PAVAN VARMA 

Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker by  Pavan K. Varma; Published by  Tranquebar; Pages 364 ; Price Rs.699/-    

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  Shankaracharya and his works are not simple by any standard. Pavan Varma simplifies it in a manner that most people would be able to understand and appreciate Shankaracharya and his Advaita philosophy. The book is an introduction that would arouse your curiosity.

 Pavan Varma travels to all the places associated with  Shankaracharya – commencing with the birthplace – Kaladi in Kerala. Then to Omkareshwar where young Shankara came to his guru and lived in a cave. This is followed by  the four Shakti Peethas that he had set up and Kashi, and Kanchipuram. You get a sense of travels done by Shankara as he would have travelled on foot, debating with people, teaching people and binding them with the thought of Advaita. At Kashi, the author gets a glimpse of what a  debate during Shankara’s time might have looked like.

When the subject turns  controversial like the Date of Birth of Adi Shankaracharya --that his lineage claims to be 5th BCE while others claim 8th CE, Varma is astute and gives you  the sources and  you have to determine. Or, when there are several claims like the famous debate with Mandan Mishra. 

Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya (788–820 CE) was born in Kaladi in Kerala and, after travelling the length and breadth of India three times in his spiritual journeys, died in Kedarnath at the young age of 32. His travels took him from the southernmost tip of the country to Kashmir in the north, Gujarat in the west and Odisha in the east, debating spiritual scholars everywhere, preaching his beliefs, establishing ‘mathas’ to take his teaching forward.

He established the Advaita Vedanta School of Hindu philosophy, based on  the oldest Upanishads,--which is  the most influential of the diverse  schools of philosophy and theology that come under the umbrella of  Hinduism.  Shankara, in his brief life, not only  revived a declining  Hinduism, but also  established the organisational structure for its survival and regeneration, through the ‘mathas’ he established in Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Joshimatha .

When Shankara wasa born, Hinduism had become stifled by its own inflexible practice of orthodoxy, ritualism and formality, and bending  before the  reform movements challenging it, notably those posed by   Mahavira Jaina  and  Gautama Buddha , whose followers branched out into new religions distinct from those practised by mainstream Hindus. The rival faiths flourished for many centuries, as Hinduism descended into esoteric disputes over Sankhya dualism and Charvaka materialism. It was then, in the late eighth century CE, that this youthful south Indian sage rose to heal and rejuvenate a divided religion.  Shankara’s Advaita  was the philosophical rejuvenator  during  that period  of confusion, integrating  many thoughts and Hindu practices into a philosophy based on the Vedic dictum of ‘One Truth, Many Expositions’.

 Pavan Varma has produced a comprehensively-researched  account of  Shankara’s life and philosophy. Shankara emphasised the importance of  methods of reasoning, tempered by  intuitive experience, which empower the seeker to gain the spiritual knowledge adumbrated by sacred texts. He focused on selected texts — the Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma Sutras and 10 of the 108 Upanishads as the key reference works of Hindu dharma, illuminating them through his bhashyas (commentaries). Reasoning was, to him, essential to clarify the truth, and Shankara was a famous debater of his time, winning  always through the power of his reasoning and the force of his arguments. His bhashyas are all written in prose with lucidity and sharpness, and employ the Upanishadic question-and-answer .

Shankara also wrote the Vivekachudamani, 581 verses spelling out the qualifications required in a student of Vedanta: to be able to distinguish  the real and the unreal; to attain a spirit of detachment from this world; to acquire  control over sensory perceptions; and to obtain an intense desire to achieve  self-realisation and moksha. The Vivekachudamani reviews the entire range of Hindu philosophical thought and argument, from the Upanishads to the Bhagavad Gita.

According to Shankara  Moksha (salvation or liberation, the realisation of the ultimate purpose of each individual) is achievable in the course of our present life.  

 Shankara argued that the Upanishadic insistence on the unity of being, a divinity available to everyone, the atma residing in everyone, and the idea that all human souls ultimately merge into the same Brahman, for instance, implies the equality of all souls and argues against caste discrimination. So does the Vedantic concept of the welfare of all human beings, irrespective of social or economic distinctions: ‘bahujanasukhayabahujanahitaya cha’.

 Adi Shankara declared that any human being, merely by virtue of their personhood could attain the Supreme Consciousness through a study of the scriptures, the Puranas and the epics, meditation , fasting  and worship . Caste has not been  mentioned by Shankaracharya.

 Varma travelled to many of the places associated with  Shankara and discussed his life and teachings with a variety of interlocutors before penning this portrait. He was also inspired by the Buddhist challenge; arguably, his ‘mathas’ were derived from the Buddhist concept of monasteries.

 Varma has  refused “to be a mute witness to the reduction of such a great religion (Hinduism) to its lowest common denominator by ignorant and illiterate people who think they are self anointed protector of Hinduism… I want to proudly say that I am a Hindu, but I want to say that for right reasons. I want those traditions to be respected — of inclusion, not exclusion; of assimilation, not hatred; of dialogue, not violence.”

 The book falls into three major sections. In the first part, the author undertakes an exposition of the fundamentals of Adi Shankara's philosophy of Advaita. It is a treatment that is consciously kind to the lay people, who are novices in understanding of the subject.

In the second part  the author  examines the interface between Advaita and modern science. His  approach is a far cry from the jingoistic and peremptory assertion  that all modern technological developments -from aviation to internet to plastic surgery — were current in ancient India. He treats the two — Adi Shankara's Advaita and cutting-edge modern science - as independent developments; both existing in a state of reciprocal illumination.  Spirituality and science are mutually complementary, not mutually exclusive. The two converge on the dizzy heights of man's quest for truth. This section of the book is valuable even as a crisp introduction to the history of ideas in modern science

The author draws the parallel between quantum physics or particle physics – the science of sub-atomic particles and the Advaita principles. Anyone who has studied Physics knows that at the sub-atomic level we are all waves and made of same material. Pavan Varma takes you across two different branches of science – astronomy and particle physics, the two ends of the spectrum that we have managed to measure. He takes you across scientists and their research and draws a parallel with what  Shankaracharya said. In the end, he wonders why no scientist or scientific organization has systematically studied the works of Adi Shankaracharya to get insights into his thoughts, his research, and his works.

 What is important is that while being a firm believer of Advaita, Adi Shankaracharya, he composed hymns for almost all Devi Devatas of Sanatan Dharma.

In the end, this book leaves you with immense curiosity. And an urge to read the works of Adi Shankaracharya.

"When religions are divorced from their philosophical moorings, they often reach their lowest common denominator," he says. "I see that happening around me and it's a tragedy. I did not want to remain a mute spectator to the devaluation of a great religion."

  He calls Shankara the greatest Hindu philosopher because of his profound impact, which came from accepting and unifying the practices of ordinary people and because he won so many debates and followers. "Few people have written such lyrical and attractive poetry on such complex existential themes," Varma says, noting that his 'Bhaja Govindam' is sung and recited and played in ordinary households even today. He created a non-dual bond between knowledge and beauty.

The book concludes with an  anthology  of Adi Shankara's works.

“Adi Shankaracharya” is a valuable addition to the contemporary literature on Hinduism, a tribute to its scientific and philosophic basis, and an affirmation that it is much more than today’s political ideologues depict.

Pavan Varma declares ,“Writing a book was voyage of discovery for me” -- Sans doubt it will be for the readers as well. A great introduction to  Hinduism’s  greatest  thinker .

P.P.Ramachandran.

15/9/2018.