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Re: ARTICLE : Shankaracharya and the Bhagavat Purana
Jaldhar H. Vyas wrote:
>
Whether Sankara quotes from the Bhagavata or not, is a separate
question. However, as far as Gaudapada is concerned,
> As a final point, he offers a quote from Gaudapadacharya to whom he
> attributes a commentary on the Uttaragita "Taduktam bhagavate teshamasau
> kleshala eva shishyate nanyadyatha sthulatushavadhatinam" (which is
> Bhagavat 10.14.4) He says if the paramguru of Shankaracharya knew of the
> Bhagavatapurana, how could Shankaracharya himself not know of it?
>
I would like to draw your attention to T. M. P. Mahadevan's study of
Gaudapada (Gaudapada - A Study in Early Advaita, University of Madras,
1975 - this is the fourth edition of the book), where he says, "There is
no case made out for dating the Bhagavata Purana before Gaudapada, and
it is quite likely that the Purana presupposes the Mandukya Karikas."
Now, I've had occassion to disagree with some of Dr. Mahadevan's
conclusions in the past, but in the case of Gaudapada, I think he has
done a very good job.
Mahadevan has considered a host of literature on the subject. Notable
ones are B. N. K. Sharma, Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute, XIV (1932-33), pp. 182-218, and Amarnath Ray, Bulletin of the
School of Oriental Studies, VIII (1935-37), pp. 107-111. Sharma dates
the Bhagavata Purana before Gaudapada, while Amarnath Ray dates the
Purana later than Gaudapada. There is also a host of other independent
research on the Bhagavata, specifically studying its possible Tamil
origin, which dates the Bhagavata Purana to the 10th century.
S. Vidyasankar
