Sankara’s farewell to mother
In Sringeri, one day, Acharya had a premonition that the end of his mother was close. Hence, he quickly left Sringeri for Kalady along with Citsukha, his childhood friend. On the way, Acharya discussed with Citsukha the various aspects of Yoga, yogic powers and siddhis. Soon they reached Kalady and went home, where Aryamba was on her deathbed.
Her joy knew no bounds as she beheld her dear son Sankara who she was seeing now after nearly 16 years! Had she not held herself all these years without seeing her beloved son, her only support in life? She had directed all her grief, worries and anxieties into religious and spiritual pursuits. She had realised that the Lord alone is her refuge and had started progressing on the spiritual path guided by the sastra and the upadesas she had received from her husband and other elders.
These 16 years she lived a tapasvini, a renunciate, giving up all her desires, withdrawing all her senses from the sense objects and trying to establish herself in the peace within. When Sankara saw Aryamba, he could conspicuously sense the spiritual maturity in her. However, her many years of ritualistic living before had created certain blockages to her attainment of the ultimate realisation.
Sankara helped her overcome these by remaining close to her in her last moments and guiding her through the process. Finally, having burnt all her vasanas and with no desire left within, having annihilated the mind completely, Aryamba went into nirvikalpa-samadhi and shed her mortal coil. A strange peace filled the air, which Citsukha could experience profoundly.
Overpowered by the love for Aryamba, Acharya composed five verses (popularly called Matr-Panchakam) in praise of his mother and all the mothers of the world. In one of the verses, he says, ‘O Mother, at the time of giving me birth, you suffered unbearable pain. But you never complained of all the physical pain and suffering you went through. For even one of those suffering, a son cannot offer atonement.’ These, and the rest, would melt the heart of even the cruellest people and move them to tears!
As promised to his mother, Sankara decided to perform her final rites. However, the Nambudiri community was against a samnyasi performing the final rites of his mother and they threatened to boycott Sankara if he went ahead with the cremation. Sankara paid little heed to them and with the help of a few relatives and Citsukha, cremated his mother in the backyard of the house itself...
Fast forward years to the 19th century CE, one of the main indicators that helped the 33rd Jagadguru of Sringeri-matha locate the exact location of Sankara’s house was that there was a tradition in the locality to light a lamp and pray under an Asoka tree. The locals believed this to be the place of cremation of Aryamba. Aryamba also is said to have appeared in dream of the 33rd Jagadguru and mentioned that she resided under the Asoka tree! This samadhi of Aryamba is now housed within the Sarada temple in Kalady.
At this juncture, let us look at what the disciples of Acharya had to say about him. This is the only external contemporary evidence we have on the Acharya since all his biographies were written several years after him. In his invocation to the Panchapadika, Padmapada says that Acharya is a rare form of Siva in the form of a true samnyasi, not interested in any worldly possessions, surrounded by sages, the very form of logic, who is never furious, and a jivan-mukta who has surpassed time.
Totaka says that Acharya is Siva himself bearing the flag of the bull, the most compassionate person, greatest among gurus, expounder of all shastras and the great Upanisads, and the one who gives happiness to all through teaching the path of self-enquiry! Suresvara mentions Acharya as the one capable of destroying the knots of ignorance, whose rays of glory have pervaded the world like the rays of the full moon, etc. This was the kind of respect, love, adulation and devotion that the Acharya commanded from his disciples!
The journey of the Acharya, from the time he left Kalady as a boy of eight, until his return to Kalady at the age of twenty four, marks his first Bharat-yatra. However, much of this time was spent in the study of Vedanta with the guru, writing of the commentaries and establishing the Advaita-siddhanta in the scholarly circles through debates and discussions and the coming together of illustrious disciples.
This phase mostly addressed the scholarly class of the society. Most of the society, however, comprised common people, who may not understand the sastras or have the ability to read and comprehend the scholarly works like the bhasyas. True transformation is not possible if this majority is not addressed. It was for this reason that Acharya decided to undertake his second Bharat-yatra, which is popularly referred to as his Digvijaya or spiritual conquest!
Excerpted with permission from Sankarayanam: The Journey of Sankara by Subramanian Chidambaran, published by BluOne Ink