(1-15) One day a Brahmana, learned in Vedas and of handsome and commanding appearance, went to see the Acharya and pay his respects to him. Being full of the spirit of renunciation and free from the bondage of a home and a spouse, he came to the Acharya and fell at his feet, recognizing in him a seaworthy boat of a Guru that could help him cross this turbulent ocean of Samsara. Raising up the prostrating devotee, the Acharya said: “Who are you? Where do you come from? What is the purpose that emboldens you to approach me thus? Though you are young in years, you seem to be old in wisdom. Though alone, you seem to have the boldness of a crowd.” The wise newcomer said in reply: “I am a Brahmana belonging to the Chola country where flows the great river Kaveri, whose waters have got the unique power of producing devotion in the minds of men Who drink of it. I am going round the country to meet men of spiritual illumination, and in the course of my travels, arrived here recently. o merciful one! Deign to help me, sinking in the ocean of Samsara, to reach the shore of safety across it. Out of mercy for this weeping destitute, deign to pour the nectar-like rain of thy gracious looks on him. If thou hesitatest, pondering over my worthiness or otherwise for thy grace, thou wilt lose thy reputation for boundless grace, for grace is not conditioned by considerations of merit. The reputation one gains for mercy and kindness through liberality to the poor and the suffering cannot be had by making presents to the rich and the opulent. Men do not even notice a cloud that rains continuously for years in the midmost ocean, while they eagerly look for the clouds that bring at least a shower to a desert region. Permit me to bathe in the high-tide of thy instructions, in the nectar-ocean of thy wisdom, and thereby develop in myself the conviction: ‘This life of Samsara is petty and worthless, being devoid of Brahmic bliss and contaminated by the baneful influence of ignorance which generates evil passions and deceit in the mind’. None of the heavenly abodes of the deities presided over by sun, moon, wind or fire, nor even the heavens of Indra or Brahma, can have the least attraction for one in whom the spirit of renunciation has arisen out of faith and understanding of the doctrine of non-dualism preached by thee. I have no taste for enjoyments of the senses. Ail of them, including the pleasures of sex life, are vines that are poisonous in spite of their attractiveness. Even heaven with its refined enjoyments in the company of celestial damsels like Rambha pales into insignificance and offers no attraction for me. I do not desire to attain even to the state of Indra, the king of the Devas, or of Brahma the creator, as even these states are transitory. But I do yearn to be imbibing the flow of thy instructions, even as the Chakora eagerly drinks without stop the nectar of lunar light with which the full moon bathes the earth. May my mind, 0 Great Teacher, be ever inclined to do service unto thee, which promotes one’s good here and hereafter, which destroys all worries and dangers in life, which is the fruit of one’s many good deeds in the past, which prompts one to devote oneself to the uplift of the suffering, and which gives one relief from the baneful life of Samsara. Thou art the incarnation of that Sadasiva, praised in the Vedas as the best of physicians. Therefore, I, who am suffering from the ailment of Samsara, approach thee for treatment and relief.” To him who pleaded thus, the great sage gave initiation into Sannyasa out of his mercy. It is said that he was the first of his disciples, and he came to be known by the name of Sanandana. Thus embarking him on board the ship of Sannyasa, the great navigator Sankara took this Brahmana youth across the ocean of Samsara in an instant.

(16-19) In Varanasi many others also of celestial origins, feeling the impulse of renunciation, came to serve Sankara and become his disciples. It is said that even such exalted sages like Vama Deva, who were free from doubts and had imbibed wisdom from the ‘silent discourse’ of Dakshinamurti (Siva), came to serve Sankara as disciples and help him in his spiritual mission to mankind. Adisesha (as Patanjali) seeks to satisfy aspirants by dealing merely with the science of sounds; the poet-sage Valmiki, by controversial writings full of fancies and poetic exaggerations; and Vyasa, by his long series of aphorisms which are difficult to understand. But Sankara gives satisfaction to men by mere remembrance of him. (and of his great commentaries that are noted for their profundity and lucidity). By the service of that great sage who resembled Mahavishnu Himself by his virtues, the citizens of Varanasi, that great city of liberation, had all the crookedness of their mind corrected.

Siva as an Out-caste confronts Sankara

(20-32) At Varanasi the great Acharya, surrounded by his disciples, shone like the disk of the sun amidst his rays, like the heavenly Kalpa-taru amidst its flowers, and like Indra girdled by his thousand eyes. It was at that time that the following incident took place one summer noon. The rays of the midday sun in the expansive sky, a prototype of the third eye of Siva on his forehead, were scintillating with sparks of fire, as they struck the granite slabs and scattered round about. The great magician sun was creating here and there pools of water on the parched sands, while simultaneously spreading out carpets of peacock feathers of variegated hues on crystalline pavements. To shield themselves from the heat of the sun, the swans had hidden themselves amidst the cluster of lotuses, the swarms of fish had all migrated to the midstream, and the peacocks had betaken themselves to caves, and the other birds to the hollows on trees. On one such noon, the great Acharya, desirous of doing his midday rites, walked with his disciples to the Ganga, whose surface looked discolored by the pollen of lotus flowers. On their way, the party came across a hunter, an outcaste, approaching them with his pack of four dogs. They thereupon ordered him to move away to some distance and give them way. But the hunter raised an issue. He asked: “You are always going about preaching that the Vedas teach the non-dual Brahman to be the only reality and that He is immutable and unpollutable. If this is so, how has this sense of difference overtaken you? There are hundreds of Sannyasins going about, indulging in high-sounding philosophical talk, donning the ochre robe and exhibiting other insignias of holy life like the water pot and the staff. But not even a ray of knowledge having found entrance into their hearts, their holy exterior serves only to dupe house-holders. You asked me to move aside and make way for you. To whom were your words addressed, O learned Sir? To the body which comes from the same source and performs the some functions in the case of both a Brahmana and an outcaste? Or to the Atman, the witnessing Consciousness, which too is the same in all unaffected by anything that is of the body? How does such differences as ‘This is a Brahmana, this is an outcaste’ arise in non-dual experience. 0 revered teacher! Is the sun changed in the least, if it reflects in a liquor pot or in the holy Ganga? How can you indulge in such false sentiments as, ‘Being a Brahmana I am pure; and you, dog-eater, must therefore, give way for me’ – when the truth is that the one universal and unblemishable Spirit, Himself bodiless, is shining alike in all bodies. Forgetting out of infatuation one’s own true nature as the Spirit- beyond thought and words, unmanifest, beginningless, endless, and pure-how have you come to identify yourself with the body which is unsteady like the ears of an elephant? If you say that your conduct is meant only for the guidance of the world, even then how can you explain such conduct in the light of the non-dualistic doctrine? Wonderful, indeed, is the magic of the great Magician which infatuates the ignorant and the learned alike!”

(33-39) When he had thus finished his submissions. the great Sannyasin, noted for his truthfulness and unblemished life, spoke to that outcaste with a mind struck with astonishment but none-the-less full of cordiality towards him. He said: “All that you have said is true. You are, indeed, one of the noblest of men. Your words of wisdom make me abandon the idea that you are an outcaste. Many in the world hear about the truth of the Vedanta; many contemplate on them; and many meditate on the Atman. But few, indeed, are those who succeed in giving up the sense of difference! A person who sees the whole world as Atman only, whose mind is unshakably established in that conviction is worthy of worship, irrespective of whether he is a Brahmana or an outcaste by birth. ‘I am the same Pure Consciousness which shines alike in Mahavishnu as also in flies. All objective phenomena are false’ – he who is ever established in this Consciousness is my Guru worthy of respect, be he an outcaste by birth. All objects presented to Consciousness are false and, therefore, unreal; what is left after this elimination is Pure Consciousness alone; and that Pure Consciousness is the ‘I’. A man established in such an awareness is, indeed, a Guru to me.”

(40-43) Scarcely had he finished speaking when the outcaste disappeared from sight, and in his place appeared Lord Siva with the crescent-moon in His matted locks and the four Vedas accompanying him. Thereupon, moved by joy, awe and devotion, Sankara began to glorify that Ashtamurti Siva with a hymn of praise: “I am Thy servant when 1 am conscious of myself as the body. 1 am Thy part, O Three-eyed one, when the awareness of Jiva dawns on me,. And when the Atman consciousness becomes established, 1 recognize myself as one with Thee, Such, indeed, is the teaching of all scriptures. By realizing which all the dullness of ignorance within and without is eradicated; to contain Which there is no receptacle; to burnish Which there is no grinding stone; to excavate Which there is no mine; and to attain Which the all-renouncing monks make great efforts in solitude-to that Being, the crest jewel of all the Sastras, my salutations! The Sastra is of no use unless it is accompanied by the teacher’s grace. Grace is useless unless it generates ‘awakening’; and ‘awakening’ is purposeless unless it gives the knowledge of the Supreme Truth. To that Supreme Truth, who is not different from myself and who fills the understanding with wondrous rapture, my salutations !”

Siva commissions Sankara

(44-51) To that great Sannyasin who fell at His feet with tears of devotion in his eyes, the great God ·Siva said thus: “You have realized My true being. I have tested the depth of your spiritual understanding. My blessings rest on you and Vyasa alike. Vyasa edited the Vedas; he composed the Brahma-sutras (aphorisms on the subject of Brahman); and therein he refuted the doctrines of the Sankhyas, Kanadas and others. Taking only a few stray passages from the Vedas, they produced commentaries out of evil intention. Intelligent people find no worth in their writings. Therefore, you who have got a real understanding of the purport of the Vedas, should write a new commentary on the Brahmasutras, wherein the false theories have to be refuted both through reason and scripture. The commentary you are going to produce will receive praise even from exalted beings like Indra, and it will be specially honored in the assembly of Brahma. Defeating Bhaskara, Abhinavagupta, Neelakantha, Mandana, and the rest, you spread the knowledge of the Truth in the world. Then appoint competent disciples, resembling the sun in driving away the darkness of ignorance, as guardians of the Vedic path in different parts of the country. Having accomplished all this, you return to My state with the satisfaction of having fulfilled your mission.”

Departure to Badlirf and writing the Bhashyas

(52-63) After commissioning him thus, Lord Siva disappeared along with the Vedas who accompanied him (in the guise of dogs), and Sankara and his disciples walked towards the Ganga, their minds a thrill with the experience they had. His noon-day rites over, Sankara thought over .the instructions of Lord Siva and took steps to write a commentary on the Vedantic aphorisms of Vyasa for the good of the whole world. Having obtained through Siva’s grace the requisite capacity for this work, Sankara left the city of Kasi joyfully, even as an elephant leaves aside without any concern a lotus bud when disturbed very much by the honey seeking bees hovering about it. For, the city of Kasi, famous as Mokshapuri (the city of liberation), and resorted to in large numbers by the honey-bees of liberation-seekers, had little significance for a Brahman-knower like Sankara, as a lotus bud is to an elephant sporting in a lake. Moreover,the congregation of honey-suckers in the shape of the aspirants there, was now a disturbance to him bent upon his great scholarly work, and it was therefore with great relief that he left the city in spite of its evident charms. “The Emperor of the Realm of Advaita is going away”.-thinking thus at dawn, and desirous of doing him honour, the Dame of Western Horizon held up the ceremonial umbrella of a pale setting moon, while the Mistress of the East lifted the chowri of scattered rays of the rising Sun.” Before leaving, moved by his regard for that holy place, Sankara went round and took dips in all its sacred pools, and then started on his journey to the distant Badari. The way to Badari was long, treacherous and difficult to traverse, like the mind of a wicked man. In some places the heat was intolerable; in others, the cold. The path was straight sometimes, at others extremely crooked. Some places were full of thorn, others free from it. Seeking relief in the experience of the immutability and the unruffled poise of the Atman, he traversed all that way like any ordinary pilgrim in the company of other travelers trudging on foot, eating whatever was available, and resting at any convenient spot. Travelling long distances through difficult forest tracks, he reached the holy Badari in whose terrain flowed rapid Himalayan streams and whose caves were resorted to by celestial women. There he held many discussions with resident sages on the six systems of heterodox and seven systems of orthodox philosophies and on the nine categories, and after thus clarifying his thoughts and ascertaining the purport of the Vedas, he wrote in his twelfth year his most profound and attractive commentary on the VedantaSutras of Badarayana. He also wrote commentaries on the principal Upanishads, beginning with the Isa, which give very clear expositions of the doctrines concerning the Supreme Atman. Next he commented on the Song Celestial, the Bhagavad Gita, which forms the core of the Mahabharata, as also on Sanatsujatiya, Nrisimhatapani and Vishnusahasranama. He also produced many treatises like Upadesasahasri, which are all so sublime that they can instill strong renunciation in a Sannyasin studying them and help in the removal of one’s ignorance of the spiritual nature of the Self.

Some Incidents after Leaving Badari

(64-71) When the sun of Sankara thus rose on the horizon and began to shine there, the darkness of false scriptural expositions along with the dim moonlight of sophistical arguments disappeared from the firmament of thought. He now began to teach his disciples his great commentaries, a veritable ocean which no solar heat of perverted arguments can dry. Among his disciples, to all of whom he was equally dear, some like Sanandana attained to great prominence because of their inherent worth. Sanandana rose in wise men’s estimation because of his very austere life, his devotion to study and his capacity to understand the subtleties of philosophic thought. Moved by deep affection for that devoted disciple, he taught him his commentaries three times, revealing the highest truth of the Vedas. This made the other disciples rather jealous of him. So, in order to convince them of his inherent superiority, Sankara one day called that disciple, who was then standing on the opposite bank of the Ganga, to come to him immediately. Thereupon, when he stepped into the Ganga with the conviction that devotion to the feet of the Guru, which had enabled him to go across the ocean of Samsara, would surely not fail him in crossing this river, the holy Ganga brought out lotuses to support him wherever he placed his feet on her waters. When at last he reached his teacher after crossing the river in this incredible manner, Sankara clasped him to his breast with overwhelming love and wonder, and gave him the name of Padmapada, the lotus-footed one.

(72-78) One day when spiritual doctrines were being discussed in an assembly of saintly philosophers, some Pasupatas, full of ignorance and resulting pride in their perverse doctrines, raised various objections to the teachings of the Vedanta in a spirit of arrogant controversy. With the help of scriptural quotations and their proper interpretations, Sankara controverted their doctrines and humbled their pride of learning. He argued: “If your doctrine is that liberation consists in attaining to similarity with Iswara, how can you maintain that the difference between Him and the Jiva is absolute? You may maintain the position that similarity is achieved through meditation on Him. But then liberation would become an effect and, therefore, perishable like all effects. You would probably say that the qualities of Iswara percolate into the Jiva at the time of Moksha. This is also fallacious. You forget that the inherent quality of a substance is not a part of it put one with it, and it cannot be separated from it, unless a part of the substance itself is separated from it. If you contradict this by saying that here the quality of one thing is transforming another, as happens when the air is made fragrant by the sweet smell of flowers, you have to remember that this is not done by flowers as such, but by a particular part of it, the pollen, which alone is sweet smelling. When all the pollen goes, the flower is left odorless. So, if the inherent quality of Iswara should go into the Jiva, the quality alone cannot enter. Either the whole of lswara has to enter, or a part of Him. In the first case He is totally destroyed at once, and in the second case, little by little.” Struck by such powerful arguments, as a poisonous serpent by the wings of Garuda, the Tantrikas of the Pasupata school shed the display of their overweening pride, as the snake so struck abandons the emission of the fiery flames of its poison.

The Greatness of Sankara’s Works

(79-96) While the great teacher was thus a terror to controversialists, he evoked admiration in others by his commentaries. Like the sun he stimulated the heart-lotus of numerous disciples and followers to blossom by his achievements, and his spreading fame became an adornment of floral decorations to the whole world. This lion of a sage, having logical arguments as his sharp claws and molars, ranges the forest of the Upanishads, causing destruction among the elephants of sophists ravaging that forest. It is said that, in utter astonishment at the superhuman achievements of this boy ascetic, the learned men of Kasi said amongst themselves: “How many are the savants-Prabhakara, Bhaskara, Mandana, Gupta, Murari and the likethat have met with utter defeat at the hands of this boy!” Seeing his great scholarship, it seems the great God Siva Himself appeared before him and asked him to write a commentary on Vedanta Sutras. In days of old, the cow of Vedic teachings was hurled in to the swamp of obscurity and confusion by the misinterpretations of crafty thinkers. It was the sage Badarayana who rescued it from that swamp by his re-statement of the teaching in the Vedanta Sutras. Now Sankara has cleaned that cow of all the mud and mire adhering to it, by his commentary on those Sutras.

The cow of the Vedas, which yields the milk of Karma-fruits and which used to occupy the stables of pious Brahmanas devoted to Yagas and Yajnas, was cast into the mud and mire of false arguments by wicked people in the shape of its critics. Sankara has now cleansed that cow of all that dirt by washing it with the pure waters of his commentaries. The Upanishads are like a damsel who was thrown into utter neglect by some hostile thinkers who condemned her teachings as false. Others, the followers of the· Vedic Karma-Kanda, accepted her but only as a handmaid of their favorite Vedic ritualism. Still others, who seemed to receive her with cordiality, proved to be very treacherous custodians, as they indulged in every kind of perverse interpretation to suit their own purposes. It is only now, at the hands of Sankara, that she has at last received fair treatment and come to enjoy an era of peace and happiness after all this long period of frustrated and vegetative existence. The Atman was about to be slaughtered by the Buddhists by their philosophy of Nihilism. Kanada, the founder of Nyaya-Vaiseshika system, somehow saved him by establishing the existence of the Atman. Next, Kumarila Bhatta, the founder of the philosophy of Vedic ritualism, showed him the direction to reach his destination. The Samkhyas under Kapila removed his miseries by their doctrine of Kaivalya or aloofness. The Patanjalas put more vitality into him by their teachings on the control of the Prana. It was, however, only Sankara who mercifully raised the Atman, from misery to the very status of the Supreme Being through his doctrine of the identity of the individual spirit with the Supreme Being. Some like the materialist Charvakas did not at all perceive the Atman, because to them he looked swallowed up by the Bhutas (meaning both ‘the body made up of the five Bhutas or elements’ and also ‘demons’). Others like the Yogachara Buddhists recognized the Atman as just a momentary existence only; so, their perception of him was very faint. Still others like the Naiyayikas and the Mimamsakas perceived the Atman distinctly in separation from the Bhutas. The Samkhyas, too, recognized the distinctiveness of the Atman from the Bhutas and all their movements. But none of them perceived that the Bhutas (meaning ‘elements’ and ‘demons’) were in themselves unreal entities having no existence, and were, therefore, not able to free their followers from fear of them. It was given to Sankara, the incarnation of Siva, to declare and demonstrate the unreality of these Bhutas, and thus free the Atman completely from fear. The Charvaka materialists rejected the Atman, calling him a mere illusory entity. The pluralists of the Kanada school rescued him by defining him as a definite entity with powers of knowing and willing. The Mimamsakas of the Bhatta school, however, reduced him to slavery by making him sub-serve the ends of Vedic ritualism. The Sankhya dualists saved him from this, but only to make him into an elephant keeper riding on the elephant of Prakriti. It was Sankara alone who enthroned him as the Almighty Himself! How can anyone who has enjoyed the felicities offered by the heavenly creeper of Sankara’s commentaries, abounding in the tender leaves and flowers of literary beauty and philosophic wisdom, entertain, even through infatuation, an attraction for other teachers’ apology of commentaries, which, with their hollow contents and labored styles, are a blot on Saraswati, the Goddess of learning? Literary men in general have their minds rendered weak by the numerous shafts of sensual passions inflicted on them by the hunter Cupid. Their writings are, therefore, useless in releasing man from his bondage, or in giving, any true and ennobling enjoyment. What wonder is there if such writings do not command the respect of those whose minds have been purified by the non-dualistic outlook advocated by the Acharya’s writings? If one tries to produce a work in imitation of the Acharya’s writings, which, by their clarity, sweetness and power, surpass a river of nectar, what one achieves will only be an artificial channel with a lean flow, utterly insignificant before the current of the mighty Ganga issuing from the matted locks of Siva. By his hymn of Kanaka-Lakshmi he brought prosperity to a poor family; by his hymn called Soundaryalahari he has revealed the unique glory of the Divine mother; by his Siva-bhujanga he has produced a cure for the obsession of fear in men. How wonderful and varied are pis works! They present a ‘veritable Devaloka, the heaven of Indra. For, the flow of words in them is a rain of flowers from celestial trees; the grandeur of their meanings is the glow of rubies worn by.celestial women in their hair; and the abundance of implied wisdom they contain is like the limitless delicious milk in the udder of the heavenly Kamadhenu. His works are, indeed, like a bunch of luscious banana fruits – their meanings, the hunger-appeasing capacity; their implications, the attractive flavor; and their sweetness of diction, the delicious juice. Even a single fruit of a verse from that bunch of his writings is enough to give the highest delight and satisfaction to wise men and spiritual aspirants. Possessed, as they are, of matchless beauty of form like a bouquet of jasmine flowers, pregnant with meanings like a newly blossomed lotus full of nectar, and carrying the aroma of sanctity like the fragrance of the flowers of the celestial tree, his works will provide thrills of deep joy and spiritual inspiration to all who approach it.

(97-107) It is said that, animated by jealousy and ill-win on hearing such glorious praise of Sankara’s commentary, some followers of Gautama’s Nyaya philosophy inhabiting some region of the Ganga’s banks, once went to Sankara for a controversy. They held the view that inference is the only way to knowledge. Their confrontation with the Acharya was excelled in stupidity only by the attack of moths against fire. Such controversies and attacks of critics only helped to highlight the excellence of his commentaries. For, see how the luster of gold is only enhanced when subjected to heating and hammering. The moon of commentaries that rose from the milk-ocean of the Acharya’s genius rained its nectarine light on all the world of learning. The lunar light it shed, while satisfying the Chakoras of the wise, drove away the darkness of sophistry from among scholars. The Amrita (immortal drink) of his commentaries, churned out of the eternal milk-ocean of Vedic wisdom, saved spiritual aspirants from the senility and old age of ignorance, and conferred on them the immortality of divine knowledge. The light shed by the sun of his commentaries caused the blossoming of the heart-lotus of good men, the removal of the darkness of ignorance, and· the expulsion of the owls of skeptical critics. The Amrita of Sankara’s commentaries, born of the milk-ocean of the Vedas, on being churned with the Mandara mountain of logical thinking, confers immortality on wise men who consume it even in this life. The holy Ganga issued only from the feet of Vishnu, whereas these commentaries flowed from the mouth of Siva. The former only drowns the earth and its inhabitants in its floods, while the latter saves men drowning in the flood of Samsara. The sage Vyasa offered to the world a collection of golden beads of Vedic wisdom strung together with his Sutras (meaning ‘string’ as also ‘aphorisms’) into a necklace. But scholars could not go in for it, as its Artha (signifying ‘value’ as also ‘meaning’) was beyond their capacity. But today these have been brought within their reach through the liberality shown by the Acharya in writing his commentaries on them. The sage Vyasa, too, must be happy to see the necklace of the Sutras made by him on the necks of so many scholars. Wonderful is the benevolence of this great teacher! His commentaries are like a garland of jasmine decorating the coiffured tresses of the damsel of Vedas. They are like a fortune, a treasure, come into the possession of the Goddess of Learning. They are the fruits of the long prayers and austerities of sages. They are the manifestation of the indescribable sweetness and sanctifying quality of Vyasa’s great work. All Jivas who have taken their last birth will certainly seek them. The great sage’s work is like the mighty Mandara mountain in churning the ocean of Vedas and bringing out the nectar of wisdom contained in them, to the great edification of all wise men. By casting around the brilliance of his dialectical thought, they have not only scattered the accumulated darkness of perverse doctrines for travelers trudging along the high ways of spiritual seeking, but also revealed that clear path for all good men to traverse. The doctrine of Brahmavidya that Sankara preached, which confers salvation through the elimination of all duality, reigns victorious over the country from Rameswaram in the South, where Rama built his bridge dividing the seas, to the northern boundaries marked by the Himalaya mountains which bowed down with its peaks to Siva at the time of the conquest of the Tripuras; and from the Eastern Mountains where the sun rises, to those of the West where he sets.