Tuesday, May 14, 2013

(May 14,2013) Sankara – The Genius: Sankara Jayanti Message by Swami Krishnananda


Sankara – The Genius
Divine Life Society Publication: Spiritual Import of Religious Festivals by Swami Krishnananda
Sankara Jayanti message given on the 17th of May, 1972

Today is Vaisakha Sukla Panchami, the fifth day in the bright fortnight in the month of April-May, when we celebrate the advent of the great Acharya Sankara who is often referred to, by his followers, as Bhashyakara (the commentator on the Prasthana Traya – the Brahma Sutras, the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita).

The goal of human life depends upon the relation of the human individual to the world. Religious teachers and prophets came to specify the goal of human life, the ultimate purpose behind all the activities of mankind. And they differed from one another in their concept of the relation of the individual to the cosmos.

Shankara’s thought is a logical consequence of all the thoughts that preceded his coming into being. There were systems of thought called the Darsanas. You must have heard of the schools of thought known as Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and certain other mystical and ritualistic philosophies which were in minority, of course, yet prevalent during the time of Sankara.

But many questions posed themselves before the minds of people and these philosophies were found not satisfactory. How could we reach this God who is extra-cosmic – what is the way? His hands cannot reach us and our thoughts cannot reach Him. Is there a ladder from earth to heaven where God lives?

Advaita Vedanta of Adi Sankaracharya came as a remedy to the diversified ways of thinking which created an unnecessary conflict even in daily practices of human beings, and this he did without going contrary to the injunctions of the Vedas and the Upanishads. Scripture and reason were the two aids in the arguments of Sankara. He was a tremendous logician, who based his arguments entirely on the principles of logic, but without contradicting the intuitional revelations of the Vedas and the Upanishads. Intuition is not opposed to intellect, was what Sankara proclaimed. Nor can we say that intellect is complete in itself. The conclusions of the intellect have to be corroborated by the revelations of the Srutis. Sruti, Yukti and Anubhava – scripture, argument and experience – have to go parallel along a path leading to a single goal. Scripture is the support for the argument, while argument supplies the strength for the exposition of the scripture, both of which lead to the direct experience or Anubhava. Reality is experience. Brahma Sakshatkara is the same as Anubhava of the Supreme Being.

Unfortunately, today we have no proper expositions of the Vedanta philosophy. A complete philosophy of Sankara is not available in any single book. We may read any book written anywhere, but we will not find a complete presentation of his philosophy. The Upanishads themselves are all-comprehensive and an exposition of them, which is the system of Vedanta, has naturally to be many-sided. Even if we read the Brahma Sutra Bhashya of Sankara, we will not know or understand the entire teaching of it. It requires study under a Guru to have a complete view of the entire perspective of Sankara's teaching.

As Buddha was misrepresented, and Christ is being misrepresented, Sankara was also misrepresented. So to counteract the misrepresented attitudes, there came other Acharyas like Ramanuja, Madhva and others. One cannot wholly and satisfactorily explain the subtle relation of the soul to God. A satisfactory attempt to blend the thoughts of many schools of philosophy – Dvaitins, Advaitins and Visishtadvaitins etc., has been made by Sankara, who himself was a genius.

For the beauty of the language of Sanskrit, and the depth of philosophical wisdom and the help they can offer us in our practical life, Sankaracharya's works have to be studied. There is a beautiful poem by Sankara known as Prabodha Sudhakara. It is a very beautiful work because it combines Bhakti and Vedanta. Like all great Vedantins, Sankaracharya was also a devotee.

Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj was a great admirer of Adi Sankaracharya, and in his teachings we will find the spirit of Sankara. If we can understand Swami Sivanandaji Maharaj properly, we can understand Sankaracharya also. Of course, it is very difficult to understand both, because they are many-sided geniuses. So let us study their works and try to live a practical life of Vedanta and Bhakti.

Continue to read:
Sankara by Swami Sivananda

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