Thread by @AdiShloka

II Sri Adi Śaṅkarācārya - श्री आदि शङ्कराचार्य II
Sōpānaṁ : 14 Gāṅga Bhaktī

Kāśī is the list ancient city in the world, well-known since the Vedic times. While in ‘Devaprayaga’ in the Himalayas, Gāṅga is like a bubbling hilarious girl, in Kāśī she appears as a

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dignified old woman. Like a child, seeing its mother, ācāryapāda was delighted to see Gāṅga. The intellect which had burnt all the dross of ignorance by the fire of jñāna, had an inner need of a healing stream of motherly love. The presence of the Gāṅga mysteriously released a

cool soothing stream of a child’s love towards its mother in ācārya. The enlightened sage felt the presence of divine motherliness in the flowing form of that ancient river.

Śaṅkarā prostrated to Gāṅga, spontaneously singing these lines :

भगवति तव तीरे नीरमात्राशनोऽहं

विगतविषयतृष्णः कृष्णमाराधयामि ।
सकलकलुषभंगे स्वर्गसोपानगंगे
तरलतरतरंगे देवि गंगे प्रसीद ॥ १॥
{śrīgaṃgāṣṭakam}
‘O Gāṅga, I came to your shore, And sat there praying on krishna,And taking nothing else but water. So Oh Ganga, who removes all dirt. Who is the ladder for the

heaven,And who is full of spreading waves,Be gracious to me. O Divine Mother!’

The following shloka abundantly illustrates Śaṅkarā’s devotion to Gāṅga :

कुतो वीचिर्वीचिस्तव यदि गता लोचनपथं
त्वमापीता पीतांबरपुग्निवासं वितरसि ।
त्वदुत्संगे गंगे पतति यदि कायस्तनुभृतां

तदा मातः शातक्रतवपदलाभोऽप्यतिलघुः ॥ ७॥
{śrīgaṃgāṣṭakam}

‘O! Mother Gāṅga ! Those who drink with their eyes thy beautiful wavy from ever from a distance, obtain the divine abode Vaikuntha with thy Grace. Even the position of Indra is trivial to those who fall into thy lap,

even if it is after death.’

The charm of Gāṅgastuti proclaims ācārya’s intense devotion to Gāṅga.

शैलेन्द्रात् अवतारिणी निजजले मज्जत् जनोत्तारिणी
पारावारविहारिणी भवभयश्रेणी समुत्सारिणी ।
शेषाहेरनुकारिणी हरशिरोवल्लिदलाकारिणी
काशीप्रान्तविहारिणी विजयते गंगा मनूहारिणो ॥ ६॥

{śrīgaṃgāṣṭakam}
‘Descending down from the divine, emperor of mountains ! Serpents like, like a creeper entwining Siva’s head, Flowing through Kāśī like the grace of the Lord! Removing the fear of birth & death of those who take a dip. Hail to thee! O Divine beauty !

While staying in Kāśī, many visited ācārya, debated with him, & clarified their doubts. Just imagine! ācārya was only 11 years old at that time ! The reenactment of the ancient scene of Dakshinamurti! - ‘Vrddha sishya gurur yuva’! - ‘The disciples are old and the guru young’.

‘Gurostu mounam vyakhyanam sishyastu chinna samasya :’ - ‘The teaching was in silence and all doubts were erased.’
Arrival of the first disciple :

One day, while ācārya was giving a discourse, a young brahmachari from the south, who had already completed the study of the Vedas,

arrived there. The youth whose name was ‘Sanandana’ had sparkling eyes & his face had an expression of deep devotion. This young seeker came everyday, sat still before the master & listened attentively. One day he prostrated before the ācārya with a heart full of devotion & said:

स्वामिन्नमस्ते नतलोकबन्धो कारुण्यसिन्धो पतितं भवाब्धौ।
मामुद्धरात्मीयकटाक्षदृष्ट्या ऋज्व्यातिकारुण्यसुधाभिवृष्ट्या॥ ३५॥
{Vivekacūḍāmaṇi}

O Master! O friend of those who reverentially surrender to thee! Thou ocean of mercy! I salute thee; save me, fallen as I am into this sea

of change, with a direct glance from thy eyes which rain nectarine grace supreme.

दुर्वारसंसारदवाग्नितप्तं दोधूयमानं दुरदृष्टवातैः।
भीतं प्रपन्नं परिपाहि मृत्योः शरण्यमन्यद्यदहं न जाने॥ ३६॥
{Vivekacūḍāmaṇi}

am being roasted in the blazing infernal fire of change; I am being

tossed by the cruel storms of misfortune; I am terrified (within and without). O Lord! Save me from death; I seek refuge in thee, for I do not know of any other harbour wherein to seek shelter.

श्रीगुरुरुवाच :
मा भैष्ट विद्वंस्तव नास्त्यपायः संसारसिन्धोस्तरणेऽस्त्युपायः।

येनैव याता यतयोऽस्य पारं तमेव मार्गं तव निर्दिशामि॥ ४३॥

The Guru said, “Fear not, O learned one! There is no danger for you. There is a way to cross over this ocean of change, I shall instruct you in the very path by which the ancient ṛṣis walked to the beyond.”

अस्त्युपायो महान्कश्चित्संसारभयनाशनः।
तेन तीर्त्वा भवाम्भोधिं परमानन्दमाप्स्यसि॥ ४४॥
There is a supreme means by which you can put an end to the fear of relative existence; by that you will cross the sea of saṁsāra and attain supreme Bliss.

ācārya initiated Sanandana into

‘sanmasa’ ; The sacred guru-sishya relationship began.
Once Sanandana asked ācārya, “Bhagavan! In deep sleep, body, mind & other adjuncts do not exist. I see only total absence there. As mentioned by Indra to Prajapati in the Chāndogyo Upaniṣad, there seems to be no fullness

there. Yet on waking up we say, ‘I slept peacefully’. I cannot understand why the Upanishad says : ‘it is Brahman that exists in deep sleep, and one who knows that, reaches the divine world each day’.

श्रीगुरुरुवाच :
सत्यमुक्तं त्वया विद्वन्निपुणोऽसि विचारणे।

अहमादिविकारास्ते तदभावोऽयमप्यनु॥ २१३॥
सर्वे येनानुभूयन्ते यः स्वयं नानुभूयते।
तमात्मानं वेदितारं विद्धि बुद्ध्या सुसूक्ष्मया॥ २१४॥

The Guru answered, “Rightly have you spoken, O learned one! You are indeed clever in your ability to discriminate. Through an extremely subtle

intellect realise the Ᾱtman, the Knower, to be that by which all modifications like the ego, as well as their absence during deep sleep are perceived but which itself is not perceived.”
Sanandana became enraptured listening to the melodious music of Brahmavidya in the soft

chiming voice of ācārya. The mind became established directly in the Self that glows within. Sanandana shone brightly like a flame lit from another flame.
He was the first disciple of ācārya.

Thus ends the fourteenth Sōpānaṁ.

I ओम् तत् सत् I
I Om Tat Sat I

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Kāśī is the most ancient city in the world, well-known since the Vedic times.