Sri Sankaracarya climbed up Seshachala and had darshan of Lord Venkatesa. It was here that the Acarya sang the Vishupadadikesanta verses in praise of Hari.
This tamil pamphlet published by an adherent of the Tunga Sringeri matha, contains a brief note on the Biography of Sri Sankara Bhagavadpada (as found in the 19th century Samkshepa Sankarajaya of Navakalidasa Madhava) and Tanjore Mahratta mural image of the Acarya with His Four Sishyas.
The Great Shankaracharya,
(Life-time From B. C. 42 to B. C. 10.)
ஸ்ரீஜகத்குரு ஆதிசங்கராசாரிய ஸ்வாமி ஜீவித காலம் கல்யப்தம் 3058 முதல் 3090 வரை அதாவது வயது 32. ஜனன பூமி மலையாளத்திலுள்ள காலட்டி அக்ரஹாரம், இம்மஹானது ஏழாவது ஆண்டிலேயே சகலகலாவல்ல ஜகத்பூஜியராய், 16-வது ஆண்டில் கோவிந்தபாதரைச் சற்குருவாய்ற்றேர்ந்து ஸந்நியாஸாச்ரமத்தைப் பெற்று ஸ்ரீசக்கிரம், நவக்ரஹ யந்திரம், சந்திரமௌளீஸ்வர லிங்கம், நரசிங்க சாளிக்கிராமமிவைகளை யளிக்கப் பெற்றார்கள். பின்னர் ஸ்ரீகாசிக்குச் சென்று….
It is well known that Rshyasringa was a sage of epic celebrity. As such, he ought to have lived long ages before Sankaracarya.
Rshyasringa in Ramayana
There can be no greater authoritative sources than the Ramayana and the Mahabharata regarding the location of the ashrama of the sage, Rshyasringa.
The following verses in Valmiki’s Ramayana will give the clue to the fact that Rshysringa belonged to the period of Dasaratha and that Rshyasringa’s abode was in Angadesa (modern Assam), whence Dasaratha took the sage to Ayodhya.
(a) Ramayana Balakanda – Canto IX:
“एतस्मिन्नेव कालेषु रोमपादः प्रतापवान्” – Verse 7
“ अङ्गेषु प्रथितो राजा भविष्यति महाबलः” – Verse 8
By this time, the mighty Romapada will be the renowned king of Angadesa.
“विभण्डकसुतं राजन्। सर्वोपायैरिहानय।
आनाय्य च महीपाल ऋश्यशृङ्गं सुसत्कृतम् ॥ ” – Verse 12
Having been permitted by Vasishtha, King Dasaratha, with the ladies of the harem, and with his ministers, started for the place where that Brahmin and great sage (Rshyasringa) lived. Having got near that Brahmin, who was near Romapada.
According to the further verses in the epic, Dasaratha requested the King of Angadesa to send sage Rshyasringa to Ayodhya for the Vedic sacrifice that Dasaratha had arranged for.
Rshyasringa in Mahabharata
The story of Rshyasringa is narrated in chapters 87, 88 and 89 of the Teerthayatra section of the Aranyakanda of the Mahabharata.
In verse 22 of chapter 87, Lomasa tells Yudhishthira that Visvamitra’s hermitage shines on the bank of the sacred river, Kausiki.
The next verse states that the abode of the great sage, Kasyapa, known as Punyashrama, is also there, and points to it as also the residence of the tapasvin Rshyasringa.
The relevant verses are:
लोमश:-
“येवा देवी महापुण्या कौशिकी भरतर्षभ ।
विश्वामित्राश्रमो रम्य एष चात्र प्रकाशते ॥
आश्रमश्चैव पुण्याख्यः काश्यपस्य महात्मनः ।
ऋश्यशृङ्गस्सुतो यस्य तपस्वी संयतेन्द्रियः ॥”
Verse 40 of the same chapter states that Romapada is the King of Angadesa. In the tenth verse of chapter 88, Rshyasringa enquires the leader of the damsels (sent by Romapada to entice sage Rshyasringa and bring him to the royal court), as to where the damsel leader’s residence is In the next verse (11), the leader of the damsels informs the sage that her abode is only three yojanas from the other side of the hill, seen near (near Rshyasringa’s hermitage).
The word Yojana’, according to standard lexicons, is a measure of distance equal to 48,000 feet, or roughly 9.09 miles.
Hence, according to the line quoted above, Rshyasringa’s hermitage should have been situated only about 27.21 miles away from the capital of Romapada, the King of Anga, according to the Mahabharata.
Thus, both the Great Epics clearly indicate that Rshyasringa’s ashrama had existed in north-eastern India, somewhere on the border of Angadesa (modern Assam). Kshetras, Asramas or temples with Rshyasringa’s name are also found in Bihar, Chhattisgarh (Shihawa), Himachal pradesh, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Puducherry (Kottucherry)
Hyderabad Deccan, Nagpur, Jubbalpur, Jhansi, Sagar, Gwalior, Khanapur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Allahabad, Benarese, Gaya, Burdwan, Cuttack, Jagan nath, Berhampore, Vizayanagaram, Vizagapatam, Raja Mahandri, Bezwada, Guntur, Nellore, Kalahasti, Tirupati, Madras, Kanchi, Trichinopoly, Sreerungam, Madura, Tanjore, Kumbhakonam, Chidambaram, Sheally (Sirkali), Ramaswaram, Pondicherry, Chettinad, Arunachalam, Salem, Cochin, Kaladi, Tiruchur, Malabar, Nilgiris, Bombay, Poona, and many other important places. At Bombay, His Holiness was taken on an elephant in procession, a privilege which has not been extended even to royalty.
At Chidambaram, No Swamy was allowed to enter in procession to the temple during the last 70 or 80 years on account of some disputes between the priests and the Sringeri Swamy. The Sivaganga Swamy visited the temple and had darshan of Sri Nataraja murti and Sri Sivakami Ambal. At Kumbhakonam the Kanchi Swamy had not allowed other Gurus, to exercise any rights or privileges in his jurisdiction, but the Sivaganga Swamy was cordially treated.
At Hyderabad the Swamy commanded great influence and initiated its Prime Minister as his disciple. Gwalior and other states showed him high respect and great patronage.
In fact by his able lectures, religious devotion, liberality, sympathy and genial disposition, the Swamy has been treated by all classes and creeds, as if he was one of their own Gurus and this broad mindedness and conciliation, are rarely met with the heads of the religious Institutions in India.
(Extracted from the book – A Short History of Sivaganga Mutt – APPENDIX II By B.Suryanarain Row, Bangalore, 1914)
Sankaracharya : Biographical Sketches of Dekkan Poets – Being Memoirs of the Lives of Several Eminent Bards Both Ancient And Modern, Who Have Flourished In Different Provinces of the Indian Peninsula Compiled From Authentic Documents, By Cavelley Venkata Ramaswamie Late Head Translator And Pandit In the Literary And Antiquarian Department, Calcutta (1829)
Alluri Kuppanna ( Andhra Kaldasa) : 18th century Telugu poet, son of Venkatesa and Narasamambika, an inhabitant of the region bordering on the Krishna river.
From his infancy he studied Telugu and Sanskrit and in due time became a poet of considerable merit. He travelled through various countries.
Later he became a pupil of Kasturi Rangayya, a great poet and head of the French peons in Trichinopoly and composer of many odes on his French masters.
Alluri Kuppanna migrated to the Tanjore Mahratta kingdom. He also became an asthana vivian in Rajesri Tulajaji Maharaja’s (1763-1787) palace darbar.
Alluri Kuppanna, translated the Sankara Vijaya of Anandagiri into Telugu (Acharya Vijayamu). In appreciation of his great work, King Tulajaji, conferred the worthy title of ‘Andhra Kalidasa’ .
Alluri Kuppana wrote many works of which may be mentioned Panchanada Sthalapurana, Yakshaganas of the Ramayana and Bhagavata stories, Parama Bhagavata Charitra, Indumati Parinaya and Karmapaka.
Cauvelly Venkata Ramaswamie, in his 1828 publication, The Biographical Sketches of Deccan Poets says,”The Telugu Translation of Anandagiri’s Sankaravijayam, Andhra Kalidasa Kavi’s Acharya Vijayamu is still in existence and extensively circulated in the Telugu country.”
(ARADHANA, Monthly Magazine of the Hindu Religious And Charitable Endowments Dept. Andhra, Vol.3, 1957)
SOURCES FOR SANKARACHARYA’S LIFE… 1
The sources for the life of Sankara Bhagavadpadacharya are very scanty and meagre, as is the case with almost the life of every early great Indian.
Sankaracharya himself was a great writer, and has left us a remarkable collection of writings, which reflect the power of his thought, and the greatness of his conception.
The most noteworthy of His works, are his classic commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, the Gita, and the Upanishads. The Upadesha Sahasri’ and “Vivekachudamani’ are composite works by Sankaracharya, which reflect His general tenets. But unfortunately for us, these works of the master, do not contain much of useful biographical material. We have, therefore, mainly to depend upon the works of His disciples.
A number of biographies of Sankaracharya, called ‘Sankara Vijayas’ have been written by his disciples, the most important of them being Madhava’s “Sankara Digvijaya” and Anandagiri’s “Sankara vijaya”.
….
Anandagiri’s biography is generally held to be the most authoritative. Anandagiri is held to be the same as “Thotakacharya’ who was one of the four important disciples of Sankaracharya.
‘Advaita Samrajya Lakshimi,’ a commentator upon the Madhaveeya Sankara Vijaya, holds that Anandagiri was a direct and dear disciple of Sri Sankaracharya. He says:
Anandagiri’s Sankara Vijaya also gives the same list of the disciples in the following words: G”पद्भपाद, हस्तामलक, समित्पाणि, चिद्विलास, विज्ञानकन्द विष्णुगुप्त, युद्धकीर्ति, भानु मरीचि, कृष्णदर्शन, बुद्धिवृद्धि, विरिविपाद, शुद्धानन्द, गिरिप्रमुखैः”
So, we may assume that Anandagiri was a contemporaneous and direct disciple of Sri Sankaracharya and that his biography would contain the most accurate information about the life of the great Acharya.
COPPER-PLATE INSCRIPTIONS BELONGING TO THE SRI SANKARACHARYA OF THE KAMAKOTI-PITHA. Edited By T. A. GOPINATHA RAO, M.A. Madras, (1917) – Book Review By L.D. BARNETT
In this volume Mr. Gopinatha Rao gives the text and translation of ten grants engraved on copper-plates, which belong to the monastery at Kumbakonam, known as the Kama-kōti-pitha, one of the establishments claiming descent from the great Sankaracharya.
The documents comprise grants of Vijaya-ganda-gopala (circa A.D. 1260),
Vira Narasimhha-deva (Saka 1429), Krishna-deva-rāya (Saka 1444 and 1450),
Vijaya Raghunatha Tondaiman of Pudukōṭṭai (Saka 1613), Vijayaranga Chokkanatha Nayanayyavaru (Saka 1630), and one of the Emperors of Delhi (Hijra 1088), together with a fragment of a grant issued by one of the Vijayanagara kings of the last dynasty and a document of Saka 1608, which is interesting from its mention of Akkanna and Madanna, the notorious favourites of the Kutb Shahi Sultan Abu’l-Hasan of Golkonda.
They are in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, and even (in the case of the Delhi firman) Persian transliterated into the Telugu character.
In our opinion the editor would have done well to transcribe each document in the script in which it is actually written, or else into Roman; instead of doing so, however, he has given alike the Sanskrit, the Telugu, and the Persian in Nagari character. In defence of this course he may plead the example of certain distinguished writers in the Epigraphia Indica; but two blacks do not make a white, and the transliteration of a complicated Southern alphabet like Telugu into such a disparate script as Nagari leads to most unhappy results.
Apart from this minor point, the work is carefully and correctly done-perhaps a little too correctly, for the learned editor has given in his notes the correct forms for all vulgar and archaic spellings, which is hardly necessary in every case and is illustrated by good plates. The only real desideratum is an index.
(Contd.) Further even today there exists a Matha by name Sumeru Matha (also known as Paduka Matha) in Varanasi.
It has a distinct code (Mathamnaya) of its own. In an appeal for funds, for carrying out repairs of the Matha issued on behalf of this institution several years ago, it is stated that during his stay at the holy City of Kasi Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Jagadguru Adi Sankaracharya Maharaj established the Sumeru Math.’
Among the signatories in this appeal the names of the Heads of the Omkar Matha and Dattatreya Matha, the Mahants of the Visvesvar and Annapurani Temples, four distinguished scholars with the title of Mahamahopadhyaya, the Private Secretary of the Maharajah of Benares, many other Scholars, Officers, Zamindars etc., are seen.
In this connection it may be remembered that in Mathamnayas, the Matha for Urdhvamnaya is given as Sumeru Matha’, its Sampradaya as Kashi Sampradaya and kshetra (location) as Kaivalya-Kshetra (meaning thereby the place of liberation-Kashi being the foremost of the seven sacred cities of liberation or Mokshapuris of our land).
Among the other details given in Mathamnaya works occur the phrases: ‘शुकवामदेवादि – जीवन्मुक्तानां सुसंवेदप्रपठनं etc.
Some of ancient title records of the Vanjiyur Sri Viswanatha Swamy Devasthanam estates belonging to the Kanchi Matha, evidence the existence of a Branch matha of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetha in the Hanuman Ghat,
Kashi and also the details of the mahant (sanyasi disciple) who was the in charge of the Varanasi Branch matha (also known as Sukadeva Matha).
With the laudable idea of fittingly commemorating the stay of Sri Sankara Bhagavadpada in the Holy Varanasi, the spiritual capital of Bharat, Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Moolamnaya Sarvajna Peetha performed the Kumbhabhishekam of the newly constructed Kamakotisvara and Panchayatana Mandir at Kashi on 28th January 1974.
Sri Sankara Bhagavadpada had darshan of His Preceptor Sri Govinda Bhagavadpada at a place (cave) on the banks of the Narmada river.
Later, as per the wishes of Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada, Sri Sankaracharya crossed the forests of Central India and in due course reached the sacred mokshapuri of Varanasi where he stayed on for a pretty long time.
His illustrious commentaries on the Brahma – Sutras, the Upanisads, the Bhagavat Gita, the Vishnu – Sahasranama, the composition of the smaller pieces such as the Gangashtaka, the Manisha panchaka etc., are assigned to the period of His Stay at Kashi.
A verse in the Guruvamsa Kavya, remarks on the manuscript of this Kavya in the Annual report of the Mysore Archaeological Department for the year 1928 (Govt. Press, Bangalore) and an inscription in the Brahmendra Matha at Sivalaya Ghat in Varanasi clearly indicate Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada’s establishing religious institutions in the form of Mathas at important places which He visited or wherein He stayed for long.
The Guruvamsakavya speaks of the Acharya’s founding of *five mathas* at Varanasi,
four for His principal disciples and one for Himself.
On pages 15 to 20 of the Annual Report of the Mysore Archaeological Department mentioned above, the following remarks on the Guruvamsakavya are found:-
” It follows that the author was the contemporary of Somasekhara II (1714-1739) of Keladi when Sacchidananda Bharati (1705-1741) adorned the pontifical seat at Sringeri.
(Kashi) Lakshmana Sastri, the author, seems to have been a very good scholar and as he composed the work under the orders of Sachchidananda Bharati. It may be reasonably presumed that he faithfully copied all available traditional information about the successive teachers of Sringeri “.
On page 16 of this Report the founding of an important Matha at Varanasi by Sri Sankaracharya is noted-
” The author says that He (Sri Sankaracharya) set up five Mathas and mentions the names of Sringeri, Kanchi, Badri, Kashi and Jagannatha.”
The following inscription in the Brahmendra Matha in Varanasi (referred to earlier) points to a line of Acharyas belonging to Sri Sankara Bhagavadpada Parampara:—
