The mystery of Sri Shankaracharya

By:
Amala Bhakta Dasa, Bangalore

Lord Shiva, the foremost devotee of Krishna and His guna incarnation is one of the twelve mahajanas or authorities in the science of
devotional service. Vaishnavanam yatha Shambhu. Lord Shiva resides as Nandishwara meditating on Lord Krishna and awaiting His
darshan near Nandagaon, as Gopeswhara and Banakhandi Mahadeva serving Krishna in Vrindavana, as Vishwanatha praying in baisi
pahaca near entrance of Lord Jagannathas temple in Puri, as Lingaraja receiving the prasada of Ananta Vasudeva in Bhubaneshwar and as
Sri Manjunatha worshipping Narasimhadeva in Dharmasthala. He is also receiving the blessings from the lotus hands of Anantapadmanabha
swamy in Thiruvanantapuram and Adikeshava swamy in Thiruvattaru. As an eternal servitor of Krishna, he is always engaged in serving the
Lord and performing activities exclusively meant for the welfare of this world.

That the various pastimes of Lord Shiva are elaborately presented in the Srimad Bhagavatam, which is perhaps the most important scripture
for all the adherents of Vaishnavism, is a testimony to his greatness. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains in his Gitavali that Lord Shiva is
always engaged in the ecstatic chanting of the holy names of Krishna. Great devotees like Narada muni and Brahmaji always yearn for his
association. The very name Shiva indicates that he is all auspicious and is serving the Lord in His ultimate plan, taking conditioned souls
back to home, back to Godhead.

In line with the Lords plan, Lord Shiva incarnated on this planet in the land of Bharatavarsha as the great saint and mystic Adi Shankara. He
appeared in a place called Kaladi, which is located on the banks of river Purna in the current state of Kerala. He was born to a brahmin
couple - Shivaguru and Aryamba in response to their prayers to Sri Vadakunnathan, a form of Lord Shiva. During the time of Shankaras
birth, the world was facing an unprecedented spiritual turmoil. The authority and relevance of the Vedas, the basis of human learning and
culture were severely undermined. Buddhism and atheism had become widely prevalent and theistic philosophies were discouraged and
suppressed. As a result, the true import of the Vedas was lost. Philosophies like Karma mimamsa had assumed importance due to which
ritualistic ceremonies were practiced without consideration of their actual purpose. The foundational principles of dharma were challenged.
The remaining followers of Vaidika dharma wept for reform and the world was in need of a spiritual revolution. Sri Shankara was sent by the
Lord to secure human civilisation from the onslaught of atheistic influence and lay the foundation for a Vedic rejuvenation to usher in.

Shivaguru passed away when Shankara was a small child. Shankara mastered all the Vedas when he was very young and took up sanyasa
at the tender age of eight. This is not at all astonishing, for he is non- different from Sri Dakshinamurthy or Lord Shiva as the universal
teacher. After travelling fearlessly to North India as a child sanyasin, Sri Shankara became a disciple of Govinda Bhagavatpada, an authority
on the Vedas at that time. Initiated by his Guru to write commentaries and treatises on various subject matters starting with the Brahma
sutras, the sun of Shankara rose in the sky of Bharata and shone his light on the importance of the Vedas, the bedrock of theism.
Furthermore, he dried up the muddles of atheistic philosophies with the effulgence of his logic and erudition thus clearing the path to a
spiritual renaissance. He retrieved the populace from the clutches of unscrupulous men and placed them back in the safe shelter of the
Vedas. Shankara is aptly glorified by the following mantra reflecting his achievements, which are possible only for an Acharya - an
empowered servitor of the Lord.

shruti smriti puranam alayam karunalayam

namami bhagavadpadam shankaram lokashankaram

I salute the compassionate abode of the vedas, smritis and puranas known as Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada, who makes the entire world
auspicious.

True to his name, Sripada Shankaracharya did the great welfare work of travelling the length and breadth of India, from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari and turned people back towards the Vaidika marga. In spite of all these accomplishments, Vaishnavas have been ordered to
desist from studying his philosophy and interpretations by none other than Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Chaitanya completely rejected
the conclusions of Shankaracharya and ridiculed his theories, terming them Mayavada. Srila Prabhupada often quotes the famous
statement of Lord Caitanya : mayavadi bhashya sunile haya sarva-nasha.

How is it possible that Shankaracharya, who is verily Lord Shiva, expounded the scriptures in such a way that it is strictly forbidden for the
devotees of Lord Krishna to even hear it from a distance? After all, the mission of Shankaracharya was to re-establish the supremacy of the
Vedas, which are coming from the lotus mouth of the Lord. Can there be a flaw in the plan of the Lord? Can his dearest devotee obfuscate
the truth and present Vedic wisdom contrary to the sastras and act against the will of the Supreme Lord? And why did the Lord sanction such
gross misrepresentation? These doubts may arise in our minds.

However, we should be cautious before concluding and possibly developing an offensive attitude towards Sri Shankaracharya, a great
personality and an incarnation of Lord Shiva, the superexcellent Vaishnava. The readers of Srimad Bhagavatam will know the incident of the
innocuous smiling of Chitraketu upon seeing Parvati devi sitting on the lap of Lord Shiva and his consequent birth as the demon Vrtrasura.
In his narration and purports, Srila Prabhupada has sufficiently explained the dangers and consequences of a contemptuous attitude towards
devotees like Lord Shiva.

Sri Caitanya Charitamrita also warns vaishnavera kriya mudra vijneha na bujhaya. Srila Prabhupada explains this point in the following
manner:

The devotee does not do anything not sanctioned by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is said, vaishnavera kriya mudra vijneha na
bujhaya. Even the most learned or experienced person cannot understand the movements of a Vaishnava, a pure devotee. No one,
therefore, should criticize a pure Vaishnava. A Vaishnava knows his own business; whatever he does is precisely right because he is always
guided by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

These perplexing conflicts can be resolved by referring to the shastras and the elucidations of Lord Chaitanya presented by His expert
representative, Srila Prabhupada. In the following articles, we will try to understand the mystery of Sri Shankaracharyas interpretation of
Vedic principles and unravel the real purpose behind his misleading expositions. We will also find out reasons behind his bewildering
commentaries of the scriptures and his internal convictions.

Shankaracharyas contributions towards Vedic renaissance

The imports of Vedic Knowledge and Shankaracharyas interpretations