Sankara-Digvijaya – This traditional biography of Adi Shankaracharya is written by the saint Madhava-Vidyaranya. The original is in Sanskrit and is translated into English by Swami Tapasyananda of R.K.Mutt. In a rather lengthy introduction to the biography, the author has faithfully put forth the problem in elucidating the life of Shankaracharya owing to different versions of biography, problem in ascertaining correct dates of events, accuracy of some facts believed and so on.
Shankaracharya’s birth, his embracing of sannyasa, his meeting with his guru Govindapada, the incident with the untouchable, his commentaries on various Vedic texts, arguments with Mandana, Bhatta Bhaskara and a few more, his triumph over many scholars across the country, establishments of various mutts across the countries, the incident of parakaaya-pravesha, the coming of some disciples, accession to Sharada-peetha are lucidly presented.
The series of argument between Shankaracharya and Mandana(follower of Vedic ritualism), Shankaracharya and Bhatta Bhaskara (exponent of Bhedabheda doctrine) stand out among all the arguments. It’s a great exposition of intellect, reasoning and vast scholarship of both the parties. It’s a sure feast for the lovers of philosophy.
In the whole book, different schools of philosophy like Samkhya, Nyaya(school of Gautama), Vaisheshika, Purvamimamsa(School of Jaimini), Charvaaka, Jaina, Bauddha(realism and Nihilism) , school of Kanada are briefly discussed.
If we take out the mythological cloud surrounding Shankaracharya and see him as a human being, we can’t help but to respect his colossal intellect that at a very young age had done some near impossible tasks. He’s unarguably one of the greatest philosophers, scholars ever to walk on the face of Earth. The book in its concluding remarks, quintessentially describes him “The life of Shankara makes a strong impression of contraries. He is a philosopher and a poet, a savant and a saint, a mystic and a religious reformer. Such diverse gifts did he possess that different images present themselves, if we try to recall his personality…There have been few minds more universal than his ”!
Shankaracharya is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva & many people that come in the life of Shankaracharya are mythological beings incarnated as humans in order to establish Dharma which faced threat from perverse doctrines of the day. The author maintains thus stated position throughout the book.
Shankaracharya’s birth, his embracing of sannyasa, his meeting with his guru Govindapada, the incident with the untouchable, his commentaries on various Vedic texts, arguments with Mandana, Bhatta Bhaskara and a few more, his triumph over many scholars across the country, establishments of various mutts across the countries, the incident of parakaaya-pravesha, the coming of some disciples, accession to Sharada-peetha are lucidly presented.
The series of argument between Shankaracharya and Mandana(follower of Vedic ritualism), Shankaracharya and Bhatta Bhaskara (exponent of Bhedabheda doctrine) stand out among all the arguments. It’s a great exposition of intellect, reasoning and vast scholarship of both the parties. It’s a sure feast for the lovers of philosophy.
In the whole book, different schools of philosophy like Samkhya, Nyaya(school of Gautama), Vaisheshika, Purvamimamsa(School of Jaimini), Charvaaka, Jaina, Bauddha(realism and Nihilism) , school of Kanada are briefly discussed.
If we take out the mythological cloud surrounding Shankaracharya and see him as a human being, we can’t help but to respect his colossal intellect that at a very young age had done some near impossible tasks. He’s unarguably one of the greatest philosophers, scholars ever to walk on the face of Earth. The book in its concluding remarks, quintessentially describes him “The life of Shankara makes a strong impression of contraries. He is a philosopher and a poet, a savant and a saint, a mystic and a religious reformer. Such diverse gifts did he possess that different images present themselves, if we try to recall his personality…There have been few minds more universal than his ”!
