Thus Spake the Divine - Avatara - Shambhu Became Shankaran

Thus Spake the Divine

Avatara

Shambhu Became Shankaran

Yajur Veda says, “Namaskaram to Kapardi; Namaskaram to Vyupta Kesha.” This verse substantiates that Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada is the incarnation of Parameshvara. In this and the next chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava exquisitely brings out, in brief, how Shambhu became Shankaran! In the later chapters, He brings out details of Shankara, the Preceptor of Advaita Doctrine for the world.

Yoga means ‘union’ or oneness in which Jeevan unifies with Brahmam, so much so that there is absolutely no distinction between the two. Both Brahmam and Jeevan become One. We reach the state of Yoga when we do our duties without any attachment to the outcome (Nishkamya Karma). This state of Yoga helps cleanse our mind, after which its single-point focus becomes God. It is this

state of Yoga that Lord Krishna preached Arjun. Sri Krishna says, “I have assumed this Avatara only to resurrect this Yoga, which has been declining in its magnitude.”

Krishna and Parameshvara are not two different identities. Both are one and the same. That is why, in Gita, Krishna, while revealing His Visvaroopam to Arjun says, “See my Universal form of Ishvar”. He shows the Rudra Roopa, which signifies the Master of Destruction.

This non-distinctive Ishvara in the form of Krishna is honoured with the title of Jagad Guru (Guru of the Universe). There is a Shloka, which reads as “Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum”. The Jagad Guru, Sri Krishna, says, “Initially, I preached this Yoga to Surya, the Sun God. Now, I have come to preach it to You, Krishna! Whenever Dharma becomes vulnerable, I will come to uphold it”. The avatara of Krishna occurred at the end of Dvapara Yuga.

After this, Kali Yuga commenced. Non-distinctive philosophy of Yoga (Oneness of Atman and the Brahmam) started decaying during this time with proliferation of 72 non-Vedic religions. Still, the disruption of Dharma was not much and required lesser intervention from Sri Krishna in terms of His preaching. It suited Sri Krishna as he was also busy in Gokulam! His role as a Preceptor was limited to ‘Uddava Gita and Bhagavat Gita’.

Situation in Kali Yuga deteriorated as it progressed, with severe Adharma spreading all over. On seeing this, Lord Parameshvara thought, “When there is intense darkness, we need more light.

Therefore, it is just not enough to now and then preach the wisdom of non-distinctive Yoga. There is absolute need for imparting this wisdom on a life-time basis”. Thus emerged the avatara of Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada! It was Lord Parameshvara, Master of All Arts, who, with His boundless compassion, took the avatara of Bhagavadpada!

There is ample evidence in Vedas that Shankara was the incarnation of Parameshvara. Sri Rudram from Yajur Veda says, “Namaskaram to Kapardi; Namaskaram to Vyupta Kesha.” Here, Kapardi means densely matted hair and Vyupta Kesha means clean shaven. The full meaning of this verse is: “Namaskaram to (Prostration) Lord Shiva, who possesses densely knotted hair (Jatadhari); Namaskaram to Lord Shiva who is bald-headed and clean shaven (Munditam).” This means that Lord Shiva, who was a Jatadhari, turned bald-headed and clean shaven! When did this happen? It occurred when He took the avatara of Adi Shankara! The Veda, which is omniscient, proclaimed this much before the Avatara of Adi Shankara!

Lord Parameshvara is sitting in sublime silence and action- less in the form of God Dakshinamurti under a banyan tree; this posture is known as “Shambhu” which means “Ever Blissful”. This is the catchment area of stream from which absolute bliss flows. This blissful stream remains in the same place without any movement. It does not see, does not talk and does not move. This remains absolutely still and in silence. All Saints and Sages in the area came towards this silent stream to drink the nectar of wisdom. “Absolute silence” is the best lesson that they learnt from this stream.

Lord Parameshvara then transforms Him from His God Dakshinamurti posture of intense silence to Avatara of Bhagavadpada to preach the philosophy of Advaita. At the same time, the Lord also realises that people will not voluntarily come forward to the stream of bliss. As a result, the stream itself should flow towards people. To carry out that task, He transforms into the Avatara of Shankara. It is in the same order that Sri Rudram salutes first Lord Shiva (Shambhu), second Shankara and last

Panchaksharam viz. Namashivaya (five-syllable mantra of Lord Shiva in Tamil).

This is elaborated in a beautiful metaphor by Periyava. There is a virtuous chaste woman who has never seen herself or heard her voice. Once, when her child falls into a well, she comes out and yells at the top of her voice seeking help from others. Similar to that, God Dakshinamurti, who is in absolute silence, seeing His children plunging into sinful acts, transforms into the Avatara of Shankara for disseminating wisdom to victims of sins.

In ancient times, there used to be an exclusive clan called Asuras (Super-human demi gods) and Vishnu took several Avataras with weapons for destroying such Asuras. But in this Kali Yuga, Asuras are not from outside. They reside within the minds and brains of people! Therefore, who will He destroy and who will He protect? Thus, Vishnu decides not to take any more Vaishnavite Avataras of destruction. He instead takes the avatara of Shankara by being born in a Brahmin family for disseminating wisdom to people.

The deity sitting passive in the form of Shambhu transformed Himself into an actively revolving Shankara. From the extent to which He was silent (as Shambhu), to the opposite extent He became active preaching (as Shankara). The amount He sat idly in a place (as Shambhu), that much He travelled across the country (as Shankara). In the process, He wrote Bhashyams (explanatory commentary) for various spiritual scriptures and participated actively in spiritual debates.

The glory of Adi Shankara can be gauged from His accomplishments in terms of resurrecting Hindu Religion. After the advent of Adi Shankara, all the 72 evil religions vanished. We can read about some of these religions from the manuscripts in which He strongly condemns them. He endorsed some philosophies like Buddhism, which preached more of self-attributes rather than Vedic Karmas. After the advent of Bhagavadpada, even these philosophies dwindled.

There can be no parallel to Bhagavadpada if we look at the exemplary tasks accomplished by Him in terms of reviving the doctrine of Advaita, which is based on the philosophy “Tat-Tvam” (“You are that Supreme Brahmam - Oneness of Atman and the Brahmam). He was focused on His mission, despite facing innumerable oppositions and condemnations. Though there were several other spiritual lineages after Bhagavadpada, the religion of Advaita established by Him continues to exist. We are the followers of Advaita till today! After the title of Jagad Guru offered to Sri Krishna, it was Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada who was titled “Jagad Guru”.

Bhagavadpada’s Day of Avatara (Jayanti) is on Shukla Paksha Panchami of the month of Vaisakha {Shukla paksha is the period from new moon (Amavasya) to full moon (Poornima)}. The birth star on that day is either of Lord Shiva, which is Tiruvadhirai, or of Sri Ram, which is Punarvasu. In my opinion, the birthday of Sri Adi Shankara (Shankara Jayanti) is more important than birthdays of other holy sages.

I am not biased in this regard. I am saying so because it is after the avatara of Bhagavadpada that our Vedic Religion became stronger. Before that there were confrontations with many other religions, including from sections within the Hindu Religion, and people were losing interest in Veda Shastras. When people are vulnerable, how would they ever celebrate any festival of that religion? The Vedic Religion was rebuilt only after the advent of Sri Shankara, who uprooted all vulnerabilities with His preaching. Thus, to me, Shankara Jayanti holds more sanctity.

Being a Sanyasi, He singly travelled across the country in all directions (Digvijay) of India from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and engaged in the mission of re-establishing Hindu Religion, which was on the path of decay.

Having listened to the significance of the avatara of Bhagavadpada Shankara, we should also travel inwardly into ourselves and remove all impurities from our minds. His preaching starts with “Bhaja Govindam” and ends with Brahma Vidya. In Bhaja Govindam, He says, “You may not be very knowledgeable; never mind. Recite the name of Govinda”. He says “Yama (God of death) does not waste a single minute. Every second, He is coming closer and we do not know when He would cast His rope of death on us. Hence, fall at the feet of Govinda, so that our fear of death can vanish away”.

We should always chant Govinda’s name during all our activities of the day. When we start eating our food, we should chant “Govinda”, so that the food getting into our stomach can help us inwardly immerse into meditation of God. If we take our food along with the name of Govinda, we can restrain ourselves from speaking unwarranted topics while eating. Morally, we will also keep away from eating food that is not aligned with our Dharma. Food has strong connection with one’s thought process and attitudes.

As a tribute to Acharya’s great dedication towards resurrecting Hindu Religion in its original form, we should, at the least, adhere to all these practices, which are very simple. On a daily basis, we should chant Vishnu Sahasranamam in the mornings and Shiva’s verses in the evenings. Before sleeping we must chant Ambal’s names. We should engage in self-inquiry as to whether we have done something for the welfare of others on that day.

We should never forget Acharya, who has emphasised the importance of devotion to God as a means for spiritual development and for liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, as a mark of tribute to Acharya, we should celebrate His Jayanti in a very grand manner, just as we celebrate other festivals, such as Navaratri, Krishna Jayanti etc. We should worship the divine footprints of Acharya daily. May His grace befall on us for all prosperity in this life!

This article is a snippet from the Book Thus Spake the Divine, is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.