[Advaita-l] Paul Hacker's erroneous view

[Venkatraghavan S]

In addition to Padmapadacharya, Sureshvaracharya and Totakacharya also
refer to Shankaracharya as Lord Shiva himself in their works.

4.76 of Naishkarmya Siddhi
विष्णोः पादानुगाम् यां निखिलभवनुदं शंकरो$वाप योगात् ।
सर्वज्ञं ब्रह्मसंस्थं मुनिगणसहितं सम्यग् अभ्यर्च्य भक्त्या ।
विद्यां गंगाम् इवाहम् प्रवरगुणनिधेः प्राप्य वेदान्त दीप्तं ।
कारुण्यात् ताम्  अवोचं जनिमृतिनिवहध्वस्तये दुःखितेभ्य: ।
I duly reverenced Shankara, ever established in Brahman, surrounded by a
host of sages. Having obtained this knowledge proclaimed through the
Upanishads, this knowledge that is like the Ganges and leads to moksha
which Shankara brought down to earth through yoga, I have set forth this
work out of compassion for the suffering jivas so that their stream of
births and deaths may end.

Here Sureshvaracharya compares himself to Bhagiratha who brought the Ganges
(knowledge) to earth through the mediation of lord Shankara.

In Totakashtakam, Totakacharya, one of the four direct disciples of
Shankaracharya says:
भव एव भवानिति मे नितरां समजायत चेतसि कौतुकिता । मम वारय मोहमहाजलधिं भव शंकर
देशिक मे शरणम् ॥
You are Lord Shiva Himself. Knowing this my mind is filled with an
abundance of joy. Put an end to my sea of delusion. O Preceptor Shankara,
be my refuge.
Here Totakacharya calls Shankara as Bhava, which is one of the epithets of
Lord Shiva.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan

On 3 Sep 2016 12:37 p.m., "V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l" <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On p.27 of the book 'Philology and Confrontation' P makes a bold statement:
>
> //Shankara's direct disciples Sureshwara and Padmapada show no awareness of
> Shankara's Shiva incarnation.//
>
> But the fact of Padmapada's invocation to the Panchapadika disproves P's
> claim.
>
> P's view that Shankara came from a Vaishnava background and the reasons he
> gives for that also smacks of his poor understanding of the Bhashyas in a
> global perspective. With such prejudiced and imperfect understanding of the
> Advaita Bhashya, P does not rise to be the figure that he is made out to
> be. Any traditional scholar of Advaita bhashyas with a proper study thereof
> can easily prove P's ideas/conclusions wrong.
>
> The above are just samples.
>
> regards
> vs
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