NAMPOOTHIRIS 15
39 SNKARACHARYAR– IMPORTANT WORKS Someof the important ones are listed below: 1. Brahma Soothra Bhaashyam. (hismasterpiece)or Saareeraka Meemaamsaa Bhaashyam, for which Vaachaspathi Misran wroteBhaamathi Vyaakhaanam and Padmapaadar, Panchapaadikaa Vivaranam. Incidentally,in Advaitha Vedaantham, these later even led to two schools of thought - BhaamathiPrasthhaanam and Vivarana Prasthhaanam. 2. Bhagavad Geetha Bhaashyam. Some haveargued about its authorship, while others have tried to prove it to be his. 3. Bhaashyamsfor Upanishads i.BrihadaaranyakopanishadBhaashyam: Perhaps the most ancient andelaborate of the Upanishads. Belongs to Sukla Yajur Vedam and has two branches- Kaanwa Saakha and Maadhyandina Saakha. Sureswaran wrote a Vaarthikam(grammer- based interpretation) to this Bhaashyam. ii.Chhaandogyopanishad Bhaashyam: Almostequally ancient and second largest; belongs to Saama Vedam. iii.Thaithireeyopanishad Bhaashyam:Sureswaranwrote a Vaarthikam for this too. iv.Aithareyopanishad Bhaashyam:Also calledBaahvyacham or Aatmashtakam, it is from the second of the five Aaranyakamsbelonging to Aithareya Braahmanam of Rigvedam. v.Eesaanopanishad Bhaashyam:Also calledSamhithopanishad, it has 18 Manthrams from Sukla Yajurveda Samhitha. Accordingto Sankarabhaashyam, the two paths, Karmamaargam exclusive and can hardly bepracticed simultaneously. vi.Katthopanishad Bhaashyam: Ancient andpopular Upanishad. Includes the meeting of Nachikethas with Yaman, seeking andreceiving boon for attaining Moksham. vii.Kenopanishad Bhaashyam: He wrote twoBhaashyams, Pada Bhaashyam and Vaakya Bhaashyam. viii.Mundakopanishad Bhaashyam: Belongs toAttharva Vedam and is in verse form (as in Eesaavaasyopanishad Bhaashyam. Itconcerns primarily with Samnyaasam and Jnaana Maargam. Sounakan seeks advicefrom Aangirass as to what knowledge would lead to the highest knowledge(self-realisation). ix.Prasnopanishad Bhaashyam: Part ofAttharvaVedam. Set in question-answer format, it asserts that Jnaana Maargam is forBrahmachaaris (ascetics) and Samnyaasis and not for Grihastthans (Aasramis) whoare immersed in worldly matters. x.Maandookyopanishad Bhaashyam: Somemodern scholars have raised doubts as to whether or not the Bhaashyams for thisand its Goudapaada Kaarika (memorial verse) are really Sankaraachaaryar’s. Nrisihathaapaneeyopanishad and Swethaa swatharopanishadare said to be Sankaraachaaryar’s, but according to many scholars, these are ofa much later period. 4. UpadesaSaahasri. A Prakarana Granthham (typicaltext) with 19 Prakaranams in the prose part and 3 in the verse part. Consideredas his authentic non-commentative work. 5. DakshinaamoortySthothram. With 10 verses writtenin Saardoola Vikreeditham Vritham. Sureswaran wrote a Bhaashyam,“Maanasollaasam”. Advaithis respectfully remember this work. 6. VishnuSahasranaama Sthothram - Bhaashyam. Apopular one. Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiriin his “Naaraayaneeyam”, affirms that the work is the Aachaaryar’s. 7. Sanathsujaatheeyam.A Sankara Bhaashyam (defensive style);some doubt its authorship. 8. Dasa-Sloki.Unlikely to be anyone else’s work.;Madhusoodana Saraswathi wrote a Vyaakhyaanam for this. 9. Satha-Sloki.Quite probably his work. Deals withAdvaitha Thathwam. 10. YogasoothraBhaashya Vivaranam. Very probablethat he is the author. An exposition on Vyaasan’s commentary on Yog Soothram, afundamental text of the Yoga School. 11. SoundaryaLahari 12. SankaraSmruthi. Believed to be his work on the Aachaarams (Anaachaarams) of Kerala. 13. HasthaamalakaBhaashyam or VedanthaSidhhaantha Deepika. Claimed to be his work, on the poems written apparently byHasthaamalakan. There are a number of Sthothrams believed to bewritten by him. However, one may come across different names for the sameSthothram. There are some in which the number of verses may differ slightly,and called “Ashtakam” or “Navarathna Maala”. “Dwaadasa Panjarika” and“Chathurdasa Panjarika” offer minor variations of the same work. There are twocompositions in the same name, “Advaitha Pancharathnam”. 40EPILOGUE Sankaraachaaryarhad not only reached such spiritual heights, which hardly any human couldattain, he also acted and breathed some fresh air into the society which wasshowing signs of degradation. Realisingthat, in Kerala, education and learning was somewhat stagnant and that the mindsetof the society had to be made more progressive, he convened two one-month longconferences in the south Kollam and the north Panthalaayani Kollam, attended bymany learned scholars. After detailed deliberations, they reached a consensus,and a new set of social codes (Keralaachaaram) was set forth. Thesedecisions were quite revolutionary in those days. Thesocial stigma against widows was removed by him and a decent status given tothem. Hedeclared that in Kerala, widows need not shave off their heads and were allowedto mix with others during all social and religious functions, unique to Kerala. He got the Namboothiri community toapprove the idea that only a few designated families need toperform Yaagam and certain other Sroutha Karmams, though traditionally the 16thSamskaaram, namely Agnyaadhaanam, followed by Agnihothra Deeksha, wereconsidered essential to full-fledged Braahmanyam. He dared to go against the DharmaSaasthram precept that families who did not learn the Vedams would be downgradedto the lower level of Soodrans, and divided the community into tenclasses (Click here - Classes of Namboothiris), of which five did not have tolearn the Vedams. Theten classes were assigned specific duties in the community. This was done in spite of retaining theadvice to Upanichunnis during that ritual : “AachaaryaadheenoVedamaadheesha” (learning the Vedams under an Aachaaryan), “Yathhaa ThwamDevaanaam Yajnasya Nidhiposi, Evamaham Manushyaanaam Vedasya NidhipoBhooyaasam” (As thou art the keeper of Yajnam wealth for the Devans, so make methe keeper of Vedam wealth). It was taboo for Braahmanans to carryweapons,yet he declared that Ashtavaidyans (Click here) (for surgical procedures) andthe “Arangu” class who practice martial arts (Aayodhana Kala) could carry anduse them. Suchdeclarations and decisions enabled proper governance and administration, withthe temple as the nucleus, even in the absence of Kshathriyans, the rulingprincely class. Perhapsthe most progressive among the so-called “64 Anaachaarams” (Click here) -labelled so apparently by Paradesis, which were meant forsocial upliftment, was the dictum that only the eldest son should marry andbecome a Grihasthhan, and all the younger ones should not accept this secondAasramam after Brahmacharyam, and should spend the rest of their lives inlearning and teaching of Vedams, Saasthrams, etc., which is unlike anywhereelse in the country. This helped in perpetuating thelearning and scholastic pursuits in the traditional spiritual realm,unique to Kerala, and especially among the Namboothiris. ThusSankaraachaaryar’s revolutionary and progressive changes in societal norms andtraditions were intensive and extensive. He was a Karmayogiwho could effectively drive away the Budha-Jaina influence and re-establishSanaathana Dharmam, a philosophical colossus who spread the Advaitham school ofthought far and wide, a jewel of a scholar par excellence with creations suchas “Soundarya Lahari”, a great organiser who established the four SwaamiyaarMatthams thereby perpetuating the spiritual traditions. Most of these are wellknown; but how many know him also as a concerned and sincere revolutionary benton social upliftment! Abridgedby : Prof: V M N Nambudiripad Translatedby : K D Nambudripad Formore details, refer : “Sree Sankaraachaaryar” - by Dr K Kunchunni Raja Secondedition : January 1998 (Publishers : Department of Cultural Publications,Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram - 695014) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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