Talk:The Ācāryas: The Scholar-Saints of Hindū-Dharm:Śrī Ādi Śaṅkarācārya (around 700 CE)
By Vishal Agarwal
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya is regarded as one of the greatest philosophers and saints in Hindu dharm. He wrote hundreds of books on dharm in a short lifespan of thirty-two years and toured the entire Indian subcontinent on foot two times. He established four monasteries in the four corners of India. Even after almost fourteen hundred years, these monasteries continue to spread his message.
Around 650 CE, a poor Brahmana couple named Śivaguru and Āryāmbā worshipped Śiva for forty-eight days because they were childless. Śiva appeared to Śivaguru in a dream and asked, “Do you want a foolish child who will live a long life, or a wise son who will live only sixteen years?” Śivaguru said that he would rather have the short-lived but wise son.
Soon thereafter, a son was born to the couple. They named him Śaṅkara, because he was obtained with the blessings of Śiva, whose other name is Śaṅkara. Unfortunately, Śivaguru died soon, leaving the baby boy orphaned with his widowed mother.
Śaṅkarācārya serves his mother with great devotion
Little Śaṅkara was very devoted to his mother. One day, his mother fell sick and was not able to walk to the river to take her daily bath. The little boy Śaṅkarācārya collected his team of friends and together, they dug from the river a channel which flowed just outside their home. Now, Āryāmbā could conveniently go to that channel for her daily bath. The home in which Śaṅkarācārya was born, as well as the river channel that he had dug, exist even to this day.
Śaṅkara showers gold fruit in the home of a poor and generous woman
As a student, Śaṅkarācārya would go to a new home every morning to beg for food. One day, he reached the home of a very poor widow. She had no food to give to Śaṅkarācārya. But in her courtyard, there was a tree of gooseberry (āmla fruit). With tears in her eyes, she plucked a few fruit and gave them to the student saying, “My dear son, I am a very poor woman and do not have decent food to give to you. Therefore, I am giving you these āmla fruit from my tree. Please accept them and forgive me for not being able to give you anything better to eat.”
Śaṅkarācārya was moved by the sincerity of the woman. Instantly, he composed a beautiful stotra called the Kanakadhārā Stotram in praise of Devī Lakṣmī, and requested the Devī to shower the woman’s home with gold. Devī Lakṣmī appeared and said, “This lady has not done any good karm in her previous lives. Therefore, she does not deserve to be rich.” But the boy Śaṅkarācārya pleaded, “Devī, by giving me food despite being poor, has she not done a great deed in this life? Please reward her for that.”
Devī Lakṣmī smiled at Śaṅkarācārya’s intelligence and showered gold pieces shaped like the gooseberry in the woman’s courtyard. Even today, the descendants of the poor lady in Kerala live in the same location. They are rich and trade in gold, thanks to the mercy of Śaṅkarācārya on their great ancestor.
This incident from the life of Śaṅkarācārya shows that giving food to a hungry person is a very good karm and brings great rewards. For this reason, donation of food is termed in Sanskrit as sadāvrata, meaning ‘a good vow that should be practiced every day’. We should try to feed someone in need every day of our life.
Story: The Favorite Student of Śaṅkarācārya When Śaṅkarācārya became a great scholar and teacher, he attracted numerous intelligent disciples to study under him. But one of his disciples, named Ṭoṭaka (also called Ānandagiri), was a particularly dull-witted student. He never spoke a word in class and always appeared to be someone who never understood anything.
And yet, Śaṅkarācārya would never start teaching his class before Ṭoṭaka was seated in the classroom. Ṭoṭaka himself never seemed to be interested in knowledge and spent his time doing menial tasks like washing clothes, cooking, or fetching water.
One day, Ṭoṭaka did not arrive on time, and the other students prodded their Guru, “Sir, why don’t you start teaching? That Ṭoṭaka does not understand anything anyway. So why should we all wait for him?” But the Guru asked them to wait.
When Ṭoṭaka arrived, Śaṅkarācārya said to him, “You are late. So, as a punishment, let us hear a summary of all that I have taught from you in a few words.” Ṭoṭaka bowed to his teacher humbly, and spontaneously composed a hymn called the Ṭoṭakāṣṭakam. The hymn, in a mere eight very beautiful verses, explained the entire philosophical teachings of Śaṅkarācārya.
When the other students heard the dull-witted Ṭoṭaka recite such a profound hymn, they were humbled. They had thought Ṭoṭaka to be a fool, but now they understood why their Guru had a soft corner for him. Ṭoṭaka eventually became one of the four major disciples of Śaṅkarācārya.
This incident is a lesson for all students to respect their classmates and peers because everyone has some special quality, even though he or she may appear to be very simple or ‘uncool’. We must never tease or bully others.
Śaṅkarācārya and the Caṇḍāla
Ādi Śaṅkarācārya (7th–8th century CE) is considered one of the greatest saints of Hindu dharm. He taught that the same Bhagavān is the basis of the entire creation. But sometimes, even saints momentarily forget to practice the very message they teach to others.
One day, he was travelling on the outskirts of Vārāṇasī (a city sacred to Bhagavān Śiva) with his disciples, when a fierce-looking caṇḍāla (an uncivilized and unclean person, considered to be an ‘untouchable’ in ancient India) accompanied by four dogs blocked his way. Śaṅkarācārya looked at the caṇḍāla in disgust and asked him to move aside.
The caṇḍāla replied, “Should I remove my unclean body, or should I remove from your way the Bhagavān who lives within my heart too?”
Śaṅkarācārya was taken aback by this reply and looked at the caṇḍāla in amazement. When he did so, Śaṅkarācārya had a vision of none other than Śiva in that caṇḍāla. He saw that the four dogs were none other than the four holy Vedas (the sacred scriptures of the Hindus).
Indeed, Bhagavān Śiva had appeared Himself to teach Śaṅkarācārya a lesson – that no matter how humble the other person is, we should treat them with respect because Bhagavān exists within them too. Śaṅkarācārya bowed to the caṇḍāla and asked for forgiveness.