Previous article
A great feature of Adi
Shankara’s birth date is that almost all the ancient authors are unanimous on
the Panchanga features of his date of birth. His year of birth is admitted as Nandana, the
tithi was Vaishakha Shukla
Panchami, his birth star being Punarvasu and the weekday being Sunday. This is
authenticated in ‘Brihat Shankara Vijaya’ by Citsukhacharya, the boyhood
companion of Adi Shankara and ‘Shankara Vijaya’ by Cidvilasa. (page 21, “Date
of Shankara”, edited by N. Mahalingam)
While the availability of
the Panchanga features seem to offer the best means to find out the date using
the astrology software, we come across lot more information – contradictory to
each other in the works of ancient authors. These are about the planetary
combinations in the birth time horoscope of Adi Shankara. For example,
Madhaviya Shankara Vijaya offers the planetary combinations that are similar to
Rama’s horoscope. It is reproduced below. The Kali year is given as 2593.
Deducted from 3101 BCE, the date was 508 BCE. (From p.16, “The Traditional Age
of Sri Shankaracharya and the Mathas” by A. Nataraja Iyer and S.
Lakshminarasimha Sastri)
From Madhaviya Shankara
Vijayam
The year tallied with
Nandana Varusham but the planetary combinations are totally different. Saturn
was shown to be in exaltation in Libra whereas it was in Pisces in that year.
Before producing the horoscopic combination from the software, let me introduce
another horoscope, this one given by Citsukhacharya and quoted by N. Mahalingam
in his book and also produced with the exact verse by T.S. Narayana Sastry (pp.
39, 40)
The Panchanga details are
given. The planetary positions slightly differ from Madhaviya’s Shankara
Vijayam. This horoscope also seems to be created to emulate Rama’s horoscope.
The date is given in
Yudhishthira Shaka but the author (T.S. Narayana Sastry) has counted it from
before Kali Yuga. This is a major error found in most books on the date of Adi
Shankara. The writers of the modern times have interpreted Yudhishthira Shaka
as being different from Kali Yuga, whereas the fact is that the Yudhishthira
Shaka was the first shaka (sub-division) of the Kali Yuga. It did not start
from the time Yudhishthira won the Mahabharata war and ascended the throne.
Dwapara Yuga was running then and there was no Kali Yuga then. Kali Yuga
started only on the exit of Krishna from whence the counting of the first
Shaka, namely, Yudhishthira Shaka began. To explain this let me show the
duration of the each of the six shaka-s of Kali yuga which when totalled
together gives rise to 4,32,000 years.
The count of Yudhishthira
Shaka starts from the 1st year of Kali Yuga, but almost all the
authors have counted from a previous time – not even knowing when the
Mahabharata war ended. It was really shocking to know that scholars have dated
Adi Shankara without even knowing what the Yudhishthira Shaka year means. Yudhisthira
Shaka 2631 means 470 BCE (3101 BCE - 2361) which was Pramoda year, not Nandana.
Now having shown two oft
quoted horoscopes from Madhaviya Shankara Vijaya and Citsukhacharya’s Shankara
Vijaya, let me reproduce what the same date shows. I checked for both Drik
ayanamsa and Surya Siddhanta (SS) Ayanamsa to get the Panchanga details intact.
The following is for SS ayanamsa.
I produced the same for
Drik Ayanamsa which showed the same date, March 28th in 508 BCE, but
the weekday was Monday and not Sunday. The star was Arudra. The planetary
combinations were not at all as shown by Madhaviya or Citsukhacharya.
The
most important date features, particularly the star and weekday do not match
for these years.
The
data in possession of Sringeri Matha is also that of Citsukhacharya’s Brihat
Shankara Vijaya but the scholars have deduced the year 44 BCE for those
details. It is reproduced below.
The year Dhata was
running in 44 BCE, not Nandana. The weekday and star of the day do not match
with Adi Shankara’s birth details.
The Dwaraka Peeth also
gives the same information as that of Citsukhacharya (provided by Kanchi Mutt)
that Adi Shankara was born in Nandana year, Vaishakha Shukla Panchami in
Yudhishthira Shaka 2631. The year was 470 BCE which was Pramoda. If by chance
the year was more by one, then also it was not Nandana, but Shukla year. For
470 BCE, the details are as follows:
I produced for 471 BCE
also.
The Govardhan Mutt also
provides the same kind of birth details and horoscopy details like Kanchi and
Dwaraka Matha-s. We must note that the Panchanga details are the same in all
the Matha-s. Even today Shankara Jayanti is celebrated on Shukla Panchami /
Punarvasu star, but the planetary combinations are certainly not exactly
recorded. As far as Jyothir Mutt is
concerned, the birth details are not available. All the Matha-s, particularly,
Kanchi Matha adopted 509 BCE based on the following input on the Chronogram.
The year of birth of Adi
Shankara is given as Chronogram which read as 2593. Counted from the beginning
of Kali Yuga, this is 508 BCE (3101- 2593). The year was Nandana, but the star
was not Punarvasu as shown earlier. For long, the year was taken as 509 BCE by
deducting from 3201 BCE which is not the beginning of Kali Yuga, and which gave
the year Khara and not Nandana.
Thus, there is a severe
dichotomy in deriving the date. First of all, the date features have not
tallied for any of the years given by the scholars or Matha-s. Secondly the horoscopic
features do not tally for the year 508 BCE derived from the chronogram. With the
date features not tallying for that year, there is a greater chance for an
error in the chronogram too, because it is all about exchanging the words.
Therefore, the best way is to search for the date that combines Nandana year,
Vaishakha Shukla Panchami, Punarvasu and Sunday. The time is given as Abhijit
Muhurtha in many chronicles and as Dhanur in some. We will check them all to
find out the exact date matching with the birth details.
I checked for a 1000-year
period from 500 BCE to 500 CE for both Drik and SS ayanamsa.
The following dates had
the features closely, though only one year matched with all the details.
1.
March 28, 508 BCE,
12-30 PM: Nandana, Vaishakha Shukla Panchami, Monday, Arudra (Drik & SS)
2.
March 27, 448 BCE,
12-30 PM: Nandana, Vaishakha Shukla Panchami, Thursday, Arudra (Drik & SS)
3.
April 21, 388 BCE,
12-30 PM: Nandana, Vaishakha Shukla Chaturthi, Saturday, Punarvasu (Drik &
SS)
4.
March 19, 328 BCE,
12- 30 PM: Nandana, Vaishakha Shukla Panchami, Saturday, Mrigashirsha (Drik
& SS)
5.
April 13, 208 BCE,
12- 30 PM: Nandana, Vaishakha Shukla Panchami, Friday, Punarvasu (Drik &
SS)
6.
April 11, 148 BCE, 12-30 PM: Nandana, Vaishakha Shukla
Panchami, Sunday, Punarvasu (Drik & SS)
7. April 17, 332 CE, 10-30
PM: Nandana, Vaishakha Shukla
Panchami, Sunday, Punarvasu (Drik & SS) Dhanur
Lagnam
For all the dates except
the last one, the lagna was Abhijit Muhurtha (12-30 PM) at Kataka or Simha. For
the year 332 CE, all the birth details matched only after 10-30 PM at night.
That gets the lagna at Dhanur as quoted by Atmabodha. But that lagna does not
indicate sanyasa ashrama. Only 148 BCE (April 11) had all the birth details
found together. The rashi, Bhava and Navamsa charts for that date are produced
below (April 11, 148 BCE, 12-30 PM).
The combination of Rashi
and Bhava charts simulated to Drik ayanamsa show Pravrajya
Yoga. The lagna is Kataka in the Bhava with the Sun joining Mars in
the 10th house. Mars is the Yoga karaka, which is powerful in shadbala
strength and joins the Sun indicating taking up of Diksha. The Janmesa (lord of
Janma) Mercury is joined by Saturn and not aspected by any other planet. In the
Navamsa, the Janmesa and Moon are aspected by Saturn. Moon is in Saturine Drekkana.
These features ensure that he had taken Diksha and lived a renounced life.
Jupiter is in the 9th from the Bhava lord, owning the 9th
house which shows that he would write sastras, sciences and commentaries. In
all, six planets are powerful – Jupiter and Mars in own houses, Sun in
exaltation, Venus and Mercury in Parivartana yoga, Ketu in the 12th
bhava. Saturn which is shown exalted in the horoscopes of olden acharyas is in
the right place that ensures sanyasa yoga. So, this horoscope is highly
reliable for a great Sanyasi whose contribution to sastras is immense.
The mis-spelling in
chronogram
The date 148 BCE is
equivalent of Kali 2953 years.
This makes a surprising
reading because the chronogram from Prachina Shankara Vijaya quoted by
Atmabodha was Kali 2593 – it was just a misplacement of a number which was
taken to mean 508 BCE by the Kanchi Mutt.
Reproducing the chronogram
in the verse, it says,
“tishya prayāthya anala shēvāthi bāṇa
nētra” where
Anala = 3, shēvāthi =
9, bāṇa = 5, nētra = 2.
3952 was reversed to give
2593.
Now it appears, it should
have been 2953 by which the chronogram should read as
‘Anala bāṇa shēvāthi nētra” = 3592. The reverse will be
2953.
Kali 2953
(tishya is Kali yuga) means 3101 – 2953 = 148
The chronogram, if
corrected by just a jumble of a word, gives the exact year of birth of Adi
Shankara which fulfils all the date features.
By using the chronogram
with a single number misplaced, the year 508 BCE was got.
This seems to be a transcription
error when people in the old misplaced a single letter of the chronogram when
they copied down. This completely changed the date that did not match with the
original date.
Scholars working on
original manuscripts can look for this jumble in the olden manuscripts and
correct it to the satisfaction of all.
Thus, the date is
available. It was in the pre-common era.
Earlier It was proved
that this date tallied with Karikāl Chola’s time who built the city of Kanchi on
the advice of Adi Shankara.
Adi Shankara’s life
events.
The horoscope shows that
Adi Shankara was born in Jupiter Maha dasa- Moon Bhukthi.
He lost his father in his
8th year. That was in Saturn Dasa.
He became a Sanyasin in
his 12th year. That was in Saturn Dasa – Ketu Bhukthi.
A turning pint in his
life was meeting of Kumarila Bhatta in his 16th year. He was running
Saturn Dasa- Sun Bhukthi at that time.
There was no turning back
in his life after that as he was completely immersed in writing commentaries
and regulating Dharma. His end came in Mercury Dasa – when he was shining in
knowledge and Mukthi.
The setting up of the Matha-s
The setting up of the
Matha-s follow quick succession in his agenda.
1.
Dwaraka Pitha – Sadharana varusham, Magha Shukla
Saptami: January 14, 129 BCE, Saturday, Bharani
2.
Jyothish Mutt – Rakshasa Varusham, Paush
Shukla Purnima: November 29, 125 BCE, Monday, Arudra.
3.
Govardhan Mutt – Nala Varusham, Vaishakha
Shukla Dasami: March 21, 124 BCE, Tuesday, Magha.
4.
Sringeri Mutt – Pingala Varusham, Paush
Shukla Purnima: December 7, 123 BCE, Friday, Punarvasu
5.
Kanchi Mutt – Siddharthi Varusham,
Vaishakha Shukla Purnima: April 22, 121 BCE, Tuesday, Vishakha
Shankara’s date of ascending
to heaven is also given in Panchanga features. It was Rakthaskhi
year, Vrishabha Masa, Shukla Ekadasi. This tallies with March 23, 116 BCE, Sunday Purvaphalguni.
This date very much
matches with that of Karikāl Chola who built the Grand Anicut in the year 111
BCE. Adi Shankara did not live to see the Kallanai built. But he got what he
wanted – building the Ekāmbareswarar temple and the Varadarāja temple besides
the Kamakshi temple.
With only 5 years left
between his setting up of the Kanchi Mutt and his Swargarohanam, it is highly
unlikely he made a walkathon to North India to leave his mortal coils in
Kedarnath. Kanchi being a Moksha sthala, it is highly likely he spent his final
days in Kanchi, taking great satisfaction in having established Kamakshi Amman
and praising her as Dravida Shishu – as a resident of the Dravida region of
Kanchi.
Having completed the date
related issues, let me now focus on he issues raised by scholars on his
contemporaries.
Purnavarman in Adi
Shankara’s writings.
In his article, ‘The date
of Shankaracharya’ published in the India Antiquary, 1884, volume no: 13, Mr.
K.T. Telang raised certain names used by Adi Shankara in his commentaries. (p.
95, https://archive.org/details/indianantiquary1884vol.13_218_H/page/96/mode/1up
). Since then, they are being discussed by scholars with varied results.
In his Bhashya to Vedanta
Sutra, II-1-17, Adi Shankara refers to a king by name Purnavarman,
which gives the impression that he was living during his time or around his
time. Suppose we find out the identity of this king, we can establish Adi
Shankara’s date – this was the opinion of the scholars who quoted this passage.
The passage runs as follows:
“If somebody should use,
for instance, a phrase such as the following one, 'The son of a barren woman
was king previously to the coronation of Pûrnavarman,'
the declaration of a limit in time implied in that phrase does not in reality
determine that the son of the barren woman, i.e. a mere non-entity, either was
or is or will be king. If the son of a barren woman could become an existing
thing subsequently to the activity of some causal agent, in that case it would
be possible also that the non-existing effect should be something existing,
subsequently to the activity of some causal agent.” (https://sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe34/sbe34157.htm
)
The passage talks about whether
we can establish the existence of an entity by a comparison such as – the son
of a barren woman was the king before the coronation of Purvavarman.
Certainly, a barren woman
cannot give birth to a son. But by saying that the son of a barren woman was
the king before Purnavarman was crowned as the king, it indicates the
impossibility of such a person and not relate his nonexistence to the existence
of a king who was crowned after him. In this passage, the king Purnavarman
appears like a real character. Adi Shankara was referring to a real king by
name Purnavarman and makes a comparison with an impossible entity of one born
to a barren woman. So, who was this Purnavarman? This question was haunting the
scholars. Either he must have been a contemporary of Adi Shankara or must have
lived and died very closely to Shankara’s time.
Mr. Telang identifies two
Purnavarman-s – one who lived in Java in the 5th century and one who
ruled from Magadha and mentioned by Hieun Tsang.
Purnavarman of Magadha
looks quite agreeable but his identity is variously disputed by Telang and
almost all the scholars who tried to identify him. It is important to note that
Telang found out from the writings of Hieun Tsang that Purnavarman was the last
of the Maurya kings. Though Hieun Tsang mentioned about him, the scholars make
an unnecessary fuss that he did not attempt to meet him, thinking that Purnavarman
lived in the 7th century when Adi Shankara also lived!
I tried to locate the work
of Hieun Tsnag to know what exactly he had written but couldn’t get the
original write-up. All that I could get was the secondary writings which
invariably said that Hieun Tsang did say that Purnavarman was the last of the
Maurya kings of which Ashoka was an important king.
The problem in
identifying Purnavarman arises from another information that the celebrated
Bodhi tree was destroyed by Shashanka and it was Purnavarman who successfully
restored it. The identity of Shashanka is another issue which scholars tend to
link with Harshavardhana. This brings the date of Adi Shankara much later and
runs against the date we found out.
So, I decided to go with
the original and initial information on Purnavarman as the last king of the Maurya-s.
One will be surprised to know that most information on Maurya-s and others are
drawn from Vishnu Purana and Jain or Buddhist chronicles and not supported by
archaeology.
Only nine emperors have
ruled from the Maurya dynasty of Ashoka. The last and the nineth emperor was
not named as Purnavarman but as Brihadratha. The main kings were as follows:
Ashoka – 304- 232 BCE
Dasharatha Maurya
(grandson)
Samprati
Shalishuka
Devavarman
Shatadhanvan (8th emperor
of Maurya)
Brihadratha (9th
emperor) 187- 185 BCE.
Brihadratha was overthrown
by Pushyamitra Shunga who founded the Shunga dynasty.
Upto Brihadratha,
Buddhism was supported by the kings and Hinduism was not favoured. Only with
the ascent of Pushyamitra Shunga, Sanatana Dharma found a revival. It was in
his period, Patanjali wrote the Mahabhashya. Vedic homas were done, Vedic
literature got back its pre-eminence.
The date of Brihadratha appears
just before Adi Shankara’s year of birth at 148 BCE. Someone of his Maurya predecessors
had disregarded Buddhism. There is no name Shashanka appearing in the lineage
given in Vishnu Purana but there was one Shalishuka given in Yuga Purana as a
Mauryan king who was described in disparaging terms. Perhaps he attempted to
cut off the Bodhi tree but was stopped. Brihadratha continued to be a Buddhist
and worked against Sanatana Dharma. It seems there was resistance to the royal
patronage of Buddhism which is known from the fact that Pushyamitra, an army
chief of the Maurya-s, while conducting a parade in front of the Mauryan king
Brihadratha, crushed him in the pretext of showing strength.
Once Brihadratha was
killed by Pushyamitra, there was no opposition which by itself shows that
people disliked the king and his Buddhist leanings. Once on the throne,
Pushyamitra established the revival of Sanatana Dharma.
In this background, Adi
Shankara comparing a non-existent king born to a barren woman with Purnavarman,
appears to convey the thought flow of Adi Shankara himself. Purnavarman was as
good as the son of a barren woman, in being an opponent of Vedic religion.
Scholars identify another
Purnavarman, but he belonged to the Gupta dynasty. Since Hieun Tsnag clearly
stated that he was the last emperor of the Maurya dynasty of Ashoka, and the
date matches with Adi Shankara’s date, there is no need to look for Purnavarman
from other periods.
In the same trip to
Bharat, Hieun Tsang also visited Kanchi. If Adi Shankara was living at that
period or close to that period, he would have mentioned about him because of
Adi Shankara’s penchant for defeating Buddhism wherever he went. Such debates
were not active during the 7th century when Hieun Tsang visited
Bharat.
Purnavarman and
Rajavarman.
Adi Shankara once again makes
a mention about Purnavarman in his commentary to Chandogya Upanishad, 2-23-1.
Here he says, “service under
Purnavarman brings only food and clothing, while that under Rajavarman brings
rewards equal to kingship”.
The reference establishes
the reality of a king by name Purnavarman but shows that he was not well
respected by Adi Shankara. Rajavarman could not have belonged to the same
country, namely Magadha, but if so, Shankara could not have meant Pushyamitra.
Earlier we found Rājasena as the king of Kanchi in Adi Shankara’s time who was
very much dedicated to Shankara. Perhaps Rajavarman was a reference to Rājasena
of the Chola dynasty who did everything for him, including the establishment of
Sarvajna Peetha.
Devadatta and Yajnadatta
Adi Shankara also raises
the names such as Devadatta and Yajnadatta in his commentary to Vedanta Sutras
to say that one of them lived in Srughna and another in Pataliputra. In II-1-18
of the Brahma sutra he says that Devadatta cannot be present in Srughna and
Pataliputra on the same day due to the long distance between them. He often
uses the name Devadatta – a name which is found in Ramanuja’s commentary to
Brahma Sutras too.
It is said in Ramanuja’s
commentary that Devadatta is a common name among men used in grammatical and
other examples to indicate ‘anyone’ or a ‘certain person’. For example, it is
common to say, ‘that is that Devadatta’ ‘Devadatta has cut off all that is
above’ ‘tell Devadatta that his father is well’ ‘Devadatta is brown, youthful’
and so on. Therefore, not much meaning needs to be attached to the identity of
Devadatta and Yajnadatta in Adi Shankara’s writings. This is not the same as
Purnavarman or Rajavarman who seemed to be true historical characters.
Srughna and Pataliputra.
The name Srughna is used
by Adi Shankara to denote a place. In the same context he has said that a
person cannot be in Srughna and Pataliputra as well. Thus, Srughna is
understood to be the name of a place but scholars are at a loss to identify the
place.
Srughna is likely to be
the original name of the Shunga kings. The dynasty’s name as Shunga or the
kings name as ‘Shunga’ is used by us but not found in any source. Vishnu Purana
uses the name Shunga. The Bharhut stupa is said to have been made “at the time
of the Suga kings” (Suganam raje), but it is not known who these “Suga kings” were.
From other contemporary inscriptions such as Heliodorus pillar inscription and
the Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana we hear that Pushyamitra was denoted by them
and that he was the “Shunga”.
After overthrowing the
Maurya empire, Pushyamitra Shunga expanded his empire in the northwest as far
as Sagala (Sialkot). He sent army to destroy the Buddhist monasteries and
rewarded for brining the head of the Buddhist monks. A place by name Srughna
was located in this region of Sagala in the northwest. Srughna is often
mentioned in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi, Patanjali’s Mahabhashya, the Divyavadana,
the Mahabharata, the Mahamayuri, the Brihatsamhita of Varahamihira, etc.
Srughna, also spelt
Shrughna in Sanskrit is also known as Sughna, Sughana or Sugh. There is an old
archaeological mound in the village of Sugh (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugh_Ancient_Mound)
Excavations done in 1965 showed artifacts from 600 BCE to 300 CE. A broken
figurine of a headless child with writing board in lap with Shunga (187 BCE to
78 BCE) period alphabets is an important finding from this place, confirming
the connection with Pushyamitra Shunga.
Another important find is
the image of an elephant.
https://haryanatourism.gov.in/Destination/ancient-site-of-sugh
Interestingly, the
Shunga-s also had elephant in their coins and emblems.
Bronze coin of the Shunga
period, Eastern India. 2nd–1st century BCE.
Elephant in Shunga coin
Fragment of gold
ornament, 185-72 BCE showing an elephant.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunga_Empire#/media/File:India,_periodo_sunga,_pendente_a_elefante_inj_oro,_185-72_ac_ca.jpg
A surprising element is
that the Bhoja-s, the relatives of Krishna who fled to the west for fear of
Jarasandha had Elephant in their banner (Mahabharata: 7-47-8: mārtikāvatakaṃ
bhojaṃ tataḥ kuñjaraketanam).
Eighteen groups of
Bhoja-s fled to the west, said Krishna to Yudhisthira when he announced him of
his decision to move to Dwaraka. Of them the Bhoja-s who went to Matrikavara
had elephant as their emblem. In course of time, the descendants of these
Bhoja-s must have settled down in Srughna and established their rule.
Pushyamitra must have been a descendant of that dynasty. Even his name
Pushyamitra could not have been his original name because it was meant to be
the mitra (friend) of Pushya (Kali Yuga). He, with strong leanings on Vedic
culture, must have been greatly disturbed by the rise of Buddhism in Magadha
and waited for a time to remove the Buddhist friendly regime from Magadha. When
he succeeded in this endeavour, he was greatly welcomed by one and all. It was
only with the arrival of the Shunga dynasty, a Sanatan Renaissance became
possible. Pushyamitra was credited with having conducted Ashvamedha yajna.
Adi Shankara lived during
that time, perhaps during his successor’s time. The removal of Purnavarman must
have been welcomed by one and all that Adi Shankara felt it apt to quote him at
places where he wanted to indicate a drop in standards. After Pushyamitra
Shunga, Agnimitra ruled between 149 to 141 BCE.
During Adi Shankara’s
northern sojourn, Vasujyeshtha, the third
emperor of the Shunga dynasty must have been ruling (141 – 131 BCE). The Shunga
kings were not in power for a long time. This perhaps made Adi Shankara to
choose the much stabler Chola country at Kanchi to spend his final days.
Nepal visit.
Sometime during his visit
to establish Jyothish Mutt, he must have visited Nepal. According to Nepalese
Vamsavali, the 18th king of Nepal’s Surya Vamsa dynasty was Vrishadeva Varman. He built viharas and erected the
images of lokeswara. His brother Bālārchana was also a Buddhist. Adi Shankara visited
Nepal in his period and destroyed Buddhism.
During the time of the 31st
king Vishvadeva Varman, Vikramaditya came to Nepal and established his Shaka
(57 BCE). So, Adi Shankara lived long before 57 BCE.
The date of Adi
Shankaracharya
The year of birth of Adi
Shankaracharya is clearly made out from the astrological software that can
produce all the birth features together for the year 148 BCE. It is reproduced
once again (Drik ayanamsa).
His contemporary was
Karikāl Chola, also known as Rājasena. In the north, Shunga dynasty was ruling
from Pataliputra at that time.
Adi Shankara seemed to
have spent considerable time in Kanchi, as seen from his images in various
temples. In the Varadaraja temple itself, the image of Ekadandi, Advaita, smarta
sanyasin is seen which scholars think is that of Adi Shankara. Similar images
are found in Vaikuntha Perumal temple and a temple at Sevili medu. The details
of these images can be read in the book ‘Kamakottam and Nayanmars’ authored by
VA Devasenapati ( https://archive.org/details/kamakottam-and-nayanmars/page/27/mode/1up
).
Adi Shankara lived at a
time when the Vedic religion was not classified as Shaivite or Vaishnavite and
so on. It was he who classified for some orderliness but that started causing
rigid divisions among the Hindus. Reading through several works on Adi Shankara
and works of Adi Shankara for the sake of this article, it gave me a better
understanding of our Dharma and the futility of sectarian divisions. He
appeared at a time when Renaissance of the Vedic religion was the need of the
hour in the North which was under the influence of Buddhism. The South was mostly
Vedic and must have given a peaceful time for Adi Shankara to focus on the
Almighty.
Before concluding, let me
express my sincere thanks to Sri Bharat Subramanyam who
believed that I would be able to find out the date of Adi Shankara
convincingly. He was led to believe so after seeing my book on Ramanuja. For
long I had many self-doubts on whether I would be able to do as he believes. The
foremost reason was I knew nothing about Adi Shankara – I feel ashamed to say
this. Moreover, my focus was on writing the date of Ramayana, but somehow I
could not progress in that venture.
It was then I started
wondering whether I have to pay back some Rishi runa by way of finding out the
date of Adi Shankara. Somehow, I have worked for the cause of Madhvas by dating
the Janamejaya inscription in possession of the Madhva Matha where Madhvacharya
took up his deeksha. The Mutt is trying its best to get this inscription
approved by the Government of India for which they are using my book on the
Mahabharata.
I have done my bit for
the Ramanuja sampradaya too by establishing the dates in his life and the
identity of the Chola king who persecuted him.
Only the Shankara
Sampradaya is pending, I thought. Perhaps I have something to do to make Adi
Shankara’s name shine more. Then I started reading the material they sent and
several other books as part of research, as and when I started getting doubts
and questions. Within two weeks, I could get the date intact for 148 BCE. Then
I started reading all the peripheral issues and write-up-s by other scholars to
ensure that I am going in the right track. Bhagavadapadal guided me throughout
and enabled me to finish this.
Now I seek Adi Shankara’s
blessings to begin and finish Ramayana dating too without hassles and as quick
as possible.
Acharya Devo Bhava.
***
