Shankara’s philosophical conquests are unique in the world. He had his triumphant tour all over India. He met the leaders of different schools of thought. He convinced them by arguments and established the supremacy and truth of the religion that he expounded in his commentaries. He went to all the celebrated seats of learning. He challenged the learned men to discussion, argued with them and converted them to his opinions and views. He defeated Bhaskara Bhatta and condemned his Bhashya (commentary) on the Vedanta Sutras. He then met Dandi and Mayura and taught them his philosophy. He then defeated in argument Harsha, author of Khandana Khanda Kadya, Abhinavagupta, Murari Mishra, Udayanacharya, Dharmagupta, Kumarila and Prabhakara.
Shankara then proceeded to Mahishmati. Mandana Mishra was the chief Pundit of the court of Mahishmati. Mandana was brought up in the Karma Mimamsa faith and so he had intense hatred for the Ascetics. He was performing a Shraddha ceremony when Shankara somehow dropped down there. Immediately Mandana Mishra became very furious. An ugly conversation was started when the Brahmins, who were present there for dinner, interposed and pacified Mandana Mishra. Then Shankara challenged Mandana to a religious controversy. Mandana agreed. Bharati, who was the wife of Mandana Mishra and who possessed scholarly erudition was appointed as the umpire. It was agreed beforehand that Shankara, if defeated, would become a householder and marry; and that Mandana, if defeated, would become a ascetic and receive the robe of an ascetic from the hands of his own wife. The controversy began in right earnest and continued for days without any interruption. Bharati did not sit and listen to their controversy. She threw two garlands, one each over the shoulders of each of the disputants, and said: “He whose garland begins to fade first should consider himself defeated”. She left the place and began attending to her household duties. The controversy went on for seventeen days. The garland of Mandana Mishra began to fade first. Mandana Mishra accepted his defeat and offered to become an ascetic and follow Shankara.
Bharati was an incarnation of Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning. Once sage Durvasa chanted the Vedas before Brahma and his wife in a big assembly. Durvasa committed a small mistake. Saraswati laughed at it. Durvasa became so enraged that he cursed her that she would take birth in the world. Hence Saraswati had to take birth as Bharati.
Bharati now interposed and said to Sankara: “I am the other half of Mandana. You have defeated only one half of Mandana. Let us have a controversy”. Shankara objected to have controversy with a woman. Bharati quoted instances wherein there had been controversies with women. Shankara then agreed and this controversy also went on uninterruptedly for seventeen days. Bharati passed from one Shastra to another. At last she found out that she could not defeat Shankara. She decided to defeat him by means of the science of Kama Shastra.
As Shankara was an ascetic, so he asked Bharati to give him an interval of one month for his preparation to hold controversy with her in the science of Kama Shastra. She agreed. Shankara went to Kashi. He separated his astral body from his physical body by means of his Yogic powers and left his physical body in the hole of a big tree and asked his disciples to take care of that physical body. He then entered into the dead body of Raja Amaruka which was about to be cremated. The Raja rose up and all the people rejoiced at the astounding incident.
The ministers and queens soon found out that the revived Raja was a different person, with different qualities and thought. They realized that the soul of a great Mahatma had entered the body of their Raja. Therefore, messengers were sent out to search for a human body hidden somewhere in lonely forests and caves and to burn it when found. They thought that if they did so, the new Raja might remain with them for a long time.
Shankara was acquiring all the experience of love with his queens. Maya is very powerful. In the midst of those queens, Shankara entirely forgot all about his promises to his disciples about his coming back to them. The disciples began to search for him. They heard about the miraculous resurrection of Raja Amaruka. They immediately proceeded to the city and had an interview with the Raja. They sang a few philosophical songs which at once revived the memory of Shankara. The disciples immediately repaired to the place where the physical body of Shankara was kept hidden. By that time the messengers of the queen had found out the physical body and had just begun to set fire to it. The soul of Shankara just then entered his own body. Shankara prayed to Lord Hari to help him. There was a shower of rain immediately and that extinguished the flames.
Then Shankara returned to the residence of Mandana Mishra. He resumed the old controversy and answered all the questions raised by Bharati satisfactorily. Mandana Mishra gave all his property as a gift to Sri Shankara and Mandana was made to distribute it to the poor and the deserving. He then became a disciple of Shankara. Shankara initiated him into the holy order of Sanyasa and gave him the name of ‘Sureshwara Acharya’. Sureshwara Acharya was the first Sanyasin who took charge of the Sringeri Math. Bharati also accompanied Shankara to Sringeri and there she is worshiped even today.
Shankara ascended the seat of omniscience after inviting Vedic scholars from all parts of India and answering their numerous questions. Shankara, by vanquishing all the religious opponents of his day-and they belonged to no less than seventy-two different schools-and establishing the superiority of the Vedic Dharma, had become the JagadGuru of all.
He taught to the world that “Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya, Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Aparah” i.e. Brahma alone is real, this world is unreal; the Jiva (living being) is identical with Brahma.
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