(1-10) Next various propitiatory and auspicious rites were performed by priests for the king’s welfare. Then accompanied by his friends and the ministers, the king went in procession on an elephant’s back to his city. After pacifying his sorrow-stricken subjects, the king. along with his ministers, ruled the kingdom like Indra over the heavens, receiving the tribute and respect of all feudatory rulers. While the great Sankara began to rule the kingdom through the body of Amaruka, his astute ministers began to feel some doubts about the identity of their master and spoke thus among themselves: “It is by the rare good fortune of the people of this land that the king has come back to life from the jaws of death. But he now looks a changed man. Unlike in earlier days, we find all divine virtues manifest in him. He is now like a Yayati to people who approach him for favours; in power of speech he is like the Guru of the Devas; to opposing kings he is like the great hero Arjuna; and in learning he is like Siva Himself. We find in him an abundant manifestation of rare qualities-he is unyielding in valour, unperturbed in adversity and unparalleled in liberality. Surely he looks a fragment of Divinity itself. in orchards and wooded groves, trees are bearing flowers and fruits in all seasons. Cows and buffaloes are yielding plentiful milk. Timely rain has resulted in bumper crops. And all people are adhering to the proper discharge of their allotted duties. Though the age of Kali in which we live is an evil age, in this land our king seems to have inaugurated a virtuous age excelling the age of Treta itself. It looks, therefore, that some divine personage has entered into the body of our king, and it is due to his power that all these changes in this country have taken place.” So they concerted certain measures that would prevent that great personage from leaving the king’s body and returning to his own. They gave secret orders to their subordinates that wherever any human dead body was to be found, no matter whose it was, they should seize it and burn it immediately.

¹ There are many who object to the subject matter of this chapter, because it depicts Sankaracharya in the midst of women. But they forget that it is king Amaruka and not Sankara who is actually involved in it. Reference may be made to the reply given by Sankara himself on this subject in chapter 16, dealing with his ascension of the Throne of Omniscience. As the subject matter has been dealt with by a great sage like Vidyaranya, we have given almost a full translation. No one can vouch for the historicity of these events. It may even be taken as an Arthavada (an eulogy) to convey powerfully the idea of the absolute unaffectedness of a Knowing One· like Sankara.

(11-18) After a time the king entrusted the administration of the kingdom to a cabinet of ministers and confined himself to the inner apartments to spend his time in the company of his handsome women, the like of whom could not be found in the palace of any other king. In clean and cool crystalline halls he engaged himself continuously in all forms of amorous indulgences with these charming and responsive women-in playing at dice with them offering various forms of sexual indulgences as wager; in drinking wine in golden cups from their hands and making them drink the same; in impressing kisses on their faces having half-closed eyes, emitting fragrant breaths and speaking honeyed words; and in holding their bare bodies in tight embrace forgetting everything else in the thrill of concentrated joy. Serving well the bodies of these women-their bosoms, his teachers in the study of sex-love-he, standing as a witness in the king’s body, observed closely all the centers and expressions of amorous gratification. By his life in their company, he understood the nature of the joy that sex love gives; but, for him, (Sankara who had enlivened the king’s body) it was only a shadow, a perversion, of that Brahmic Bliss in which his mind was ever immersed. To others it looked that the king, as in olden days, was enjoying the company of women; but what he was really doing was to observe and study the principles of sex-love in a practical way with the help of experts in it. Besides, he studied during this time the Sutras that the sage Vatsyayana had made on this subject together with all the commentaries on the same, and also produced a new work of great profundity on the theme, bearing the name of Amaruka.

Disciples’ Reflections

(19-23) While Sankara, the great Sannyasin, was thus gathering these experiences through the king’s body, his disciples who were guarding his lifeless body began to murmur about their apprehensions among themselves, seeing that the appointed time fod their Master’s, return had already passed. They said: “He had said that he would be away for a month. It is now five or six days past that period. Is it that the Acharya is not gracious enough to give us his guidance and protection even after this long period? What are we to do now? Where shall we search for him? To whom shall we communicate this news? Even if we search over the land up to the limits of the sea, how can a person who has entered into some other body in some unknown place be found out? If our merciful teacher is to desert us, why should we live any longer? We have abandoned hearth and home depending on him as our saviour. His holy personage dispels the massive sins of all, roots. out man’s infatuation for sense enjoyments, and establishes him in spiritual bliss. May our heart’s allegiance be ever for him, whom the animal nature in man can never contaminate !”

(24-29) Then they began to give expression to their deep sorrow individually. One disciple said: “Our teacher is like a tree of virtues bearing numerous excellence as fruits; he is an assemblage of all the glories revealed in the Vedas; he is an embodiment of metaphysical insight; he is the repository of all Yogic powers; his wealth is his knowledge of the Self and his inseparable wife, supreme Peace. When will he, who has attained oneness with all beings, again bless us by his presence?” Another disciple said: “May I for ever get shelter at the feet of that great Sannyasin who has put down the pride and audacity of evil men and also extinguished the fire of mundane sufferings for pious men.” Still another disciple said: “May I cross the sorrows of life by meeting again that holy personage, by resorting to whom even the dullest of men can get over the infatuation of Maya.” A fourth disciple said: “He bestowed on me the non-dualistic consciousness, dispelling the darkness cast by the beginning-less Avidya (ignorance), and imparted to me that power of discrimination to distinguish the true from the untrue and the good from the bad. When will he come again to clear the confusion caused by the false arguments of sophistical thinkers?” A fifth disciple said: “You on whom the state of Nirvana is an attendant even in your embodied state, you whose stirring words have always dispelled and dissipated the evil tendencies of those who have taken refuge at your feet-if you, O my teacher, do not make your appearance immediately, I shall have to stand the ridicule of all good men who will be traducing you. Save me from that unbearable predicament!”

(30-35) Then Padmapada (alias Sanandana), who knew full well the greatness of the teacher, spoke the following meaningful words for restoring courage into the hearts of his sorrow-stricken co-disciples: “Friends! Enough of weeping and wailing. We shall now search for him everywhere, be it on earth, in the netherworld or in the heavens, just as we search for the Supreme Being hidden in men, gods and other beings. If one works hard, even very difficult things can be achieved. In ancient times, the Devas procured Amrita (ambrosia) overcoming, through assiduousness, the apparently insurmountable difficulties that faced them. It is, indeed, very difficult to identify one who has entered into another’s body. Still, there is a way for this, too. You can find him out by his excellence which will surely be expressed through his assumed body, just as the moon, even when swallowed by Rahu, reveals his presence through Rahu’s body. In order to master the science of sex-love, that great one of fiery splendor, of absolute self-control and of pristine purity untouched by sexuality, has entered into the body of a king for the sake of facilities for association with the fair sex.

“Wherever a personage of that type, fully satisfied in the Self, goes, there the people, too, become happy and peaceful; ailments and miseries cease to afflict them; theft, duplicity and exploitation disappear from the land, performance of Swadharma becomes natural to man; and the land is blessed with a plentiful harvest due to timely rain. Therefore, without spending more time in vain talk, let us go out in search of our great teacher whose feet are the resort of people who want to cross the ocean of Samsara.”

Disciples Entering the Palace as Musicians

(36-44) All the disciples heard the words of Padmapada with great respect and attention. Quickly they decided that a few should remain on the spot to guard the holy body, while the rest should start out in search of the great teacher. After crossing many mountains and traversing through many countries, they reached at last the kindgom of Amaruka, which appeared to them to be a heaven on earth because of its prosperity and the joyous life of its people. They heard from the people of the place that their king was considered dead, but that in a very mysterious way his supposedly dead body revived and that, since then, he has been ruling the country with the wisdom of a Prithu or a Dilipa. On hearing this, they came to the conviction that it must be their teacher who was working through the body of the king. Hope returned to their hearts, and they now felt emboldened to pursue their task. They heard that the king was a great lover of music and the company of women. So they assumed the role of musicians and gained access to the palace, where they were invited to give a musical performance, as the palace authorities were convinced that they were experts in that fine art. There, in the music hall of the palace, they saw their teacher surrounded by a bevy of beauties like the moon thronged by the stars. Behind him were handsome women waving the royal chowry with their creeper-like hands to the accompaniment of the sweet sounds produced by their jingling bracelets, and in front were other ladies, experts in music, filling the whole hall with the melodious tunes of their musical instruments. There were still others holding the royal umbrella with a golden handle over his head covered with a gem-studded crown. Though majestic like the king of the gods, he looked in the present setting like the very embodiment of Kamadeva, the god of love. On their entering the music hall, the king showed them their place with a movement of his eyes, and on being ordered by him, they began to sing a song in their melodious voice, closely observing all the rules of the science of music.

(45-55) The burden of the song was this: “O Honeysucker! We, your companion bees, guarding your body on the wooded top of a mountain peak, have long been most anxiously awaiting your return. It seems our anxiety is now at an end. In order to study the science of sex-love, you have been living here, abandoning your own body. O holy one! Taking shelter at your feet and in the hope of having your holy company perpetually, we have followed you, abandoning all other forms of Sadhana, even the worship of Siva at Varanasi. Alas! We have been deceived. O one with moon-like face! How is it that by identification with your present situation, you have continued to stay on here, forgetting all your antecedents? O victor over passions! May you be pleased to be reminded of your higher nature through these words of ours! Rejecting with the help of Vedic dicta like ‘Not this’, ‘Not this’, all the manifest and unmanifest phenomena as unreal, the wise ones arrive at that irreducible Self-nature which cannot be subjected to any further negation. You are that unsublatable Truth. Projecting the limitless universe constituted of the five elements, the Supreme Being resides in it as the Indwelling Spirit. Just as one obtains the grain of rice by discarding the enfolding husk, the wise sages, seeking Him, reject through analysis, the five sheaths of Annamaya, Pranamaya, Vijnanamaya, etc. and arrive at the indwelling Supreme Spirit. You are that Spirit. The senses are like wild horses running uncontrolled along dangerous paths. The wise ones try to bring them under control with the whip of insight into the evil consequences of sense enjoyments and with the reins of discriminating thought. They tie them to the all-controlling Self, the truth declared by the saying ‘Thou art That’ within. Just as one carefully separates the thin and delicate thread of the. lotus stalk from its enfolding fibre, so do the wise ones discriminate and separate the Fourth, the Turiya, from the three states of waking, dream and sleep. And ‘Thou art That’ Truth, the Turiya. The Vedas declare, ‘All this is the Atman’ with a view to show that all this effect-world has no existence apart from their cause, the Atman. Just as the golden bracelets, head ornaments, etc., are forms of gold, so, too is the Atman, the Supreme Spirit, the material cause of everything. Apart from Him, the Supreme Cause, nothing exists, and ‘Thou art That’ Supreme Cause. That which shines in this body, that is in the sun; and that which is in the sun, that is within this body too-the knowers of the Veda try in this way to establish the Truth of the unitary Atman, and verily ‘Thou art That’ Atman. The wise ones seek to know the Truth, according to the instructions of the Veda, with intense faith and yearning and with purity attained through the performance of Yajnas, charities, austerities and self-control, and verily ‘Thou art That’ Truth. Seeking which in themselves, spiritual aspirants resort to various disciplines like the practice of the pacification of mind, and attaining which they rise above sorrow and infatuation,verily ‘Thou art That’ Truth, the Sat-Chit-Ananda.”

(56-60) Hearing this sublime hymn, the king came to the realization of his duty. Pleased with them, he first dismissed them with rich presents. Having come to a full consciousness of his identity, he withdrew his subtle body from the body of the king, which immediately fell down dead as before in the assembly. He entered into his own body, lying in the place where he had left it, through the Brahmarandhra as described before, and permeated and enlivened it. But a strange development had, however, just taken place. The king’s emissaries, who had been commissioned to find out all lifeless bodies and burn them, reached the cave where the Acharya’s body was preserved while the disciples on guard were away for their ablutions. They had taken possession of the body, put it on a pyre and just set fire to it, when the Acharya enlivened it. In order to have the fire extinguished; the Acharya recited extempore a great hymn, addressed to Lakshmi-Nrisimha. By the grace of Nrisimha the fire subsided, and he emerged from the cave as the moon comes out of Rahu’s mouth at the end of an eclipse.

(61-72) Sanandana and other disciples immediately surrounded him with an intensity of joy and affection enhanced by this long period of separation from him. The Acharya, who was like Sanaka himself in his spiritual majesty, was now anxious to go to Mandana’s home for finalizing the debate. He, therefore, traveled through air to that house, where he found Mandana, now free from that sense of attachment, inordinate pride and self-consciousness, which were born of his former adherence to ritualistic philosophy. As Sankara descended from the skies, Mandana received him with all honour and cordiality, and stood before him with hands in salutation and eyes unwinking, awaiting his command. Mandana, noble-minded and always devoted to the truth, prostrated before him, and holding his feet with his hands, said: “O Master! My house, my body, and everything that is mine, I abandon in your favour,” To the sage, who was thus honoured” by Mandana and to whom was offered a throne-like seat in the midst of scholars, Ubhaya-bharati, the wife of Mandana, spoke thus: “O great one! You are that Sadasiva, who is the lord of Brahma and of all the Devas and other beings, as also the master of all learning. O Destroyer of Cupid! That you did not defeat me in debate immediately and that you took all the trouble to master the science of sex-love, were meant only to conform to the ways of the world. That we have met with defeat at your hands is no matter of shame. Great. One! What disrepute can accrue to the soft-rayed moon and the stars if their light is suppressed by the fierce brightness of the sun? 1 have finished my mission, and 1 am going to my heavenly abode. Give me permission.” And, as Ubhaya-bharati, who was none but Saraswati, was about to disappear from sight, Sankara said to her, “I know that you are Saraswati, the consort of Brahma and the sister of Siva. It is you, who are of the nature of pure consciousness, that has become Lakshmi for the protection of the worlds. 1 shall, in future, be instituting temples of worship for you in Risyasringa (Sringeri) and other places. 1 beseech you, Devi Saraswati, to manifest yourself in all those temples, receiving the adoration of devotees and bestowing boons on them.” Agreeing to do so, she disappeared from sight, merging herself in Brahmaloka, while all the people in the assembly hall looked on wondering.

(73-76) Everyone was till now thinking that Mandana, who was defeated in argument, would now become a Sannyasin, and his wife would, therefore, be reduced to widowhood. But Mandana, the Acharya, and all the others felt much relieved, as this unpleasant situation would not arise on account of Ubhaya-bharati’s ascension to Brahmaloka. Now Mandana, in pursuance of Vedic injunctions, performed the sacrifice called Prajapatya, offered all his wealth to holy men as presents, mentally installed within himself his Agnihotra fire, and became a follower of the Sannyasin, with all worldly desires and ambitions extinguished. After the great scholar Mandana had performed all the rites for entering into the Order of Sannyasa, Sankara imparted to him the great Vedic sentence ‘Tat tvam asi’ (Thou art that) for the removal of all his miseries pertaining to transmigratory existence (Samsara). After Mandana had assumed the insignia of Sannyasa, and had ceremonially collected Bhiksha (food gathered as holy offerings from house to house by Sannyasins), the great Bhagavan began to expound to him. the truths revealed in the Upanishads, which form the crown of the Vedas.

Instruction on Brahman-Knowledge

(77-102) Sankara instructed him thus: “The real ‘you’ are not the body. For, the body is just an object to you like a pot. To both body and pot, you refer as ‘mine’ (i.e., as ‘my body’, ‘my pot’, etc.). Besides, you speak of the form of the body, its belonging to the human species, etc. Considered thus, it is as much an object as a pot. Yet due to superimposition, I, the subject, gets identified with the body, an object. Just like a pot, the body, too, can be destroyed with another object like itself. In being a mere object, the body stands on a par with all these things of this objective world. Being an object, the body must be something different from ‘yourseIf. How can it then be identified with the self, the subject? Nor are you the senses; for, the senses are only instruments of the self, just as a sickle is of a farmer, and so we speak of them as ‘my’ eye etc. In deep sleep the senses are laid aside like any instruments, but the’I’ persists. So they, too, are objects like a pot. It may be said that the Self is a collection of all the senses. In that case, the destruction of any of the senses should cause the destruction of the Self, which does not happen. If you say that each one of the Indriyas is the Self, then the body, having many masters, cannot function properly and must, therefore, perish. The Atman cannot also be another additional sense similar to the five senses. For, who will then be there to feel the loss of any of the senses as his loss? If the eye is lost, the sense of touch does not feel any loss. Only something behind all the senses and common to all of them, can feel the loss of any of them as his. And that is the Atman, distinct from all the individual senses. Even the mind is not the Atman, because it is only an instrument. For, do we not feel that the mind is absorbed at different times in things that are distinct from us?. Besides, in deep sleep we experience the entire disappearance of the mind, while the witness remains. Thus the principle of Consciousness is different from the mind. For the same reason Buddhi (intellect) can also be distinguished and rejected as an instrument of Consciousness. Like the mind, it, too, is found to function in respect of other objects, and in deep sleep it is fully laid at rest. It, too, is, therefore, to be considered merely as an instrument with which Consciousness functions. The Atman is not even Ahamkara, the I-sense. That word itself, indicates the Aham or ‘I’ to be a Karana or an instrument in the hands of some one higher than it. Again, in deep sleep even the I-sense is not there. Now, the Pranas are present even in deep sleep, in which all other powers and entities subside. Why should not Prana be taken as the Self? It cannot be, because we speak of ‘my Prana’. It must, therefore, be different from the Self. In the sentence ‘Tat tvam asi’, the entity indicated by the word ‘tvam’ or ‘you’ indicates the Atman or the spirit in the individual, whereas the entity indicated by ‘Tat’ or ‘that’ is the cause of the world, Brahman. The sentence signifies the oneness of the entity, to which both the words ‘Tvam’ and ‘Tat’ point. Then, is it that this sentence equates an ignorant fool with the Omniscient Being? It is absurd to say that darkness and light are the same. Such a statement contradicts all experience. Well, the absurdity in this is only as in the sentence, Sah ayam puman, ‘He is that man’. There is really no absurdity here, because there is an identity in the person indicated by the two words in the sentence, ‘he’ and ‘man’. Similarly, the word ‘tvam’ or ‘you’ is to be taken as referring not to the direct word meaning but to the indirect implied meaning of it, namely, the Spirit behind the directly perceived imperfect individual personality, and ‘Tat’, the ‘That’, to the Spirit forming the substratum of the mighty universe. The identity asserted is, thus, of the spiritual Essence of both and not of the ignorance of the individual and of the might of the Universal. What harm is there then, in understanding this identity in the indirect sense? The sense that ‘I am the body’ has been acquired and strengthened by indulgence in self-centered work during an infinite past. Abandoning this idea by discriminative intelligence, remain steady in non-duall consciousness and be liberated thereby. Give up this cause of all suffering-the sense of ‘myness’ with regard to this body, which is sure to be consumed by either fire, or insects, or birds, or animals. Give up all thoughts about external objects, and unite your mind in unbreakable union with the Supreme Being. Just as a great fish (maha-matsya) moves from one shore of a lake to another and appears at the different shores, so also the Atman manifests in the three states of waking, dream and sleep. Though associated with these states, the Atman is separate from the states and their happenings, just like that fish. The feeling that you have of identification with the states of waking, dream and sleep is created by the Buddhi superimposing these states on you, who are of the nature of Pure Consciousness. On reflection it is discovered to be like superimposition of a snake or a stick or a crevice on a rope. In reality you are the Brahman Supreme, the fearless. Cast away all infatuation born of misconception. For the wise man, the supreme state of perfection is the nearest of the near. But the ignorant one searches for it outside; conceiving it to be obtainable in far-off regions, although in truth it is all-pervading and closest” to him in being identical with his own nature. Such is the wonderful mystery of Maya. People coming together as members of a family, is only just like many travelers living together for a while in a caravanserai. For a short time they are together, considering themselves bound to one another in intimate relationship, but before long everyone goes his own way. Whatever man does day and night for securing happiness turns out in the end to be a cause of misery. In a mind that has reached the perfection of purity, this truth dawns on the very first hearing of the Vedic sentences relating to it. But in those in whom ignorance is thick, it dawns only gradually through a series of preparatory disciplines like the service of the teacher, meditation on the Pranava, and the performance of duties laid down for the Sannyasin. These will remove the impurities of the mind, and then will take place the awakening into the consciousness of Non-duality. The teacher is verily Siva. Obey his instruction day and night. If he is pleased with the disciple, he will bestow his grace on him. Respect the instructions of the teacher. It is capable of bestowing all excellence on you. It is the one cause of joy. Even if the Deity whom you adore is angry with you, the teacher can save you, but if the teacher is angry, there is none who can. So, do not displease the teacher in the least. Man seeks the Supreme ends of life-Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. He is to seek this, avoiding the forbidden acts and observing the commandments. It is the Guru who gives these prohibitions and commandments, and it is he who removes the evil and bestows the good. Through adoration, God bestows blessings on the votary. It is the teacher who enlightens one as to how this adoration is to be done. Otherwise, how can man come to know the Deity who transcends the senses? If the teacher is pleased, all the deities are pleased. So also, if he is displeased, all deities are displeased. For, the true teacher is one who identifies himself with all the deities. He en-souls everything.”

Sankara travels on his Spiritual Mission

(103-107) Having thus received instruction on the nature of the Atman, the disciple prostrated himself before Sankara and said, “O great teacher! By your grace, ignorance has been dispelled, and I have become blessed.” Mandana was given the name of Sureswara – a name that came to be favored by the guardian Dames of the Quarters and was to be known far and wide in times to come. Attaining to the position. of the chief disciple of Sankara, he remained in a state of blessedness that was superior even to that of Brahma, the creator. Immersed in the study of, and reflection on, Vedanta, and thereby poised ever in the blessed Self, Sureswara, noted among the ego-less saints, lived many days on the banks of the Narmada. Sankara, the most gracious of all teachers, having thus brought the celebrated Mandana into his own fold, started again on his mission of eradication of false doctrines, and went southwards, witnessing the beauty of dense forests full of trees in blossom and resonant with the hum of honey-seeking bees.

(108-119) He passed through the Maharashtra country, where he propagated his doctrines and controverted false creeds and cults until, stage by stage, he reached the great place of pilgrimage, Srisaila. That wooded place, so dear to Siva, was pleasant with the breeze blowing through the thick growth of trees and bearing the fragrance of jasmine flowers that grew on the creepers winding round the branches of those trees. It was also full of huge lions that battled with elephants and smashed their foreheads. Near Srisaila was a holy river whose bosom was always tossed into high waves. The Acharya went to that river and took his bath in its holy waters. Srisaila had high peaks that kissed the skies. Birds were flying aloft about its breast while the holy river was washing its feet. Sankara now ascended this mountain and saw the great Sivalinga installed on it. He worshiped that image of Siva called Mallikarjuna-linga along with that of Bhramarambika, His divine consort. This holy place was the spot where Arjuna, the Pandava, did penance to propitiate Siva and was blessed by Him after He had humbled his (Arjuna’s) pride. Sankara stayed for a time on the banks of the holy river, enjoying its crystalline waters and the cool shade of the flowering trees standing on its banks. During his sojourn there, he expounded his commentaries, noted for their delightful style and their profound ideas leading to the salvation of man, to scholars who were eager to learn the same from him. While Sankara was thus elucidating these commentaries and establishing their supremacy by the refutation of other systems of thought, some prominent Saivas and Vaishnavas of the place, who showed hostility to Vedantic thought, were defeated in argument by the Acharya’s principal disciple Sureswara. Some of them, who were without pride and animosity, gave up their creed and joined the Acharya, while others, whose hostility and pride made them forget prudence and commonsense, still adhered to their beliefs, biding their time for the Acharya’s death. “Vedanta is the teaching of some low-born men. The Veda is pure imagination,” – thus condemning the Veda, these men cultivated intense hatred for Sankara as Paundraka did towards Sri Krishna. It is certain that they, too, would in the end meet with the same fate as Paundraka. To those who studied the great teachings of Sankara, the philosophies of Kanada and Kapila seemed childish; the Saiva doctrines looked unholy; the Sakta teachings appeared perverse; the Vaishnava creeds sounded self-contradictory; and the Buddhistic philosophies looked contemptible. The teachings of all these schools appeared as mere fairy tales, and not serious philosophic thought. As Sankara continued his merciless refutation of all hostile creeds and philosophies, the teachings of the Tathagata became lifeless, the school of Kumarila became silent, the Naiyayika philosophy became weak and paralyzed, and Kapila’s system also followed suit.