Extracts from the Caritas: Sankara’s Engagement with the Text and his Fondness for Religious Study

Sankara, Daityari says, exhibited a keenness for analyzing (bicara) the primary texts. He did not do anything apart from engaging with the sastras. His mind, right from childhood (sisuhante), was always in religion. It is this childhood keenness that we find reflected in Bhusana, when the adult Sankara desires to analyze (bicara) the Bhagavata in Ramarai’s sattra grha.

ati apraẏāse guru tāhāṅka paḍhānta ..

paḍhilanta nirantare śāstra samastaẏa .

apramādī paṇḍita bhailanta mahāśaẏa .. 16 ..

abirate samasta śāstraka bicāranta .

śāstrālāpa bine āna karmma nācaranta ..

śāstrara tattbaka jāni manata hariṣe .

paraloka hita mātra cinte aharniśe .. 17 ..

dharmmata sadāẏa rati kṛpāmaẏa mana .

śiśuhante dharmma mātra karanta manana ..

His teacher [did not need to expend much effort with Sankara and] taught him quite effortlessly.
[In this manner,] He studied uninterruptedly all the sastras, without a break;
he became a “apramādī paṇḍita,” an unerring scholar, the noble one. 16
Unceasingly, he does the bicara of all the sastras;
he does no work apart from engaging with the sastras.
Knowing the truth (tattva) of the sastras, with extreme joy in mind,
he thinks only about the welfare of others, day and night. 17
Fondly attached to religion always, with mind full of compassion,
right from childhood, he does only the contemplation (manana[H1] ) of religion.

---

 [H1]deep reflective thought

Extracts from the Caritas: No Ideology of Pure Devotion before Sankaradeva

According to the biographer (caritakāra) Daityari, there was no ideology of pure devotion before Sankaradeva. He describes[1] in the following words the state of the religion of the (majority of the) people at the time of the advent of Sankaradeva:

ইদেশত পূৰ্ব্বকালে নাছিল ভকতি .

নানা ধৰ্ম্ম কৰ্ম্ম লোকে কৰিল সম্প্ৰতি .. ৮ ..

নানাদেৱ পূজয় কৰয় বলিদান .

হংস ছাগ পাৰ কাটে সহস্ৰ প্ৰমাণ ..

তপ জপ যজ্ঞদান তীৰ্থস্নান কৰে .

ঘোৰ নৰকত পৰি পৰি সৱে মৰে .. ৯ ..

উপজয় মৰয় সংসাৰে বাৰম্বাৰ .

নাহি সুখ নেৰাৱয় সংসাৰ নিকাৰ ..

তল গৈল লোক কলি পাপ-সাগৰত .

কৃপাময় কৃষ্ণে জানি গুণিলা মনত .. ১০ ..

সিটো লোক সমস্তক কৰিবে উদ্ধাৰ .

শঙ্কৰ মাধৱ ৰূপে ভৈলা অৱতাৰ ..

ideśata pūrbbakāle nāchila bhakati .
nānā dharmma karmma loke karila samprati .. 8 ..
ānādeva pūjaẏa karaẏa balidāna .
haṃsa chāga pāra kāṭe sahasra pramāṇa ..
tapa japa yajñadāna tīrthasnāna kare .
ghora narakata pari pari save mare .. 9 ..
upajaẏa maraẏa saṃsāre bārambāra .
nāhi sukha nerāvaẏa saṃsāra nikāra ..
tala gaila loka kali pāpa-sāgarata .
kṛpāmaẏa kṛṣṇe jāni guṇilā manata .. 10 ..
siṭo loka samastaka karibe uddhāra .
śaṅkara mādhava rūpe bhailā avatāra ..

In former times, in this land, there was no (ideology of) `pure devotion` (bhakti).
The people, they did various `ordained duties` (dharma) and `acts of emulation` (karma). 8
They worshiped various devas and did `animal sacrifices` (balidāna) (to them).
They cut pigeons, ducks and goats on an infinite scale.
They did acts of penance, murmured incantations, gave offerings in yajnas and bathed in tirthas.
Yet (, in spite of all these,) all of them died, falling repeatedly into the most terrible hell. 9
They took birth and died in this `cycle of material existence` (saṃsāra) again and again.
They could not obtain happiness nor could they get rid of material affliction.
All people sank to the bottom of the sin-ocean of kali.
Knowing this, Krsna, the `embodiment of grace` (kṛpāmaẏa), pondered in mind. 10
In order to save all these people,
he became descents (avatāra) in the form of Sankara and Madhava.

---

[1] Daityari’s description appears to be more in line with Sankara’s reference to the Vedic sacrificial dharma in his rendering of the first book of the Bhagavata (Vyasa Narada Samvada):

nārada badati śunā mahāmuni byāsa |

tumise karilā sawe jagatake nāśa ||

nirantare paśura lowāilā tumi prāṇa |

nāhi manda karmma āra ihāra samāna ||32||

ākasmike lokaka karāilā hiṃsā dharmma |

nubujilā tumio bedara tattba marmma ||

garihita karmmako kahilā dharmma buli |

tohmāra bacane loka nāśila samūli ||33||

sbabhāwe lampaṭa biṣaẏata anurāga |

sbarga pāibo buli raṅge kāṭe haṃsa chāga ||

karai nānā hiṃsā dharmma nānā dewa pūjai |

puṇyakṣaẏa bhaile dunāi narakata majai ||34||

Synopsis (Beginning only) of Bhūṣaṇa's "Śrī Śrī Śaṅkaradeva"

Śrī Śrī Śaṅkaradeva
Bhūṣaṇa Dbija
Edited and published by Sri Durgadhara Barakataki
Jorhat, 1925.

The manuscript[1] begins with salutations to Sri Sankara (śrīśaṅkarāẏa namaḥ) and Sri Krsna (śrīkṛṣṇāẏa namaḥ).

The caritakāra, first saluting reverentially at the feet of Krsna, declares that descending on earth in the form of Sankara, it is Lord Hari himself who propagated (pracāra) his own ‘qualities, deeds and glory’ (guṇa, karmma, yaśa), listening to which the people cross the uncrossable saṃsāra.[2] He (Sankara) has made well-known (bidita) Krsna alongwith nāma dharmma and the people now, with great happiness (mahā sukhe), ‘obtain redemption’ (tare) in the uttermost age of kali.[3] The carita of Sri Sankara is the ‘nemesis of sin’ (pāpara antaka),[4] and Bhusana, foolish and devoid of jñāna, is going to narrate it in metrical form.[5]
 
Taking birth into this world, Sankara showed to the people various ‘divine sports’ (krīḍā). He composed (nibandhilā) the Bhāgavata in verses (pada bandhe)[6] and now, even the ‘lowest of the low’ (antyajas), reading it and understanding its meaning (artha), ‘do pure devotion’ (bhaje) to Madhava, regarding Sankara as their guru.[7] All humans have achieved (the supreme) happiness taking to ‘devotion to Hari’ (hari-bhakti) and it is on account of this fact that the saint is named Śrīmanta Śaṅkara.[8] Which person has got the capacity to narrate in full all the details pertaining to his qualities (guṇa) and powers (mahimā)?[9] The caritakāra will reveal whatever comes to mind ‘by the grace of the pure devotees of God’ (sādhu prasādata), remembering the favor (kṛpā) of Krsna.[10] Previously, all great paṇḍitas that lived used to discuss this tale (kathā) amongst themselves joyfully.[11] But, at the end of their lives, all of them reached Vaikuntha and now, who speaks these tales anymore?[12]
 

In this manner, the caritakara has given the justification (praẏojana)[13] for writing this biography of Sankara. He desires to save the tale of Sankara from becoming lost forever and therefore he has written this carita to record and preserve these facts, hitherto circulated only orally, in the written (verse) form.

---

[1] Inserted into the printed edition is what appears to be a painting of Sankaradeva and his disciples, presumably from the manuscript of the carita. The striking aspect about this representation is that the saint is depicted as a Mughal emperor (Shah Jahan?), in full Mughal regal attire, reclining on his gaddi and holding a rose in one hand, and speaking to two of his disciples who are portrayed as courtiers of the Mughal court. Although the full details relating to this painting—the editor makes no mention of it in the preface—could not be obtained owing to the copy in possession with this author being a very low-resolution, monochromatic one, the scene in question perhaps is an imaginative portrayal of Sankaradeva bestowing his dharma rajya on Madhava, his spiritual successor. This is not conclusive, however.

[2] V. 2.

[3] V 3.1.

[4] V. 4.1.

[5] V. 3.2.

[6] V. 4.2.

[7] V. 5.1.

[8] V. 5.2.

[9] V. 6.1.

[10] V. 6.2.

[11] V. 7.1.

[12] V. 7.2.

[13] V. 8.1.