Shankaracarya [Siva] Mayavada Philosophy – Truth Revealed February 22, 2008

Mayavada Theory:

“The pure Vedic Upanishads, according to ShakaraAcharya, reveals no indication of a need for ritual or worship or anything remotely like what you suggest is part of the path to Brahman. ALL worship is nonsense . . . irrespective of the religion. Only an egotistic human being could conceive of a creator that required worship of ANY kind!”

Logical Facts:
1. The Upanishads are part of the Vedas, and the Vyasadeva is famous as the compiler of the Vedas. Specifically, He is the partial expansion of Vishnu who separated the one Veda into four categories to allow Brahmanas in kali Yuga to cultivate expertise in specific disciplines rather than having to master the entire body of the Veda, a total of 4,520 titles. After compiling the Vedas, Vyasadeva, wrote the Vedanta Sutras putting the essence of the Vedas into exceedingly terse Sanskrit. He then explained the purport of the Vedanta Sutras by writing Srimad Bhagavatam, which is 18,000 verses detailing the pastimes of the Lord and His devotees. Thus, when Vyasadev is known to have given His clear and bona fide purport to the Vedas why then pay heed to commentaries that conflict with Vyasadeva’s explanation?

2. As described in Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, there was a meeting between Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu (who is directly Krishna Himself) and a group of mayavadi sannyasis led by Prakasananda Sarasvati, who asked Him to speak on Vedanta-sutra. Sri Caitanya explained that on the order of Vishnu, Lord Siva incarnated as Adi Sankaracarya for the purpose of giving misleading interpretations of the Vedanta-sutras for the purpose of promoting atheism in Kali Yuga.

CC Adi 7.108: “The Absolute Truth is described in the Upanishads and Brahma-sutra, but one must understand the verses as they are. That is the supreme glory in understanding.

CC Adi 7.109: “Sripada Sankaracarya has described all the Vedic literatures in terms of indirect meanings. One who hears such explanations is ruined.

CC Adi 7.110: “Sankaracarya is not at fault, for it is under the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead that he has covered the real purpose of the Vedas.

CC Adi 7.111: “According to direct understanding, the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who has all spiritual opulences. No one can be equal to or greater than Him.

CC Adi 7.112: “Everything about the Supreme Personality of Godhead is spiritual, including His body, opulence and paraphernalia. Mayavada philosophy, however, covering His spiritual opulence, advocates the theory of impersonalism.

CC Adi 7.113: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of spiritual potencies. Therefore His body, name, fame and entourage are all spiritual. The Mayavadi philosopher, due to ignorance, says that these are all merely transformations of the material mode of goodness.

CC Adi 7.114: “Sankaracarya, who is an incarnation of Lord Siva, is faultless because he is a servant carrying out the orders of the Lord. But those who follow his Mayavadi philosophy are doomed. They will lose all their advancement in spiritual knowledge.”

Srila Prabhupada gives important background in some of his purports to these verses. In the Padma Purana, Lord Siva is quoted as saying,

mayavadam asac chastram pracchannam bauddham ucyate
mayaiva kalpitam devi kalau brahmana-rupina
brahmanas caparam rupam nirgunam vakshyate maya
sarva-svam jagato ‘py asya mohanartham kalau yuge
vedante tu maha-sastre mayavadam avaidikam
mayaiva vakshyate devi jagatam nasa-karanat

“The Mayavada philosophy,” Lord Siva informed his wife Parvati, “is impious [asac chastra]. It is covered Buddhism. My dear Parvati, in Kali-yuga I assume the form of a brahmana and teach this imagined Mayavada philosophy. In order to cheat the atheists, I describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be without form and without qualities. Similarly, in explaining Vedanta I describe the same Mayavada philosophy in order to mislead the entire population toward atheism by denying the personal form of the Lord.”

In the Siva Purana the Supreme Personality of Godhead told Lord Siva:

dvaparadau yuge bhutva kalaya manushadishu
svagamaih kalpitais tvam ca janan mad-vimukhan kuru

“In Kali-yuga, mislead the people in general by propounding imaginary meanings for the Vedas to bewilder them.”

Furthermore, in the Padma Purana Lord Siva tells Parvati:

srinu devi pravakshyami tamasani yatha-kramam
yesham sravana-matrena patityam jnaninam api
apartham sruti-vakyanam darsayal loka-garhitam
karma-svarupa-tyajyatvam atra ca pratipadyate
sarva-karma-paribhramsan naishkarmyam tatra cocyate
paratma-jivayor aikyam mayatra pratipadyate

“My dear wife, hear my explanations of how I have spread ignorance through Mayavada philosophy. Simply by hearing it, even an advanced scholar will fall down. In this philosophy, which is certainly very inauspicious for people in general, I have misrepresented the real meaning of the Vedas and recommended that one give up all activities in order to achieve freedom from karma. In this Mayavada philosophy I have described the jivatma and Paramatma to be one and the same.”

3. How do you explain Adi Shankara’s bhakti compositions such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaja_Govindam?”
Consider, for example, the first verse and refrain:

bhajagovindam bhajagovindam

govindam bhaja muudhamate

sampraapte sannihite kaale

nahi nahi rakshati dukrijnkarane

Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda. Oh fool! Rules of Grammar will not save you at the time of your death.

and the concluding verse:

bhajagovindam bhajagovindam

govindam bhajamuudhamate

naamasmaranaadanyamupaayam

nahi pashyaamo bhavatarane

Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool! Other than chanting the Lord’s names, there is no other way to cross the life’s ocean.

 

4. Sri Krishna is accepted as the Personality of Godhead Vishnu by hundreds of millions of people today, and He is worshipped as the original Supreme Personality of Godhead by the Vaishanvas who know Him intimately.

In Bhagavad-gita 12:2, Sri Krishna states:

“Those who fix their minds on My personal form and are always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith are considered by Me to be most perfect.”

If the Upanishads promote some impersonal conception of the absolute, why does Sri Krishna say that His devotees are the most perfect?

5. As stated by Srila Jiva Gosvami, in the Tattva Sandharba, Anuccheda 35, “If it is indeed true that the one undivided Brahman, whose very nature is pure spirit, is the foundation of Maya and also embodies the liberating force of knowledge, then it is illogical to say that the very same Brahman falls under Maya’s influence and is covered by ignorance. Thus we can understand that the jiva and the Supreme Lord are separate entities. Since both their identities and capabilities are different, the jiva and the Lord are essentially distinct.”

In other words, if Brahman is indivisible, changeless, and supreme, how does some force known as Maya appear in Brahman, modify it, and put it into ignorance? Please explain.
…..

There, I have refuted your claim by

1. referencing the Upanishad’s compiler’s own purport;
2. referencing multiple puranas describing Sankaracarya’s intent to misrepresent the Vedanta for the purpose of advancing atheism in the Kali yuga on the order of the Supreme Lord;
3. referencing Sankaracarya’s own bhakti compositions;
4. referencing the opinion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as expressed in Bhagavad-gita, which is currently accepted by hundreds of millions of people as the direct word of God; and
5. demonstrating by logic that the philosophy underlying your claim is nonsense.

What is your response to these arguments?
I would suggest following Sankaracarya’s advice in his Bhaja Govindam by carefully and attentively chanting:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare