Blessed Sree. Sankara Jayanthy Sunday to all. Friends with the explanation by His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarasvati Mahaswamigal Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham This day is the birth anniversary of Sri Sankara. It was by His avatara that the Vedas and the Works of the Rishis were rehabilitated. It was only by their rehabilitation that the observance of the holy Sri Ramanavami, Sri Narasimha Jayanti, Sri Krishna jayanti, Uttarayana Sankranthi and Sivaratri and other holy days was revived. The avatara of Sri Sankara made the remembrance and celebration of other Jayantis possible. Sri Sankara jayanti comes off every year on the 15th day of the Maadhavi month in the Vasanta Ritu. Like the pure white jasmine, which is also called Vasanti and Maadhavi, may the Vasanta madhava jayanti fill our spiritual perception with its own rich fragrance. Who is Sri Sankara? He is lokasankarah; he makes for the welfare of the whole world. He is Siva Himself. Sivam means auspiciousness or what is propitious. What does `Sam mean in the name Sankara? It means sukham, bliss or aananda. The Brihadaaranyakopanishad speaks of it as Priyam, that which is dear. Ordinarily, the people of the world do not know where that sam, priyam or aanandam can be found. Hence they are afflicted with worldly sorrows. Sri Bhagavatpada was filled with compassion at the sight of world thus afflicted. He desired that men should enjoy the unlimited bliss of self-realisation What is that bliss by realising which Sri Sankara Himself left misery far behind? Sri Sankara says: Ones own self is Sukam or bliss. Ones own self is all. Ones own self is Brahman. Brahman alone is all that we perceive. Everything is the effect of Brahman. The cause itself is the effect. The effect is non-different from the cause. Everything is Sam or bliss. Let this Sam or bliss be enjoyed, in all our experiences. Let it be enjoyed as ones own inner self or Atman. In the world Everything external to the self is dear for the reason that it is related to the self. The self alone is ultimately dear to everyone. Realisation of the self as non-different from Brahman is Supreme Bliss. Sri Sankara taught that Paramaatman is one, tat everything is Brahaman and that all is one. What the veda taught is also what Sri Sankara taught. Sri Sankara said that as all is Brahman there is nothing apart from Brahman materialists hold that the world alone is real and the Brahaman does not exist. The Nyaaya logicians and other dualists said that the world and Brahman are both real. The Buddhists denied both the world and no reality in its own right apart from Brahman is the teaching of Sri Sankara. The teaching of the Bhagavatpada, as well as the teachings of other Aachaaryas, which, following the Vedas, are intended for the purification and elevation of ones Atman, prescribes that the Dharmas mentioned in the vedas should be practised by men in accordance with their respective Varnas and Ashramas. The Varnashrama Dharmas have been ordained by Sastras, not merely to foster among men an attitude of mutual helpfulness or only to promote the general cooperative material well-being of society. They have been prescribed for self-purification which they effect by developing peace, an essential means to liberation, and which cannot be otherwise experience. The four means to Moksha, viz. Vairagya and others, accrue to a person by observance of his own Varnashrama Dharmas; and their dedication to Sri Hari. In the view, Sri Sankara closely follows the Gita where it is said: tasmaat saastram pramaanam te kaaryaakaaryavyavasthitau Therefore in the determination of what should or should not be done, Sastras are your mentor and guide. The word tasmaat meaning, therefor, which occurs in this sloka, refers to a reason in the Sastraic determination of what should or should not be done. What is the reason? It is set out in the immediately preceding slokas of the Gita in that very context. In these slokas Sri Krishna says: The gateway to hell which makes for self-destruction is three-fold, namely, desire, anger and avarice. Hence these three ought to be given up. One released from these three gates of darkness practices what makes for his elevation and then attains the supreme goal. But, if one violates the sastraic injunction and acts according to ones will and pleasure, one does not attain self-realisation. He can neither be happy nor reach the supreme goal. After these verses occurs the verse beginning with tasmaat saastram pramaanam te. Thus Sri Sankara follows the Gita when He declares that the observance of Varnashrama Dharma leads to self-purification and elevation of the Atman. Expounding his Bashyas and the truths enshrined in the Upanishads, in a language which is profoundly sublime and yet transparently simple, the ascetic that was Sri Sankara traversed the whole of the Bharata Bhoomi on foot, from Rameswaram in the South to the Himalayas in the North. Rivers and sacred spots, villages and towns and temples have all been sanctified by him, and their spirituality augmented by his yantras and mantras and the invocations he made. Generally speaking, there is no holy spot in India, whose sanctity has not been heightened by his association. Even now, in every part of the country, people speak with pride that the temple in their place had been satisfied by Sri Sankaracharya and made famous by the Yantra he established. In all regions, where Vedic studies were prevalent, there is no spot where Sri Sankaras Bhashyas have not been studied with devotion by those who sought liberation, following the Guru-sishya sampradaya. Even now, Sri Sankaras Bhashyas are learnt in every place where Vedic studies are in vogue. On his holy day of anniversary of Sri Sankaras birth, may the truth, Advaita or non-difference to which modern scientific thinkers are getting attuned, a Truth which has been proclaimed by eternal Sruti, and which has been rendered radiant by Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada be broadcast to all the world by thinkers and wise men, each in his measure, with earnestness and fervor. Many the malady of absence of peace which afflicts all mankind be cured by the life-giving nectar of the realisation of non-difference. May Sam in the name of Sankara, i.e., peace, reign everywhere. The genius of Bhagavatpada Saastram saareera meemaamsaa Devastu paramesvarah ! Aacaaryaah Sankaraachaaryaah Santu janmani janmani Every one of us is anxious that he should not be born again, that he should not have another janma. All Saastras have been propounded to show the way to get rid of future births. They teach us how to bring about the cessation of the alternations of birth and deaths, Sankara says: punarapi jananam punarapi maranam. But the sloka I have quoted seems to contradict this universal desire to annul all future births. On the other hand, it seems to contain a prayer for any number of janmas in the future. But, the prayer also contains three conditions. it says, if, in every future birth the sheet anchor of my faith and understanding is the Saarera Meemaamsa, is my study, if the God I worship is Paramesvara Himself, if the Guru who will be my refuge is Sri Sankaracharya, it does not matter how many janmas I am to take. May these three be granted to me in life after life. This is the prayer of one among the crores of sishyas (disciples) of our Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada.
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 23:11:28 +0000
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