Nov 19
The Debate
When Adi Shankaracharya asked for directions to the house of Mandana Mishra, who was a highly learned scholar and ritualist, he was told the following…
“You will find a home at whose gates there are a number of caged parrots discussing abstract topics like — ‘Do the Vedas have self-validity or do they depend on some external authority for their validity? Are karmas capable of yielding their fruits directly, or do they require the intervention of God to do so? Is the world eternal, or is it a mere appearance?’ Where you find even parrots discussing such abstruse philosophical problems, you will know that you have reached Mandana’s place.”
Sankara found him, but their first meeting was not pleasant. Mandana initially hurled insults at Sankara, who calmly replied to every insult with wordplay. After a verbal duel, Mandana condescended to debate with Sankara.
Both agreed that Mandana’s wife Ubhaya Bharathi would be the arbiter for the debate, and that the vanquished would become a disciple of the victor and accept his school of thought. To be a Judge, one needs to be wiser than the contenders or at least at par with them. In India, even in those days, women were given such a high status. The debate spanned many days and ranged across many different subjects within the Vedas, and the arguments of both competitors were compelling and forceful, to the utter delight of the daily increasing audience.
After 15 days of lively deadlock, Ubhaya Bharati temporarily halted the debate and put a maalaa (garland) of fresh flowers around Sankara’s and Mandana’s necks. This mystified the audience no ends. Soft whisperings took over the hall and there was difference of conjectural opinion from ‘its just a women thing’ to ‘you can never discern the ways of women’ to ‘its her way of putting perfume’ to ‘she just wanted to garland her husband, but then didn’t want to appear partial’ to ‘there must be something deeper and mysterious hidden here’ and so on…
But as the debate resumed and continued over the next few hours, people started to notice a baffling phenomenon. The flowers from Mandana garland started to pale and droop and then drop one by one while that around Shankara’s were just as alive and radiant, may be even more. When Mandana’s garland had whithered away, Bharati declared Mandana as having lost the debate.
Bharati’s act was such a brilliant, subtly wise move to bind the debate in time and wean out the winner for 2 reasons. The garland would stay fresh longest for one who has a more powerful aura and who creates an environment of high prana around him. A second reason could be that a person may use the best of words but if it is not an experiential truth for him, or if there are any cravings or aversions, he will emanate heat around him which can expedite the wilting of the flowers (like Guruji says, “with craving and aversion, even the breath becomes subtly hotter”). That’s why it is also called feverishness or ‘jvarata’ and a person centered in the self will radiate the coolness of the being in his very presence.
For the Knowledge incarnate Sankara, the debate was but a play and it was ‘no sweat’ he emerged victorious with a fresher maalaa around him.
But Mandana’s wife, as the judge, would not accept a Brahmachari (an unmarried ascetic), as having complete wisdom since he did not have any knowledge about Kama Sastras (rules about sex). Sankara requested a day’s suspension on the debate. According to legend, through his Prana Vidya (knowledge of Prana), he then entered into the body of a king who had just died and as the revived king he gained the required knowledge in the art of love.
The next day, the debate recommenced and Mandana finally accepted defeat and became Sankaracharya’s disciple and assumed the name Suresvaracharya (also called Vartika Kara) and finds a mention in our Guru Pooja along with Padmapada, Trotaka and Hastamalaka as the four main disciples of Adi Shankaracharya.
Jai Gurudev!
love
dinesh
(10 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Wow! Bau, I knew this story in tid bits. Sureshwaracharya , then went on to head the Sharda Mutt in Sringeri.
Bau, i was told that before there were 7 shankaracharyas who headed different Mutts all over India before Independence.
4 were from the different Mutts established all across India.
The other 3 were from-
1. Shardapeeth (presently in Pakistan occupied Kashmir)
2. Kamakhya temple near Guwahati.
3. Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu.
These three places were visited by Shankaracharya. But its not clear whether he established Mutts there.
Out of these three, two temples in Kamakhya and Kancheepuram are functional.
The Shardapeeth in Pok, from where Adi Shankaracharya is said to have attained samadhi , lies in total Shambles. This temple is being used as Bunkers and toilets by the Pakistan Army.
It is said that this shardapeeth was a storehouse of great works by many scholars including Adi Shankarcharya. Its really very unfortunate that we have lost many such beautiful temples to Pakistan…
That was a brilliant Act! Wow to know that our previous generations were so wise is… incredible!!
And Ya.. Dinesh Bhaiyah ending the story… was a nice little surprise!!
Thank you Bau for letting Dinu da play his part :)! I am sure.. it would have taken a long persuasion[as dinu da's previous posts was on your bday :P]
Jai Gurudev!
Love
Aparna
Loved to read ur post Dinesh Bhaiyyaa..
(Please notice the first paragraph of the post. The commented HTML code is displayed in it.)
Yay! Post by Dinesh bhaiyya after long
The series on Adi Shankaacharya is very interesting and informative. Hope you will share more.
JGD!
Lovely post Bau, have read these stories in ‘Amar chitra Katha’ but now i got the essence of these stories. Thanks for sharing this knowledge with us.
Dear Bau,
)..I have also seen the people who go to pravachana of these swamijis and acharyas are more lost in story and glory of god than any practical application of it in real life and undergo all sorts of emotions such as ego jealousy and worrying a lot about life most of the time mind being disturbed ..my parents being an example 
In that era there were debates to establish 1 as correct..and winning over a disciple..in this era people are so much lost in material world that guruji is giving us direct experience to get us on path..but its said that its necessary to learn and live the knowledge of vedas inside out to be enlightened..I see so many of the swamijis & acharyas who are masters of veda and also in vada (debate) in philosophy..but some how they aren’t as pleasant and charming as our senior art of living teachers, swamiji and rishis(not at all bringing guruji in equation
On other side what knowledge guruji gives is so practical and is essence of vedas..so when we have our master giving us such knowledge is it necessary for us to read , understand and master vedas for getting enlightened if yes then Is it just presence of our sadguru which is truely makes all the difference in our lives more than reading vedas?
Yes, in the presence of the true Guru, the mantras come alive …
Awesome post!!
This series of post is getting better everyday!!
Pls continue…. with more stories. Also could you pls comment on Sankaracharya, the movie. How authentic is it?
Dear Sir,
Wow is the only word as now i have in my mind
BTW A very lovely and a good post going back to our past makes me feel how lucky and fortunate am I to be born in such a lovely and wonderful country
Very lucky to be part of AOL
As Swami Vivekananda said ” The surface of my country is filled with dirt but underneath lies a beautiful land” can’t get exact quote
And as u said “The solutions to the problems faced by my country is to be in strong in seva sadhana sathsang and be in the knowledge
Go INDIA Go To the WORLD of SPIRITUALITY
JGD
LOVE
Sudha.P
Interesting posts Loved it
.. Please keep posting articles about the Ancient Masters and there glory
Jai Gurudev Bau n Dinesh bhaiya,
This is excellent and very interesting series you are putting in the blog…i am very much interested about what will happen next…please post it soon…and i think people are so much involved in reading the post that this time they didn’t recognized that this post is written by dinesh bhaiya
so it can be said that all of us are giving our 100% in reading the post
:)
Love,
Vishu
Jai Gurudev,
Instead of vada ( Debate) with anybody around,we should follow what Guruji is saying or giving experiences….till the breath becomes cooler & cooler……when the no of people of these Auras will increase on the planet automatically planet will cool down..& the minds of people will cool down….other wise every day we can listen the Bomb blast either in Mumbai or in Peshawar…its nothing but sickness of mind.. We are really interested in other historical stories Bau..these are inspiring to more & more in Sadhna Seva & Satsang…JGD.
Dear Dinesh Bhaiya, Bau,
Here is a link to the movie about life of Adi. It has 16 parts and very well done. In fact it is the only Indian movie that was made in Sanskrit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ePzneq-Wnk
Jai Gurudeva
Anurag
thanks for the link JGD
Wow! What an intelligence!!!
beautiful
Glad to see a post from Dinesh bhaiya!
Jai guru dev!
woah! What a woman!
Loved the series Bau
This is among the most amazing posts coming from you guys. Loved it.
Oh! just noticed that Dinesh bhaiya has written it
“Finally!!”
Btw, what is to be done to get rid of extreme craving?
I’m totally after a particular chips these days (Bingo Mad Angles Tomato Mischief to be precise :)) and look forward to having it everyday. Not healthy at all, but I’m much more worried about the craving. In everyday life there are so many many desires and cravings. What is to be done about these!?!
Desiring and craving
Feeling low and raving
The cycle unbroken
an unwanted token.
one moment and next
troubled by these pests
How can total Peace descend?
Is there an answer to this end?
simply superb. enjoyed it thoroughly
Jhakkas… I am really loving this series on Adi Shankracharya
proud to be a part of this lineage!!
jai gurudeva!!
“Jai Gurudev,
Love
Dinesh”
.. best art of the post ..
Jai Gurudeva!
Nice story Dinesh. But sometimes I feel there is a disconnect between what we hear in the ancient stories and what we see/experience in Guruji or other great beings of modern times. What we see or experience with Guruji is what surfaces into our awareness when we read or hear to vedanta. But in ancient stories I feel there is a disconnect somewhere..?
As I was reading your story, a question arose in me.. why would an enlightened person like Sankaracharya go on debating with scholors/defeating them even when not solicited (not asked for). Maybe at that time it was the way of life for scholors. But was not Shankaracharya more than a mere scholor, more than a traditional acharya?
Another aspect is the image of sages/rishis we have been projected in stories (on TV or Amarchitra Katha) is different. First thing that comes to mind about a Rishi is Shaapa (curse), Kopa (anger). Infact even a sapta rishi like Viswamitra is projected to have his anger at tip of the nose. Common man does even the slightest mistake to sage, he will be subjected to curse immediately. Where are the great powers like compassion, egolessness, child-like nature, lovingness projected even in the stories of perfeted sages? So unture. But yet we grow up reading/hearing such disconnected stories (which holds one in fear than in love).
I wonder why is this disconnect? I always wanted to ask this to Guruji. Maybe Guruji should rewrite Amarchitra Katha (all ancient stories) for us in the right perspective. Can sometime one of you ask Guruji and let us know his thoughts? Does guruji feel there is a good reason why we are taught/projected that way..can it true?
Jai Gurudev
i have already touched upon this in other posts on this blog … and Guruji has talked about the “anger” of the Rishis in many places … read up
WE PEOPLE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE GURU JI AS OUR GUIDE OF LIFE
AMAZING POST DINESH DA.
THANK YOU BAU TO LET DINESH BHIYA TO USE THE SPACE
JGD:-)
Nice post Dinesh bhaiya…Pls. keep posting articles like this….Its only through this blog we came to know about these things…so pls. write more…
Amazing post bhaiya…
It is so awesome to everytime realise that the knowledge is so ancient and it depicts the intelligence levels of our rishis.
Surely iNdia is a store house of such ancient knowledge
JGD
Jai Gurudev.
What a wondrous post, HATS OFF.:-).
hi dinesh bhaiya/bau,
needless to say but gr8 post again…
some people are gr8 at debate but if you observe them they are rigid, quite egoistic, not sure they have essence of vedas and various other spiritual texts. on the other hand there are harmless innocent people in whom you see lack of ego, enthusiam etc. how to be a perfectionist i.e you are intelligent and innocent, you are smart but harmless at same time. emotional yet not be completely driven by them.
gr8 saints like shankaracharya, our beloved guruji have both these things together, comment on it.
“..through his Prana Vidya (knowledge of Prana), he then entered into the body of a king who had just died and as the revived king he gained the required knowledge in the art of love.”. others like Hanuman’s body acquiring bigger shape, indra changing faces etc etc these all just sound like fairy tales or stories conjured by some one on drugs :)…
How are these possible and what is the deeper profound meaning behind the symbolism, if any?
No symbolism, he actually did it … its quite possible
Just bcoz you cannot do it, or dont know anyone who can, and science will shudder at the mere suggestion of it … doesnt mean it cant be done 
There are more things possible than you and i can possible imagine 
Post full of Knowledge…Nice one
Jai Gurudev!
With Dinesh bhaiya and Bau around, we are taken care of so many history/geography/cooking etc lessons!
Thoroughly enjoyed the story and the real reason behind the word ‘feverish..’.
Thanks and lots of gratitude,
Sunil
Dinesh bhaiyya…a fantabulous post!!!
Jgd
Kumar
Absolutely beautiful ! I read it all in one breath ! .. so to speak ..
super! gaining knowledge ….b4 art of living even pictures of rishis,swamis turned me off …i found them so uncool….now after art of living came into my life these are the people i look upto….thank u…
p.s we volunteers were chatting with rohit bhaiya (sabharwal)today on skype and got to meet rajshri patel…bawa n dinesh’s teacher wow…
loved it…we should get more posts like this…awesome…
Jai gurudeva
bau
here is the link we can see photos of the sharada peetha in POk which is in shambles
http://ikashmir.net/gallery/details.php?image_id=1316
avinash
Beautiful post bhaiya…..the garland part was the best…so amazing….
now got the secret why flowers from Guruji…or just anything He has just brushed by, leaves u with a WOWW feeling
Excellent post bhaiya!! nice to read ur post after many days.
jai gurudev!
nice to read the series Bau..got gr8 knowlege & understood the importance of gurupooja..
jai gurudev!
Awesome post, awesomer Questoins, and AWESOMEST answres!!!:-)
jai gurudeva.
Thanks to Guruji..n Thanks to u two we get to know the real essence behind these stories….
)
love u so much….
ps: its so nice having Dinesh Bhaiyya posting something… feels good..
( maybe that is why he doesnt post often
Jai Gurudev !!!
dinesh bhaiyya !!!!!
rockkkiiinnggggg !!!!
:D 
…. such superb knowledge …. i exclaimed so loudly on reading this that the guy from the nearby room rushed into my room … thinking that i had fallen or something !!!!
jai guru dev !!! u rock !!!!
Its superb reading these ancient stories…Pls continue posting similar ones…
dinesh da ,, when it does not happen that often ,, we lure for it and the post was worth the wait
cant help make this remark ,, dinesh da s posts are spaced like adv courses ( complete overhaul ) ,, and baus like yes plus courses ( all time laughther + knowledge formula ) ,,
no matter which one ,, its worth the wait
This story is like a slight tickle and yet it was enough to give me goosebumps!! A soft nudge..it talks of the Highest Knowledge! I am blessed that I can appreciate it!
Jai Gurudev.
The third disciple is Thotakacharya and not Trotaka as you mention. He has composed a collection of eight verses on Adi Shankaracharya called - Thotakashtakam.
!!!! What an effect feverishness can have? Many a time i also suffer from ‘jvar’.thnx dada, 4 such a beautiful & informative post. Jgd