A brief note on the Bharadvaja clan

Bharadvaja is one among the saptarishis mentioned in the Shatapata Brahmana. Though a descendant of Angiras, Bharadvaja is also considered one among the gotra rishis. The Bharadvajas were descendants of a seer Bharadvaja, son of Brhaspati and a descendant of Angiras. The original habitant of the Bharadvajas was on the banks of river Saraswati.

Followers of the Pushan cult

Besides attending to the services of the high gods of the Vedic pantheon, namely, Indra, Agni and Soma, the Bharadvajas cherished and adhered to a distinct cult of Pushan and to the cow worship. Pushan is one among the various gods mentioned in the Vedic literature. He was the Lord of the paths and helped the nomadic tribes on their ways. Whenever cattle went astray and were lost, the pastoral worshippers used to appeal to Pushan, who as their patron god of cow herds and shepherds, readily recovered their lost property. Out of the eight complete hymns in the Rigveda, glorifying god Pushan, the patron god of cow herds and shepherds, five occur in the 6^th mandala of the Rigveda whose composers were the Bharadvajas. The Bharadvajas were the followers of the Pushan cult and were priests of the pastoral tribes.

The foremost enemy of the pastoral tribes were the Panis who were notorious cattle lifters. Thus there was in the early Vedic times, a continuous conflict going on between the Bharadvajas and the Panis and the former invoked their patron god Pushan, to punish these cattle lifters.

According to R.N.Dandekar there are indications in the Veda that the pastoral god, Pushan evoked mockery at the hands of certain other people- perhaps priests and warriors, who worshipped gods of a different order. The usual method adopted by the Vedic poets to combine the different gods of the Vedic tribes in one great pantheon was to bring all such gods in contact with Indra who represented, so to say, the ‘official’ religion of the Rigvedic samhita. The Bharadvajas were responsible for assimilating the Pushan cult with the Indra cult and Pushan came to be regarded as Indra’s comrade and given a share of the Soma offering, which he was earlier denied. The earlier sacrificial offering to Pushan was Karambha, i.e., gruel.

Patronized by kings

In recognition of their capacity as poets and singers, the Bharadvajas were patronized by kings and from the position of the priests of a pastoral tribe they became the priests of a warrior tribe. Bharadvaja was the priest of rulers like Divodasa II and his son Pratardana of Kashi and Divodasa Atithigva, the ruler of northern Panchala dynasty and his contemporaries like Srnjaya and his son Prastoka and Abhyavartin Cayamana. In the Ramayana, Valmiki depicts Bharadvaja and his hermitage and mentions that Rama and Bharata paid him respects on more than one occasion. The famous teacher of the Pandavas, Dronacharya and his son Ashwattama belonged to the Bharadvaja family.

As teachers and authors

About sixteen seers belonging to the Bharadvaja family have composed hymns of the Rigveda of which the whole of the 6^th mandala and a number of hymns in the fourth, ninth and tenth mandala are ascribed to them. In the Upanishads the Bharadvajas are referred as seekers of esoteric knowledge and teachers transmitting the knowledge of Upanishad. Bharadvaja is also the author of a Srauta Sutra and a Grhya Sutra which bears his name. Shantiparva of Mahabharata refers to one Bharadvaja as a writer on Rajashastra (Political Science) and Kautilya cites the views of Bharadvaja in his works which shows that he (Bharadvaja) was also a writer on Arthashastra. Panini refers to one Bharadvaja as a grammarian and we have a treatise on Shiksa (phonetics) known as Bharadvaja Shiksa. In Charaka Samhita we have information about Indra revealing the knowledge of Internal medicine (kayachikitsa) to Bharadvaja.

Bharadvaja refers to different individuals

It should be remembered that the name Bharadvaja refers not to a single person but to different individuals belonging to the Bharadvaja family and who lived in different times and in different places. For instance Bharadvaja who was the priest of Divodasa Atithigva, the ruler of North Panchala dynasty was 23 in descent of Bharadvaja who helped Pratardana, son of Divodasa II to regain his kingdom from the Vitahavya Haihayas. Similarly the Bharadvaja (known as Payu Bharadvaja) who composed the hymns in the 6^th mandala of Rigveda was the son of Bharadvaja who was the priest of Divodasa Atithigva. The name Bharadvaja referred to by Valmiki, and as an author of different treatises were different individuals belonging to the Bharadvaja clan.

Bharadvajas, as worshipper of sun god

Pushan is one among the solar divinities and his paths have been described as sun-god’s rays. Nirukta declares him a sun. According to V.C.Srivastava, the Upanishads mention the Bharadvajas as one among the several sages associated with sun worship. The Govindpur Stone Inscription of the poet Gangadhara dated 1137-38 A.D. mentions Bharadvaja as the first Maga Brahmin brought to India by Samba to appoint them as the priests of sun temples. Gangadhara says that the Angiras Bharadvajas were held in great respect in Magadha in the 12th century A.D. Several inscriptions like the Kaira Plate and Sankheda Plates of Dadda II, inform about the gifts to sun god by persons belonging to Bharadvaja gotra.

The Bharadvajas played a significant role in enriching Hindu religion and culture.

Reference

• Thaneswar Sarmah – The Bharadvajas in Ancient India, PhD Thesis submitted to the University of Poona, 1980

• V.G.Rahurkar –The Seers of the RGVeda, University of Poona, 1964

• R.N.Dandekar- Vedic Mythological Tracts, Ajanta Publications, Delhi, 1979

• V.C.Srivastava – Sun Worship in Ancient India, Indological Publications, Allahabad, 1972

Life and Works of Sri Shankaracharya

Sri Adi-Shankaracharya India’s par excellence philosopher and religious reformer was born at Kalati in Kerala to Shivaguru and Aryamba. Scholars differ as to the date of Shankaracharya’s birth. John Fleet and K.T.Talang attempted to place him in between the 6^th and 7^th century A.D. A.B.Keith place him in century 800 A.D. and S.N.Dasgupta mention Shankaracharya as living from 788 – 820 A.D. Shankaradigvijaya by Madhavacharya and Shankaravijaya by Anandagiri are the biographical works of Shankaracharya which provide information about him. These works are dated around 14^th century A.D. At a very young age Shankaracharya became an ascetic and on the banks of river Narmada met his guru, Govinda Bhagavatpada under whom he studied for four years. Govinda Bhagavatpada taught Shankara the profound philosophy of Advaita and directed him to write a philosophical commentary on the Vedanta Sutras, also known as Brahma Sutras, then interpreted in diverse theological ways.

According to the Advaita tradition the supreme Lord, Sri Narayana or Sadashiva himself revealed the wisdom of Advaita to Brahma, the creator, who in turn imparted it to sage Vasishtha. This wisdom was handed down first as vamsha-parampara, i.e. as line of succession from father to son; from Vasishtha to his son Shakti, from Shakti to his son Parashara, from Parashara to his son Veda Vyasa and from Veda Vyasa to his son Shuka. From Shuka commenced the sishya-parampara, i.e. the line of succession from preceptor to disciple; from Shuka to his disciple Gaudapada and from Gaudapada to his disciple to Govinda Bhagavatpada and from Govinda Bhagavatpada to Sri Adi Shankaracharya.

At Varanasi Shankara wrote commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. Then he travelled throughout India on foot three times from Nepal to Rameshwaram preaching the universal philosophy of Advaita in important centers of learning, places of pilgrimage and in capitals of kings. He also defeated many opponents in debates of whom the Mimamsa scholar Mandana Misra of Mahishmati and his wife Bharathi and the Sakta commentator Abhinava Gupta were famous.

Shankara’s works

Shankara wrote commentaries on the eleven principal Upanishads like the Chandogya, the Brihadaranyaka, the Taittiriya, the Aitareya, the Svetasvatara, the Kena, the Katha, the Isa, the Prasna, the Mandukya and Mundaka. He also wrote commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra. His other important works Atmabodha, Aptavajrasuchi, Dasasloki, Aparoksanubhuti, Upadesasahasri, Prabuddha Sudhakara and Viveka Chudamani. His religious hymns are contained in works like Dakshinamurthy Stotra, Ananda Lahari and Soundaraya Lahari.

Socio-religious reforms

Shankara’s aim was to revive the Vedic dharma based on the philosophy of Advaita. He saw to it that morally reprehensible modes of worship followed by the Kapalikas, Saktas and followers of Ganapati were abolished. For the benefit of theists Shankara instituted the Panchayatana puja or worship of the five aspect of the deity – Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Aditya and Ganesha. He also composed hymns on them and either founded or renovated temples dedicated to them. He united various religious sects by popularizing the collective worship of Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, Ganesha, Kumara and Shakti; for which he came to be known as Shanmata Sthapanacharya. Shankara established four monasteries, at Dwaraka (Kalikapeeta with Padmapada in charge) in the east, Badri (Jyotirmatha with Totaka in charge) in the north, Puri (Govardhanapeeta with Hastamalaka in charge) in the east and Sringeri (Sri Sharadhapeeta with Sureshvara in charge) in the south. He is said to have brought five Lingas from Kailasa and consecrated them at Kedara, Nilakanta Kshetra in Nepal, Chidambaram, Sringeri and Kanchi. Shankara organized the numerous wandering monks all over the country into ten definite orders of sanyasis under the name Dasnamis. The Dasnamis add at the end of their names any one of the following suffixes, namely Saraswathi, Bharathi, Puri, Giri, Tirtha, Vana, Sagara, Aranya, Parvata and Asrama.

Advaita in practice

Shankara wanted his followers not just to theorize his Advaita philosophy but put it into practice. This message he gave in the form of an episode in which he himself was involved. Once when Shankara was on his way to have his bath at river Ganga at Kashi his pupils asked a Chandala coming in the opposite direction to make way for their guru. The Chandala asked Shankara how he might consistently teach Advaitism and practice such differentiating observances. This thought provoking question struck Shankara who composed Manisha Panchaka, containing five philosophical verses expressing the Advaita sentiments and where he (Shankara) acknowledge the Chandala as his guru. The message of Shankara was that for a follower of Advaita it is absurdity to practice discrimination between humans and that one should view all as One and the same.

Shankara’s Advaita philosophy

Reality or Brahman

According to Shankara nothing really exists but the Supreme Spirit known as Brahman. Brahman is pure Existence, Consciousness and Bliss (Sat-cit-aananda). He is Absolute, impersonal, changeless, eternal and all-pervading. What is commonly called Nature (animate and inanimate) is but an illusion (Maya) and a dream caused by the ignorance (avidya) which surrounds the Supreme Spirit and hides it. This has been summed up in the words ‘Brahma Sathya, Jagan Mithya’. Phenomena appear real for the same reason that things seen in a dream are real so long as the dream lasts. The aim of life is therefore to cast of the gross sheaths that surround the Spirit within us and to realize its identity with the Supreme Spirit.

Orders of Reality

Shankara distinguishes four kinds of reality.

• Paramarthikasatta– The ultimate metaphysical reality (of Brahman).

• Vyavaharikasatta– The pragmatic or empirical reality which is experienced by humanity as a whole for all time.

• Pratibhasikasatta– The apparent reality which belongs to the objects of illusions, hallucinations and dreams. This is privately experienced and is of short duration. For example, mistaking a rope for a snake.

• Tuccasatta– The reality which is inexperienceable, imaginary objects, some of which may be self-contradictory or impossible. For example, one may speak of ‘the son of a barren woman’. A barren woman cannot have any sons, so the existence of the son of a barren woman is impossible and self-contradictory.

Soul or Atman

The Atman is the individual human soul clothed in the upaadhis or limiting adjuncts and is called Jiva. The Jiva or individual soul is essentially the same Brahman and is therefore self-luminous, unlimited and free. Its limitedness and all its consequent effects are due to certain conditions (upaadhis), which again appear through nescience (avidhya) and as such are unreal. Thus an elimination of the upaadhis amounts to an elimination of the apparently dual natural of the jiva.

States of experiences

Advaita Vedanta identifies four state of experience for a jiva. They are

• The waking state (Jagrat avastha)

• The dream state (Svapna avastha)

• The deep sleep state (Sushupti avastha)

• The pure consciousness state (Turiya)

The world of duality is available for our experience only in the waking and dream state. But in deep sleep state we are not aware of any objects or any world of plurality. It is a state wherein we experience only the knowledge of ignorance; we neither know the truth or falsehood. In the Turiya state the entire pluralistic world rolls away and the experience of the non-dual reality alone remaining as eternally true; for Turiya is Brahman, indivisible and immanent. Hence attaining this state of experience which is the highest upasana (worship) is instructed upon ascetics.

The Universe or Jagat

Brahman as a sole Reality appears as the objective universe and it an illusory manifestation of Brahman. Reality or Brahman has the power of taking an existential form, namely the universe without undergoing any modification. The existence of the universe is relative and is not original, separate or independent of Brahman. How Brahman manifest itself is beyond human comprehension and can be answered only by some theory such as that of Maya.

Maya and Avidya

Maya is the cosmic illusion and the potency of Brahman which makes the jiva experience duality. It is the medium for the reflection of Brahman (as jivas) and for the projection of this world. Maya presents to the human mind Reality broken up into subject and object. This division, splitting up is unreal; but as the mind works only as an organ of differentiation, it cannot disclose truth which is ever one and undivided. Maya has no real entity and has only an apparent existence and the moment truth is known it is dissolved. Maya, which is also called, avidya, (or nescience in English) has two powers, called, avarana sakti and vikshepa sakti. Avarana sakti covers Brahman, as it were, as a cloud covers the sun and makes us, the jivatmas, forget that, in our true nature, we are Brahman. At the macrocosmic level, vikshepa sakti is the force that projects the differentiated nama roopa, i.e., the world of objects and bodies and minds and superimposes them on the sub-stratum, i. e., Brahman. At the microcosmic level, vikahepa sakti makes Jivatmas make the mistake of looking upon themselves as limited individuals and the universe of nama roopas as real. As a result, we, the ordinary human beings, identify ourselves with our body mind complex and regard ourselves as separate individuals, limited in space, time and entity, subject to all the vicissitudes, changes, joys and sorrows of life and go through the cycle of births and deaths. When we understand that we are not different from the infinite Brahman, we are freed from this cycle. Until this happens, one goes through the cycle of births and deaths.

Theology in Advaita Vedanta

While maintaining that on the paramarthika plane (i.e. as absolute reality), there is only the non-dual attribute less Brahman (nirguna Brahman) Advaita Vedanta accommodates, on the vyavaharika plane, (as a lower order of reality), Brahman with qualities (saguna Brahman) called Ishwara. As Ishwara, Brahman has all the characteristics of what is called a personal God; the creator, preserver and destroyer of the world and a friend and savior of finite souls. The purpose of accommodating Ishwara is to enable a spiritual aspirant (jiva) go through the ritual of devotion and worship and gradually acquire knowledge of the Self through meditation. The specialty of Advaita Vedanta is it does not make any distinction between gods of one religion and another. An aspirant can accept Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Rama, Krishna or Durga as manifestation of saguna Brahman and worship in a church, mosque or a temple. The worship in this plane is meant as a preparatory and purificatory discipline and from this he has to move to the next stage of identifying himself with the Supreme Spirit (Brahman). From metaphysical standpoint, both jiva and Ishwara are Brahman, but on the phenomenal level from the religious standpoint their relation is in terms of master and servant. Ishwara the master knows his oneness with Brahman and therefore enjoys eternal bliss whereas jiva the servant is ignorant of his higher, divine origin and is therefore subject to the self-deceptive trials and tribulations of a mundane existence.

Way to Moksha

Shankara prescribes Jnanamarga for self-realization. But a mere intellectual apprehension of the advaitic truth is of no avail. Only through a systematic approach can this is achieved through Shravana (formal study), Manana (reflection) and Nididhyaasana (meditation), i.e. to transform into direct experience the mediate knowledge of Ultimate Reality acquired by the study of Upanishad and by reflection upon their teaching. In Advaita, moksha is not something which has to be attained hereafter. The essential nature of every jiva is already Brahman and only the wheel of ignorance has concealed its real nature and therefore the jiva undergoes pains of samsara until it realizes its inherent divinity. Therefore the jiva does not lose its individuality in moksha but the limitations of that individuality are overcome by knowledge and immediately here and now it attains universal Brahman.

Advaita- A Universal philosophy

Shankara’s system of Vedanta can stand on its own feet as pure metaphysics without the help of any theology, unlike other theistic Vedanta systems like Visishtadvaita of Sri Ramanuja and Dvaita of Sri Madhvacharya. Hence those prefer a philosophy to a theology will have a natural leaning towards Shankara. But at the same time Shankara’s system also provides theologies as provisional stand-point- just a base camp for those attempting to climb the Mount Everest of Advaita. And the beauty is that not one particular theology but any number of them including foreign religions like Islam and Christianity can be fitted into the frame work of Shankara’s metaphysics provisionally. This wonderfully accommodating power of his doctrine is perhaps the most attractive feature of his philosophy to many of its followers.

To Shankara goes the credit for reviving the Sanatana Dharma and rescuing the Vedic culture from foundering. A brilliant thinker and vigorous debater he reconciled the conflicting sects prevailing in his times. He was a realized soul, a sage, philosopher, scholar, poet, socio-religious reformer and organizer; all rolled into one. He passed away in 820 A.D. at Kedarnath.