|| shrI sha.nkarAchArya aShTottara-shata-nAmAvaliH ||

[Ravisankar S. Mayavaram]

AUM parakAyapraveshakR^ite namaH

I bow to shrI shankara who knows the art of para kAya praveshaM and who
has done that. para kAya pravesham is entering into another body.
Patanjali yoga sUtras describe how an advanced yogi can do that. When
challenged by shrI bhAratI (maNDAna mishra's wife, who is the avataram of
shrI sarasvatI) with questions related to conjugal love, shankara used the
parakAya pravesha vidyA and entered body of the king amaruka. In that body
he wrote a work describing the nature of conjugal love which is called
after the name of the King. This episode  can be learnt in detail from the
shankara digvijaya of Madhava-Vidyaranya*.


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* There is a translation published by RK Mutt (translated by svAmi
tapasyAnanda. This book is available for  7+ dollars from Vedanta Catalog.



 One might ask why all knowing shankara should do the parakAyapravesham.
shrI shankara took sannyAsam at a very young age. If he answers the
questions on conjugal love, that may create some apavAtam for sannyAsis. I
think to avoid that shrI shankara went through the episode of parakAya
pravesham.