Veda Vyasa, Sri Buddha and Adi Sankara among others stand foremost among the greatest geniuses in the world. The famous French writer and thinker Andre Malraux places Sankara above Aristotle. Adi Sankaracharya could only live up to the age of 32, but his thoughts and contributions went beyond the axis of time. His contribution to Advaita Darsana can be considered the pinnacle of human thought and philosophy. Advaita darsana was not an invention of Sankara; it is there in the Upanishads, but he brought it into prominence, says Swami Vivekananda. When ideas of probabilities in Einsteinian physics replaced determinism in Newtonian physics, modern physics moved towards a sort of neo-Vedanta.
In ancient India, we hear only about two prominent Sannyasis who directly embraced sannyasa in their early life without passing through the garhastya phase viz., Rishi Suka and then Sankara. It was Buddha who, after discarding worldly life, prescribed lifelong celibacy for his disciple-Sannyasins. This was subsequently adopted by many of the Hindu Sannyasins. The Hindu concept of “sannyasa” has been beautifully described in Sankara’s ‘Yati Panchaka’ as having a loin cloth is the most fortunate possession for a Sannyasi.
While touring the entire country, Sankara found diverse and contradictory forms of worship, Gods and monks. Many of them did not conform to the Hindu culture. He found innumerable Gods prevalent in Hindu society, with various modes of their worship. He consolidated different deities into five Panchayatana deities viz., Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Surya and Ganesha. He classified the methods of worship for six religions as Shanmatha Aradhana (with the addition of Kumara worship) viz., Shaivam, Vaishnavam, Shaakteyam, Sauram, Gaanapathyam and Kaumaaram. Thus, master of nirguna Advaita cared about Saguna Upasana also. Sankara stopped Vamachari and Kapalika poojas as well as opposed the Kaula religion and worship of Siva in the form of a dog.
Despite all these, at the height of spirituality, he said, “nirishvaroham” (I am beyond God). He says about the difference between intellectuals and devotees: “For the philosophers, Moksha or Mukti (liberation) is the highest end. But for Bhaktas, bhakti is the highest goal and Mukti is supplementary.” Sankara sarcastically comments on rituals by seeking apologies for three doshas (triads of vices): meditation (attributing forms to the formless), hymns (describing the indescribable), and pilgrimages (denying omnipresence). He does not deny rituals but says liberation can be attained only through realisation (aparokshanubhuti). Systematising the Sannyasi groups, he formulated the Dasanami system giving ten names denoting different geographical differentiations. They are Giri, Puri, Bharati, Ban, Aranya, Sagar, Ashram, Saraswati, Tirtha and Parvat. Even today, all the Sannyasis belong to one or another in the Dasanami system.
He raised Advaita to prominence in human thought. Sankara developed Advaita as a system and explained it through commentaries, stotras, and prakarana grandhas. In Vivekachudamani, he says that the individual soul and the universal soul are not different. At the same time, he beautifully synchronises the other two prominent views viz. Dwaita and Visishta Advaita into an integrated thought. The last sloka in his ‘Maneesha Panchakam’ and ‘Hanumat pancharatna stotraat’ says: “When I consider myself as a mere body it is Dvaita; when I consider myself as this personal soul (jeeva) it is Visishta advaita; and when I realise myself as this Supreme Atma then it is Advaita. This the essence of all scriptures.” The Western world can never think of such a harmonious blending of apparently conflicting philosophies.
Sankara insisted on the connection with practical ideas. He said that the success of Yoga and others is determined only by the results. In Prasnottara Manimala, his definition of truth is result-oriented i.e., the welfare of all beings. For him, like Vyasa, violence and hatred were non-truths. Shankara’s pragmatic theory accepts experience at the worldly level (vyavaharika satyam) and rejects experience at the reality level (paramarthik mithya).
Maya is a Vedic concept which Sri Buddha propagated and Sankara explained. Stephen Hawking’s theory that “the sum of the physical universe is zero” goes back to the theory of Maya. Sankara says that a world different from Brahma is a myth- “Brahma Satyam, Jagad Mithya”. In ‘Dakshinamurti Stotram’, he says the universe is only an outward projection of the inner consciousness. The cessation of avidya (ignorance) and maya is a path towards true happiness. According to him, ‘dualism’ is due to delusion (mithya jnana). It can be removed very well through samyag or correct knowledge.
In Viveka Chudamani, Sankara proposes the human spiritual practices in a nutshell, as “Sadhana Chatushtayam” viz., 1. Nithya anitya Vastu Vivekam (distinguishing between permanent and non-permanent), 2. Iha Para Phala Bhoga Viragam (detachment from enjoying the fruits of actions in this world and the other world), 3. Shamadi Shad Sampati (Six prosperities are- Shama, Dama, Shraddha, santi, Uparati, Thitiksha), 4. Mumuksha (longing for liberation). To intellectuals, he distinguished the real intelligence as Viveka in his ideas “nitya anitya vivekam” and “tyajya grahya vivekam” (distinguishing between what is to be accepted and what to be rejected). Sankara says, there is no like or dislike in me: “na me dvesha ragau”. He also says he has no feeling of caste discrimination- “na me jatibhedah”. He accepted a teacher who was knowledgeable whether he was of a low or high caste.
Sankara’s global perspective is that the whole world is spiritual- ‘Varanasi Medini’ (The whole earth is sacred Varanasi). His famous definition of culture in the Vedanta Sutra is the process of creating good qualities and removing the bad ones. Freudian psychology has reached only three states of mind. Sankara in Dasa Sloki explains the three states of mind as Jagrat, Swapna, and Sushupti and reaches the fourth state as Turiyam. Sankara also contributed to Vedantic textual tradition and methodology.
While the Buddha rebelled against the Vedic authority by leaving orthodoxy, Sankara questioned orthodox views by remaining with them. Even though Sankara questioned many ideas of Sri Buddha, he did so with utmost respect and called Sri Buddha “Yoginam Chakravarti” i.e., emperor of Yogis. Sankara gave a new face to Hindutva by combining Upanishad Advaita with the essentials of Buddhism. This is in dire contrast with the history of Christianity and Jews. This is why Vivekananda advocated the new face of Hindutva as the combination of the heart of Buddha and the mind of Shankara. Swami Vivekananda says this is a “fatherly embrace” since Buddhism ceased to exist separately from Hindutva, and the present Hindutva is a mix of both.
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