?Question?

[Shrisha Rao]

On Sat, 5 Dec 1998, Jaldhar H. Vyas wrote:

> And everyone admits it is Shankaracharya who has founded the Dashanami
> order.

Why do you say that?  I would say that only post-14th-century Advaitins
do.  There is no proper textual or epigraphical tradition dating back to
Sri Shankara himself which would confirm such a thesis, and truly enough,
other traditions do not accept that he founded the order.  (I invite you
to find one example of a non-Advaitic source of some antiquity, which
"admits" what you say.)  There is, sad to say, a significant "horizon
effect" where Sri Shankara is concerned, among Advaitins and others, owing
to the lack of information concerning teachers prior to him, and without
tending to disrespect him, it would be fair to say that imagining that he
is the founder of all Vedanta or Vedantic traditions, is unacceptable.
There is enough evidence in his own writings to reject such a theory.

> > Being in the dashanAmi order is a mere affiliation or it
> > constitutes a proper guru siShya relationship?
> >
>
> Both.  For instance a Dashanami called Anand Tirth became a gurudrohi on
> a spectacular scale.  Obviously the Dvaita sannyasis of today are not
> because they have only claimed to be followers of Anand Tirth no one else.
> So they are the followers of a gurudrohi.

Refer above.

Regards,

Shrisha Rao

> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>

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