Next, MadhusUdana pays respects
to his three Gurus who taught him mImAMsA, vedAnta, and initiated him into
sannyAsa.
shrIrAma-vishveshvara-mAdhavAnAmaikyena sAxAtkR^ita-mAdhavAnAm.h
|
sparshena nirdhUtatamorajobhyaH pAdotthitebhyo .astu
namo rajobhyaH || 2 ||
May salutations be to the dust that on contact removes
darkness (ignorance), the dust of the feet of shrI rAma, shrI vishveshvara, and
shrI mAdhava, who have directly realized the parabrahman (mAdhava) as identical
with themselves.
The first occurrence of "mAdhava" denotes the Guru,
mAdhava, but the second stands for parabrahman, per gauDa-brahmAnandI -
mAdhavAnAM parabrahmaNAm.h .
bahubhirvihitA budhaiH parArthaM vijayante .amitavistR^itA
nibandhAH |
mama tu shrama eshha nUnamAtmaMbharitAM bhAvayituM
bhavishhyatIha || 3 ||
Many knowledgeable people have composed lengthy works that are
excellent and for the sake of (educating) others. But this effort of mine will only be for fulfilling my own
objective.
ViTThalesha states here that MadhusUdana has shown his lack of
conceit, garvarAhityapradarshana.
In the next verse, MadhusUdana briefly states the purpose of
his work.
shraddhAdhanena muninA madhusUdanena saN^gR^ihya
shAstranichayaM rachitAtiyatnAt.h |
bodhAya vAdivijayAya cha sattvarANAm-advaitasiddhiriyamastu
mude budhAnAm.h
|| 4 ||
This advaita-siddhi has been composed by the sage MadhusUdana,
whose sole asset is faith, with great diligence, after collecting the truths of
the shAstras. May this advaita-siddhi be useful in imparting (correct)
understanding and in gaining victory over disputants (with opposite views) to
those who are too busy (to read lengthy works) and may it be a (source of) joy
to the learned!
Here, BrahmAnanda sees a link between "iyam.h"
(this) in the current verse and the final verse of the advaita-siddhi:
siddhInAm-ishhTa-naishhkarmya-brahmagAnAmiyaM chirAt.h |
advaitasiddhiradhunA chaturthI samajAyata ||
After a long lapse of time since the "siddhi"s of ishhTa,
naishhkarmya, and brahma, this
advaita-siddhi, the fourth siddhi, has originated.
The three other siddhi's being referred to are the ishhTa-siddhi of
VimuktAtman, the naishhkarmya-siddhi of Sureshvara, and the Brahma-
siddhi of maNDana mishra.
MadhusUdana :-
tatrAdvaitasiddherdvaitamithyAtvasiddhipUrvakatvAt.h dvaita-
mithyAtvameva prathamamupapAdanIyam.h |
Since the establishing of unreality of duality is the antecedent of
establishing the truth of nonduality, only the unreality of
duality is to be established
first.
siddhivyAkhyAkAra (balabhadra) :-
nanu advaitasiddhAvadvaitasyaiva pratipadanIyatayA tadvihAyA-
gre dvaitamithyAtvopapAdanaM kriyamANamasaN^gatamityata Aha
tatreti | tasyAmadvaitasidhhau dvaitamithyAtvameva prathamam-
upapAdanIyamityarthaH | tatra hetuH advaitasiddherityAdi |
tathAcha dvaitamithyAtve upapAdite .advaitaM sUpapAdamiti
dvaitamithyAtvopapAdanamadvaitasiddhyanuguNatvAnnAsaN^gatamiti
dhyeyam.h |
An objection can be raised: In advaita-siddhi, only advaita should be
discussed. Discarding that (objective) in the beginning, the establishing
of unreality of duality that is being done is irrelevant. In reply,
(MadhusUdana) states tatra, etc. In advaita-siddhi (establishing the
truth of non-duality), the unreality of duality is to be established
first; this is the meaning. The reason being "advaitasiddheH",
etc. ie. "since the
establishing of nonduality is preceded by establishing the
unreality of duality." And also, when the unreality of duality
is established, nonduality is easily established; by the establishing
of unreality of duality, the truth of nonduality follows. Therefore,
it is to be considered that (such establishing of unreality of duality)
is not irrelevant.