[Advaita-l] Shankara Digvijaya Sara - part 22

[jaldhar at braincells.com]

134| maṇḍanamiśro'pyatha vidhipūrvaṁ dattvā vittaṁ yāge sarvam |
ātmāropitaśociṣkeśo bheje śaṅkaramastamitāśaḥ ||74||

134. Then Maṇḍana Miśra, according to procedure, gave away all his posessions, 
withdrew the sacrificial fires into himself, shaved his hair and presented 
himself before Śaṅkara as one who has renounced desire.(74)

135| sannyāsagṛhyavidhinā sakalāni karmāṇyahnāya śaṅkaragururviduṣo'sya kurvan |
karṇe jagau kimapi tattvamasīti vākyaṁ karṇejapaṁ nikhilasaṁsṛtiduḥkhahāneḥ ||75||

135. The learned guru Śaṅkara performed upon him all the rites relating to 
taking up saṁnyāsa and recited into his ear various vakyas such as “You are 
that” that destroy all of the sorrows of saṁsāra.(75)

136| evaṁ purāṇaguruṇā paramātmatattvaṁ śiṣṭo guroścaraṇayornipapāta tasya |
dhanyo'smyahaṁ tava guro karuṇākaṭākṣapātena pātitatamā iti bhāṣamāṇaḥ ||103||

136. Having been instructed in this way about the nature of the Supreme Ātmā, 
he grasped the feet of his guru and said with great reverence, “Guru, I am 
blessed.  By your merciful attention, my ignorance has been removed.”(103)

(kaṭākṣa literally means "glance." In some Tantric schools, it is believed 
that the touch, gesture or even glance of a Guru can confer liberation.  But 
Advaita Vedānta teaches that jñāna and jñāna alone is the cause of liberation. 
And although they can certainly help, no God or guru can give jñāna.  It is 
something that must be realized in ones self.  So I have translated it more 
figuratively as "attention.")


137| tataḥ sa samprāpya sureśvarākhyāṁ digaṅganābhiḥ kriyamāṇasakhyām |
sacchiṣyatāṁ bhāṣyakṛtaśca mukhyāmavāpa tucchikṛtadhātṛsaukhyām ||104||

137. Then he obtained the name Sureśvara which is famous throughout the world. 
By discipleship of the Commentator [i.e. Śaṅkara] he attained an exalted state 
in comparison which even the pleasure enjoyed by Dhātā [i.e. Brahma] is 
considered trivial.(104)

138| iti vaśīkṛtamaṇḍanapaṇḍitaḥ praṇatasatkaraṇatrayadaṇḍitaḥ |
sakalasadguṇamaṇḍalamaṇḍitaḥ sa niragātkṛtadurmatakhaṇḍitaḥ ||106||

138. Having won over Paṇḍita Maṇḍana, with a view to spreading the three 
disciplines, He Who is Adorned by all the Groups of Good Qualities [i.e. 
Śaṅkara] went forth and overthrew the false philosophies.(106)

(The three disciplines are that of Mind, Body, and Speech.  Good qualities can
also be grouped into three as they pertain to Mind, Body, and Speech.)

139| tatra mahārāṣṭramukhe deśe granthānpracārayanprājñatamaḥ |
śamitamatāntaramānaḥ śanakaiḥ sanakopamo'gamacchrīśailam ||108||

139. He went to the countries in Mahārāṣṭra and beyond to spread the knowledge 
of his works.  Destroying the opposing philosophies piece by piece like 
Sanaka, he reached Śrīśailam.(108)

(Incidently the fact that Śaṅkarācārya after dealing with Maṇḍana Miśra, went 
to Mahārāṣṭra and onwards confirms to me that Māhiṣmatī was in Madhya Pradesh
not the more Northerly candidates for its location.

śamita which I have translated as "destroyed" is an interesting word. 
Literally it means made into śami.  It is the wood from a śami tree which is 
used as fuel for the fires in a Vedic yajña. So the idea is that Śaṅkarācārya 
burnt the opposing philosophies to ashes.)

140| praṇamadbhavabījabharjanaṁ praṇipatyāmṛtasampadārjanam |
pramumoda sa mallikārjunaṁ bhramarāmbāsacivaṁ natārjunam ||112||

140. He was overjoyed to worship Mallikārjuna, the husband of Bhramarāmbā, who 
when prayed to destroys the ignorance and misfortunes of His devotees and who 
was worshipped by Arjuna.(112)

141| tīraruhaiḥ kṛṣṇāyāstīre'vātsīttirohitoṣṇāyāḥ |
āvarjitatṛṣṇāyā ācāryendro nirastakārṣṇyāyāḥ ||113||

141. The Lord of Teachers spent some time on the banks of the Kṛṣṇā river 
which are made cool by the bent branches of dark-leaved trees and which 
destroy the effects of all sins.(141)

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>