[Advaita-l] Fwd: The Brahma sutra Bhashya of SrikanTha holds Narayana too as upasya Ishwara

[V Subrahmanian]

An interesting account on how Ishvaratva of Narayana is not denied in
Shrikanthacharya’s siddhanta.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid0PaLEkefE6tiQrGCFzPV6XPaRXzZ3Ydgqqhj7XryUA2wxoa7ZbRDTVFhXpb48swTEl&id=100090600606360&locale=hi_IN

[Viśñu in Śrīkāntha school]
Śrīkāntha Śīvāchārya in his Bramha-Śūtra-Bhāśya doesn't reject Vīśnū's
īśvaratva, for him he(Vīśnū) is Śivā's potency (Devi Ūmā's male form).
Śrīkāntha says that Nārāyaṇa is the worshipper and Śīva is the object of
worship means, Nārāyaṇa is Ūpāśak while Śīva is Ūpāśya,
he cites verse from Śmrītī(Bhagvati Gīta 11-9) where Kriśña Yogeśvara ,
showed to the son of Pritha(Arjūna) the Supreme Form of Īśvara .
नारायणस्योपासकत्वे प्रमाणान्तरमाह
:- स्मृतेश्च || ६ ||
एवमुक्त्वा ततो राजन् महायोगेश्वरो हरिः ।
दर्शयामास पार्थाय परमं रूपमैश्वरम् ॥ he sites this example from
Mahābhārata, to prove that Śīva is worshipped while worshipper is Kriśña,
where Śivā admits this fact to Aśvatthāmā that Krīśna worships him in the
most proper way on a daily basis and there is no one who is as dear to him
as Krīśna, hence Kriśña is his dearest devotee,

"अहं यथावदाराध्यः कृष्णेनाक्लिष्टकर्मणा ।
तस्मादिष्टतमः कृष्णादन्यो मम न विद्यते ॥

इति अश्वत्थामानं प्रति परमेश्वरवचनं".

The verse appears slightly differently in the Mahabharata, Sauptikaparvan:
https://sanskritdocuments.org/mirrors/mahabharata/unic/mbh10_sa.html

यथावदहमाराद्धः कृष्णेनाक्लिष्टकर्मणा | तस्मादिष्टतमः कृष्णादन्यो मम न
विद्यते ||६१||

Śrīkāntha says though all have to worship Parameśvara , Nārāyaṇa is
specially mentioned here , because he is the highest of all the
worshippers. So one can justify the description of Nārāyaṇa here by
Brahman's potency , as Nārāyaṇa the worshipper is not distinct from the
diverse-eyed Brahman(Vīrūpāksa), the object of worship , on the ground that
it is a description of Nārāyaṇa who is the Ūpādāna Kārana of the universe
and whose very soul is Śivā only(तदात्म). Hene Śrūti Vākyams like
"तद्विष्णोः परमं पदं "talk about Śivā's supremacy without discarding
Viśñu's īśvartva as the highest form of Viśñu is Śīva only. This is to say
there is essentially absolutely no difference between Śīva and Viśñu as
Viśñu is Ūpādāna Kārana while Śivā, who is Viśñu's highest whose soul is
one with Viśñu, is the Nīmītta Kārana.This is the main reason why Appaya
Dīkśita could follow and contribute ro Śivādvaīta along with Śañkara
Bhagvatpādas Advaīta Śīddhanta as here Viśñu is the same as Ūmā and not a
Jeevtāma but rather Īśvara himself(just like Ūmā devi, same.
position)without any doubt.

See the many images from the Bhashya here:

https://groups.google.com/g/advaitin/c/9k6_2PfbXiY

That the Shaiva Acharya admitting or accepting Harihara abheda is something
very appreciable. He stands above all sectarians that vehemently deny this
abheda. It is quite in order that Sri Appaiya Dikshita ranked Srikantha
above Madhwa and Ramanuja and closest to Shankara.

  Sri Appyya Dikshitar, in his Chatur mata saara sangrahah, mentions:

आनन्दतीर्थमुनि-लक्ष्मणदेशिकेन्द्र-श्रीकण्ठयोगिपदवीरदवीयसीर्नः ।
आचार्यपादसरणिञ्च विविच्य बोद्धुं संगृह्यते मतचतुष्टयसारलेशम् ॥

Om tat sat