A Myth About Sankara (was Re: [Advaita-l] jnAna-vijnAna, ...)

[bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com]

praNAms Sri Karthik prabhuji
Hare Krishna

Karthik prabhuji :

"For the followers of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, Adi Shankara is
the authority No.1...If we consider Shankara as the greatest
authority within the Advaita tradition..."

Is the above really true? I don't think so.

bhaskar :

Are you sure you are saying this!!! do you mean to say *in the advaita
vEdAnta tradition* shankara IS NOT the authority No.1??!!  quite surprising
indeed.

Karthik prabhuji:

Myth:
"Sankara is the greatest authority in the Advaita Vedanta tradition."

bhaskar :

my stand is that *within* advaita vedanta tradition shankara bhagavadpAda
is the greatest authority & his bhAshya is *shruti samAna* to the followers
of jnAna mArga in advaita saMpradAya especially when it comes to shruti
pada-vAkya nirNaya.

Karthik prabhuji:

Answer:
No doubt Sankara is considered one of the greatest Advaita Vedanta
Acharyas to ever grace the earth. But the above statement that he is
the "greatest authority" is definitely a myth.

bhaskar :

again, my answer is shankara bhagavadpAda who with great compassion graced
& presented his vidvatpUrNa, anubhavagamyAtmaka shruti vAkya samanvaya is
the greatest ever authority in advaita vEdAnta tradition.  It is not a
myth, it_is_a hard core reality for the sAdhaka-s in shuddhAdvaita shankara
saMpradAya.

Karthik :

There are several reasons for this:

1) Sankara is not the greatest authority in the Advaita Vedanta
tradition -- the Sruti is. In spite of the fact that Sankara is
accorded the highest respect for his commentaries, there is no doubt
that his writings occupy a status lower in authority to that of the
Prasthana-trayi.

bhaskar :

shruti/shAstra is the ultimate pramANa no doubt in that...but what basis do
you have to  differentiate the shruti & shankara bhAshya & conclude that
shankara bhAshya is *lower* in authority??  do you think shankara devitated
from shrutyartha while presenting his siddhAnta?? if not, then what will be
the yardstick for this lower/higher classification??

Karthik prabhuji:

2) Just as Sankara's commentaries are considered the greatest
*extant* authorities on the Prasthana-trayi (there may be earlier
bona fide commentaries now lost), so too are Sankara's disciples
considered the greatest authorities on the interpretation of
Sankara's commentaries.

What does this mean? This means that if we have doubts regarding the
correct interpretation of a Sruti statement, we accept Sankara's
interpretation of it as the correct one. Similarly, if we have doubts
regarding the correct interpretation of Sankara's statements, we
accept Sankara's disciples' interpretation of it as the correct one.
And so on down to the present Acharya. This is the very essence of
what a Sampradaya is!

bhaskar :

what does this show??  though shruti is the antya pramANa, we do have doubt
about the correct interpretation of it!! to get these doubts clarified we
are depending on bhagavadpAda's commentary...in which we have the firm
conviction & faith since whatever shankara interprets is anubhavagamya...in
this context how can we label shankara bhAshya as lower in authority??
Even later commentators did not dare to over take shankara commentaries
while propagating their vyAkhyAna..is it not??  This clearly shows the
total dominance of shankara's commentary in shruti vAkya nirNyaya in
advaita saMpradAya.

Karthik prabhuji :

Therefore, there is no question of "Sampradaya superseding Sankara",
just as there is no question of "Sankara superseding the Sruti" --

bhaskar :

Yes, in that case there is no question of higher / lower level of authority
either.

because the correct import of Sankara's works itself is possible only
in the context of the Sampradaya.

Karthik prabhuji:

In other words:

* Sruti is the highest authority.
* Sankara's interpretation of Sruti is the correct interpretation of
the Sruti.

bhaskar :

If shankara's commentaries are *correct interpretation of the shruti* in
its entireity..where is the question of level of authority?? it is as good
as saying *vAkya* is the highest authority & *correct vAkyArtha* is the
lower authority...does it make any sense prabhuji??  Let us appreciate the
traditional stand that *shAstra & intuitive experience are the pramANa-s in
brahma jignAsa...but in that zeal let us not belittle our pUjya
bhagavadpAda's commentary by labeling it as second grade authority.

Karthik prabhuji:

* Sankara's disciples' interpretation of Sankara's writings is the
correct interpretation of Sankara's writings.

bhaskar :

how about if a desciple himself says he is going *against* his AchArya's
teachings?? what would be the treatment that he is going to receive within
saMpradAya??

Karthik prabhuji :

But what amazes me in the case of SSS is that SSS's personal Guru --
Sri Virupaksha Sastri -- refused to endorse SSS's work! This is
noteworthy, because such an instance of the Guru not endorsing the
disciple's work is unknown in the unbroken Sringeri tradition.

bhaskar :

Infact it has!!!...anyway let us not talk about it...Since just now, Sri
Vidya prabhuji has asked this list to stop discussion about
saMpradAya...I've deleted whatever I've written here in reply.  If you are
interested I shall post it directly..

Regards,
Kartik

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar