Current Version Live on Website: v14.1.0.b updated 14th Aug 2016 PDF version : v14.1.0.b updated 14th Aug 2016 विदिताखिलशास्त्रसुधाजलधे महितोपनिषत् कथितार्थनिधे । हृदये कलये विमलं चरणं भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ - तोटकाष्टकं -1 O Thou, The Knower Of All The Milk-Ocean Of Scriptures! The Expounder Of The Topics Of Great Upanisadic Treasure-Trove! On Thy Faultless Feet I Meditate In My Heart. Be Thou My Refuge O preceptor, Sankara. I meditate on Your pure lotus feet in my heart | O Preceptor Shankara, be my refuge. - toTakAShTaka.m - 1 Namaste Fellow Advaitins, This site is dedicated to fellow Advaitins and aims at giving clear picture of Advaita, Meditative Journey of an Advaita Vedantin, Dispelling Doubts, accusations by other Vedantic schools, Giving References of Shastras that Support Advaita, as taught by GauDapadAchArya, Adi Shankara, his successors and other modern saints following Traditional Advaita. A special page has been dedicated to understand a
unique traditional teaching passed on to and by Shri Gaudapadacharya
and Adi Shanakracharya ji. This method was re-discovered by Sri
Sacchidanandendra Saraswati Swami of Holenarsipur. It is called
adhyAropa apavAda. Site is divided into 6 main categories: PART I: Advaita VedantaThis part is theoretical in nature. It is written in simple and easy to understand language without much use of quoting shastra-s except the last part which clears accusations on advaita. This part is not of polemical nature. a. Understanding Advaita
Advaita
teaches to go beyond maayaa, beyond attributes and be free from
concepts of duality and non-duality, beyond (worldly and scriptural)
knowledge and ignorance. Advaita also teaches that everything else that
you see is Brahman. b. adhyAropa apavAda - A Consistent Traditional TeachingThis
part deals with unique Traditional way of teaching as passed on to and by by
Shri Gaudapadacharya and Adi Shanakracharya ji. According to Swami
Sacchidanandendra Saraswati, it is the only consistent method of
teaching. c. Meditative Journey of an Advaita VedantinThis
part deals with Meditative journey of an Advaita Vedantin. It explains
meditation on OM and method of negation i.e. Neti - Neti along with
other subtle points. This part explains questions related to theories of creation w.r.t advaita vedanta and practical application of advaita vedanta. e. Q and ASimple explanation of basic concepts given in Q and A format f. Musings - Other Side of CoinIn this page, we have presented musings which represent 'other side
of coin' of certain concepts which are generally taken to [obviously]
mean a specific thing. Words
like param dhAma, param pada, param gati, bhagavAn, deva, ISvara,
paramAtmA all point to one thing - brahman. param dhAma is param jyoti,
or consciousness which is GYanaThis page explains that it is not necessary that whenever the word 'viShNu' is used, it always means caturbhuja holding with discuss, conch, mace and lotus. viShNu bhagavAn, as deity of preservation is different from paramAtmAn viShNu, which is GYAnasvarUpa or AtmasvarUpa or cidAtmA. When instructions are given to meditate on viShNu as AtmasvarUpa or sUtrAtmA, antaryAmin, cidAtmA or GYAnasvarUpa, it is always nirguNa brahman, pure consciousness and not caturbhuja viShNu i.e. viShNu bhagavAn as a person. As the name suggests, this page is dedicated to explaining Siva-viShNu abheda in SAStra-s. i. Clearing Accusations & DoubtsThis part attempts to clear doubts, accusations and correct misunderstandings. Advaitins
are taught to remain calm and neutral when someone verbally attacks
them. Every sincere seeker practices his / her path with full faith and
devotion. Personal attack can be ignored, but what if it someone attacks
the very faith you are practicing? For new comers this will be quite a
shock.
The
purpose of writing this article is that I tried to find the truth and
had to spend much time to collect facts that conclude: Advaita, as
taught by Adi Shankara is authentic and is consistent with Vedas,
upanishads, Puranas and Bhagavad Gita. Hitting back at accusers is avoided, as we are taught to feel compassion and not hatred. One cannot have lower animal emotions if one wants to progress in spirituality. I just want to convey the
correct understanding to fellow advaitins so that when anyone tries to
defame or accuse Advaita or Adi Shankara, they know it’s a strawman. No
one correctly practising Advaita, as taught by Adi Shankaracharya and
his preceptors and vedic Rishis will be doomed, in fact, he will be
freed from the miserable cycle of birth and death and will sit on the
pinnacle of truth. PART II: Advaita in shastrasThis part contains quotes from shastras supporting the theory of advaita vedanta, a. Advaita in ShastrasShastras
are an authority, any path has to be consistent with them. Vedas,
Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita are the pillars of Sanatana Dharma. Hence
Reference to advaita teachings in shastras has to be pointed out.
References from various smritis (bhagavad Gita, Guru Gita, Uttara Gita,
Shiva Gita and other lesser known Gitas) and shrutis (major and minor
upanishads) are given. References from Srimad Bhagavatam are also
quoted. This part has been the most difficult, not
because it is tough to get details, but it has put me in a fix. I am
trying to prove, acknowledge that Advaita is authentic and Adi
Shankaracharya is genuine. After collecting references from shastras
that teach Advaita, we can say, 'Yes Advaita is authentic, consistent with Vedas and Adi Shankara was one of the greatest proponent of traditional advaita' This
word Yes, gives me pain. It show the acknowledgement. I feel it is an
insult to the entire system and the great beloved acharya Shri Adi
Shankara, as a ajnani cannot judge a jnani, nor one should try to. This site is my silent response. It's an attempt to give correct picture and leave it's discretion to the reader. More than a response, I have created this site as I
do not want others to waste time collecting references from shastras.
After going through this website, questioning and acknowledgement should
be replaced by Faith and one should say, 'Advaita is authentic, consistent with Vedas and Adi Shankara was one of the greatest proponent of traditional advaita' Even if one person would speak the above statement from heart, my humble attempt will be fulfilled. c. Concepts of Advaita in ShastrasThis page attempts to find advaitic concepts like Brahman, Atman, etc from shastras.d. Random Quotes and ThoughtsThis
page is a collection of random but useful quotes from Shastras. It may
also have some other useful information other than quotes from shastras.a. Conspiracies against BhartiyasBritish
East India Company wanted to rule India. In this quest they setup
Asiatic Society with 24 + members, like H.H. Wilson, Jones and others to
interpret our shasras in a demeaning way. They also hired Max Muller to
interpret shastras in a wicked way. they also made attempts to demean
our deva bhASa sanskrit and tried to create Pro-Indo-Euro Language as
the mother of all languages including Sanskrit. They fabricated a myth
called Aryan Invasion theory. Dharm Chakravarty Swami Prakashananda
Saraswati had decoded their ways and have presented scientific proofs to
support his claims in exposing so-called western scholar, Indologists
and Linguists having hidden agenda to destroy our culture and our
shastras. These men also corrupted our dharma sAstra-s and grihya
sUtra-s and bhavishya purANa. Unfortunately their line of thinking are
still followed today. This page is a must read for all Hindus. PART IV: Adi Shankara - A Jagadgurua. Adi Sankara - A JagadguruLogical reasoning given as to why Adi Sankara is called as Jagadguru.a. Questioning Authenticity of works attributed to Adi ShankaraThis part attempts to show the reason why some scholars do not consider the works attributed to Adi Shankara are genuinely acharya's creation and finding limitations in their adopted process for critical examination of works. b. References cited by Adi Shankara in his Bhashya on Vishnu SahasranamaThis part lists references cited by Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada in his Vishnu Sahasranama bhashya. c. Adi Shankara Preached Smarta DharmaThis part attempts to support the common belief that Adi Shankara preached smArta dharma. a. Authentic Upanishads and GitasTraditionally
there are 108 upanishads. Some scholars do not accept all 108
upanishads listed in Muktika Upanishad. This part tries to understand the
reason behind their claim and the method adopted by them for critical
study of any shastra before accepting it as a genuine shruti. It also lists authentic shastras with citations of them in works of traditional acharyas. b. Authenticity Puranas, Up-Puranas and Shala PuranasLogical
reasoning is provided from advaita POV in support of claim that all
purANa-s are authentic. Verses in padma purANa-s classifying purANa-s
into sAttvika, rAjasika, tAmasika are refuted by quoting another
classification given in padma purANa. Other reasons like comparing
purANa-s with mAhAbhArata and vedA-s and vedAnta are given in support of
claim.Lastly, whatever good you find is my Guru's Grace and whatever negative you find is my own. May
this humble attempt bring inner peace to Fellow Advaitins and other
sincere spiritual seekers. May we all move beyond the realm of
vaad-vivaad is my humble prayer. || ॐ तम नमामि गुरूम् परम || Aum Indiaspirituality Amrut Lets begin our journey by Understanding Advaita |