[Advaita-l] Shankara Digvijaya Sara - part 25

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

Canto 13: The preaching of brahmavidyā

160| naiṣkarmyasiddhyākhyanibandhamekaṁ kṛtvā''tmapūjyāya nivedya cā'ptvā |
viśvāsamuktvā'tha punarbhāṣe sa viśvarūpo gurumātmadevam ||54||

160. Viśvarūpa dedicated the treatise called Naiṣkarmyasiddhi to the one he 
worshipped [i.e. Śaṅkara]. Having gained his confidence, he again said to the 
guru, his own God...(54)

161| na khyātihetorna ca lābhahetoḥ nāpyarcanāyai vihitaḥ prabandhaḥ |
nollaṅghanīyaṁ vacanaṁ gurūṇāṁ nollaṅghane syādguruśiṣyabhāvaḥ ||55||

161. “This work was not written for fame or profit or to be praised by others. 
The words of the guru should not be ignored.  Only when the words of the guru 
are heeded is there the spirit of guru-śiṣya relationship.”(55)

(The background behind these two ślokas is that the other disciples had doubts 
of the sincerity of Sureśvarācāryas conversion.  After all, as Maṇḍana Miśra, 
he was the foremost living Pūrva Mimāṁsaka and moreover had written an 
independant work on Vedānta work called Brahmasiddhi.  They suspected that he 
was just trying to infiltrate them in order to spread his own ideas.  With the 
Naiṣkarmyasiddhi he seeks to reassure Śaṅkarācārya that he understands and 
will accurately teach Advaita Vedānta.)

162| bhāvanukārimṛduvākyaniveśitārthaṁ svīyaiḥ padaiḥ saha nirākṛyapūrvapakṣam |
siddhāntayuktiviniveśitatatsvarūpaṁ dṛṣṭā'bhinandya paritoṣavaśādavocat ||64||

162. Seeing that it [i.e. the Naiṣkarmyasiddhi] explained topics accurately 
and in simple words with the objections and conclusions stated objectively 
along with the authors own opinions, he [i.e. Śaṅkara] congratulated him [i.e. 
Sureśvara] and said with delight...(64)

163| satyaṁ yadāttha vinayinmama yājuṣī yā śākhā tadantagatabhāṣyanibandha iṣṭaḥ |
tadvārtikaṁ mama kṛte bhavatā praṇeyaṁ saccoṣṭitaṁ parahitaikaphalaṁ prasiddham ||65||

163. “Disciplined one, what you have said is true. Now I wish that you write 
an annotation on the commentary on [the upaniṣad of] my śākhā of the Yajurveda 
that I have written.  The Great work with the welfare of others as their only 
goal.”(65)

(Śaṅkarācārya belonged to the Taittereya śakhā of the Kṛṣṇayajurveda so it is
the Taittereyopaniṣadbhāṣya which is being referred to.)

164| tadvattvadīyā khalu kāṇvaśākhā mamāpi tatrāsti tadantabhāṣyam | 
tadvārtikaṁ cāpi vidheyamiṣṭaṁ paropakārāya satāṁ pravṛttiḥ ||66||

164. “Similarly I have I written a commentary on [the upaniṣad of] the Kaṇva 
śākhā.  I wish that you write an annotation on that too. The activities of the 
good are done for the benefit of others.”(66)

(The Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad is part of the śuklayajurveda.  This veda has two 
śakhās, Madhyāndina and Kaṇva. Śaṅkarācārya wrote on the Kaṇva version of the 
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad.

vārtika which I have translated as annotation is a type of sub-commentary 
which what has three purposes: to explain the ukta or what has been said, fill 
in the anukta or what has been omitted, and repair the durukta or what has 
been said unclearly or incorrectly.  After comissioning the creation of 
vārtikas, Śaṅkarācārya seeks to reassure that he will not be offended by such 
critique because he has written to help others not to inflate his own ego.)

165| itthaṁ sa ukto bhagavatpadena śrīviśvarūpo viduṣāṁ variṣṭhaḥ |
cakāra bhāṣyadvayavārtike dve hyājñā gurūṇāṁ hyavicāraṇīyā ||68||

165. Having heard these words of Bhagavatpada [i.e. Śaṅkara] Śrī Viśvarūpa, 
who is celebrated by the learned, wrote the two annotations on the two 
commentaries obeying the gurus’ command without hesitation.(68)

166| sanandano nāma guroranujñayā bhāṣyasya ṭīkāṁ vyadhiteritaḥ parām |
yatpūrvabhāgaḥ kila pañcapādikā taccheṣagā vṛttiriti prathīyasī ||70||

166. The one called Sanandana [i.e. Padmapada] also, by the gurus command, 
wrote a gloss on the [Brahmasūtra] commentary.  The first part is called 
Pañcapādikā and the rest is known as Vṛtti.(70)

(Pañcapādikā means covering 5 padas.  The Brahmasūtra has 4 adhyāyas each with 
4 padas for a total of 16.  So why does this work only cover 5?  The story is 
that Padmapadācārya was returning to his homeland in South India for a yātrā. 
He left his belongings including the manuscript of the Pañcapādikā at the home 
of his maternal uncle while he travelled.  But the uncle was a staunch Pūrva 
Mimāṁsaka and, on discovering that it was a Vedānta work, had the manuscript 
burned.  Luckily, Śaṅkarācārya had the first 5 padas memorized so that much 
was able to be saved.  Actually what we have today doesn't even cover that 
much only the first four sūtras.  The Pañcapādikā is structured into two 
parts, the main text and an auto-commentary on that called the Vṛtti.)

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