[Advaita-l] Shankara authenticates Shiva

[V Subrahmanian]

On Thu, Aug 18, 2016 at 2:56 PM, D Gayatri <dgayatrinov10 at gmail.com> wrote:

> > For an academician let that part not be an interpolation.  For a Vedantin
> > Shanakara only the Advaitic message is relevant. That alone is
> authenticated
> > by him in the MB and not the other peripheral things. So, there is no
> merit
> > in saying that Shankara authenticates Shiva as son of.....
>
> This is your personal opinion that though Shankara quoted from that
> passage, he authenticates only one aspect of that passage and not the
> other. That sounds very selective.
>

Shankara himself is selective there.  He has clearly said that the
background story is only incidental. He has left out the chaff after
separating the grains. So, the information that you want to highlight is
not approved by Shankara as it is useless, having zero value for Vedanta.


>
>
> > The mantra itself says 'iti' which Shankara comments as īti evamādīni'
> > =.'and other such cases ' showing that the list is not exhaustive. That
> is
> > why Shankara says 'it is well known.' Where is it well known? in the
> Yajur
> > Veda samhita.
>
> If Vishnu is included, then Shankara would have mentioned it, but he
> does not. That should end the matter.


Shankara has implicitly mentioned it in his 'ityevamādīni.'


> Moreover, since he says Vishnu is supreme at many other places, we cannot
> consider the above reading as valid.
>

That vishnu is nirguna brahman. Shankara has said that Rudra alone as the
destroying force in the Prashna bhashya.

>
>