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Adi Sankara’s Viveka Chudamani and Tamil Poems
Viveka Chuudaamani , Crest Jewel of Discrimination, is a master piece on Advaita Vedanta. Aadi Sankara gives the gist of the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita in 581 slokas/couplets. I read it in 1994 and scribbled some notes on the margin of slokas. My approach is not the approach of a philosopher. Great many scholars have already written commentaries. Most of them were saints like Swami Chinmayaananda and Swami Sri Maadhavaananda of Advaita Ashrama ,Calcutta.
Like I did with Vishnu Sahasranama, I approached it as a nature lover, science student and a linguistic researcher. I have compared it with some TAMIL poems which other scholars did not do. So, my notes are no commentary but just a comparative study of a layman.
Wisdomlib.org gives all the slokas with meaning.
सर्ववेदान्तसिद्धान्तगोचरं तमगोचरम् ।
गोविन्दं परमानन्दं सद्गुरुं प्रणतोऽस्म्यहम् ॥ १ ॥
sarvavedāntasiddhāntagocaraṃ tamagocaram |
govindaṃ paramānandaṃ sadguruṃ praṇato’smyaham || 1 ||
1. I bow to Govinda, whose nature is Bliss Supreme, who is the Satguru, who can be known only from the import of all Vedanta, and who is beyond the reach of speech and mind.
Viveka =discrimination
Cuudaa=crest; swami Chinmayananda used a different spelling- choodaa
Mani = jewel.
Here the name Govinda has two interpretations
1. Lord Govinda
2. Sankara’s Guru- Sankaracharya was the disciple of Sri Govindapada who is the disciple of Gaudapada. So Sankara has saluted his Guru and God, we may say.
I have noted three interesting points:
a) Sankara has the name Govinda in another famous hymn Bhaja Govindam.
b) Though he is a great devotee of Lord Siva, he did not see any difference between Lord Siva and Vishnu. This has an implication on his age. Most of the scholars placed him around 732 CE. That was the time when Saivites and Vaishnavites fought vehemently with each other. Each one claimed superiority of their own god in Tevaram and Divy Prabandham in Tamil.
This supports the argument of Kanchi Paramacharya Sri Chandra Sekhara Indra Sarasvati (1894-1994). He placed Sankara in BCE period. There was no fight between Vishnu Bhaktas and Siva Bhaktas then. So no one can place him in 732 CE.
He also said there was no fight with Jains and Buddhists in 732 CE. By that time they were weakened or defeated in South India.
I am going to give another point later about Sankara’s cliché Snake and Rope.
But one argument put forth by me in my research article Sankara’s Age is not acceptable to any Sankara Mutt. We all know there were two Sankarachryas who looked similar in many aspects. The second Sankara was called Abhi Nava Sankara (once again a New Sankara). He did whatever Aadi Sankara did. Most of the simple slokas were probably done by the second Sankara. But all mutts are scared to accept it. One it is accepted it would open the Pandora’s box, they fear. Everything done by Aadi Sankara would be doubted.
Another interesting point in the very first sloka is Govinda. I mentioned there are two interpretations.
I compare it with the very first Kural of Tiruvalluvar. Iin the Tamil Veda Tirukkural the first couplet/Kural has two Sanskrit words. Addhi Bhagavan.
Dravidians are scared to accept it as Sanskrit. They said it was the name of his Mother Aadhi and Father Bhagavan. We wouldn’t think that Valluvar was so mean to bring his family in the very first couplet. But like Sankara’s Govinda this is also debated till this day.
Here is the first Kural
அகர முதல எழுத்தெல்லாம் ஆதி
பகவன் முதற்றே உலகு.-1
Tamil Transliteration
Akara Mudhala Ezhuththellaam Aadhi
Bagavan Mudhatre Ulaku.
A, as its first of letters, every speech maintains;
The “Primal Deity” is first through all the world’s domains
Aadhi Bhagavan= primal deity.
This is accepted by most of the commentators.
Summary
Sankara saw Brahman (god) in Vishnu/Govinda and Siva. It is evident in his other hymn Bhaja Govindam. So we cant place him 732 CE He belongs to an ancient period. We have to consider two similar Sankaras to solve the problems.
–subham—
Tags Viveka Chudamani, Adi Sankara, Sloka 1, Govinda, Kural , Adi Bhagavan
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