Adi Shankaracharya: Heard but not Remembered

When ShriKrishna, the Supreme Lord, has a plan, he always entrusts it to his most dedicated followers to carry it out. Anyone who assists the Lord in carrying out his plan becomes very beloved to him. In the BhagavadGita, Shri Krishna himself mentions it: “There is no servant in this world dearer to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear". One such devotee was Adi Shankaracharya.

Devotee Adi Shankaracharya; Source: Alchetron

Shankaracharya was born in 788 AD and lived only for 32 years. In such a short lifespan he achieved what most of us can't imagine. It can be achieved only if one has the powers and blessings of the Supreme Lord.

Shankarcharya was born in the Kerala village of Kalady. His parents, Shivguru and Aryamba were childless for a long time. They decided to worship Lord Shiva with pure hearts. Lord Shiva was so moved by their devotion that he chose to become a part of their family. Shivguru called his child Shankar because he knew he was born by LordShiva's grace. The child radiated so brightly that he could light up a room.

He would sit on his father's lap and listen to all the scriptures recited to him even before he was a year old. He could memorize the scriptures after only hearing them once. At the age of 3, his Chooda-Karan Sanskar (first haircut) was done and he was taught the alphabets after the ritual worship of the slate.

Soon after, his father left the world. At the age of 5, he had the sacred thread ceremony and was even enrolled in a gurukul for 2 years. He came from the gurukul learning all the scriptures. His divine spark started showing soon afterward. He was told to live like a bhikshuk (beggar) while he was in a gurukul.

One time he went to a poor lady to beg for food and the lady put some amlas in his begging bowl. He was so moved by seeing the woman help him even after she was in such a bad state that he composed a prayer called 'Sri Lakshmi Kanakadhara'. This resulted in the woman's house being full of amlas of gold.

One of Shankaracharya's most memorable moments in his life was his debate with a prominent scholar named Mandan Mishra. Mandan had a chaste wife named Bharati.

When Shankaracharya defeated Mandan in the debate, she intervened and spoke that as she is his better half, Shankaracharya has to defeat her also. She first debated on the scriptures, which Shankaracharya answered.

But then, she took the topic of Shringar Rasa, or the intimate affairs of a husband and wife. He had no experience in this field as he was celibate. He asked for a six-month commitment from her, following which he pledged to answer all of her questions. With his disciples, he traveled to Uttarakhand. Around that time a king named Amrook lost his life. Shankaracharya told his disciples that he would be giving up his body and that his body must be preserved in oil as he will occupy Amrook's body for 6 months.

He authored a book called Moh-mudgar which talks about the temporary nature of body and world. He instructed his disciples that if his period gets delayed or if he gets attached to kingly affairs then reciting the verses will help him detach from that body. By yoga siddhis

(mystic powers) he left his body and entered the kings. Now as the king, he wakes up from his deathbed. Everyone, including the queen, was overjoyed.

The king started studying Shringar Rasa with the queen but soon she realized that the king was someone else. She could sense that although the body was of the king, the soul was that of a great saint, more like a 'tapasvi'. She ordered her guards to look for his body and burn it so that he would live with her forever. The body was not found. Another version of the story was that he got attached to the kingly affairs in this time period. As instructed, his disciples came and chanted the verses of Moh-mudgar. Hearing them, he detached himself from Amrook's body and returned with the disciples.

Post this; he debated again with Mandan and Bharati. This time he had all the knowledge and eventually defeated them both. Both of them accepted their defeat and Mandan became his disciples. Later he also took sanyaasa or the act of leaving all the materialistic things from the world. Around this time he was given the name of Sureshwaranand.

The Great Debate with Mandan Mishra, Source: ESamskriti