Sankara SampradhAyam - 13

[Dr. S.R.Marur]

If it is pointed out that in all (srI shankara) matams, only the
Chandra MoulIswara pUjA is conducted, [*then the answer is that*] it
is because of a specific reason.

ParamEshwara Himself gave five spatika lingAs to AchAryAl and wanted
Him to ensure the ArAdhanA for them, for ever, in this lOkA. AchAryAl
had ensured that uninterrupted ArAdhanA by keeping the two out of
five in the matams at SringEri and kAnchi and the remaining three at
the temples of NEpAl, kEdArnAth and Chidambaram. When we say 'Sankara
Matams', should there not be 'uniformity' amongst all of them? That
is why He introduced Chandra MoulIswara pUja in [*all His*] matams.

Lakshmi Narasimha Murhty gave a 'sAlagrAmam' to AchAryAl. As IshvarA
Himself had given a spatika lingA, which is [*considered to be*] His
SwarUpA, Narasimha Murhty also gave a sAlagrAmam, which is of His
SwarUpA. As He has kept the spatika lingA in the pUjA of the matam,
He has kept that sAlagrAmam too in the pUja.

He doesn't entertain the Siva-Vishnu Bhedham, even a bit. As He has
done the spatika linga prathishtA at Chidambaram, He has done the
NArAyana prathishtA at BadhrinAth. There itself, He had establihed
a math. Among the places where He had established the matams, Puri
JagannAth and DwarakA are important Krishna kshEtrAs. He has not
commented on Siva sahasranAmam; instead He wrote a bhAshyam only
for Vishnu sahasranAmam. Though there are many gItas in our purAnAs
such as Siva gIta, dEvi gIta etc, He has chosen to give a bhAshyam
only to the gIta, presented by Krishna ParamAthmA. As He has composed
devotional hymns towards IshvarA and ambAl, He composed on MahA
Vishnu, srI RAmA, Krishna and Maha Lakshmi also.

As all these points are not properly considered, He is interpreted
to be a saivaite [*albeit wrongly*].


What is being conducted [*daily*] in AchAryAl's matams is not only
[*an exclusive*] Siva pUja. As I mentioned in the begining, the very
panchAyathana pUja is the pUjA of the matam too. AchAryAl is the
combined avthAram of IshvarA and ambAl; Uma and MahEshwara themselves
gave Him the pancha lingAs at KailAsh; that is why He established
Ishwara and ambAl as the main deities of the pUja of the matam. But
still, as per Siva panchAyathanA, even Maha Vishnu, Ganapathy and
SuryA are also present in the pUja. Here [*in the matam*], similar to
Siva rAthri and nava rAthri, we celebrate rAma navami, gOkulAshtami,
Narasimha jayanthi etc also [*in the same scale*].

Whenever srImukams [1] are issued, from the matam, what do we
[*the presiding AchAryAs*] say? In that, we say, for a particular
activity, "kriyathE nArAyana smrthihi". That is, any book or an
activity [*sacred or secular*], for which this srImukam is issued as
a token of blessing, to become a success, we say that 'we remember
NArAyanA'. We don't say that 'we remember Siva'.

What do I say when you prostrate before me? I say only, "NArAyana
NArAyana". All the shankarAchAryAs also say only so.  This is the
rule made by the Adi AchAryAl Himself. Inorder to get the good
[*and auspicious*] things to happen to this lOka, He has ordained
the remembrance of NArayanA only, as He is the sustainer of this
world (jagadh-paripAlana-karthA).

For so long, I was talking about the existence of the impression
that advaitins are saivaites. Diagonally opposite to this, there are
some who hold that Sankara worshipped only MahA vishnu. They quote
this NArayana smaranam and Vishnu sahasranAma bhAshyam etc as the
supportive evidence for their claim. In addition to that, they also
point to the fact of establishing the Ishvara or the saguna Bhraman,
which does all these lOka-vyavahAra, to be none other than NArAyanA
Himself, by AchAryAl, while elaborating about Him [*Ishvara*] in His
BhAshyAs.

-------
[1] The message/foreword/blessings from the presiding AchAryA of a
Shankara Math, in the official letter head with the seal of the
math is known as srImukam.


                                .... to be continued

Regards,

Sudhakar

----------------------------------------------------------------
Translated from,
HH Sri Chandhra sEkharEndhra Saraswathi Swamiji, 'Sankara
SampradhAyam'. Deivathin Kural (in Tamil), Vol. II, Second
Edition, ed. rA. Ganapathi, Vanathi padhippagam, Chennai,
pp: 119-157 (1980).
---------------------------------------------------------------

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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