[Advaita-l] Shankara Digvijaya Sara - part 14

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

87| tataḥ sa vedāntarahasyavettā bhettā'matānāṁ tarasā matānām |
prayāgamāgātprathamaṁ jigīṣuḥ kumārilaṁ sādhitakarmajālam ||62||

87. Then the knower of the mysteries of Vedānta [i.e. Śaṅkara], knower of the 
doctrines of all rival schools and capable of refuting them, first wished to 
go to Prayāga and conquer [in debate] Kumārila who taught entanglement in 
karma.(62)

(It is a common misconception that Śaṅkarācharya defeated Buddhism but the 
truth is, it was already on the decline in India.  On the popular level, it 
was being supplanted by the different varieties of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, 
Shaktism etc. On an economic level it became concentrated in large 
institutions dependent on subsidies from kings and other rich people and 
couldn't survive when those funds dried up.  And philosophically it was under 
vigourous critique by various astika darśanas.  In fact the systematization of 
the various darśanas can be said to be in large part due to the back and forth 
debate they had with the Buddhists and others.  In establishing the supremacy 
of the Vedas, the Pūrva Mimāṁsā, of which Kumārila Bhaṭṭa was the greatest 
exponent, was at the fore.  But it only went as far as explaining the portions
of the Vedas dealing with karma and neglected or outright dismissed the
parts dealing with jñāna.  So it made sense to tackle the most significant
oppponent first and then go after the lesser ones.)


88| gireravaplutya gatiḥ satāṁ yaḥ prāmāṇyamāmnāyagirāmavādīt |
yasya prasādātridivaukasopi prapedire prāktanayajñabhāgān ||74||

88. He [i.e. Kumārila] who jumped off a mountain to demonstrate the validity 
of the authority of the Veda by which the Devas are nourished with a share of 
the yajña...

(When he was younger, Kumārila engaged in spirited controversy with Buddhists.
In order to learn their most secret doctrines, he disguised himself and
joined one of the great Buddhist monastic universities such as Nalanda or
Vikramashila.  After a while the authorities there suspected he was a Vaidika.
They challenged him and he told them.  I will jump off a mountain cliff.  If the
Vedas are valid, I will survive unscathed.  And he did except because he said
"if" -- an expression of doubt, he lost one eye.

Another common misconception is that astika means "theist" and nāstika means 
"atheist".  In fact the chief dividing line is whether one says "asti" -- it 
is so, or "nāsti" -- it is not so to the proposition that the Vedas are an 
authoritative source of knowledge. Kumārila Bhaṭṭa himself argues in his 
ślokavarttikā against the need of a creator God yet he is definitely an 
astika.)

89| so'yaṁ gurorunmathanaprasaktaṁ mahattaraṁ doṣamapākariṣṇuḥ |
aśeṣavedārthavidāstikatvāttuṣānalaṁ praviśadeṣa dhīraḥ ||75||

89. ...that steady-minded one, to atone for the great sin incurred by lying to 
his guru, he who understands the meaning of the Vedas and has established 
their astika-ness, wishes to enter the chaff-fire.(75)

(Pūrva Mimāṁsakas are meticulous followers of the śāstras and it is clearly 
said that all knowledge is sacred and the giver of that knowledge must be 
respected. In this case the knowledge provided was wrong nevertheless the 
Buddhists taught it in good faith.  So Kumārila felt that he had comitted a 
great sin by lying to them even though his intentions were good.

Owing to their holiness, he could not pollute the yajña fires or even the 
funeral fire with suicide.  There was one other alternative.  After the 
harvest, farmers gather up the chaff that remains in the fields, throw it into 
big pits and then burn it.  It was into one of these pits that Kumārila placed 
himself.  This was also a method used to give the death penalty to criminals.)


90| śrutveti tāṁsatvarameṣa gacchanvyālokayattaṁ tuṣarāśisaṁstham |
prabhākarādyaiḥ prathitaprabhāvaiḥ upasthitaṁ sāśrumukhairvineyaiḥ ||77||

90. On hearing of this [Śaṅkara] quickly proceeded there and observed 
[Kumārila] seated in a heap of chaff.  Prabhākara and other disciples were 
gathered around standing respectfully with downcast faces and tears in their 
eyes.(77)

91| dṛṣṭvā bhāṣyaṁ hṛṣṭacetāḥ kumāraḥ proce vācaṁ śaṅkaraṁ deśikendram |
loke tvalpo matsaragrāmaśālī sarvajñāno nālpabhāvasya pātram ||82||

91. On perusing the [Brahmasūtra]bhāṣya, Kumāra [i.e. Kumārila] was overjoyed 
and he said to Śaṅkara the lord of teachers, “in this world people are jealous 
of even small accomplishments but an all-knowing one does not display such 
pettiness.”(82)

(Kumārila was the avatāra of Kumāra or Skanda Bhagavān.)

92| bhavādṛśāṁ darśanameva loke viśeṣato'sminsamaye durāpam |
purā''rjitaiḥ puṇyacayaiḥ kathañcittvamadya me dṛṣṭipathaṁ gato'bhūḥ ||84||

92. “At a time like this, it is fortunate indeed to have the darśana of one 
such as you -- a rare occurrence at any time.  It is only because of my 
amassing puṇya across many lives that you have entered my sight.”(84)

93| nirvyājakāruṇya muhūrtamātramatra tvayā bhāvyamahaṁ tu yāvat |
yogīndrahṛtpaṅkajabhāgyametattyajāmyasūnrūpamavekṣamāṇaḥ ||119||

93. “Oh plainly merciful one, please stay here for one muhūrta so as I die, I 
can see your form -- a sight which even the Lords of Yoga are rarely 
privileged to see.(119)

(By plainly merciful is meant someone who shows mercy not for expectations of 
a quid pro quo or other ulterior motives but purely out of compassions.  A 
muhūrta is 48 minutes in length.

So Śaṅkarācharya did not get his chance to debate Kumārila.  But before his
death, Kumārila advised him to debate his disciple Maṇḍana Miśra instead.)


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