Shankaracharya Philosophy

Hare Krishna ,

All glories to Sirla Prabhupada ,

I want to understand , what was accually the philosphy of Shankaracharya ,

Who says in Shiv-ashtkam

tasmai namaḥ paramakāraṇakāraṇāya
dīptojjvalajjvalitapińgalalocanāya|
nāgendrahārakṛtakuṇḍalabhūṣaṇāya
brahmendraviṣṇuvaradāya namaḥ śivāya||

Salutations for that Śiva, Who is the reason behind the fundamental reason of the creation, Who has yellow eyes made resplendent by shiny lamps, Who has made the king of snakes (a cobra) as an ornament of ear-hoop, and Who bestows boons to Brahma, Indra, and Viṣṇu .

This line is distreesing ,How Shiva can grant boons to Brahma and Viṣṇu .

and at other place he says , Bhaj Govindam , Bhaj Govindam . .

He propagated the agenda ,that every thing goes to same place ,

What he wanted to tell , i havent understood !!


Whom did he worshipped , and propagated ?

Please Explain !!

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Replies

  • Volunteer

    Hare Krishna, Sudipta Prabhu!!! Well said!!!Great reply!! Actually Sankaracharya's philosophy is based on 'ekam evamadvitiyam' which they interpret as 'Only Bramhan and Bramhan alone exists and Bramha is one without a second' and it is one Bramhan who takes various forms of Bramha, Vishnu, Shiva. They place everything and everyone on an equal footing, starting from Vishnu to the roadside beggar(daridra-narayan).Here is the actual interpretation of this verse by the most worshippable Bhaktivinoda Thakur:

    '

    tattvam ekam evadvitiyam

     

         tattvam—the Absolute Truth; ekam—one; eva—indeed; advitiyam—without a second.

     

     

         The Absolute Truth is one without a second.

     

    Commentary by Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

     

         In the Chandogya Upanishad it is said:

     

    sad eva saumyedam agra asid ekam evadvitiyam

     

    “O gentle one, in the beginning only the Absolute Truth, who is one without a second, existed.”

     

         In the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad it is said:

     

    purnam adah purnam idam

         purnat purnam udacyate

    purnasya purnam adaya

         purnam evavashishyate

     

    “The Personality Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the complete whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.”*

     

         In Shrimad-Bhagavatam (2.9.33) it is said:

     

    aham evasam evagre

         nanyad yat sad asat param

    pashcad aham yad etac ca

         yo ‘vashishyeta so ‘smy aham

     

    “Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.”*

     

         In Shri Chaitanya-caritamrita (Madhya 20.152), Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says:

     

     

    krishnera svarupa-vicara shuna sanatana

    advaya-jnana tattva vraje vrajendra-nandana

     

    “O Sanatana, please hear about the eternal form of Lord Krishna. He is the Absolute Truth, devoid of duality but present in Vrindavana as the son of Nanda Maharaja.” '

    How can Shiva be god who himself serves Lord Hari as His incarnation as Lord Hanuman? How Can Brahma be God who is himself created by Vishnu?

     

  • ||harE krshnA..my humble pranAms to all krshna-Bhakthas||

    I've read here in the discussion forums that Adi Sankaracharya (believed to an incarnation of Siva) did this under the instruction of Shri Vishnu, much to Siva's own reluctance. However, he told the truth about all that is need to learnt by a Jiva in the beautiful sloka.. 'Bhaja Govindham'. -- '..Bhaja Govindham..mooda mate..smapraapte sannihite kaale..nahin nahin rakshathi dukhrin karane..'. In the time of death, it is Krishna-bhakthi that can save and not knowledge of shastras or vedas.

    In service of Supreme and devotees,

    Suresh

  • Volunteer

    Hare Krishna Parbhuji. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada

    m not mataji..m prabhu bhai......:)

    yes shankaracharya was Lord Shiva himself. And he came to propogate the confusing philosophy as it is confirmed in Padma Purana in the below verse:

    Purana (Uttara khanda 25.7) that reveals the hidden identity of Shankaracarya:

    mayavadam asac-chastram
    pracchannam bauddham ucyate
    mayaiva vihitam devi
    kalau brahmana-murtina

    "The Mayavada philosophy, Siva informed his wife Parvati, is covered Buddhism. In the form of a brahmana in the kali-yuga, I teach this imagined philosophy." Shankaracarya is thus widely accepted as an incarnation of Shiva.

    Actually it was needed at that time to rescue the santana dharma from the clutches of buddhism / sunyavada by establishing  the authority of vedas in a pseudo buddhism way.

    your aspiring servant...Hari Bol

  • Volunteer

    Hare Krishna Prabhuji.Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

    Smarta brahmins / mayavadis believes in impersonal brahman. According to mayavada theory the absolute truth or brahman is formless,qualityless and attribute less but when that impersonal brahman takes form by the help of maya then it becomes Bhagavan/ Brahman with quality,form and attribute i.e Krishna,rama,shiva what so ever. This is their philosophy, so they worship any of the form of the brahman like Krishna,vishnu,shiva,Devi etc for progress in sadhana but to them devotion to brahman with form is needed in initial stage of spiritual sadhana, but when they get siddhi no more devotion is needed only knowledge exist by which they want to merge into the impersonal brahman.

    In short they dosen't believe in form of god so it is irrelevant whether Sankaryacharya says vishnu or shiva to worship.The ultimate aim is to merge into impersonal brahman.

    Your aspiring Servant...Hari Bol...

    • Hare Krishna! Very nice explanation.

      I was always confused about the subject of Sri Shankaracarya.

      I know Him to be Lord Shivaji, and I always thought because He wore Rudraksha mala that He prays to Lord Shiva.
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