[Advaita-l] Shankara Digvijaya Sara - part 1

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

As we have been discussing this work and Shri Subrahmanian has now kindly 
provided it, I thought I might translate it for my edification and 
hopefully for others.  I plan to post several shlokas a day over the next 
month or so.  For each shloka, I will provide the text in IAST 
transliteration and my translation (and notes if necessary.  The number in 
front of the shloka is the order within Shankaradigvijayasara, whereas the 
number after it in parentheses is the order with the Madhaviya 
Shankaradigvijaya.

upodghāta nāma prathama sargaḥ ||1||

First Canto: Introduction


1| praṇamya paramātmānaṁ śrīvidyātīrtharūpiṇam |
prācīnaśaṅkarajaye sāraḥ saṁgṛhyate sphuṭam ||1||

1. Bowing to the ParamĀtmā embodied as Śrī Vidyātīrtha, I have compiled 
with clarity the essence of ancient hagiographies of  Śaṅkara. (1)

(Madhavacharya is the middle of three brothers who were instrumental in 
the founding of the Vijayanagara Empire.  The older brother Sayanacharya 
is the celebrated and authoritative commentator on the Vedic texts.  The 
younger brother Bhoganatha wrote on alankarashastra but is not that 
well-known.  Madhava wrote on many branches of Shastra, including 
Ayurveda, Dharmashastra, Mimamsa and Vedanta and the most popular 
hagiography of Shankaracharya of which this work is an abridgement. 
Later, he took sannyasa under the name Swami Vidyaranya and became 
Jagadguru of Shringeri Pitha.  His guru and predecessor on the Pitha was 
Swami Bharati Tirtha, whose own predecessor was Swami Vidya or 
Vidyashankara Tirtha.  Thus in this shloka he is saluting the supreme Self 
of all in the form of his paramaguru.)

2| yadvadghaṭānāṁ paṭalo viśālo vilokyate'lpe kila darpaṇe'pi |
tadvanmadīye laghusaṁgrahe'sminnudīkṣyatāṁ śāṅkaravākyasāraḥ||2||

2. Just as an entire stack of pots can be seen in even a small mirror, so this 
short compilation of mine, will give the essence of all the teachings of 
Śaṅkara. (2)

(Although the words are Madhavacharyas' they can apply to the present 
author too as this is an abridgement of Madhaviya Shankara Digvijaya just 
as MSD is an abridgement of older, more voluminous Shankara Digvijayas.)

ācāryajanmādikathanamnāma dvitīya sargaḥ ||2||

Second Canto: The Story of the ācāryas’ birth etc.

3| tato maheśaḥ kila keraleṣu śrīmadvṛṣādrau karuṇāsamudraḥ |
pūrṇānadīpuṇyataṭe svayaṁbhūliṅgātmanā'naṅghagāvirāsīt ||1||

Maheśa, the Ocean of Compassion, the Destroyer of  Kāmadeva, dwells as a 
self-manifested liṅga in Kerala at the mountain Vṛṣādri on the auspicious 
banks of the river Pūrṇā. (1)

(This refers to the Vadakkunathan temple in Trichur.  Those familiar with 
local geography may note that the Purna does not flow there.  Later we 
will read how Shankaracharya by a miracle made it flow through Kalati 
instead.)

4| tasyeśvarasya praṇatārtihartuḥ prasādataḥ prāptanirītabhāvaḥ |
kascittadabyāśagato'grahāraḥ kālatyabhikhyo'sti mahānmanojñaḥ ||3||

There is a large and beautiful Brāhmaṇa settlement [agrahāra] there called 
Kālati which has been blessed by the grace of Iśvara, who eases suffering, 
with freedom from want.(3)

5| kaścidvipaścidiha niścaladhīrvireje vidyādhirāja iti viśrutanāmadheyaḥ |
rudro vṛṣādrinilayo'vatarītukāmaḥ yatputramātmapitaraṁ samarocayatsaḥ ||4||

Here there lived a learned man, whose intellect was steady and free from 
passion, well known by the name Vidyādhirāja. Rudra whose abode is Vṛṣādri 
desired to descend to this world as the grandson of that most suitable man.


6| putro'bhavattasya purāttapuṇyaiḥ subrahmatejāḥ śivagurvabhikhyaḥ |
jñāne śivo yo vacane gurustasyānvarthanāmā'kṛta labdhavarṇaḥ ||5||

Due to his accumulated punya,  Vidyādhirāja got a son whose appearance shone 
like Brahman that he named Śivaguru.  He was like Śiva in knowledge and Guru 
[i.e. Bṛhaspati] in speech; this is the meaning of the name given to him by 
the educated one [i.e. Vidyādhirāja.]


7| sa brahmacārī gurugehavāsī tatkāryakārī vihitānnabhoji |
sāyamprabhātaṁ ca hutāśasevī vratena vedaṁ nijamadhyagīṣṭa ||6||

He [i.e. Śivaguru] lived as a brahmacārī in his gurus’ house, obeying his 
instructions, and living on alms.  Morning and evening, he attended to the 
fire; by this vrata, he quickly mastered the Vedas.

("attended to the fire" = made the twice-daily offerings of samidha into 
Agni which is one of the main duties of a Brahmachari.)

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>