the revelation of the excellences of the Supreme Being. These are the Kapalikas who chop off the heads of good men to be used as lotus flowers for offering at the feet ofPROLOGUE [[5]] their terrific deity, the Bhairava. There are several other perverse forms of worship, too, that have become prevalent in the world. Evil men are spreading the harmful effect of these degraded prac- tices everywhere. Therefore, for the protection of the world and for the happiness of the good and holy ones, Thou shouldst deign to eradicate the world of these vicious and perverse men and their practices, and re-establish the Vedic religion on firm ground.”
(40-44) When the Devas had completed their submission, the great God Siva said: “Taking a human body, I shall secure what is good for you. I shall establish the Dharma, conquering all the leaders of the perverse paths. I shall produce a commentary on the Brahma Sutras, setting forth the true teachings of the Vedas. I shall do this, taking the form of a great Sannyasin, Sankara by name, accompanied by four disciples who would be like the luminous sun dispelling the darkness of ignorance conjured up by the acceptance of duality. Just like Mahavishnu, I shall embody myself on earth. All of you, Devas residing in Swarga, should also take birth on earth like Myself and assist Me in My mission. Thus shall your prayer be fulfilled.”
(45-56) Having spoken thus to the Devas, God Siva cast his loving glance, so rare for any one to get, on his son Shanmukha (also called Skanda and Subrahmanya), just as the sun casts his rays on the lotus, helping it to bloom. And Shanmukha’s heart swelled with joy at that gracious look, just as the ocean swells under the silvery rays of the moon. Gladdening the hearts of the Chakoras constituted of the Devas with the moon-light smile of His, Siva, the great God having matted locks, spoke thus to His son: “Dear one! Hear my words that are meant for the blessing of the world. The Veda has three strands in its comprehensive teaching -The ritualistic, the meditative and the gnostic. By establishing the sway of the Veda with its three-pronged message, the spiritual ideal can be preserved in the world. If the spiritual ideal is saved, society is saved. For, sound social organisation leading to the good of man is based on the spiritual ideal. Now, coming to understand My design and following My instruction, Hari and Sesha have already been born as the sages Sankarshana and Patan- jali for the resuscitation of the middle section of the Veda dealing with meditation and have produced texts on Bhakti and Yoga. [[6]]
And I have now promised to the Devas, as you know very well, that I shall undertake to rejuvenate the gnostic teachings which form the ultimate purport of the Veda. Now, you have to do your part of the work, and that is the revival of the ritualistic section of Brahma (the Veda) condified by Jaimini, and thereby gain the reputed name of Subrahmanya (promoter of Brahmanya), besides the commonly known name of Kumarila Bhatta, the preacher of the Vedic Karma-Kanda. In order to refute and confute the Buddhists who are attacking the Vedic teachings and to establish the Vedic way of life, you have to be born in the world. For your help, Brahma will be born as the scholar Mandana, while Indra will become the king Sudhanvan for the very same purpose.”
(57-59) Shanmukha and Brahma gladly accepted the instruc- tion of God Siva. Indra, too, embodied himself as king Sudhanvan and ruled the earth from his capital, which he converted into a veritable Devaloka (heavenly region). Though endowed with deep wisdom, he was apparently a follower of the Buddhist religion and a great patron of the Sugatas (Buddhists). But in his heart of hearts he was awaiting the arrival of Skanda manifested as Kuma- rila Bhatta.
Skanda as Kumarila
(60-71) In due time, Skanda appeared for his earthly mission as Kumarila Bhatta, whose fame for scholarship spread in all directions, as if he were an ornament to the four Dames constituting the four quarters. In his two commentaries, he elaborated the meaning of the Sutras of Jaimini, which briefly expound the ritua- listic section of the Vedas; the immense light his second commen- tary shed, looked like the brilliance of the sun succeeding the feeble light of his charioteer Aruna. In the course of his triumphal tours of controversy, he once went to the capital of Sudhanvan. The king received him in all humility and showered all honours on him. Seated on a golden seat in the king’s assembly, and illumining the place as Surabhi does the heavenly region of Indra, the sage pronounced his benedictions on the king. Hearing the cooing of a Kokila from the branch of a tree close by, the sage said to the king, as if addressing the Kokila: “O Kokila! How sweet is your voice! All would have heard it with delight had it not been mingled with that of the crows surrounding you-the Buddhists with
PROLOGUE [[7]] their harsh and discordant note of condemnation of the Vedas.” The Sugatas, on hearing these words of insulting implications, became fiercely excited snakes trampled upon by a pedestrian. To feed the fire of their anger, the Brahmana scholar put into that fire, branch after branch of the tree of Buddhist teachings, which he cut piece by piece with the axe of his dialectics. The assembly hall, filled with Buddhist scholars having faces reddened with anger at the Brahmana’s audacious words, looked like a pond of red lotuses lit up by the rays of the evening sun. The hall rever- berated with the thundrous sounds produced by the disputants indulging in arguments and counter-arguments and abuses, as if the nether world itself was bursting from below. The mountain ranges of the Buddhists fell down with their wings clipped by the thunderbolt of the Brahmana sage’s arguments. As if unable to bear the Buddhist scholars’ appellation of “all-knowing, ones”, the sage made them sit defeated in argument, silent and motionless like mere pictures.
(72-77) Having thus humbled the pride of the Buddhists, the Brahmana sage now began to expound the meanings of Vedic Mantras in order to enlighten king Sudhanvan. The king thereupon said, “In wordy controversies, success and failure depend only on the learning of the respective parties. It does not really prove the truth of their thesis. I can accept the religion of that party as true, who can jump down unhurt from the top of yonder mountain.” At these words of the king, all the scholars merely stood aghast looking at each other, unable to take up the challenge of the ordeal. But the Brahmana sage, with his mind concentrated on the Veda, ascended the mountain top, and declared: “If the Veda is the true scripture, my body shall not be hurt by this ordeal.” With this mighty declaration, the sage jumped down from the mountain top, as the spectators shouted in wonder at the sight: “Oh! Is it king Yayati coming down from heaven on the expiry of the merits his grandson had transferred to him!” That best of Brahmanas now touched the earth as lightly as a bundle of cotton. Is it any wonder that the Veda protects one with whole-hearted faith in it?
(78-84) Hearing about this stupendous miracle, people came from all quarters, as peacocks come out of their nests on hearing the clap of thunder-clouds. The king’s faith in the Veda was established by this incident, and he began to feel that association
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with the evil Buddhists had led to his degeneration. But the Buddhists began to object: “This event is not proof of a religion. For, protection of the body in such situations can be secured by magical stones, Mantras and miraculous drugs.” Feeling this con- tention to be mere perversity on the part of the Buddhists, the king was roused to great anger and came forward with a challenging declaration: “I shall now institute another test. I shall inflict capital punishment on the party that fails in it.” The king then presented a sealed earthen pot with a snake confined in it, and wanted the parties to say what it contained. Both the Buddhists and the Brahmanas replied that they would give the answer next day, and retired for the night.
(85-94) The Brahmanas thereafter prayed to Lord Aditya all through night, standing in neck-deep water, and the deity appeared before them and instructed what they should say regarding the contents of the pot. Next day they went to the assembly hall of the king. The Buddhists also arrived with a ready answer to the king’s question. They declared in one voice that the pot con- tained a snake, while the Brahmanas maintained that the content of the pot was Mahavishnu resting on His serpent-bed. On hearing the reply of the Brahmanas, the king’s face faded like a lotus in a dry pond. Just then a divine disembodied voice was heard by all, setting their doubt at rest: “O King! What the Brahmanas say is correct. Have no doubt on the point. Carry out your promise.” Obeying the disembodied voice, the king opened the pot, and was overjoyed to see in it the form of Vishnu, as Indra was on getting Amrita (nectar). Wondering at the strange trans- formation of what he had kept in the pot, the king’s faith in the Vedas grew a thousandfold. He ordered the eradication from his kingdom of all who condemned and criticised the Vedas. He also threatened with dire punishment those officers who showed any hesitation in carrying out this order, however close he might be to him. Indeed, powerful rulers eliminate even friends and. relatives, if they turn disobedient or hostile. Did not Parasurama kill his mother under such circumstances?
- (95-98). Thus did the king, whom Skanda (Kumarila) converted, free the country from the menace of Buddhists and Jains, just as the obstacles in the path of Yoga are eradicated by a wise sage. And simultaneously, just as the light of the rising sun obliterates
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PROLOGUE [[9]] the darkness of night, the preachings of the Vedic truth by that Brahmana sage reversed the pace of the ignorance produced by the heretical teachings. When the elephants of Jaina and Buddhist heretics disappeared because of the roaming lion of Kumarila, the tree of Vedic wisdom began to spread everywhere with luxuriant foliage. As the fire-born Kumarila was thus resuscitating the Vedic path of Karma, Lord Siva condescended to be born in order to save the world floundering in the ocean of transmigratory existence.