Is Shankara Sampradhaya a bonafide Sampradhaya? How?
A Girl devotee (Name hidden) asked like this:
“I have a question. Was Adi Sankarcharya God Conscious or Krishna Conscious? Why do Sri Vaishnavas not accept the teachings of Sankara Sampradaya (disciplic succession)? Since the teaching of Adi Sankarcharya is from disciplic succession, does that mean Adi Sankarcharya was Krishna Conscious? Was Adi Sankarcharya Krishna Conscious while at the same thing gave wrong informative/knowledge/teachings to the public because Krishna wanted Adi Shankaracharya to do that?
I believe in the Sri Guru Parampara. I have another question. What makes the 4 Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya true, while Sankara Sampradaya not true?
How do we know which Sampradaya is true? I ask this question because in the future there might be a different Sampradaya that contradicts/goes against Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya. In this situation, how do we judge which Sampradaya to follow? Is Sankara Sampradaya true because knowledge came through Parampara just like Sri Vaishnava Parampara?
Please guide and bless me alot. Jaya Prabhupada”
REPLY:
All the four bonafide sampradhayas that we are reading are VAISHNAVA SAMPRADHAYAS.
They are the classification of Vaishnava Sampradhayas only. Not other sampradhayas.
First, I like to tell you that every Sampradhaya has a set of rules for the follow up of a particular concept about the supreme controller, creations, etc., and a particular way of worship.
There are four bonafide Vaishnava Sampradhayas – Sri Vaishnava Sampradhaya, Rudra Sampradhaya, Kumara Sampradhaya and Gaudiya Sampradhaya.
(FOUR SAMPRADHAYAS – ESSENTIAL DETAILS! READ HERE!)
Every sampradhaya has been developed and kept alive by some eminent spiritually elevated personalities.
For example, Sri Sampradhaya grew largely during the period of Sri Ramanujacharya. Gaudiya vaishnava Sampradhaya grew big during the period of Sri Caitanya Maha Prabhu and later recently Srila Prabhupada that all of us are witnessing.
Sri Sampradhaya does not follow Radha Krishna worship and they approach the lord in revered bhava, whereas Gaudiya vaishnavas give importance for Radha Krishna worship.
All the above four sampradhayas have the starting point as Krishna/Vishnu/Narayana though there are some differences in the followings.
(Can a disciple of a Non-bonafide Guru take Diksha in ISKCON? READ HERE!)
Let us now come to your questions:
See, Shankara Sampradhaya is also a bonafide Sampradhaya, but it is not a Vaishnava Sampradhaya. That’s all.
Shankara Sampradhaya is an Advaita Sampradhaya.
Dvaita means double existence; Advaita means Not TWO, but One.
Advaita considers atma and paramatma to be similar. According to Advaita, every soul can be considered as God.
Adi Shankara is not an ordinary person. He is considered to be an incarnation of the Lord Shiva Himself.
Adi Shankaracharya was born in 2000 BC at Kaladi, Kerala State.
He mastered the Vedas written in 5000 BC, at the age of just five. This itself shows that he was an extraordinary person.
(Mayavadis Paramathmavadis & Devotees – Who is Superior? Why? READ HERE!)
The childless parents of Adhi Shankara prayed Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva appeared to the parents of Adhi Shankara and offered them a choice (i) a “not so bright” son who would live a long life, or (ii) an extraordinary son who will die in young age.
His parents chose the latter, and thus a seer son was born to them. He was named as Shankara (Sanskrit, “bestower of happiness”), in honour of Shiva.
It was Adhi shankara who wrote the Brahmasutra Bhasya on Upanishads and Gita.
The great service done by him was being the first integrator of the scriptures of India. He compiled about 80 books.
He established four mutts in four directions of the country – Jyotirmath in North, Govardhan Math at Puri in east, Shringeri Matha in Karnataka in south and Dwarika math in Gujarat in west.
Shankara lived for only 32 years and died at Kedarnath..
4000 years ago, had he not integrated the scriptures including Vedas, Upanishads, etc, we won’t have got such a Properly Compiled Golden Scriptures of India.
(Why Krishna as Buddha & Siva as Sankaracharya differed on vedas? READ HERE!)
In India, the followers of Adhi Shankara’s Advaita Sampradhaya are more than any other sampradhayas.
His concepts are called Mayavada because the Quantitatively limited atma is considered equal to the unlimited Paramatma.
Because of this ABEDHA concept of both the athma and Paramathma are the same, the people think themselves Gods. Anyone who considers himself equal to the Supreme Controller is mayavadi. That is why, it is called as mayavadha.
The most important concept of Vaishnavism is that Athma and Paramatma are not the same.
Particularly, Gaudiya Vaishnavism says that both athma and Paramathma are qualitatively same but Quantitatively different.
Different Sampradhayas follow the concepts such as “Bedha” (athma and Paramathma are different), Abhedha (Athma and Paramathma are similar) and “Bedha Abhedha” (athma and Paramathma are qualitatively same but Quantitatively different)
(What is maya and whether all the non-Indians are under maya? READ HERE!)
Thus there are some differences in the concepts of Sampradhayas.
However, every Sampradhaya has helped for the spiritual awareness of the people.
Though Adhi Shankara’s Concept is called as Mayavada by Vaishnavas, it is the undeniable fact that it has helped in keeping the people intact with the faith of the Lord.
So, my reply to all your questions is:
Adhi Shankara’s Sampradhaya is bonafide in Advaita philosophy. It is not a Vaishnava Sampradhaya.
His contributions for the people is remarkable and he has put a foundation with which India’s people got attracted 4000 years ago.
Even after 4000 years, his advaita principle is still alive and is followed by crores of people.
Before finishing, both Logically and factually, the Concepts of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the topmost form of attaining spiritual perfection because it is connected with the Prema Bhakti that is the ultimate stage for a devotee. Why? Only such Prema Bhaktas were Gopis and they were able to have the closest relationship with Krishna. So, Only the Prema Bhakti Stage is the Stage that is the last stage in our going back to Krishna.
Hope you are clear whether Shankara Sampradhaya a bonafide Sampradhaya? How?.
(Is a man becoming God possible? READ HERE!)