Thus Spake the Divine - Lord Muruga’s Avatara in North India

Thus Spake the Divine

Lord Muruga’s Avatara in North India

In this chapter, Poojyasri Maha Periyava brings forth the role of Kumarila Bhatta, one of the earliest proponents of Karma Meemamsaka School. He elaborates on Kumarila Bhatta’s contributions towards resurrecting Hindu Religion, which was at that time vehemently criticised by Buddhism. The

conversation between Shankara Bhagavadpada and Kumarila Bhatta is highly enlightening.

Kumara Swami, who was born as Sambandhar in Sirkazhi, South India, and proved the superiority of Shaivism over Jainism, also incarnated in North India, where Buddhism was dominant at that point of time. Here is the story of Kumarila Bhatta, who was the incarnation of Kumara Swami. Look at the association of “Kumara” in the name itself!

Kumarila Bhatta was one of the earliest proponents of Karma Meemamsaka School (also known as Purva Meemamsaka). This school advocated only Karma Yoga, as ordained in Veda Shastras, to attain Moksha. It did not accept the Vedic principles of Bhakti Yoga. Instead, it stressed on following one’s own prescribed duty.

To Karma Meemamsakas, adhering to Karmas, as ordained by Vedas, is the ultimate goal. While they could accomplish both prosperity and self-contentment by adhering to Karmas, why bring a new entity called God in between as a benefactor? This was the reason why they did not subscribe to Bhakti Marga. To them, disowning Karma for the sake of wisdom is sin. This means that they don’t subscribe to Jnyana Marga too. There are three types of Meemamsaka. One among them is Bhatta Religion founded by Kumarila Bhatta himself.

Here, let us know the story of Kumarila Bhatta before getting into the details of Bhatta Religion. Kumarila Bhatta was adhering to Veda Karmas diligently. During that period, Buddhism was dominant and Hindu Religion was declining sharply. Buddhists criticised Vedic Scriptures and rituals and ridiculed Hindus. There was a strong and urgent need for revival of Sanatana Dharma.

Kumarila Bhatta had an unbiased mind set. First, he wanted to thoroughly understand the philosophy of Buddhism in depth. This is because he wanted to know the reason for criticism of Hinduism. He would then decide whose philosophy is superior. If he knew nuances of both the philosophies, then, he thought, he could easily win over debates and arguments. Therefore, he planned to visit a Buddha Vihara, so that he could learn Buddhism fully. You might wonder, being the Avatara of Kumara Swami, would it not be a cake walk for him to absorb Buddhist philosophies on his own? No! Then, there will be a need for divine intervention for everything! If the divine power plays, then the human capability will go in vain. In that case, the very purpose of “creation” becomes redundant! Therefore, Kumarila Bhatta decided to confine himself within the human capabilities and act accordingly.

The irony here is that Buddhists would impart their knowledge only to their own disciples and, more so, not to the Brahmin community, who were resolute in following their Veda Karma. To undertake his mission, Kumarila Bhatta decided to renounce his honesty and integrity. He disguised himself as a Buddha Bhikshu (Monk) and entered the Vihara. He then assimilated the entire philosophies of Buddhism. At that point, people of Vihara realised his disguise and decided to punish him with death. Where did the ahimsa of Buddhist Dharma go, God knows!

They took him to the 7 th floor of the Vihara and pushed him down. Even in that precarious scenario, he had absolute trust in Vedas. He took a vow that “If Vedas are the supreme truth and all powerful, they will protect me from the fall”. Miraculously, he survived. He just had a simple injury near one eye because of a stone. There was no other physical damage to him.

Still, Bhatta was upset with Vedas, which he had trusted the most. At that time, a divine voice was heard from the sky. It said, “You don’t seem to have absolute trust in Vedas! You said, “IF Vedas are true”. This exhibits your apprehension regarding absoluteness of Veda. That has resulted in you hurting your eye! Had you said “Oh eternal Vedas, I will survive”, then you would not have hurt even your eye.” One should not even doubt the infallibility of Vedas.

After this, Kumarila Bhatta started spreading Veda Karma with utmost trust. He founded the Bhatta Religion and aggressively worked towards wiping out Buddhist philosophies. Since, he had enriched himself with the knowledge of his own religion as also of the opponents, he could easily win the debates with Buddhists. There is a misconception that it was Bhagavadpada who had exterminated Buddhism. I myself, as a descendent of Acharya, say this is wrong. The scholars, who have expertise in Bhashyams (Commentaries and Interpretations) of Acharya’s works, would agree too. The Bhashyams have the least condemnation of Buddhist Religion.

It was Kumarila Bhatta who was responsible for downfall of Buddhism. What Acharya condemned was more the philosophy of Karma Meemamsaka and another religion called Sangya. You might now be confused with my statements. First I said, Kumarila Bhatta is the incarnation of Lord Subrahmanya Swami. Then, I said Kumarila Bhatta discarded the philosophies of Buddhism, which vehemently criticised Acharya’s philosophy. After that I said, Acharya condemned the religion of Karma Meemamsaka, of which Kumarila Bhatta was a descendent. Your question may now be: “Is Acharya against Buddhism, which did not completely believe in Vedic Karmas, or is He against Karma Meemamsaka, who had approved only adherence to Karma as ordained by Vedas?

Acharya is not against either of these! Advaita does not contest anything. All philosophies are encompassed in Advaita itself. It advocates steps for Salvation, with Karma as the first step followed by Bhakti, which culminates in Jnyana. Acharya only contested Meemamsaka for their stand on Karma as a means for salvation while staying away from Bhakti and Jnyana. He was against Buddhist philosophies for the reason that Buddhism talks of Maya, Enlightenment (Nirvana) etc., which are beyond the comprehension of common people. These would force commoners to abandon Vedic Karmas, the route towards salvation.

To make it simple, He condemned Buddhism in totality, as its philosophies wholly discarded Karma at the starting point itself. Acharya also criticised Meemamsaka for their stand that “Bhakti and Jnyana (Wisdom) are not needed even at the culminating stage of salvation.”

Buddhism says – No God – No Karma. Meemamsaka says – No Swami but Karma is there. Advaita says – Swami is there – Karma is there. But at the end, when absolute wisdom is attained, Swami and Karma are not independent identities but one. Since Kumarila Bhatta had disguised himself as a monk to get better of his Buddhist Guru, he deemed it an act of betrayal to his Guru. He decided to leave his body through fire as an act of reparation. He sat in between a heap of husk to be lit. The fire

would slowly spread and he would turn to ashes.

Why should an avatara of God take up death in such a cruel way? When an avatara is born as a human being, and if the human being indulges in an unwarranted act, he is bound to be punished accordingly. Kumarila Bhatta was repentant on philosophy of Meemamsaka, which advocated adherence to Karma while disassociating with God and Bhakti. He referred to Shastras as to how to get rid of this sin of betrayal to his Guru. As stipulated in the Shastras, he decided to torture his own body and meet death.

He thus chose the lit heap of husk. By that time, Acharya had started his Digvijayam by propagating Advaita. He decided to go to Prayag and meet Kumarila Bhatta and convince him to absorb Advaita philosophy. Acharya’s view was that if Kumarila Bhatta could be influenced, then all his followers would too join Advaita philosophy.

Sri Shankara rushed to the place where Kumarila was standing in an already lit husk. Kumarila instantly recognised Shankara as an incarnation of Lord Shiva. With the Dharshan of Acharya, Bhatta did not feel the heat of the burning fire. Along with the nectar of his Dharshan, Acharya offered the nectar of his preaching too to Kumarila Bhatta.

You have now heard the story. Now, let me tell you the philosophy that Acharya shared with Bhatta. Any story is meant to culminate with some philosophy! Here is the crux of Acharya’s interaction with Kumarila Bhatta.

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.