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Hari stuti of Sankara with Anandagiri's commentary
SrIharim paramAnandamupadeShTAramISvaram
vyApakam sarvalokAnAm kAraNam tam namAmyaham ||
I bow down to Him, Sri Hari, the Supreme Bliss, the
First Guru (of the world), the Ruler of all, the All-pervading
One and the Cause of the Universe.
(aparokShAnubhUti of Sri SankaracArya)
mUkam karoti vAcAlam pangum langhayate girim
yatkRpA tamaham vande paramAnandamAdhavam ||
By whose grace even the dumb become eloquent and the
lame cross mountains, I bow to that Madhava, the Source of
Supreme Bliss. (Gita Dhyanam)
acyutAnantagovinda saccidAnanda SASvata |
macceto ramatAm nityam tvaccArucaraNAmbuje ||
O Acyuta, Ananta, Govinda, the eternal Being who is
Existence, Consciousness and Bliss, let my mind always
delight in (the contemplation of) Your beautiful lotus feet.
(Anandagiri's Commentary on the Haristuti)
samsArasarpaparidaShTavinaShTadRShTeh sanjIvanAya kRpayA
parayopapannam
brahmAvabodhaparamauShadhamudvahantam tam Sankaram parataram
bhiShajam namAmi ||
I bow to the most compassionate SankarAcArya who is like an excellent
physician administering the best medicine of knowledge of Brahman
to revive the vision of those who have lost it after being bitten
by the serpent called samsAra.
(Anandagiri's Commentary on the Haristuti)
Introduction
------------
Was Sankara influenced by the BhAgavata? It is certainly known that he
did not quote nor make references to the Bhagavata in any of his major
works including the commentaries on the prasthAna traya. However, some
scholars are of the opinion that some of his minor works reveal the
influence of the Bhagavata. It is generally accepted by scholars that the
GovindAShTaka was composed by Sankara. It contains a description of the
famous incident of Krishna's eating mud and then opening His mouth to
show YaSodA that He had not eaten anything. YaSodA, however, saw the
whole universe in Krishna's mouth. This description follows the one
mentioned the Bhagavata. The Prabodha sudhAkara of Sankara is an
excellent narration of the childhood pastimes of Krishna. The pastime
regarding the ignorance of BrahmA, the theft of the calves, BalarAma's
surprise at seeing the affection of the cows for the calves, etc. very
clearly follows the description found in the Bhagavata. The state of the
Gopis described in the Prabodha sudhAkara is definitely influenced by the
corresponding description in the Bhagavata.
Furthermore, Sankara did not criticize the Bhagavata view per se in his
BrahmasUtrabhAShya. What he did criticize is the PancarAtra view, which
is quite different from the philosophy of the Bhagavata. Though there are
a few passing references to the PancarAtra in the Bhagavata, yet on the
whole the latter clearly preaches a loftier and superior form of Bhakti
as compared to that of the former. This is further proven by the fact
that next only to the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata is perhaps the most
extensively commented upon of all the works of religious literature.
Notable among these commentaries is the one by SrIdharasvAmin, though
his is not the oldest. He was an advaita sannyAsin as well as a great
bhakta. Caitanya MahAprabhu regarded him with great respect. Many of
the commentators of other schools, in many instances, are content to
endorse him either expressly or by simply reproducing his comments
word for word!
The Haristuti or the Harimide stotra is one of the numerous philosophico-
devotional hymns composed by Adi SankarAcArya. This hymn contains
a beautiful blend of advaitic philosophical ideas with Bhakti.
The knowledge of Hari, according to Sankara, is brought home by
means of apt expressions from the Upanishads themselves. The
commentary of Anandagiri is an excellent explanation of the
relevant Upanishad statements, and is very useful in understanding
the philosophical ideas contained in the hymn.
Anandagiri is a figure of considerable repute in Advaita philosophy,
and has to his credit mostly commentaries on the Upanishads, based on
the commentaries of Sankara. I was fortunate to find the text of the
Haristuti and the commentary of Anandagiri (in Sanskrit) in one of the
issues (Vol. 35, 1971) of the Adyar Library bulletin.
Any errors in translation are my own and do not reflect errors
in the commentary.
The Haristuti with translation based on Anandagiri's Commentary
--------------------------------------------------------------
Verse 1:
stoShye bhaktyA viShNumanAdim jagadAdim
yasminnetat samsRticakram bhramatIttham |
yasmin dRShTe naSyati tat samsRticakram
tam samsAradhvAntavinASam harimIDe || 1 ||
ViShNu is so called because He is all pervading and He is the
ParamAtmA. He is anAdi or without beginning; but He, by His own mAyA,
appears to be jagadAdi, the cause of the world. stoShye, I praise Him with
Bhakti so that by doing so this samsAra or world full of miseries will
end. True Jnana arises from the Jnana of paramAtmA. yasmin, in ViShNu,
ittham, thus due to ignorance or aJnAna arising from nondiscrimination,
etat samsRticakram, this cycle of birth and death, bhramati, revolves with
ViShNu as the substratum. However, when yasmin, He dRShTe is directly seen,
the samsRticakram, tat naSyati, is destroyed.
Anandagiri now quotes the following from the BRhadAraNyaka upaniShad (2.4.14):
yatra hi dvaitamiva bhavati taditara itaram jighrati taditara itaram
paSyati ; yatra vA asya sarvamAtmaiva bhUt tatkena kam jighret tatkena
kam paSyet |
Where there is duality (dvaita) as it were, there one smells another, one
sees another. Where for whom everything has become the AtmA , there who
smells whom and with what? Who sees whom and with what?
(My comment: Anandagiri says here that the world of duality (dvaita) continues
as long as one does not directly experience the vision of Hari (Brahman).
Once Hari is directly seen, one sees only Hari everywhere and in everything.
Such a person realizes the statement from the Gita: vAsudevah sarvamiti.
Thus the world of duality will vanish. As the Bhagavad Gita says (7.19):
bahUnAm janmanAmante jnAnavAn mAm prapadyate |
vAsudevah sarvamiti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhah ||
At the end of many births, the one who is filled with knowledge
surrenders to Me, knowing that VAsudeva is all there is.
Such a great person is very rare.
In this connection, the VedAntaparibhAShA, an introductory manual
of advaita, remarks :
nanu siddhAnte ghaTAdermithyAtvena bAdhitatvAt tajJnAnam katham pramANam |
Now, in the finally established theory (siddhAnta), the pot (and other
objects in the world) are not real and their cognition is sublated.
How then is the cognition of such things valid knowledge?
ucyate brahmasAkShAtkArAnantaram hi ghaTAdInAm bAdhah, " yatra
tvasya sarvamAtmaivAbhUt tatkena kam paSyet" iti Sruteh | na tu
samsAradaSAyAm bAdhah, "yatra hi dvaitamiva bhavati taditara itaram
paSyati" iti Sruteh |
(advaita) says: Only after the direct experience of Brahman do objects
such as the pot become unreal and not before, as Sruti says that
upon realizing that everything is the Atman there is no distinction
between the cognizer and the cognized. However, Sruti also says that
when (a person) dwells in the world of duality (dvaita) there is a
distinction between the cognizer and the cognized. Thus, for one
who is in samsAra the cognition of objects in the world is certainly
(real and) valid. )
tam harimIDe, I adore that Hari who is samsAradhvAntavinASam,
the destroyer of this dense darkness which is samsAra.
The cause of this samsAra is (this) darkness and aJnAna is the
product of this samsAra. Hari is so called because He is the
ParamAtmA revealed by the Vedic mahAvAkyas (tat tvam asi,
aham brahmAsmi, praJnAnam brahma and ayamAtmA brahma). He
destroys or takes away (harati) this state of bondage called
samsAra and is therefore called Hari.
Verse 2:
yasyaikAmSAditthamaSeSham jagadetat
prAdurbhUtam yena pinaddham punarittham |
yena vyAptam yena vibuddham sukhaduhkhai
stam samsAradhvAntavinASam harimIDe || 2 ||
Hiranyagarbha or Brahma is just one part, amSa, of the Supreme Brahman Hari
limited by mAyA and from him (Brahma) aSeSham jagadetat, this whole universe
is pradurbhUtam, manifested. Anandagiri now quotes from the Sruti.
1) tasmAdvA etasmAdAtmana AkASah sambhUtah | (Taittiriya upanishad II.1)
tasmAt, from that, here means the Brahman indicated in the sentence
brahmavidApnoti param. The knower of Brahman attains the Supreme.
etasmAt means from the Brahman defined as satyam jnAnam anantam brahma,
in the previous sentence of the same upanishad. Atmanah means the Brahman
which is called the Self. AkASah sambhUtah, space was created. The same
passage goes on to describe how everything else in the universe was created.
2) pAdo' syehAbhavat punah | (Purusha sUkta of the Rg Veda)
A quarter (or foot) of Him (Vishnu) appears or is manifested as the world.
Three quarters or feet are above all creation and only one quarter appears
as the world.
This universe is punah, again, pinaddham, held together or bound by Hari
during the period of preservation.
As the BRhadAraNyaka upaniShad says (4.4.22):
eSha seturvidharaNa eShAm lokAnAmasambhedAya
Brahman is the demarcating boundary or bank that keeps all the worlds
distinct from one another (and binds them).
ittham, means Hari also maintains order in the world by means of VarNa and
ASrama.
yena, by Whom all this is pervaded as space, He is Hari.
The ISa upanishad (8) says:
sa paryagAcchukramakAyamavRNamasnAviram SuddhamapApaviddham |
He is all-pervasive just like space, pure and bright, bodiless, scatheless,
without sinews, untainted and untouched by sin.
yena vibuddham, by Whom all this is illumined and shines as a
diverse world sukhaduhkhaih, filled with joys and sorrows.
As the Mundaka upaniShad says (2.2.10):
tasya bhAsA sarvamidam vibhAti |
By His light does all this shine diversely.
tam harimIDe, etc. as before.
(To be continued)
Anand
