[Advaita-l] ============================= Shri Anandagiri Acharya on Uma-Maheshvara ============================

[V Subrahmanian]

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Shri Anandagiri Acharya on Uma-Maheshvara
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Shri Anandagiri/AnandaJnana Acharya ji is the Tikakara of our sampradaya.
He has authored tika-s on Prasthana-traya bhashyas and a few prakarana
works of Bhagavatpada and Vartikas of Shri Sureshvaracharya.

From his Mangalacharana shloka-s, it is evident that he was a devout
Vishnu-bhakta and was particularly devoted to Bhagavan Jagannath of Puri
and Dwarakadheesh. But, true to his Advaitic conviction, he had no
hesitations in beholding Bhagavan Shiva also as the Parabrahman. The
following verse from his independent work called ‘Vedanta-tattvaloka’ makes
this very clear :

भजामि शम्भुं भवभीविदारणं जगत्प्रसूतिस्थितिनाशकारणम् |
विधूतभेदं निरवद्यमाद्यं
परं पदं वेदशिरस्सु वेद्यम् || 12 ||

[I venerate Shambhu, the destroyer of the fear of samsara, the cause of the
creation, sustenance and lapsing of the world, free of differences, devoid
of any defects, the First, the Supreme Reality, that can be known from the
Upanishads.]

(The Vedanta Tattvaloka was published by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in
1969. p.44 of pdf:)

That, Shiva is Brahman, is also stated by him in his Kenopanishad vakya
bhashya tika. In the same tika, he also says that Brahma-vidya swaroopini
Uma is the Sattva-pradhana Shakti of Shiva.

While commenting on the Yaksha episode of Kenopanishad-vakya bhashya of
Bhagavatpada, Anandagiri begins by quoting (composing?) the following verse:

[1] “यः सुराणां जये हेतुरसुराणां पराजये ।
सत्त्वप्रधानया शक्त्या सम्पन्नः सोऽहमीश्वरः ॥” इति

It is said here that Ishvara, who is endowed with Sattva-pradhana shakti,
is the cause of the victory of Devas and defeat of the asuras. Thus,
clarifying that this Ishvara himself manifests as the Yaksha and appears
before the Devas.

One may wonder how is this explicitly suggestive of Bhagavan Shiva? To
answer this question, let’s read further bearing these words in mind :
‘सत्त्वप्रधानया शक्त्या सम्पन्नः’.

Commenting on the appearance of Uma-haimavati , Anandagiri ji clarifies who
exactly is Bhagavati Uma.

The vakya bhashya of Bhagavatpada says the following:

[2] अत इन्द्रस्य बोधहेतुत्वाद्विद्यैवोमा ।

[Uma, who is cause of Indra’s bodha is verily, the Vidya]

Explaining what exactly is meant by Vidya,Anandagiri ji says :

[3] विद्येति सत्त्वप्रधाना शक्तिश्चित्तादात्म्यापत्त्या बोधहेतुः ॥

[Here, Vidya (Uma) refers to the Sattva-pradhana shakti which is identical
with the Chit - pure consciousnesses - and hence causes bodha/realization]

Anandagiri ji says that Uma is the Sattva-pradhana Shakti identical with
Shuddha-Chaitanya and brings about the realization of Brahman. Thus, she is
sa-adhishthana-shakti (shakti with Chit as her adhishthana). Or, in other
words, She is the Shakti-vishishtha-chaitanya.

Now, compare [1] and [3].

The Ishwara in [1] is said to be endowed with Sattva-pradhana-shakti.

In [3], Vidya-roopini Uma is said to be the Sattva-pradhana-shakti who is
identical with Chit( i.e She has Chit as her adhishthana).

From the above, it is clear that Bhagavan Shiva himself is the Shuddha
Chaitanya, who is endowed with Uma, who is of the form of
Sattva-pradhana-shakti.

But, if Bhagavan Shiva is the Shuddha-chaitanya, how did he assume the form
of a yaksha? This is answered by Anandagiri ji himself in his tika on
Kenopanishad Pada bhashya :

ईश्वरस्य सेतवो मर्यादा वर्णाश्रमादिधर्मास्तद्भेदकान् । जगतः स्थेम्ने
स्थैर्याय । स्वयोगमाहात्म्यनिर्मितेन सत्त्वरजस्तमसां त्रयाणां गुणानां योगो
युक्तिर्घटनं माया तन्माहात्म्येन निर्मितं तेनेत्यर्थः ॥

Here, Anandagiri ji clarifies that Ishvara assumed the form of a Yaksha by
the means of his own Trigunatmika-maya.

Thus, in the vision of Anandagiri Acharya, Bhagavan Shiva is the
shuddha-chaitanya, who had assumed the form of a Yaksha out of his own
Maya-shakti. And, his consort, Brahma-vidya swaroopini Uma, is the
Sattvika-shakti identical with the shuddha-chaitanya.

॥ हर नमः पार्वतीपतये हर हर महादेव ॥