[Advaita-l] Shankara Digvijaya Sara - part 6

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

saṁnyāsa grahaṇa nāma pañcama sargaḥ ||5||

Canto 5: Taking Saṁnyāsa

33| iti saptamahāyane'khila śrutipāraṅgatatāṁ gato vaṭuḥ |
parivṛtya guroḥ kulādgṛhe jananīṁ paryacaranmahāyaśāḥ ||1||

33. And so by his seventh year, the boy [i.e. Śaṅkarācārya] had already
mastered the entire Śruti. He returned home from Gurukula already having
achieved great fame amongst the public.(1)

34| jātu mandagamanā'sya hi mātā snātumambunidhigāṁ pratiyātā |
ātapograkiraṇe ravibimbe sā tapaḥ kṛśatanurvilalambe ||5||

34. [Āryambā was] walking unsteadily on her way to bathe in the river [Pūrṇā],
scorched by the fierce rays of the sun and staggering from the effects of her
tapa.

(By this time, Āryambā was very old. Along with the natural infirmities of old 
age, the rigourous tapa she had done along with her husband Śivaguru in order 
to get the boon of a son from Śiva Bhagavān had taken its toll on her health. 
She wanted to bathe in the holy Pūrṇā but it was some distance away and the 
hot sun of Kerala didn't help so she could only shamble along with great
difficulty.  This was appalling to a dutiful son like Śaṅkarācārya.)

35| so'tha netumanavadyacaritraḥ sadmano'ntikamṛṣīśvaraputraḥ |
astavījjaladhigāṁ kavihṛdyaiḥ vastutaḥ sphuradalaṅkatapadyaiḥ ||7||

35. Thus, he whose character is faultless, whose mind is always fixed on truth,
the son of the lord of sages, [i.e. Śaṅkarācārya] addressed the river with
poetic feeling and lively and ornate verses.(7)

(And as a result of his prayers, the Pūrṇā changed course and began to flow in 
Kālati.)

36| prātareva samalokat lokaḥ śītavātahṛtaśīkarapūtaḥ |
nūtanāmiva dhunīṁ pravahantīṁ mādhavasya sadanaṁ tām ||9||

36. The next morning, the people [of Kālati] were surprised to find the river,
a cool breeze carried by its’ currents, running on a new course near the
temple of Mādhava.(9)

37| bahavaḥ śrutipāradṛśvanaḥ kavayo'dhyaiṣata śaṅkarādguroḥ |
mahataḥ sumahanti darśanānyadhigantuṁ phaṇirājakauśalīm ||31||

37. Many experts in Śruti, desiring to master the various śāstras, selected 
Śaṅkarācārya as their principal guru as he had the skill of Phaṇirāja [i.e.
Ādiśeṣa.]

(Ādiśeṣa took avatāra as the sage Pātañjali who cured the problems of Mankind 
in three areas, mānasika or mental through the Yoga Sūtras, vācika or in speech 
through the Vyākaraṇa Mahābhāṣya and kāyika or bodily through the Caraka
Saṁhitā in āyurveda.  Śaṅkarācārya was like this too.)

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