Adi Shankaracharya

Introduction:
Locating information on the life and teachings of Shankaracharya was not difficult. By scanning the glossary of most Yoga and Indian philosophy books, one finds references to him even if only a few words everywhere. The topic of traditional and contemporary sannyasa is covered comprehensively in ‘Sannyasa Darshan’, a book written by Paramahamsa Niranjanananda Saraswati. Swamiji’s book contains a collection of lectures given during a Sannyasa Training Course held at Munger in 1991. According to Paramahamsa Niranjanananda, sannyasa as we know it today, is a vision of sannyasa life, introduced by Shankara in order to spread Advaita Philosophy among the people.
Another absorbing piece of literature is ‘Sankara Digvijaya, The Traditional Life of Sri Shankaracharya’ by Madhava-Vidyaranya. This translation of the original authors work, preserves its poetic aspect, relating stories of mythological type events, yet still manages to convey to the reader some basic understanding of the great Acharya’s life.
There are several other authors who have made attempts to write about Shankara’s life and they too supply adequate information. Unfortunately some writers bring to the reader’s attention the many contradictions regarding the chronological order of events of Shankara’s life. Such was the impact of his reformation of the nation’s spiritual beliefs, that there have been recordings of as many as thirty-five other philosophers bearing the same name. Shankara established Maths in the four corners of India, the heads of these modem day Maths are known as Acharyas, meaning teacher, and over the ages some Acharya’s have borne the same name as their renowned predecessor. It appears that this has caused some confusion and inaccuracy concerning which events should be accredited to Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the first Shankaracharya.
This however, does not detract from the potency of his teachings, the lineages he created nor the spiritual aspects that have been nurtured by his followers for centuries.

Childhood:
According to Paramahamsa Niranjanananda Saraswati who is the author of one of the source texts called Sannyasa Darshan, Shankara was born around the year 686AD, in the village of Kaladi in the Karali state. Approaching middle age and still childless, his parents Shivaguru and Vishishta Devi spent some time on the Vrishna mountain near their village. They worshipped Lord Chandra Maulishwar Shiva in the temple, living off fruits, berries and roots and it was during this period of austerities that Lord Shiva came to Shivaguru in a dream. Acknowledging his sincere devotion, Lord Shiva asked Shivaguru of his greatest wish, to which he replied, “Bless me with a long living omniscient son”. Lord Shiva told him an omniscient son would be short lived and a long living son would not be omniscient, so Shivaguru prayed that his son would be omniscient. Lord Shiva replied “Your wish will be fulfilled, I myself will come to your family as your son”
Shankara proved to be a remarkable child with divine abilities that were obvious to all. His father vowed to send him to the gurukul for spiritual training when he reached the age of five, unfortunately Shivaguru passed away before the time had arrived and Vishishta Devi went to live in the home of her father with her young son. However, when Shankara reached his fifth year his mother honored her dead husband’s last wish and returned to their village to send her son to the gurukul.
Vishishta Devi received glowing reports about her son from those who travelled between the Ashram and her village. In just two years Shankara had mastered studies that would normally take twenty years or so to complete, therefore at the age of seven he returned to his mother’s home. Many stories of this remarkable boy spread all over India including tales of his miraculous powers.
Four Brahmins who had come to meet the young boy in his home asked to see Shankara’s horoscope, from this they predicted that he would become a great teacher wandering all over the country, but that his life would be short. They said that he would die at the age of eight, sixteen or thirty-two.
After the visit from the Brahmins, Shankara begged his mother to let him take sannyasa and go in search of his guru, she was reluctant to see her son leave home once again but after much persuasion Vishishta Devi realised that she had to let him go. Shankara assured his mother that in her last hours she would just have to think of him for him to appear before her, and she would receive her Lord’s Darshan.(Materialised form)
As is the tradition, his mother dressed him in Ochre robes, gave him a staff and kamandalu (water pot). Shankara lit the fire himself and performed his own initiation. The whole village came to witness the ceremony and watched as he left the village, just eight years of age and on his own.

Guru:
Govindapada, was said to be waiting for someone, he had heard tales of the young boy and awaited his arrival. Shankara’s journey toward his guru took him over hazardous terrain where dangerous confrontations with evil men or wild animals were conceivable. He had been told of an ancient guru living in a cave beside the Narmada River at Omkareshwar. The Narmada was north of his village and within two months he approached the cave of his guru.
It was soon obvious to Govindapada, himself an enlightened being, that Shankara was Shiva come to earth in human form (Incarnated). He was delighted with his new pupil who observed the traditional rules that must be applied between teacher and disciple. Under the guidance of Govindapada, Shankara mastered everything in Hatha, Raja and Jnana Yoga in only three years, after which he received initiation in the knowledge of Brahma.
According to Swami Satyeswarandana Giri in his biography series Babaji, Vol 1, ‘The Divine Himalayan Yogi’, Shankaracharya was also blessed by the Ageless Yogi, Maha Muni Babaji, who taught him perfection of the Raja yoga disciplines. He practiced in the Himalayas at Kedarnath how to attain the spontaneous state of consciousness.
Shankara’s new knowledge of the secrets of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi expanded his spiritual powers and accomplishments. It is said that during the third year of his stay with his guru, the monsoons caused the river Narmada to rise threatening to flood Govindapada’s cave. Shankara placed a water pot at the entrance of the cave and this one pot miraculously drew all the floodwaters.
Govindapada told Shankara of his guru’s guru, Sukadeva, who had predicted the coming of someone who would do a fete such as he had. “That person I absolutely know to be you Shankara, your mission is to assimilate all of the Vedic teachings of the Brahma Sutras and spread the truth throughout the nation”.
It is unclear to me at this stage exactly when it was that Shankara left his Guru. According to Paramahamsa Satyananda in one of his satsangs, Shankara spent eight years with Govindapada studying scriptures such as the Upanishads. This would have made him sixteen years of age when he set out on his crusade to the four corners of India. Or was it at the age of sixteen that he went into the Himalayas where he encountered Babaji, l am unsure, the texts are sometimes a little vague when it comes to chronology of events.
Never the less, as written in Paramahamsa Niranjanananda’s book, after Shankara left the cave to begin his mission, Govindapada closed his eyes, focused on his eyebrow centre and directing his prana at the Thousand Petalled Lotus of Sahasrara, attained Maha Samadhi and Moksha ( liberation from the cycle of rebirth and absolute oneness with the divine).

Babaji
Sri Adi Shankaracharya was also a disciple of the immortal Yogi Babaji. This has been revealed by very reliable Yogic authorities and sources such as: the Himalayan Yogi Swami Satyeswarananda Giri in his Biographical text “Babaji (Volume 1) the Divine Himalayan Yogi “ ©1984 has stated that the immortal Mahamuni Babaji initiated the great Monist Sri Adi Sankaracharya into Raja Yoga (sometimes called the “astanga” eightfold path – which includes concentration of mind with the breath along the Sushumna, and dissolving the mind into Samadhi) in Benares, and that Shankaracharya practiced his Sadhana in the Himalayas at Kedarnath so that he could attain the spontaneous state of consciousness. Swami Satyeswarananda Giri was told this by Paramhansa Brahmananda. The Danish Yogi, Swami Janakananda Saraswati in his Yoga School’s journal Bindu No:5 has stated that according to Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Kriya Yoga today comes from a group of Swamis who have kept it secret, and used it from generation to generation. Initially, Swami Satyananda says that “it can be traced back to Sri Adi Shankaracharya in the eighth century A.D”.

Teachings:
Advaita philosophy was originally known as the “Forest Philosophy”. It got this name because it was so sanctified that it was not allowed to be preached to the people and was only practiced in the forests by monks who passed their secrets on to other sannyasins. (Swamis)
Western students of philosophy find the teachings of Shankaracharya intellectually demanding because although he preached the non-duality of Advaita Vedanta philosophy, he worshipped at Shiva temples, contradicting the non-duality theory. Other western critics, when referring to the Maya Doctrines that describe the world as a snare of delusion, point out that the Upanishads have a more optimistic and positive view of life.
Paramahamsa Satyananda during his video Darshan series mentions that at the age of sixteen Shankaracharya wrote commentaries on the Upanishads and other philosophies. This statement is supported by Swami Nikhilananda in his book ‘Self Knowledge of Sri Sankaracarya (note the different spelling of his name) who writes of Shankara’s commentaries of the Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma-Sutras and the principal Upanishads. Swami Nikhilananda also states that Shankara reformed the Sanatan Dharma, which is the ancient religion of Hindus. He rewrote this in a more simplified and logical format, which was easy for the ordinary people understand, inspiring them to once again follow a spiritual path.
For children, Shankara wrote the Bhaja Govindam, a musical rhythmic verse, which was so lyrical that children would sing it to themselves over and over again unaware of the profound effect it was having on their spiritual evolution. He also wrote of attachment in the Moha Mudgara, which removed the delusions of the youth and reaffirmed the faith of those who were already following his beliefs.
It was not by his penmanship alone that Shankara won the hearts of his countrymen. A tireless worker for twenty years, he moved around their country, not only debating with other great spiritual leaders but also winning the debates. Many of his adversaries in fact became his disciples. He was also a mighty organiser and diplomat, establishing Maths, opening places of education and founding temples wherever he went.
The establishment of four Maths in the four corners of India brought about a major reformation in Indian spiritual life. For years various forms of ascetics, yogis and sadhus had been wandering the country. Shankara’s vision was to consolidate their spiritual strengths in a more unified sannyasa arrangement; this is the nucleus of the Dasnami Order of Sannyasa of which there are ten orders. Shankara gave a significant title to each of the orders, our lineage of Saraswati being one of them and along with the title, they were assigned a particular Upanishad on which to focus. Each of the orders were allocated to a particular Math:

Saraswati, Bharati and Puri Shringiri (South)
Tirtha and Ashrama Dwarka (West)
Giri, Parvata and Sagara Jyotir (North)
Vanam and Aranyam Govardhan (East)

The sannyasins were encouraged to wear Geru (ochre coloured cloth) and to communicate the Advaita philosophies to the people, through spiritual gatherings. In turn, the sannyasins would be provided for by the members of society who followed their teachings. Strong emphasis was placed on renunciation of all worldly attachments if they were to receive liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. An authentic Living Guru/Disciple (Lineage) tradition was thus created.

Disciples:
Shankara had numerous disciples. As mentioned previously, so impressed were many of his adversaries in debate that they and their followers became devotees of his teachings. The most acknowledged of his disciples were those chosen and instructed by Shankara to travel to the four corners of India to head the established teaching Maths of the Dasnami Order. These disciples were great scholars in their own right and have been recognised for their contribution to the ancient scriptures, each was bestowed the title of ‘Acharya’
Padmapada was sent to Puri in the east, Trotakacharya went north to Badrinath. Hastamalaka went to Dwarka, the western most point of India and Sureshwaracharya was ordered to travel to Sringiri in Southern India.
Each of the disciples received a Crystal (Sphatik) Shiva-Linga from Shankaracharya to be used as objects of worship and Meditation. Shiva-Lingas are regarded as being the missing link between the manifest and the unmanifest realms of the psyche (Symbol of our Astral body) and through the presence of these Shiva-Lingas worshippers and Meditators may aspire to greater stages of consciousness.

Final Days:
After giving his disciples their final instructions, Shankara’s mission was complete. It was the year 718AD and as had been prophesied by the Brahmans when he was a small child, Shankara had reached the final year of his life. He was just thirty-two years of age and his work (Mission) was complete, opposition to his Vedic beliefs had subsided and his followers were to carry on his work.
Setting off from the Jyotir Ashram (Badrinath) in the Himalayan north of India he headed toward the nearby Mountainous region of Kedarnath,. the place that was destined to be his final resting place. His four chief disciples accompanied him part of the way, but then Shankara insisted they go no further as the final part of his journey was to be completed alone. Even to this day there is a spring of hot water, which is said to have been manifested by Shankara to alleviate the suffering of his disciples from effects of the cold in the snow-clad mountains.

Now alone at Kedarnath, Shankaracharya sat and merged into Samadhi. In this state he communed with the highest levels of consciousness which allowed access for Shiva’s present physical form to return to its pristine state in Shiva-Loka (Shiva’s heavenly abode).

Conclusion:
Shankaracharya has been paralleled with the great spiritual teachers, such as Buddha and Christ in that they were Avatars (Divine Incarnations) each said to be highly evolved spiritually at birth. In the ancient tradition of India such individuals have had a greater and more lasting impact on the population and culture than people of wealth or political power. Such is the spiritual influence Shankaracharya has had over mankind through the ages.
Shankara’s commentaries on the Vedantic texts, his interpretations of the Upanishads and his poetry and hymns are written in an overtly poetic and lyrical fashion. In contrast to modern texts, literature coming from that period is extremely poetic and written so enchantingly that one is sometimes taken away within the realms of fantasy. There is no denying the reality of Shankara’s existence, nor his legacy to mankind, in particular to the people of India. His knowledge of the Vedic texts and his dedication in unifying the spiritual beliefs of the nation has made him a legendary figureof India who is deservedly recognised as a reincarnation of the Lord Shiva.

mayavadi
According to mayavadi philosophers, vedanta refers to the sariraka commentary of Shankaracharya. When impersonal philosophers refer to vedanta and the Upanishads, they are actually referring to the commentaries of Shankaracharya, the greatest teacher of mayavadi philosophy. After Shankaracharya came Sadananda-yogi, who claimed that the vedanta and Upanishads should be understood through the commentaries of Shankaracharya. Factually this is not so. There are many commenatries on vedanta and the Upanishads made by the vaishnava acharyas, and these are preferred to those of Shankaracharya. However, the mayavadi philosophers influenced by Shankaracharya do not attribute any importance to the vaishnava understandings.

There are five different sects of vaishnava acharyas - the shuddhadvaita, vishishtadvaita, dvaitadvaita, dvaita and acintya-bhedabheda. All the vaishnava acharyas in these schools have written commentaries on the vedanta-sutra, but the mayavadi philosophers d o not recognize them. The mayavadis distinguish between Krishna and Krishna's body, and therefore they do no recognize the worship of Krishna by the vaishnava philosophers.

Lord Chaitanya admitted that Shankaracharya was an incarnation of Lord Siva, and it is known that Lord Shiva is one of the greatest devotees (a mahajana) of the bhagavata school. There are twelve great authorities on devotional service, and Lord Shiva is one of them. Why, then, did he adopt the process of mayavadi philosophy? The answer is given in Padma Purana, where Lord Shiva states:

maayaavaadam asac-chAstraM
pracchannaM bauddham ucyate
mayaiva kalpitaM devI
kalau brAhmaNa-rUpiNA

"The mayavadi philosophy is veiled Buddhism." In other words, the voidist philosophy of Buddha is more or less repeated in the mayavadi philosophy of impersonalism, although the mayavadi philosophy claims to be directed by the Vedic conclusions. Lord Shiva, however, admits that this philosophy is manufactured by him in the age of Kali in order to mislead the atheists. "Actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead has His transcendental body," Lord Shiva states. "But I describe the Supreme as impersonal. I also explain the vedanta-sutra according to the same principle of mayavadi philosophy."

In the Shiva Purana the Supreme Lord says:

dvAparAdau yuge bhUtvA
kalayA mAnuSAadiSu
svAgamaiH kalpitais tvaM ca
janAn mad-vimukhAn kuru

"In the beginning of the dvApara-yuga, directed by My orders, many sages will bewilder the people in general by mayavadi philosophy."

In the Padma Purana Lord Shiva personally tells BhagavatidevI:

SRNu devI parakShyAmi
tAmasAni yathA-kramam
yeShAM SravaNa-mAtreNa
pAtityaM jNAninAm api

apArthaM Sruti-vAkyAnAM
darSayaL loka-garhitam
karma-svarUpa-tyAjyatvam
atra ca pratipAdyate

sarva-karma-paribhraMSAn
naiSkarmyaM tatra cocyate
parAtma-jIvayor aikyaM
mayAtra pratipAdyate

"My dear devi, sometimes I teach mayavadi philosophy for those who are engrossed in the mode of ignorance. But if a person in the mode of goodness happens to hear this mayavadi philosophy, he falls down, for when teaching mayavadi philosophy, I say that the living entity and the Supreme Lord are one and the same."

Sadananda-yogi, one of the greatest mayavadi acharyas, has written in his book, vedanta-sAra: "The Absolute Truth of eternity, knowledge and bliss is Brahman. Ignorance and all products of ignorance are non-Brahman. All products of the three modes of ma terial nature are covered by ignorance, and all are different from the supreme cause and effect. This ignorance is manifested in a collective and individual sense. Collective ignorance is called vishuddha-sattva-pradhana. When that vishuddha-sattva-pradhana is manifest within the ignorance of material nature, it is called the Lord, and the Lord manifests all kinds of ignorance. Therefore He is known as sarvajNa." Thus according to mayavadi philosophy, the Lord is a product of this material nature, and the living entity is in the lowest stage of ignorance. That is the sum and substance of mayavadi philosophy.

If, however, we accept the import of the Upanishads directly, it is clear that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a person with unlimited potency. For example, in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad it is stated that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the origin of everything and that He has multiple potencies. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is transcendental to the cosmic manifestation. He is he origin of all religion, the supreme deliverer and the possessor of all opulences. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is just like the sun, profusely distributes His energies while situated beyond the cloud of this material cosmic manifestation. He is the master of masters and He is the Supreme of the supremes. He is known as the greatest Lord, the Per sonality of Godhead. His energies and potencies are multiple and variously distributed. It is also stated that Vishnu is the Supreme and that saintly persons are always anxious to see His lotus feet (Rg veda 1.22.20). In the aitareya Upanishad it is als o stated that the cosmic manifestation came about when the Lord glanced over material nature (1.1.1-2). This is also verified by the Prashna Upanishad (6.3).

In the negative descriptions of the Lord which occur in Vedic literature (as in apani-padah) there are indications that the Lord has no material body and no material form. However, He does have His spiritual transcendental body and His transcendental fo rm. Because the mayavadi philosophers misunderstand His transcendental nature, they explain Him as impersonal. The Lord's name form, quality, entourage and abode are all in the transcendental world. How can he be a transformation of this material nature? Everything connected with the Supreme Lord is eternal, blissful and full of knowledge.

In effect, Shankaracharya preached mayavadi philosophy in order to bewilder a certain type of atheist. Actually he never considered the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, to be impersonal or to have no body or form. It is best for intelligent persons to avoid lectures on mayavadi philosophy. We should understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vishnu is not impersonal. He is a transcendental person, and the basic principle of the cosmic manifestation is His energy. mayavadi philosophy canno t trace the energy of the Supreme Lord, but all Vedic literatures give evidence of the Supreme Lord's various energetic manifestations. Vishnu is not a product of material nature, but material nature is a product of Vishnu's potency. The mayavadi philosophe rs understand Vishnu to be a product of material nature, but if Vishnu is a product of material nature, He can only be counted amongst the demigods. One who considers Vishnu to be a demigod is certainly mistaken and misled. How this is so is explained in Bhagavad-gItA: "Deluded by the three modes, the whole world does not know Me who am above the modes and inexhaustible. This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome, but those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it." (Bg. 7.13-14)

When explaining the first aphorism of the vedanta-sutra, Shankara most unceremoniously tried to explain that Brahman, or the Supreme Absolute Truth, is impersonal. He also cunningly tried to switch the doctrine of by-product into the doctrine of change. For the supreme Absolute Truth, there is no change. It is simply that a by-product results from His inconceivable powers of action. In other words a relative truth is produced, out of the Supreme Truth. The Supreme Absolute Truth, Brahman, is immutabl e, and when we find a by-product - the living entity or this cosmic manifestation - it is a transformation, or a by-product of the Supreme. It is like milk being transformed into yogurt. In this way, if we study the living entities in the cosmic manifes tation, it will appear that they are not different from the original Absolute Truth, but from Vedic literatures we understand that the Absolute Truth has varieties of energy and that the living entities and the cosmic manistation are but a demonstration of His energies. The energies are not separate from the energetic; therefore the living entity and cosmic maniestation are inseparable truths, part of the Absolute Truth. Such a conclusion regarding the Absolute Truth and the relative truth should be acceptable to any sane man.

The Supreme Absolute Truth has His inconceivable potency, out of which this cosmos has been manifested. In other words, the Supreme Absolute Truth is the ingredient, and the living entity and cosmic manifestation are the by-products. In the Taittriya Upanishad it is clearly stated, yato va imani bhutani jayante: "The Absolute Truth is the original reservoir of all ingredients, and this material world and its living entities are produced from those ingredients."

Unintelligent persons who cannot understand this doctrine of by products cannot grasp how the cosmic manifestation and the living entity are simultaneously one and different from the Absolute Truth. Not understanding this, one concludes, out of fear, tha t this cosmic manifestation and the living entity are false.

The sun has been producing unlimited energy from time immemorial, and so many by-products result from the sun; yet there is no change in the heat and temperature of the sun itself. Despite its being a material product, if the sun can maintain its origin al temperature and yet produce so many by-products, is it difficult for the Supreme Absolute Truth to remain unchanged in spite of producing so many by-products by His inconceivable energy? Thus there is no question of transformation as far as the Supreme Absolute Truth is concerned.

In Vedic literatures there is information of a material product called "touchstone" which simply by touch can transform iron into gold. The touchstone can produce an unlimited quantity of gold and yet remain the same. Only in the state of ignorance can one accept the mayavadi conclusion that this cosmic manifestation and the living entities are false or illusory. No sane man would impose ignorance and illusion upon the Supreme Absolute Truth, who is absolute in everything. There is no possibility of change, ignorance or illusion being in Him. The Supreme Brahman is transcendental and completely different from all material conceptions. In the Supreme Absolute Truth there is every possible inconceivable energy existing. In the Svetashvatara Upanishad it is stated that the Supreme Absolute Personality of Godhead is full of inconceivable energies and that on one else possesses such energies.

By misunderstanding the inconceivable energies of the Supreme, one may falsely conclude that the Supreme Absolute Truth is impersonal. Such a deluded conclusion is experienced by a living being when he is in an acute stage of disease. In Srimad Bhagavatam also there are statements to the effect that the supreme atma, the Lord, has inconceivable and innumerable potencies. (Bhag. 3.33.3) It is also stated in Brahma-sutra that the supreme spirit has many variegated and inconceivable energies. Nor should one think that there is any possibility of ignorance existing in the Absolute Truth. Ignorance and knowledge are conceptions in this world of duality, but in the Absolute there is no duality. It is simply foolishness to consider that the Absolute is co vered by ignorance. If the Absolute Truth can possibly be covered by ignorance, how can it be said to be Absolute? Understanding the inconceivability of the Absolute is the only solution to the question of duality. This is because duality arises from the inconceivable energy of the Absolute. By His inconceivable energies, the Supreme Absolute Truth can remain unchanged and yet produce this cosmic manifestation with all its living entities, just as touchstone can produce unlimited quantities of gold an d yet remain unchanged. Because the Absolute Truth has such inconceivable energies, the material quality of ignorance cannot pertain to Him. The true variegatedness which exists in the Absolute Truth is a product of His inconceivable energy. Indeed, it c an be safely concluded that this cosmic manifestation is but a by-product of His inconceivable energies. Once we accept the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Lord, we will find that there is no duality at all. The expansion of the energy of the Supr eme Lord is as true as the Supreme Lord. As far as the manifestation of the Supreme energy is concerned, there is no question of transformation. The same example can be cited: in spite of producing unlimited quantities of gold, the touchstone remains th e same. We therefore hear same sages say that the Supreme is the ingredient or cause of this cosmic manifestation.

Thus this cosmic manifestation is not false, as Shankaracharya maintains. Actually there is nothing false here. The mayavadis say that this world is false because of their ignorance. It is the conclusion of vaishnava philosophy that this cosmic manifesta tion is a by-product of the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Lord.

Sripada Shankaracharya has inceremoniously obscured the Krishna consciousness described in the purusha-vedanta-sutra by manufacturing an indirect interpretation and abandoning the direct interpretation. Unless we take all the statements of vedanta-sutra as self-evident, there is no point in studying vedanta-sutra. Interpreting the verses of vedanta-sutra according to one's own whim is the greatest disservice to the self-evident Vedas.

Actually in the first two chapters of vedanta-sutra the relationship between the living entities and the Supreme Lord is explained, and in the third chapter the discharge of devotional service is explained. The fourth chapter deals with the relationship which results from discharging devotional service. The natural commentary on vedanta-sutra is Srimad-Bhagavatam. The great acharyas of the four vaishnava communities (sampradayas) - namely, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, Vishnuswami and Nimbarka - have also written commnetaries on vedanta-sutra by following the principles of Srimad-Bhagavatam. At present the followers of all the acharyas have written many books following the principles of Srimad-Bhagavatam as the commentary on the vedanta. Shankara's commenta ry on vedanta-sutra, known as sariraka-bhashya, is very much adored by the impersonalist scholars, but commentaries written on the vedanta written from the materialistic point of view are completely adverse to the transcendental service of the Lord. Consequently Lord Chaitanya said that direct commentaries on the Upanishads and vedanta-sutra are glorious, but that anyone who follows the indirect path of Shankaracharya's sariraka-bhashya is certainly doomed.