[Advaita-l] Is Sri Dhara Suddhadvaitavadi not Advaitavadi?

[swagata chowdhury]

Was Sridhara Swami a non-dualist?

Answer: Many people believe that Sridhara Swami was a non-dualist because
the 10th, 51st, 68th, and 116th Shankaracharyas of Puri Govardhan Mutt were
all named Sridhara Swami. They believe that the Srimad Bhagavatam and Gita
commentator Sridhara Swami was a non-dualist and the 116th Shankaracharya
of Puri. And since Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said to follow Sridhara Swami,
many people conclude that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu meant that non-dualistic
conclusions should be followed.

However, the Srimad Bhagavatam and Gita commentator Sridhara Swami and the
116th Shankaracharya of Puri Govardhan Mutt were not the same person. The
Srimad Bhagavatam and Gita commentator Sridhara Swami was a member of the
Vishnu Swami tradition of Rudra Vaishnavism.

Sridhara Swami's Guru Lineage

The Srimad Bhagavatam and Gita commentator Sridhara Swami's guru's name was
Paramananda. He mentions his guru's name in many places in his works.
However, the 10th, 51st, 68th, and 116th Shankaracharyas of Puri had gurus
named Govinda Swami, Bodhayan Swami, Jagannath Swami, and Sutapanand Swami,
respectively.

In his commentary on the Vishnu Purana, Sridhara Swami writes:

I bow down to Sri Guru Paramanand, the embodiment of Ananda.

In his commentary on the 12th skandha of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Sridhara
Swami writes:

I Sridhara offer this Bhagavatam, the nectar of devotion, to the lotus feet
of Paramanand.

Sridhara Swami was a member of the Vishnu Swami tradition

Sridhara Swami's membership in the Vishnu Swami tradition is supported by
the following evidence:

In the Ballabh Digvijay, a text of the Vallabh Sampradaya, a non-dualist
Vaishnava tradition, there is a mention of a disciple of Vishnu Swami named
Paramanand. However, since Vishnu Swami lived much earlier than Sridhara
Swami, it is unlikely that this Paramanand was Sridhara Swami's guru.
Sridhara Swami's works cite Vishnu Swami's Sarvajna Sukta and other texts
from the Vishnu Swami tradition.
In his commentary on the Bhagavatam, Sridhara Swami criticizes the
non-dualist view of moksha, or liberation, as being hypocritical.
In Shree Jiba Goswami's Tattva Sandarbha he ccalls Shree dhara swami a
param Baishnaba.


Certain individuals posit that Sridhara Swami may have held non-dualistic
views due to his reference to Shankaracharya in his commentary on the Gita.
However, the Sanskrit term "Bhashyakara" can denote both "teacher" and
"commentator." It is plausible that Sridhara Swami was alluding to a
previous commentator like Vishnu Swami. The Geeta Press Translation is
erroneous, contributing to confusion among devotees.

Sridhara Swami's main deity was Narasimha, the man-lion incarnation of
Vishnu. The Vishnu Swami tradition's main scripture is the Nrisimha Tapani
Upanishad.

Sridhara Swami's conclusion

Based on the evidence presented above, it is clear that the Srimad
Bhagavatam and Gita commentator Sridhara Swami was a member of the Vishnu
Swami tradition of Rudra Vaishnavism. He was not a non-dualist, but rather
a follower of the Shuddh Advaita, or pure non-duality, school of thought.

Written by Arjun Sakha( Iskcon)