Understanding Advaita Vedanta

Updated on: 20th September 2015

Part V, Page 2/3 - References cited by Adi Shankara in his Bhashya on Vishnu Sahasranama

Namaste,

This is Page 2/3 of Part V.

This part lists references cited by Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavadpada in his Vishnu Sahasranama bhashya.

Table Of Contents

Updated 20th September 2015

For personal Reference, I have noted page numbers of Vishnu Sahasranama - Shankar Bhashya, Hindi translation by Gita Press, Reprinted in 2013 (Vikram Samvat 2069). Page numbers of the uploaded version on scribd may differ, as the version uploaded is very old. Many shastras are quoted multiple times. I have not collected each citation. At few places I have also noted down verse numbers that I found of interest.

Please note that the list is not exhaustive.

Those viewing this page with mobile may not find the actual table, but the preview. Just tap on the table and it will open in a new sheet.

This page has references listed in tabular form.

New Google Sites do not have a direct option to create Table. There are two ways to add a table

1. Add it as HTML code i.e. embed it in document

2. Link a table created in Google Drive.

In order to speed up the transition from the old Classic Site to New Google Sites, Amrut had decided to create tables in new excel sheets and then add it as a link in a current page. It was easy copy pasting from old sites and easier to maintain it rather then have just HTML code and editing it. The table will get auto updated when / if any new content is added.

References (Combined)

Not all may refer Translation by Gita Press. Hence for easy reference and coping, I have collected all references in list form.

1. Linga Purana

2. Garuda Purana

3. Skanda Purana

4. Brihad Naradiya Purana (Narada Purana)

5. Bhavishyottara or Bhavishya Purana

6. Hari or Harivamsa Purana – Up-Purana

7. Vishnu Dharma or Vishnu Dharmotara Purana – Up-Purana

8. Vishnu Purana

9. Padma Purana

10. Shiva Purana

11. Brahma Purana

12. Narasimha Up-Purana

13. Mantra Upanishad

14. Kaivalya Upanishad

15. Narayana Upanishad

16. Svetashvatara Upanishad

17. Kaushitaki (Brahman) Upanishad

18. Brahma Yajnyavalkya Smriti

19. Manu Smriti

20. Atri Smriti

21. Daksha Smriti

22. Valmiki Ramayana

23. Mahabharata

24. Purush Suktam

25. Panini Sutra

26. Shukla Yajurveda

27. Aeitriya Aranyaka

28. Taitariya Samhita

29. Taitariya Brahman

30. Rig Veda

Puranas

Puranas: Detailed with verse nos

[under construction]

Legend:

P: padacCeda

v: verse no

Note:

1. There is no mention of Bhagavat Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam), highly revered by Vaishnavas, which is unexpected while commenting on Vishnu Sahasranama. This may indicate that Bhagavat Purana might be written recently and Original Purana might be Devi Bhagavat. Some Scholars are of the opinion that it might be authored by Vopadeva.

2. There is a mention of Padma Purana. Version available today contains verses on 6.236.7-11 (Bengali Version) that are used to accuse him (Adi Shankara) and advaita. Later verses categorizes Puranas as Sattvik, Rajasic and Tamasic. Further the verses say that Tamasic Puranas, which eulogize Shiva, lead one to hell. If those verses were available during his time, I do not think he would have cited references from them i.e. Linga Purana and Shiva Purana. Rajasic Puranas praises Brahma, and we find Brahma Purana as Rajasic. This clearly shows that the controversial verses were absent during his time. To add to it, his direct and immediate disciples did not refuted any of the accusations against our acharya or advaita. This type of accusations cannot be ignored. Lack of refutation of his direct disciple indicates absence of these verses during their time. It implies that the verses are interpolation. Matsya Purana contains different classification. To add to it, Padma Purana is considered as most corrupted Purana, specially the uttara Khanda. This is because there are two version available – Bengali and South Indian, each differing in content says scholars. Swiping from Sankrit to Bengali and back to Sanskrit could have been the cause of corruption. Bengalis often replace ‘v’ with ‘b’ e.g. Buddha ‘Vihar’ changed ‘Bihar’. ‘Vanga’ changed to ‘Benga’, which got changed to ‘Bengal’. ‘Vanga Bandhu’ changed to ‘Banga Bandhu’.

3. Presence of Up-Puranas like Harivamsa and Vishnu Dharmottara indicates that Up-Puranas are important too, though the authorship is not attributed to Veda-Vyas or the authorship is disputed like in case of above up-puranas and Devi Bhagavat

4. Some doubt authenticity of Linga Purana. They believe that Shiva Purana is authentic and the main Shaiva Purana. However, contrary to popular belief, our acharya did not had same opinion. According to some scholars it is VAyu Purana, as historians find it oldest, second comes Linga Purana. However, to th best of my knowledge, our acharya has not cited VAyu Purana.

Upanishads

10 Principle Upanishads have been omitted

Smritis

Ramayana

Mahabharata

Miscellaneous

Note: Panini Sutra is mentioned at least 5-6 times, Rig Veda 2-3 times.