[Advaita-l] On different views regarding parakayapravesha of Shankara

[srikanta at nie.ac.in]

It is very interesting to read the different views regarding
Parakayapravesha of Shankara.One view compares Shankara a sannyasi with
Krishna of Rasaleela who played with the Gopis and goes to the extent of
saying that If Krishna is not wrong then Shankara is also not wrong.If one
carefully has read the Bhashyas of shankara and not on the stories then
one can easily see how concocted and atrocious the story of
parakayapravesha is.Look carefully at the story.In the debate
Ubhayabharati the wife of MandanaMishra was the judge who arranged to put
the garlands on the neck of Shankara and mandanamishra.the garland on the
neck of mandanamishra dried,whereas that on the neck of shankara remained
fresh!The UbhayaBharati questioned shankara on the topic of
Kamashastra.The topic now changed from "karmashastra"to
"Kamashastra"!.Then Shankara left his body in a cave tobe looked after on
guard by Padmapada his prime disciple and then entered the body of Amaruka
the king who had died,to have sexual experience with the quueen.This has
been cited as a "Yogic power"!If Shankara wanted to gain sexual
experience,he would have through his "Yogic power" experienced this
without entering the queen's body.After all to be present somewhere else
being in the same place is also a Yogic power Sadhasiva
Brahmendra,Trilinga swami,are examples.To feel like somebody else
remaining in his own body is a Yogic power.To cite some examples we have
,Shiridi Saibaba,His Holiness Sri Sri Chandrasekhara Bharathi Swaminah,who
extinguished the flame which engulfed the girl in Calcutta being in
Sringeri(I have heard that this girl was the daughter of the famous
Astrologer sri Mantraeshvar Sharma)are a few.It was really not necessary
for a Yogi like Shankara to enter into another mortal body.Worst
still,after knowing the Kama shastra,defeating
MandanaMishra,UbhayaBharathi followed Shankara is further blasphemy heaped
on  Shankara.There is no evidence when Shankara Vijayam was written,or who
wrote it.This story written by a poet deliberately to discredit Shankara
and the Sannyasashrama has become the groundwork of further discrediting
Shankara,in the madhva work"Manimanjari" said to have been written by
"Trivikramapandithacharya"an AdvWaitin who was converted to Madhvamatha 
after his defeat in a debate.This could have been written by a person who
had no "gandha" of Adwaita,and has only dramatised the life of Shankara.
                           Bhava Shankara Desika me sharanam.
                                                   N.Srikanta.