[Advaita-l] Fwd: Origin of Navaratri Darbar at Sringeri

[V Subrahmanian]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 3:06 PM
Subject: Origin of Navaratri Darbar at Sringeri
To: Advaitin <advaitin at yahoogroups.com>


The Sringeri Jagadguru explains the tradition in this video discourse.


http://www.mediafire.com/file/c95ov176vjntojs/Sringeri_post_Drubar.mp4


 He traces the origin of the tradition to the time of Sri Vidyaranya who
was offered the royal insignia by the rulers Bukka and Harihara as a mark
of their gratitude for the role the former played in the formation of the
Empire.

Sri Vidyaranya accepted the request of the royal brothers and a tradition
started where the Sringeri Jagadguru would put on the royal emblems during
the Navaratri and give darshan to the devotees in the Durbar.

It has also been the tradition that once the reigning pontiff has taken a
successor to the peeṭham, the latter would adorn the dubar and the pontiff
would withdraw himself from the practice.

In deference to that practice, from this year the Mahāsannidhanam has
ceased to appear in the Durbar and the Sannidhānam alone conducts the same.

The Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha also emphasized the point that it would be
inimical to one, aśreyaskara, if one sees the two Acharyas as different
from each other with regard to their spiritual position. He cited the
example of how disastrous would it be for one to differentiate between
Shiva and Keshva to drive home the point.

Upon hearing this, I am reminded of the verses that Adi Shankara has cited
in the Viṣṇu sahasra nāma bhāṣya on the above theme.

Harivamśa verses, spoken by Maheśvara (Śiva) to Vishnu:

अहं त्वं सर्वग देव त्वमेवाहं जनार्दन ।

आवयोरन्तरं नास्ति शब्दैरर्थैर्जगत्त्रये ॥ (3.88.60)

[O, the all-pervading one, I am Thee, and Thou are me alone. There is no
difference between the two of us by any means in all the three worlds.]

This particular verse is exactly to the point:

Shankara cites two seminal verses from the Bhaviṣyottara purāṇa in the
introduction to the VS:

Maheśvara (Śiva) says:

विष्णोरन्यं तु पश्यन्ति ये मां ब्रह्माणमेव वा ।

कुतर्कमतयो मूढाः पच्यन्ते नरकेष्वधः ॥

[Those fools who, devoid of proper thinking, consider Me and Brahmā as
different from Viṣṇu will be baked in the lowly hells.]

ये च मूढा दुरात्मानो भिन्नं पश्यन्ति मां हरेः ।

ब्रह्माणं च ततस्तस्माद् ब्रह्महत्यासमं त्वघम् ॥

[Those fools, wicked ones, by seeing Me and Brahmā as different from Hari
are committing the heinous sin of brahmahatyā.]

One can recall a similar verse in the Śrīmadbhāgavatam (Dakṣayajña section)
as said by Viṣṇu.

All these go to establish that the concept of Hari-Hara abheda is well
enshrined in the Shruti, Smṛti, itihāsa and purāṇa.  And the Acharyas of
the Sringeri Peetham, right from the times of Shankara and Sureshwara have
been upholding this Hari-Hara abheda and Trimurti aikya theme, up to the
present times. Sureshwara too, in the Br.up. Vārtika brought out the
trimurti aikya theme while commenting on the antaryāmi section.

Om Tat Sat