MADHWAVIJAYA PRATHAMAHA SARGAHA – SHLOKAS 52 53, 54 AND 55

(In these Shlokas, the impact of misinterpretation of Vedas on people has been explained. Please read, comment and share. SDN)

YadbrahmasUtrOtkaraBhAskaram cha prakAshayantam sakalam swagOBhihi|

AchUchuradvEdasamUhavAham tatO mahAtaskaramEnamAhuhu||52||

SUMMARY: He (Sankara) stole away the Cluster of Brahmasutras, which were like the Sun blazing with his rays of all the norms and principles and riding the Vedas, which were in the form of a Stallion. Therefore, the scholarly called him Mahataskara or a notorious thief.

According to the poet, the Brahmasutras were the Sun. All the sentences or statements mentioned in Brahmasutra were the rays of that Sun. The sentences or verses that are known as Vedas were the horses. The principles conveyed through Vedas are the norms or standards of philosophy and by misinterpreting them, Sankara stole away that Sun.

The Maitrayanya Upanishat describes the proponents of Mayavada or mysticism as Mahataskaras or most dangerous thieves.       

SwasUtrajAtasya virudhDhaBhAShee twadBhAShyakArO(a)hamiti bruvANA yaha|

Tam tatkShaNAdyO na diDhakShati sma sa VyAsarUpO BhagavAn kShamAbdhihi||53||

SUMMARY: However, the ocean of kindness and excuse (Kshamasamudra), Sri Vedavyasa, who was an incarnation of Lord Narayana, pardoned him, although he went on contradicting the Brahmasutras spelt by Narayana and also claimed himself to be supreme linguist or crtical evaluator of Vedas.

The scholars clarify the concept of ‘pardoning’ here as allowing someone to completely establish his thoughts and present his own reasonings like a Jury allows a defendant to ‘freely plead his ignorance and prove his innocence’ before pronouncing the verdict.     

NigamasanmaNideepagaNO(a)BhavattaduruvAggaNapankanigUDhaBhAha|

AviduShAmiti sankaratAkaraha sa kila Sankara ityaBhishushruvE||54||

SUMMARY: The purest and serene rays of the heaps of light that the Vedas were emitting became dull and dim because of the slush of his (Sankara’s) oratory, eloquence and spirit. Since he corrupted and contaminated the minds of ‘impious’ people, which is equal to stealing of mind, he became popular as Sankara.       

The gems do not lose their glitter even if they are immersed in slush for indefinite period of time. Similarly, the original principles and the ‘real meaning’ of Vedas, which are like gems of ‘purest ray serene’ (This is an expression drawn from Thomas Grey’s Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard), they do not lose their shin or glitter.

AanadAdyairguruguNagaNaihi pUritO VAsudEvO|

Mandam mandam manasi cha satAm hanta nsUnam tirO(a)BhUt||55||

SUMMARY: The demons began spreading to all directions the insensible, illogical principles by stating that the world is a myth (SadasadvilakShaNa), Lord is un-attributable, there is no difference between among the beings etc.,  As a result, Lord Vasudeva, who is the embodiment of happiness and other great attributes, moved away from the minds of pious people. What a tragedy?   

What the poet wants to convey in this Shloka is that due to the misinterpretation of Sankara, even pious people started forgetting the existence of Lord Hari. This gave rise to the raise of illogical and misleading philosophies.

Iti Srimatkavikulatilaka SrimattrivikramapaDitAchAryasuta SrimannArAyaNapanDitA virachitE SrimanmaDhwavijayE mAhAkAvyE AanandAnkE praThamaha sargaha||