This month of VISAKHA also known as MADHAVA MASA known after Lord VIshnu as His most liked piece of time, measured in Hindu Calendar. This auspicious month had given birth to several greats connected with Hinduism, which is not a religion but a way of life lived in India and surroundings from times immemorial, believed to date back to civilization on planet Earth. Jagadguru ADISANKARA is the Guru from the clan of teachers who adored this world also took birth on the 5th day of the Month, i.e. VISAKHA. Here is my write up on ADISANKARA.
SANKARA JAYANTHI or the birth day of the above celestial person, whose memory in any manner, like his picture, a poetic work, devotional poetry, his story or his literary(THARKA) genius expounded in BHASHYA (commentary) books on the most sacred and valued Hindu school of thought not merely as a religion but as a concept of scientific spirituality stirs the minds of all seekers not necessarily, his followers but all who come in touch with any of the above, to feel inexplicable joy, awe and admiration for this Guru..
Bhagavatpada Sankara was an embodiment of celestial knowledge of formless, free from feel by any of the five properties of sensory organs of human beings, which very few can claim to possess from the Hindu school of thought not certainly from any other religions from east or west. He is considered the reincarnate of Lord Shiva by his ardent followers for their upliftment.
India or Bharat is the seat of spiritual knowledge and mother of many impacting Gurus like Sankara Bhagavathpada, Bhagavad Ramanujulu, Lord Buddha, believed to be incarnate of Lord Vishnu according to one school of thought, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swamy Vivekananda and Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Of all these people without any bias and or partiality strictly in terms of volume of work done normally not attributable to human endeavor, Sankaracharya will automatically become the first and foremost choice to categorize as THE GURU justifying his name as JAGADGURU ADISANKARA. He lived for a very little span of 32 years by which time these days most human beings remain immature and ignorant of very basic tenets of human endeavor not to talk of bigger subjects like God or Godliness or spirituality etc.
History is that, he was the choicest son of a Poor Brahmin Family from Kerala as a boon to a childless couple quite at the end of child begetting age, from Lord Shiva himself with a God given shortest span of life of 16 years only and Sage Veda Vyasa could foresee the impacting knowledge of Adi Sankara on, not only the contemporary Society but for generations to come and gave him another 16 years of life to complete the then unfinished task of Bhashya(commentary) writing of Prasthana Thraya, namely Bhagavadgita, Brahma Suthras and Upanishads. What a visionary that sage Vyasa had been that today, several thousands of years later, though historians fix Sankara’s year of birth as 888 A.D. while Hindu scholars believe it to be far before that year, India despite being under alien anti Hindu rule for over 600 years and 60 odd years of self misrule, Adi Sankara is the family name across the length and breadth of India. And there are still millions of devout followers of Sanakara Bhagavatpada. He toured on foot south to north from Kanyakumari to Himalayas and from east to west twice in his shortest span of life and has in fact unified the Hindu Dharma by driving out all forces of dissension and non believers not physically but by argument in favor of ADVAITA philosophy contained in Hindu Scriptures indirectly and in Upanishads directly. India may be multi-lingual, multi religious and multi-cultured but in spiritually it is one country and it is actually amazing that this unity was and is there and will be there with compassion for one another, brotherhood and mutual amity.
The way countries are breaking up and the way terrorism unfortunately taking heavy toll of human lives from within Islamic countries generally by Muslims, with a quarter of Muslim population in India the country could have been on a communal volcano. If the country is peaceful compared to forcibly disciplined big and small countries of west or east, it is singularly because of the genes of spiritual unity professed by Dharma of this great country, even among other people converted to other religions belonging to this sacred piece of land on our mother earth. If one man can be named to be the cause of sprout and continuation of this Dharmic genetics then he can be none other than Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada.
SPIRITUALITY has no religion and SANAKARA JAYANTHI should be celebrated as international day of SPIRITUALITY befitting his stature.
MAY JAGADGURU BLESS THE MANKIND WITH WISDOM.
G K VISWANTHAM
