FOUR PRIMARY DISCIPLES OF SHANKARACHARYA

LIFE STORIES OF THE FOUR DISCIPLES OF 
SHANKARACHARYA ARE VERY INTERESTING, 
INTRIGUING & ASTONISHING !

ESPECIALLY KARAMALAKA WHO WAS BEHAVING LIKE 
AN IDIOT, NOT TALKING,NOT PLAYING LIKE CHILDREN 
WAS A SELF-REALISED JNANI, KNOWING 
PARAKAYA - PRAVESHA ! 

THOTAKA WAS KNOWN FOR SERVICE TO GURU & AS 
HE WASHED GURU'S CLOTHES AT THE RIVER, GURU'S 
GRACE MADE HIM A JNANI, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS
UNEDUCATED,HAD NOT STUDIED VEDAS & SHSTRAS !

PADMAPADA HAD ALREADY RECEIVED THE GRACE OF 

GOD NARA-SIMHA SO MUCH SO HE WAS ALWAYS 

PROTECTIVE OF HIS GURU IN DANGEROUS SITUATIONS !

IN THE CASE OF MANDANA MISHRA

(SURESHWARACHARYA) INSTEAD OF CALLING IT AS 

ARGUMENT FOR 8 DAYS WITH SHANKARACHARYA WE 

CAN CALL IT AS ENLIGHTENMENT BY THE WOULD BE 

GURU SHANKARACHARYA !

Of the large number of disciples who had the rare and inestimable privilege of serving the great Acharya Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada, four stand out prominent. Each one of them was unrivalled in his own way: Padmapada for intense devotion, Totaka for exemplary service, Hastamalaka for supreme self-realisation and Sureshwara for deep learning

It is well-known that Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya established four Maths in the four corners of India for the sustinence and propogation of Sanathana Dharma in the country. Each of these Amnaya Peethams had their divinities, tirthas, sampradaya, so on all of the details of which are given below.

The four disciples of Sri Adi Shankaracharya were later on installed as Acharyas of the four Maths by Sri Adi Shankaracharya himself as follows.

Sri Hastamalakacharya as the Acharya of the Govardhana Math in the East.
This Math is earmarked to make special study of RIG VEDA & 
meditate on the Maha Vakya ' Prajnanam Brahma '

Sri Sureshwaracharya as the Acharya of Sringeri Sharada Peetham in the South.
This Math is earmarked to make special study of YAJUR VEDA 
& meditate on  the Maha Vakya ' Aham Brahmasmi ' 

Sri Padmapadacharya as the Acharya of the Dwaraka Math in the West.
This Math is earmarked to make special study of SAMA VEDA &
 meditate on the Maha Vakya ' Tat Twam Asi '

Sri Totakacharya as the Acharya of Jyotir Math in the North.
This Math is earmarked to make special study of ATHARVA 
VEDA & meditate on the Maha Vakya ' Ayam Athma Brahma '

The fact that all these Maths function to this day shows the vigour of the movement started by Shankara for the propagation of Advaita Vedanta and Sanatana Dharma as a whole.

Sri Hastamalakacharya

In the village called Sribali there was a learned Brahmana named Prabhakara. He was very rich. But neither his learning nor his affluence gave him any pleasure as his only son appeared to be an idiot. The boy was as lovely as Cupid, as lustrous as the sun, pleasant like the moon and patient like the earth. But he behaved like an idiot. It was with great difficulty that his Upanayana was performed. He never played, never talked, never got angry and never studied. 
When Sri Shankara chanced to go to that village, the boy was about 13 years of age. The anxious father took his son to Shankara to see if anything could be done for him. In his first glance, the Acharya realised the greatness of the boy. He asked him who he was. The boy answered the question in chaste Sanskrit verse, expounding the real nature of the Self. As the boy was not suited to the life of a householder, the Acharya accepted him as his disciple and gave him Sanyasa. 
As the essence of truth had been so lucidly explained by the boy, like a gooseberry in one’s palm, he was named Hastamalaka. His extempore verses had the rare distinction of being commented on by the illustrious Acharya himself. Though he attended the classes held by the Acharya, it was more to verify his own experience than to gain proficiency in dialectics. It was suggested to the Acharya that, by reason of his realisation of the Self, Hastamalaka was pre-eminently competent to write a Vartika(Sanskrit commentary in verse) on the Sutra Bhashya. The Acharya negated the suggestion by pointing out that Hastamalaka’s plane of consciousness always dwelt on the supernal Self. He would not stoop to write books. When the Acharya placed him on a higher level that those engaged in dialectics, the disciples were naturally curious to know how one who was not known to have devoted any attention to learning the sastras could be proficient in realisation. 
Sri Shankara explained the phenomenon. On the bank of the Jamuna, a great sage was seated in contemplation when some brahmin girls came there to bathe. One of them had a baby two years old. She placed him by the side of the sage and asked him to take care of it till she bathed. The baby slowly crawled into the river and was drowned. The mother was aghast. She took out the dead body of the child and wept bitterly before the sage. The sage was quite oblivious of the happenings awoke from his samadhi. He was moved by pity for the grieving mother. By the powers of his yoga, he left his body and entered the body of the child. The dead child sprang into life. That child was Hastamalaka. This explained how he came to have such an all-comprehensive knowledge without any apparent instruction.

Sri Sureshwaracharya

Sri Sureshwaracharya

विश्वं मायामयत्वेन रूपितं यत्प्रबोधतः ।
विश्वं च यत्स्वरूपं तं वार्तिकाचार्यमाश्रये ॥

A lucid gloss He wrote upon the Truth, that the illusion which pervades the world; Is embedded nowhere but in the mind, Sureshwaracharya, Him I salute!

Sri Sureshwaracharya was a great scholar, and a philosopher of repute. He was the first Peethadhipati of Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham, established by Sri Shankarabhagavatpada.

Sri Sureshwaracharya ’s contribution to Indian philosophy in general and advaita vedanta in particular was both substantial and enduring. While His Master, Shankara, propounded the essentials of advaita, Sureshwara reinforced by setting at rest all talk of diverse interpretations in his perceptor’s writings.

Certain special characteristics of this great saint stand out prominently as can be seen from his life history given below.

The Vedic Tradition

The Vedic tradition is continued in the two Mimamsa schools. Poorva Mimamsa along with the Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta, is only with the direct continuation of the Vedic culture. The Poorva Mimamsa system took the ritualistic tradition of the Vedic culture. It helped a methodical interpretation of the otherwise complicated Vedic injunctions about rituals. It also supplied a philosophical justification for the beliefs which formed the source and authority for the rituals.

Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada heard of Kumarila Bhatta, the leader of one of the two branches of the Poorva Mimamsa school of philosophy. Kumarila Bhatta’s acceptance of the Vedic authority was total. He did not care to admit the existence of God. The great powers of argument of Kumarila Bhatta and the stories of his miraculous deeds in vanquishing well-known Buddhist scholars to reestablish the authority of the Vedas were almost known to everybody in the land. According to Kumarila Bhatta, the Vedas are eternal like the world.

When Sri Bhagavatpada heard of Kumarila Bhatta, he was immolating himself in a fire of husk as an act of expiation. Sri Bhagavatpada asked the great Vedic scholar to stop the act of immolation, and come out to argue with him because the Poorva Mimamsa attitude to the existence of God was not correct. It was so even according to the authority of the Vedas which the Poorva Mimamsa scholars accepted as supreme. Kumarila Bhatta explained that in deference to Vedic injunctions, for which mission his life was devoted, the act of immolation should not be stopped in the middle. He had to purify himself according to his own convictions.

Mandana Mishra

Kumarila Bhatta however requested Sri Bhagavatpada to go to Mahishmatipura to meet his disciple Mandana Mishra and win him over to Advaita. He also added that the superiority of the Advaita doctrine will be revealed to the world if Mandana Mishra gets defeated in a combat of logic.

Kumarila Bhatta described Mandana Mishra as the dearest of his disciples, and a great scholar in all branches of learning. Sri Bhagavatpada blessed Kumarila Bhatta and accepted advice for the debate with Mandana Mishra.

Contrary to the normal course of a disciple seeking a guru to earn his grace by devotion, loyalty and service, it was Sri Bhagavatpada who went to Mahishmatipura in search of a disciple.

The Magadha empire, with Pataliputra as its capital, stretched far and wide in those days. Mahishmatipura was an important town in the extensive Magadhan empire.

Sri Bhagavatpada reached the city of Mahishmatipura with his followers. The passers by in the street gave him a graphic description of the place of Mandana Mishra.

It was like a Royal Palace because of Mandana Mishra’s affluence. His father Hima Mitra was an honoured pandit in the court of the Kashmir kings. He belonged to Kannauj Gowda Brahmin community. Mandana Mishra received the best of traditional training at the feet of Kumarila Bhatta and perfected his scholarship. He settled at Mahishmatipura as a house-holder with his wife Ubhaya Bharati. She was the daughter of learned and pious Vishnu Mitra living on the banks of Sonabhadra river.

Mandana Mishra and Ubhaya Bharati were an ideal couple, each of them equal to the other in all branches of learning, ethical character and strict observation of Vedic injunctions. Ubhaya Bharati was supposed to be an avatara of goddess of learning, Saraswati Devi, as Mandana Mishra was supposed to be an avatara of Brahma. His scholarship and the reverence in which he was held earned him the honorific epithet of ‘Mandana Mishra’. His real name was Vishwarupa.

When Sri Bhagavatpada reached the mansion of Mandana Mishra, it was found bolted from inside. Sri Bhagavatpada, as a Sanyasin, had no right of admission into a house found closed. Such are the rules of Smriti, which govern the daily conduct of traditional Sanyasis. Sri Bhagavatpada pondered a little. He had firmly decided to redeem Mandana Mishra from the rigidity of dogmatic ritualism. Therefore he felt like using his extraordinary Yogic powers. Great Yogi and Siddha Purusha as he was, Sri Bhagavatpada entered the house through the closed door.

Unwelcome Sanyasi

Mandana Mishra had an innate dislike for Sanyasis because in his staunch belief of ritualism, he felt that only those who wished to escape the rigours of Vedic injunctions found a refuge in the Sanyasa ashrama. Moreover when Sri Bhagavatpada entered the house, it was a time when the presence of a Sanyasin was most unwelcome. Mandana Mishra was performing a shraddha and the Brahmins were about to be fed. The entry of Sri Bhagavatpada at such a time caused a disturbance and Mandana Mishra was infuriated.

Hot and harsh exchanges followed. The Brahmins found the situation going out of control. They wished to set it right. They suggested to Mandana Mishra to invite Sri Bhagavatpada to participate in the shraddha by occupying Vishnu Sthana. Staunch ritualist as he was, Mandana Mishra was fully bent upon saving the ritual. He invited Sri Bhagavatpada accordingly.

But Sri Bhagavatpada declined to accept the invitation. He explained to Mandana Mishra that he did not come for bhiksha but for a polemical debate. Mandana Mishra who had never met his match in learning before was willing for a dialectical fight. He gladly welcomed it. The shraddha was allowed to be finished as ordained. The debate was fixed for the next day.

The Eight-day Debate

They met the next day after daily ablutions normal to their respective ashramas. Ubhaya Bharati, the wife of Mandana Mishra, agreed to serve as the judge as they both sought her help expressing confidence in her impartiality and appreciation for her wisdom and scholarship. She was the only scholar available who could follow the disputants in their flight to sublime heights.

As Ubhaya Bharati was a housewife, with her daily chores, which included the preparation of daily food for the disputants, she gave them each a garland of flowers. She said that the person whose garland faded away first was the person vanquished. To make the dispute more purposeful, they agreed to a wager. The person worsted in the debate should become the disciple and accept the ashrama, way of life of the victor.

They were giants of erudition, both of them supreme in the knowledge of the Vedas. The discussion continued daily without hindrance to their daily rituals, rest and other exigencies.

From day to day, Mandana Mishra saw new light in the arguments of Sri Bhagavatpada. He was losing faith in his own past convictions. His faith in Bhagavatpada was growing to a stimulating climax.On the eighth and the last day of the discussion, Mandana Mishra was fully convinced of the superiority of the doctrine of Sri Bhagavatpada. As Sri Bhagavatpada said, ‘Once the conditioning factor (the nescience) vanishes, the soul becomes one with the Brahman.’ When Mandana Mishra realised the limitations of his own standpoint and the Truth of Sri Bhagavatpada’s view, he found that his flower garland had faded. He fell prostrate before Sri Bhagavatpada, touched his feet and said in a trembling voice, ‘O Teacher of the World, pardon me and my audacity. I have offended you for these eight days. Hold your fury, O Jagadguru! and shower your grace on this humble servant.

Ubhaya Bharati disappeared from the mortal vision and regained her celestial form as Saraswati Devi, the Goddess of Knowledge. She however granted a boon to Sri Bhagavatpada that she would be immanent at a place where he may invoke her presence. Mandana Mishra gave all his earthly belongings to the needy at the last Vedic ritual which he performed before he took sanyasa at the hands of Sri Jagadguru Shankara Bhagavatpada.

Sri Bhagavatpada gave his disciple the name of Sri Sureshwaracharya. He took him on his march from place to place. Soon Sri Bhagavatpada reached Sringeri where he invoked the presence of Goddess of Knowledge. He installed Sri Sureshwaracharya as head of the Mutt.

Establishment of the Sharada Peetham at Sringeri

Sri Sureshwaracharya wrote elucidating metrical commentaries (Vartikas) on Taittiriya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishadic Bhashyas of Sri Bhagavatpada. Sri Sureshwaracharya also wrote commentaries on the Dakshinamoorti Stotra and Panchikarana of Sri Bhagavatpada. The commentary on Dakshinamoorti Stotra became famous as the Manasollasa Vartika. He also wrote a succinct monograph presenting an analytical picture of the fundamental teachings of Sri Bhagavatpada. This book became well-known as Naishkarmya Siddhi. Sri Sureshwaracharya also wrote a commentary called Balakrida on the Smriti of Yajnavalkya. Next to Sri Bhagavatpada, he stands as the foremost author in the field of Advaita.

Sri Padmapadacharya

In the land of the Cholas, on the banks of the Kaveri, there was a devout Brahmana called Vimala. He was blessed with a boy. While in his teens, he mastered all the Vedas and showed an extreme distaste for worldly life. He earnestly hoped for a guru who would lead him across the ocean of samsara. Refusing to marry, he travelled with the purpose of finding such a guru. Fortunately for him, Sri Shankara was staying at Kashi, expounding his inimitable Bhasyas. The boy Padmapada resplendent with Brahma-Tejas ran to him and threw himself at his feet. The Acharya perceived the learning, courage and earnestness of the newcomer. He accepted him as his disciple. He initiated him into the Sanyasa Ashrama under the name of Sanandana.

He was first of Shankara’s disciples. He was first in more than one sense. His unrivalled devotion so pleased the teacher that, in appreciation of his earnest search for truth, the Acharya took the trouble of explaining to him his works thrice. This partially engendered in the other disciples a feeling of misgiving, which the Acharya immediately took care to eradicate.

When Sanandana and a few other disciples were once on the other bank of the river Ganga, the Acharya called them to come to him. No boat was available. But Sanandana, secure in faith and grace of the Acharya, stepped on the water and began to walk. Struck with his devotion, the divine Ganga showed her admiration by placing lotuses on the water to support his feet at every step. To the astonishment of all, he unconcernedly crossed over to the other bank where he was duly rewarded by the embrace of the Acharya. It was a mark of affection, which no other disciple had ever received. In memory of this incident, he was henceforth known as Padmapada at the desire of the Acharya.

Even before becoming a disciple, he was in the centre of the world of Vedic, traditional scholarship of his times. It is however not the revelation of his great scholarship, but the great challenge he faced, the course he opted, of flowing generosity and atonement, and the prophetic understanding he displayed that made him great as a person.

There is a famous incident of his saving the life of the Acharya. A devotee of Bhairava, a Kapalika took advantage of the nobility of the Acharya. He begged him to give his head as an offering to the terrible Bhairava. The Acharya willingly consented. But he warned that his head must be taken without the knowledge of his disciples, especially of Padmapada.

When the disciples had all gone to have their bath in the river, the Kapalika came. He found the Acharya in Samadhi. He raised his sword to smite and sever the head. Unfortunately for him, Padmapada intuitively divined the nefarious intention of the Kapalika. By force of his meditation on Lord Narasimha, he assumed the latter’s form. He pounced upon the Kapalika and tore him to pieces. Having done this, he sent up a terrible roar of triumph.

His co-disciples rushed to the spot and the Acharya rose from his Samadhi. He was as much astonished as the others. With great difficulty, he made Padmapada resume his form. They were all surprised to learn that in his Purvashrama, Padmapada was a staunch devotee of Nrisimha. He had contemplated on Narasimha while doing penance on the hills of Ahobila.

Padmapada also related an incident. A hunter asked him what he was doing in the forest. When told that he was seeking Narasimha, the hunter said that there was no such being as he knew every inch of the forest. Padmapada insisted that indeed there was such a being and described minutely the form of man-lion. The hunter said that he would produce the man-lion the next day before sunset.

The hunter roamed about in search of the elusive being. Failing to catch it in the stated time, he decided to take away his life. Narasimha was pleased with the hunter’s devotion and steadfastness. He appeared before the hunter who immediately put the rope round the neck of Narasimha and dragged him to the presence of Padmapada. Surprised beyond measure, Padmapada could not help asking the incarnate Deity how it happened. Sri Narasimha replied that even Brahma had not shown such earnestness in contemplation as the illiterate hunter.

Sri Totakacharya

Totakacharya had neither the learning of Sureshwara and Padmapada nor the realisation of Hastamalaka. But he was unrivalled in scrupulous personal attention to the Acharya. He found pleasure in looking after the personal comforts of the Acharya as a devoted servant. His co-disciples naturally entertained a lesser idea of his intellect. Even Padmapada was not free from this misconception. 

       Once when Totaka had gone to the river for washing clothes, the Acharya waited for his arrival before he would begin his exposition. The other disciples were impatient. Padmapada could not restrain himself. He said: ‘Why should we wait for one who is no better than a wall?’ Sri Shankara naturally did not relish this remark. He felt the necessity to teach Padmapada. So by a mental flash, he endowed Totaka with all the knowledge of the sastras. 

         When Totaka returned from the river, he was literally in bliss. He addressed the Acharya in a few brilliant stanzas in Totaka metre. Since then, known before as Giri, he got the title of Totakacharya. He was counted among the foremost disciples of Sri Shankara. He condensed the essential teaching of the Upanishads in a small treaties. This is called Sruti Sara Samuddharana composed in the same Totakametre.