[Advaita-l] Shankara, smarta and shanmata

[Michael Shepherd]

Thank you. I was wondering whether Shankara had left any recorded details
about the work which he did so abundantly, according to accounts. Or should
we simply deduce this from his comments on the BS and his 'Objectors' and in
the Sahasri etc.?

I was also confused about Smarta, which seems now to have been formulated
into a wider definition, or even into an organisation, than its original one
allows for(e.g. as per the Wikipedia account, which makes Ramana Maharshi a
'Smarta'). There would seem now to be no distinction between Smartas and
Shrautas. Though I can imagine that the establishment of the shanmatha could
be associated loosely with smarta ?

Regards,
Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org]On Behalf Of Uma and
Ramakrishna
Sent: 26 September 2009 17:40
To: 'A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta'
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Shankara, smarta and shanmata



Michael ji,
The shanmatha is an extension of the panchAyatana, that brings in the
Worship of Skanda or Subramanya in to the integrated fold of worship.
As you may know, at the time of Shankara, there was a fragmentation of
Faith - vaishNavaites, shaivites, gANapatyas, souras and shAktya; In some
parts of the country, especially in the erstwhile Tamilnadu, there were
worshippers of SubramaNya. To bring unity among people and integrate their
Living, Shankara instituted the panchAyatana puja and shanmatha.
I have not come across smarta associated with Shankara.
Regards,
Ramakrishna.

-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org] On Behalf Of Michael
Shepherd
Sent: Friday, September 25, 2009 6:53 AM
To: advaita vedanta
Subject: [Advaita-l] Shankara, smarta and shanmata

friends,

Please could you tell me more about Shankara, smarta and shanmata ?

Did Adi Shankara encourage the six aspects of worship simply by writing
hymns etc to each deity, or are there recorded statements by him about
smarta and shanmata ?

The references to this I have found so far lack chapter and verse !

And I suspect that this is important in relation to certain writings being
'written off' as not Advaita Vedanta !

Michael




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