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Traditional Readings from the commentaries of Adi Shankara on the Prasthana-trayee |
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Shankara Bhashya Parayanam |
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ABOUT BADRINATH This sacred place of pilgrimage, Badari Dham (also called ‘Badrinath’ and ‘Badari’), perched at an altitude of 3100 m (10,000 feet) in the majestic Himalayas, has been the cradle of many of our Saints and Sages, the seat of their penance as well as the field for enacting their life-sport in this World. Badari Dham is intimately connected with the major spiritual personages of the Vedanta tradition, viz., Lord Narayana, Sri Veda Vyasa, and Adi Shankaracharya. At this sacred place, there is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Narayana, known here as Sri Badari Vishal. The Vedantic philosophical tradition originated with Him and continues unbroken through numerous sages and seers till this day. Another great sage in this tradition is Sri Veda Vyasa, who dictated the great epic, the Mahabharata, to his scribe, Lord Ganesha, at this very place. Maharshi Badarayana, usually identified with Veda Vyasa himself, wrote the Brahma Sutra, at this very abode. This is evident from the fact that a cave called Vyasa Guha still exists there and is a place of pilgrimage even today. In historical times, Sri Gaudapada (c. 7th century A.D.), the author of the Mandukya Karika, realized the truth of ‘Ajata Vada’, which is the essence of the entire Vedantic tradition, at this very holy abode of Badari Dham. Sri Aanandagiri, a great scholar and sage, while commenting on the first Karika of Alatasanti Prakarana makes a mention of this place saying, ‘Sri Gaudapadacharya, before realizing the truth of Ajata Vada, did intense penance to propitiate Lord Narayana, who in the form of the Sage Nara, abided at Badarikasrama (Badari Dham), a place adorned by the majestic Mount Narayana. Pleased with his penance, Lord Narayana blessed Acharya Gaudapada with supreme knowledge’. When Acharya Sankara reached Badari Dham (c. 800 A.D.), he reinstalled the ancient image of Lord Narayana, after retrieving it from the waters of the Narada Kund, in the very same temple where it had existed earlier. It was while residing in Badari Dham that Sankara wrote his commentaries which are today the mainstay of Vedanta today. We find the following references in the biography of Sankara ( called the ‘Sankara Digvijayam’, written by Sri Madhava Vidyaranya) - ‘There, in Badari, Sankara held discussions with resident sages on the six systems of heterodox and seven systems of orthodox philosophies and on the nine categories. After classifying his thoughts and ascertaining the purport of the Vedas, he wrote, in his twelfth year, his most profound and delightful commentary on the Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana’ (VI- 60). Among the main disciples of Sri Sankara, Sanandana, who came to be known later as Sri Padmapadacharya, demonstrated his legendry devotion to his Guru, at Badarinath. |