[Advaita-l] संक्षेपशांकरचरितम् - A short verse on Shankara's life

[subhanu]

Namaste to all,

I received the below information from Swami Yogananda Saraswati of Kaivalya Ashram in France. Swamiji is close to Sringeri Math. I hope list members find it useful:

"The shloka you sent is very nice indeed and I used to quote the same in some of my writings on Sri Shankara in the past. It was composed by Sri Swami Saccidananda Tirtha (Sri Bhashya Swamigal) in shArdUla-vikrIDita metre consisting in 19 syllables per pAda. Here is my French translation:

La naissance dans le sein d’Aryamba,
la suppression de la pauvreté de l'épouse du brahmane,
le refuge dans le Saint Ordre du Renoncement,
l'approche respectueuse du Guru,
la victoire sur Sri Mandana Mishra et d'autres,
l'acceptation du groupe des disciples,
la composition des excellents commentaires,
l'accession au Trône de l'Omniscience, et
la fondation des Quatre Sièges,
telle est en résumé l'Histoire de Shankara.

Among the nine achievements that are mentionned, six are expressed through fine alliterations such as nirmUlanam, AshrayaNam, upasadanam, grahaNam, racanam and racanA, which adds to the beauty of it all.

I have also translated and commented on Sri Bhashya Swamigal's composition entitled "Sri Shankara carita ashtottarashata namastotram".

Actually, I discovered some of his works during my visit to Sringeri in 1990."

You may read more about him at the following link:
http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/matrupanchakam/info/poet.html