[Advaita-l] Fwd: Panchapadika and Prapanchasara-vivaranam of Bhagavan Padmapadacharya

[V Subrahmanian]

A great post by Shri Natraj Maneshinde:
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Panchapadika and Prapanchasara-vivaranam of Bhagavan Padmapadacharya
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Bhagavatpada Adi Shankaracharya, along with the Prasthana-traya bhashyas,
has also authored/complied a great work on Mantra-shastra called
‘Prapanchasara tantra’. This is said to be a summarized compilation of an
agamik text called Parpanchagama.
Prapanchasara of Bhagavatpada has been commented upon by his dear disciple
Shri Padmapadacharya under the name ‘Vivarana’. Shri Raghava Bhatt ji, in
his commentary on Sharada Tilaka, quotes from Prapanchasara and the tika of
Padmapadacharya on multiple instances and also acknowledges their
respective authorship.
To my great amazement, Shri Subrahmanian Vaidyanathan
<https://www.facebook.com/subrahmanian.vaidyanathan?__cft__[0]=AZXNV1iIA6OWUh2VITe_d-dIi-inPiA70gg7AHyqEKzZiag4OJ8NcZV6q4LDnDpnOcRcQnje_IX2zsWBV0tpWxfO1Sin0ARCKl1fZUflM9qnj18p7IYT16cOclkKHyH0Ffw&__tn__=-]K-R>ji
pointed out a striking similarity in the usage of words between the
Vivarana tika of Padmapadacharya and Panchapadika, which is the commentary
of Padmapadacharya on the Sutra-bhashya of Bhagavatpada.
During the life time of Bhagavatpada himself, he was considered as an
Avatara-purusha by his disciples. This is suggested in the Vartika of Shri
Sureshvaracharya, Panchapadika of Shri Padmapadacharya and Totakashtaka of
Shri Totakacharya. Interestingly, even in Prapanchasara vivaranam,
Padmapadacharya reverentially says that Bhagavatpada is an Avatara-purusha.
Here are the passages from Panchapadika and Prapanchasara-vivaranam.
Panchapadika:
तस्मात् ब्रह्मविदामेकपुण्डरीकस्य *लोकानुग्रहैकरसतया*
सम्यग्ज्ञानप्रवर्तनप्रयोजन *कृतशरीरपरिग्रहस्य भगवतो* भाष्यकारस्य
मतमागमयितव्यम् ॥
[ Thus, the foremost among Knowers of Brahman, with the intent to benefit
the world, Bhagavan Bhashyakara has assumed this body with a view to
disseminate the right knowledge. No doubt his doctrine is based on the
Veda.]
Prapanchasara vivaranam :
इह खलु *लोकानुग्रहैकरसतया कृतशरीरपरिग्रहो भगवान् शङ्कराचार्यः*
अपरोक्षीकृतपरदेवतात्मतत्त्वः परमां विभूतिकाष्ठां प्राप्तःस्वयमेकाकिसम्पदा
लज्जमानो दुःखीकृतजनकारुण्याक्रान्तमानसश्च सन् तदनुग्रहाय
समस्तागमसारसंग्रहप्रपञ्चागमसाररूपं ग्रंथं चिकीर्षुः
[ Bhagavan Shankaracharya, who has assumed a human body with the intent to
benefit the world, after having realized the Paradevata-atma tattva, was
tormented due to the sufferings of the common people. Wanting to grace such
men, he has composed this work which summarizes the Prapanchagama, which in
turn is the essence of all agamas]
Please note the strikingly similar usage of the words in both the works -
लोकानुग्रहैकरसतया सम्यग्ज्ञानप्रवर्तनप्रयोजन कृतशरीरपरिग्रहस्य भगवतो
भाष्यकारस्य
(पञ्पादिका)
लोकानुग्रहैकरसतया कृतशरीरपरिग्रहो भगवान् शङ्कराचार्यः
(प्रपञ्चसार विवरण)
The avatarahood of Bhagavatpada is clearly suggested in almost same words.
This corroborates the fact that the author of both the works is same and
thus buttresses Padmapadacharya’s authorship of the Vivarana on
Prapanchasara.

Om Tat Sat

See an image of Padmapadacharya here:
https://groups.google.com/g/advaitin/c/IQdT3Gf7NmY