[Advaita-l] Shankara Digvijaya Sara - part 22

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Are the words मण्डनमिश्र and  माण्डनमिश्र interchangeable?

And you suggested I remind you about the shridharI vyAkhyA for the
bhAgavatam shloka SB_4.31.14

Om

On Sat, 16 May, 2020, 12:16 PM Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> 134| maṇḍanamiśro'pyatha vidhipūrvaṁ dattvā vittaṁ yāge sarvam |
> ātmāropitaśociṣkeśo bheje śaṅkaramastamitāśaḥ ||74||
>
> 134. Then Maṇḍana Miśra, according to procedure, gave away all his
> posessions,
> withdrew the sacrificial fires into himself, shaved his hair and presented
> himself before Śaṅkara as one who has renounced desire.(74)
>
> 135| sannyāsagṛhyavidhinā sakalāni karmāṇyahnāya śaṅkaragururviduṣo'sya
> kurvan |
> karṇe jagau kimapi tattvamasīti vākyaṁ karṇejapaṁ
> nikhilasaṁsṛtiduḥkhahāneḥ ||75||
>
> 135. The learned guru Śaṅkara performed upon him all the rites relating to
> taking up saṁnyāsa and recited into his ear various vakyas such as “You
> are
> that” that destroy all of the sorrows of saṁsāra.(75)
>
> 136| evaṁ purāṇaguruṇā paramātmatattvaṁ śiṣṭo guroścaraṇayornipapāta tasya
> |
> dhanyo'smyahaṁ tava guro karuṇākaṭākṣapātena pātitatamā iti bhāṣamāṇaḥ
> ||103||
>
> 136. Having been instructed in this way about the nature of the Supreme
> Ātmā,
> he grasped the feet of his guru and said with great reverence, “Guru, I am
> blessed.  By your merciful attention, my ignorance has been removed.”(103)
>
> (kaṭākṣa literally means "glance." In some Tantric schools, it is believed
> that the touch, gesture or even glance of a Guru can confer liberation.
> But
> Advaita Vedānta teaches that jñāna and jñāna alone is the cause of
> liberation.
> And although they can certainly help, no God or guru can give jñāna.  It
> is
> something that must be realized in ones self.  So I have translated it
> more
> figuratively as "attention.")
>
>
> 137| tataḥ sa samprāpya sureśvarākhyāṁ digaṅganābhiḥ kriyamāṇasakhyām |
> sacchiṣyatāṁ bhāṣyakṛtaśca mukhyāmavāpa tucchikṛtadhātṛsaukhyām ||104||
>
> 137. Then he obtained the name Sureśvara which is famous throughout the
> world.
> By discipleship of the Commentator [i.e. Śaṅkara] he attained an exalted
> state
> in comparison which even the pleasure enjoyed by Dhātā [i.e. Brahma] is
> considered trivial.(104)
>
> 138| iti vaśīkṛtamaṇḍanapaṇḍitaḥ praṇatasatkaraṇatrayadaṇḍitaḥ |
> sakalasadguṇamaṇḍalamaṇḍitaḥ sa niragātkṛtadurmatakhaṇḍitaḥ ||106||
>
> 138. Having won over Paṇḍita Maṇḍana, with a view to spreading the three
> disciplines, He Who is Adorned by all the Groups of Good Qualities [i.e.
> Śaṅkara] went forth and overthrew the false philosophies.(106)
>
> (The three disciplines are that of Mind, Body, and Speech.  Good qualities
> can
> also be grouped into three as they pertain to Mind, Body, and Speech.)
>
> 139| tatra mahārāṣṭramukhe deśe granthānpracārayanprājñatamaḥ |
> śamitamatāntaramānaḥ śanakaiḥ sanakopamo'gamacchrīśailam ||108||
>
> 139. He went to the countries in Mahārāṣṭra and beyond to spread the
> knowledge
> of his works.  Destroying the opposing philosophies piece by piece like
> Sanaka, he reached Śrīśailam.(108)
>
> (Incidently the fact that Śaṅkarācārya after dealing with Maṇḍana Miśra,
> went
> to Mahārāṣṭra and onwards confirms to me that Māhiṣmatī was in Madhya
> Pradesh
> not the more Northerly candidates for its location.
>
> śamita which I have translated as "destroyed" is an interesting word.
> Literally it means made into śami.  It is the wood from a śami tree which
> is
> used as fuel for the fires in a Vedic yajña. So the idea is that
> Śaṅkarācārya
> burnt the opposing philosophies to ashes.)
>
> 140| praṇamadbhavabījabharjanaṁ praṇipatyāmṛtasampadārjanam |
> pramumoda sa mallikārjunaṁ bhramarāmbāsacivaṁ natārjunam ||112||
>
> 140. He was overjoyed to worship Mallikārjuna, the husband of Bhramarāmbā,
> who
> when prayed to destroys the ignorance and misfortunes of His devotees and
> who
> was worshipped by Arjuna.(112)
>
> 141| tīraruhaiḥ kṛṣṇāyāstīre'vātsīttirohitoṣṇāyāḥ |
> āvarjitatṛṣṇāyā ācāryendro nirastakārṣṇyāyāḥ ||113||
>
> 141. The Lord of Teachers spent some time on the banks of the Kṛṣṇā river
> which are made cool by the bent branches of dark-leaved trees and which
> destroy the effects of all sins.(141)
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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