[Advaita-l] Puri Jagannath - sarva devata svarupa, like the Lord of Tirupati.

[V Subrahmanian]

A popular shloka usually aimed at Lord Jagannath of puri also goes as
follows-

yad daru brahma murti pranava tana dharam sarva vedant saram, bhaktanam
kalpa vriksha bhava jala tarani sarva tattvam tattvam, yoginam hamsa
tattvam hari hara namitam sri patir vaishnavanam, shaivanam bhairavakhyam
pashupatir iti yat sakta tattvi cha shaktih, baudhanam buddha rupo rishabha
jati bharau jaina siddhanta saraih, devoshau patu nityam kali kalusha harau
nila shailadinathah.

“ That Deity of Daru Brahman, in the form of Pranava, is the essence of all
Vedanta. For his devotees, he is the Absolute Truth and supreme Existence,
the wish-fulfilling Kalpa Vriksha, and the deliverer from the ocean of
births and deaths. For the yogis he is the Hamsa of the Paramahamsa vidya.
We offer obeisances to Hari-Hara, who is the Lord of Lakshmi for the
Vaishnavas and Bhairava Pashupati for the Shaivas. He is Parashakti for the
Shaktas. For the Buddhists he is Buddha, for the Jains he is Rishabha (the
first Tirthankara). O Lord of Nilashaila, please deliver me from all the
impurities of Kali yuga.”


In similar vein, Sri Annamacharya, a great medieval composer from the
Telugu Country, who had explicitly owed allegiance to Srivaishnavism, says
about the Lord of Tirupati, in a composition:

Annamācārya reflects in this song:
http://karnatiklyrics.blogspot.in/2011/06/entha-matramuna.html

//The Vaishnavas worship you with reverence as Vishnu.
The Vedic philosophers tell that you are the Supreme Consciousness.
The Shaivas believe that you are Śiva & the Kapalikas praise you as
Adibhairava.
The Shakteyas consider you as the manifestation of the supreme power
Shakti. People chant your praise in a number of ways. Ignorant people
assume that you are insignificant.The wise recognize your infinite
greatness.//


[It is noteworthy that Sri Annamācārya distinguishes Vedāntins from
‘vaiṣṇavas’,

koluthuru mimu vaishnavulu, koorimitho vishnudani

palukuduru mimu vaedaantulu, parabrahma anuchu

 By ‘Vedāntins’ he obviously refers to Advaitins for they alone hold the
Supreme Reality to be ‘Brahman’ beyond all names and forms.  Those who hold
the highest tattvam to be ‘Viṣṇu’ (the deity identified as Lakṣmipati,
etc.) are not vedantins as per this composer.

There is the famous Shiva Mahimna Stotram on the same lines:
त्रयी सांख्यं योगः पशुपतिमतं वैष्णवमिति
*प्रभिन्ने प्रस्थाने* परमिदमदः पथ्यमिति च।
रुचीनां वैचित्र्यादृजुकुटिलनानापथजुषां
नृणामेको गम्यस्त्वमसि पयसामर्णव इव॥ शिवमहिम्नःस्तोत्रम् ७.
[ The three Vedas, Sankhya, Yoga, the doctrine of Pashupati, the doctrine
of Vaishnavas (such are the different paths enjoined). Based on the variety
of likings of the follower men of the straight or crooked paths, (they
consider) this one as supreme or that one as proper. (However) the goal of
all these is You - just like the goal of rivers is the ocean.]
Madhusudana's 'Prasthaana bheda' is a work that is actually, originally,
part of his commentary to the above verse. The 'title' is also given by him
inspired by the words  *प्रभिन्ने प्रस्थाने * of the above verse.
There is another very popular such verse by an unknown author:
यं शैवाः समुपासते शिव इति ब्रह्मेति वेदान्तिनो. बौद्धा बुद्ध इति प्रमाणपटवः
कर्तेति नैयायिकाः ।
अर्हन्नित्यथ जैनशासनरताः कर्मेति मीमांसकाः. सोऽयं नो विदधातु वाञ्छितफलं
त्रैलोक्यनाथो हरिः ॥ (हनुमन्नाटक १ । ३)
[In this verse the poet identifies the highest Truth to be ‘Hari’ who alone
is seen variously by different people including the Vedāntins who hold this
Truth (called ‘Hari’) as Brahman.  [Here is a site that equates the above
two verses: http://satcharcha.blogspot.in/2015/06/blog-post_20.html]
MS has commented upon the famous work ‘Mahimna stotram’ of Puṣpadanta as
applying to both Śiva and Viṣṇu. At the end of the work MS composes a few
verses depicting the Hari-Hara abheda:
भूतिभूषितदेहाय द्विजराजेन राजते |
एकात्मने नमो नित्यं हरये च हराय च ||
Obeisance ever to Him, who is resplendent with His body adorned with
vibhūti, ashes, and is of the complexion of camphor (or having the moon on
His head), the One Atman that is both Hara and Hari.
हररशंकरयोरभेदबोधो भविु क्षुद्रधियामपीति यत्नात् |
उभयार्थतया  मयेदमुक्तं सुधियः साधुतयैव  शोधयन्तु ॥ १
 [With the benediction that the understanding of non-difference between
Hari and Shankara may rise even in those with a lowly intellect have I,
with effort, commented on the Shivamanhima stotra verses in dual-meaning
mode (as applying to Hari and Hara). Let the noble ones accept this as
admissible alone.]
shaivAH saurAshcha gANeshA vaiShNavAH shakti-pUjakAH |
bhavanti yanmayAH sarve so.ahamasmi paraH shivaH ||3||
This occurs at the end of the 15th Chapter, of the BG commentary
Gudharthadipika by Madhusudana Saraswati.

Om Tat Sat