Sadar Pranaams , Shri Bhaskar Prabhuji!
Prabhuji writes,
( mAtAji I do respect & worship sri mAtA's maha mAyA shakthi when I
offer my pUja to her.)
Wow! Prabhuji! That is great. Did you know that Shri RAMACHANDRA
prabhuji himself performed extensive Pujas to Sri Durga Mata before
undertaking the great war against the ten headed demon Ravana.
In fact, Lord Krishna himself instructs Arjuna to offer manasika
prayers to Sree Durga Devi before launching the attack against the
Kauravas in the Kurukshetra war! One cannot even lift a 'straw'
without the Great Mother's blessings leave alone a Gandiva bow! such
is her ananya Shakti or Power!!!
Prabhuji writes
( In ISKCON also we used to call rAdhA mAyi as the supreme power
of godhead & in rAdha mAyi's sahasra nAma, one of the names is mahA
mAyi.)
YES! Prabhuji, have you seen pictorial illustrations where Lord
Krishna is shown washing the feet of smt. Radharani? In ksheera
sagara, you see LAKSHMI DEVI sitting at the feet of Ananta Padmanabha
and massaging the Lord's holy feet. But the role is reversed when
Lord vishnu incarnates as Krishna... In this avatara, Krishna is
Radha's shakti! here, Krishna bows down to Radharani as his superior
potency!
Prabhuji writes
( Sri prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao argues in his book *shankara &
adhyAsa bhAshya* that shankara was very much a vaishnava.)
Of course ! Shankara was a vaishnavite too ! and prabhuji, who is
Vaishnav ? Not someone who just wears the 'Namam' - a vaishnav is one
whose very presence reminds you of Bhagwan vishnu. In this sense, ADI
SHANKARA WAS THE GREATEST VAISHNAV OF ALL.
every time, i see shankara bhagvadapada's picture, i am reminded of
Baja Govindam Baja Govindam |
Govindam Baja Moodamate ||
Samprapte Sannihite Kaale |
Na Hi Na Hi Rakshati Dukrunkarane |
Worship Govinda, worship Govinda,
O foolish one! Worship Govinda.
The rules of grammar profit nothing,
once the hour of death draws nigh.

AND of course, in appearance, he looked like a 'shaivITE ' .... Very
ASCETIC - - an eka-dandi sanyasi - simple, austere and a perfect
sadhu - with an alms bowl ...
That is the whole point... it is hard to put Adi SHANKARA into any
one category - shakta, vaishnav , or shaivite. He was all this and
much more. He WAS A 'KAULA'

antah-shaktah,
bahih-shaivah
sabhayang vaishnavahmatah
nana – rupadharah kaulah vicharanti mahitale

outwardly A ShaivaITE
in gatherings, A Vaishnava;
at heart, A Shakta
under various forms the Kaulas wander on earth

and Prabhuji , let me ask you this? Have you been to Sringeri or
kanchi ? and the Pujas that are performed in these temples follow
strictly the procedures laid down by the Acharya in devi worship.
ANTYONE WHO PERFORMS a SHRI CHAKRA PUJA , HOW CAN THEY NOT BE A
SHAKTA?

and pray who is a tantrik adwaitha?

Tantra does not mean just black magic or witchcraft or the pancha
makara sadhana ! Adi shankara followed the 'samayachara' path. He did
Manasika puja to Devi .

It is not for me to comment whether adi shankara authored 'saundarya
lahari ' or 'viveka chudamani' etc... There will be always
A 'doubting' Thomas in any group. But i go by what KANCHI
PARAMACHARYA SAYS... after acharya, paramacharya !! that is the
sampradaya! i have never heard of Ramachandra Rao. I WOULD RATHER
BELIEVE KANCHI PARAMACHARYA THAN SRI RAMACHANDRA RAO.

and what is this clincal precision, you are talking about Prabhuji!

in matters of Brahmnma-jnana, there is no such thing as precision or
imprecision. It is all about 'anubhooti' - one's own! Adi Shankara's
anubhoothi is uniquely his own. So is shri Ramana's!

IT IS NOT FAIR TO DISCUSS 'real and unreal' only in terms of
shankara's prastana trayi bhasya.

IN order to understand if jagat is really Mithya, you do need to
discuss about shankara's other works too!

WE are in the 'jignasu' stage only at this moment and therefore
until we reach the stage of Brahma Jnana., WE NEED TO DISCUSS THIS
TOPIC FROM ALL ANGLES-

FINALLY, IT DOES NOT MATTER what i or anyone else calls 'adi
shankara' - vaishnav or tantric adwaithin! That is neither here nor
there ! Adi shankara Bhagvadapada was a yuga avatara!

Jaya Jaya Shankara

Hara Hara Shankara!

AUM NAMO Maha TRIPURASUNDARI !

Dear AdiMa,

--- In advaitin (AT) yahoogroups (DOT) com, "adi_shakthi16" <adi_shakthi16@y...>
wrote:

> That is the whole point... it is hard to put Adi SHANKARA
> into any one category - shakta, vaishnav , or shaivite.
> He was all this and much more.


Yes AdiMa, you are absolutely right. Adi Shankara was all this and
much more. We cannot limit Shankara to any this or that!

Love and regards,
Chittaranjan

Thank you Chiita !

Whatever i wrote this morning came right from my Heart- right after
Brahma-muhurta Meditation.

Adi shankara sings thus in the Jivan-Muktananda lahari

siváyáç sambhorvá kvacidapi ca vinúïorapi kadá
gaïádhyakúasyápi prakaûa tapanasyápi ca kadá
Paûhanvai námálim nayana racitánanda salilo
munir na vyámoham bhajati gurudèkúákúata tamáç (7)

Chanting the many names with tears of joy welling in the eyes,
Sometimes of the consort of Siva (Sakti), at times of Sambhu (Siva),
sometimes of Vishnu , And then of Ganapati and sometimes of the
visible Sun; The sage, with ignorance dispelled by Guru's grace
(dèksá), is not at all deluded.

(www.kamakoti.org)

This is the state of a jivan-mukta.

and coming to think of it...

Adi Shankara Bhagvadapada ESTABLISHED the shanmathas

1) Ganapathyam ( Ganesha)

2) Sauram (SURYA)

3) Saktam (SAKTHI)

4) Kaumaram (SUBRAMANYAM )

5) Saivam ( SIVA)

6) Vaishnavam (VISHNU)

SO FROM THE ABOVE, IT IS OBVIOUS that we cannot pin down Adi Shankara
to ANY ONE MATHA OR SECT!

also, i was surprised to read this in Shri BHASKAR PRABHUJI'S POST...

(Shankara clearly refuted tantra sAdhana in gIta bhAshya & says
worshipping vinAyaka & mAtru gaNa is avaidhika.)

i don't know what you mean by Tantra sadhana ? I know Acharya did not
believe in 'vamachara' tantra sadhana involving the pancha makara.

I cannot believe he did not believe in worshipping Vinayaka.

Read what a glowing tribute Adi shankara bhagvadapada pays to Lord
Ganesha, the Remover of obstacles...

Nitaantikaanta Dantakaanti Mantakaanta Kaatmajam
Achintya Rupa Mantaheena Mantaraaya Krintanam
Hrudantarey Nirantaram Vasantameva Yoginam
Tameka Danta Meva Tam Vichintayaami Santatam.

I constantly reflect upon that single tusked God only, whose lustrous
tusk is very beautiful, who is the son of Lord Shiva, (Shiva, the God
of destruction), whose form is immortal and unknowable, who tears
asunder all obstacles, and who dwells forever in the hearts of the
Yogis.

(www.chennaionline.com)

Shankara's works include anAtmA shrI vigarhaNa (Meaning 1, 2).
aparokshonubhUti
Atmabodha
AtmaShaTak.h OR nirvANaShaTak
upadeshasAhasrI
ekashloki
upadeshasAhasrI
kashipanchakam
kaupIna paJNchakam.h
dashashlokI
dhanyAShTakaM
nirgunamAnasapUjA
nirvANama~njarI
paJNchikaranam
prashnottararatnamAlikA
prauDhAnubhUti
prabodha sudhAkara
brahmajnAnAvalImAlA
brahmAnucintanam
maniShA panchakaM
mAtRipanchakaM
mAyA panchakaM
yati panchakaM
laghuvAkyavRitti
vAkyavritti
vedAntasiddhAntasArasa.ngrahaH
vivekachuDAmaNi
sAdhana-pa.nchakam
svarUpAnusandhAnAShTakam
(sanskrit documents gde)


This is only one List. Besides this, ACHARYA HAS COMPOSED MANY
DEVOTIONAL HYMNS ON ALL THE GOD/ESSESS INCLUDING subramanya
bhujangam, kanakadhara stotram, mahisarasuramardini stotram, lakshmi
narasimha stotram, Kamakshi ashtakam, BHASYA ON LALITA TRISHATI,
vishnu shasaranama, - you name it and it is there in the list of
shankara's collected works!

In any event, we are still not competent to say anything this way or
that way ....

we are all in the world of 'maya' or 'make believe' !


************************************************** ********************
one correction to my previous post.

acharya and then paramacharya - i said 'sampradaya' i should have
said ParAMPARA!

It is not for a 'jivi' like me to sing the glories of a mukta-jivi?
better still, one who is a videha mukta.

Jaya Jaya Shankara

Hara hara shankara

praNAms Sri Adi mAtAji
Hare krishna

Adi mAtAji :

Did you know that Shri RAMACHANDRA
prabhuji himself performed extensive Pujas to Sri Durga Mata before
undertaking the great war against the ten headed demon Ravana.

bhaskar :

As far as my knowledge it was shiva linga not durga mAta. However, I dont
have any problem, if he had offered pUja to AdiparAshakti :-))


Adi mAtAji :

But the role is reversed when Lord vishnu incarnates as Krishna... In this
avatara, Krishna is Radha's shakti! here, Krishna bows down to Radharani as
his superior
potency!

bhaskar :

Kindly give more details about it mAtAji. This is really interesting.

Adi mAtAji :

In this sense, ADI SHANKARA WAS THE GREATEST VAISHNAV OF ALL.

bhaskar :

in this sense if you are saying he is shAkta then it is OK mAtAji, even we
can identify him with Christianity, Buddhism etc. etc. also yEkam sat viprA
bahudA vadanti.

Adi mAtAji :
it is hard to put Adi SHANKARA into any
one category - shakta, vaishnav , or shaivite. He was all this and
much more.

bhaskar :

This is what I was trying to convey in my previous mail.

Adi mAtAji:

Have you been to Sringeri or kanchi ?

bhaskar :

sringeri..yes..had been there several times...kanchi ...no..sofar.

AdimAtAji :

and the Pujas that are performed in these temples follow strictly the
procedures laid down by the Acharya in devi worship.
ANTYONE WHO PERFORMS a SHRI CHAKRA PUJA , HOW CAN THEY NOT BE A SHAKTA?

bhaskar :

mAtAji frankly speaking, it is immaterial for me to decide whether shankara
was a shAkta/shaiva/vaishNava...so, I dont have any problem in accepting
him as a shAkta in a broader sense.

AdimAtAji :

I WOULD RATHER BELIEVE KANCHI PARAMACHARYA THAN SRI RAMACHANDRA RAO.

bhaskar :

you are welcome to do that mAtAji. But those who know Sri SKR's
commendable knowledge in our scriptures can not deny the fact that he had
some valid points in his arguments. BTW, you can get more details about
him in culturalindia.org (?? sunder prabhuji is this correct??)

AdimAtAji :

FINALLY, IT DOES NOT MATTER what i or anyone else calls 'adi
shankara' - vaishnav or tantric adwaithin! That is neither here nor
there ! Adi shankara Bhagvadapada was a yuga avatara!

bhaskar:

yes mAtAji, he is something beyond all these mundane classifications....my
humble prostrations to parameshwara svarUpa jagadguru Sri Adi
shankarabhagavadpAda.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar