Adi Shankara- Christianity- Islam-Missing Links?
A cousin who is a student of Vedanta dropped in post lunch to collect a walker which was given by her father to mine. Besides she was to pick up some mangoes. Mango is the supposed to be the king of fruits and a great delicacy. I profess to have a sweet tooth but have never taken to mangoes.
Sometime back her husband who served the Indian army as a doctor with distinction fractured his leg after suffering to a fall and is presently mobile by employing a walker. Similarly, her centurion father the only surviving ICS officer in the country walks with the help of this aid.
My cousin is an enthusiastic walker and has lost several pounds in the process by undertaking this exercise. Apart from her routine walking schedule she is also compelled to escort her pet dog for a walk or a stroll.
As is commonplace with all arm chaired intellectuals the discussion meandered from politics to Wimbledon, Euro Cup, Brexit among others on to her father’s birthday on the 15th of July. My uncle who happens to be her father would celebrate his 102nd birthday on that day. The formal celebrations though have been planned for the 17th of July as it happens to be a Sunday and perhaps to ensure a larger gathering of friends and relatives. She singularly warned us that the cake cutting ceremony would be undertaken only after the formal chanting of the Sama Veda.
I have always found the incantation of Rudram and the Mantras chanted at the Art of Living Ashram, Bangalore particularly those during the Shivaratri and Navaratri Pujas to be extremely divine and blissful where an individual effortlessly slips into a meditative state
Meanwhile my cousin is under the tutelage of a Vedic scholar and has been learning the Vedic scriptures over the last 17 years and has found spiritual refuge in the esoteric knowledge of the Vedanta. She finds peace and tranquility in the chanting of the scriptures and involuntarily meditates on the ether / Akasha element.
From Vedanta the area of interest and discussion gravitated to the scholarly Shankaracharya .
Who was Shankara? He is considered as Lord Shiva by many; rock solid in logic and certitude and standing as tall as the Himalayas. Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru wrote, ” In his brief life of thirty two years, he did the work of many long lives and left such an impress of his powerful mind and rich personality on India that it is there in evidence today”.
Born to Aryamba and Sivaguru at Kalady in 788 AD, Shankara cast his mortal self at Kedarnath in 820 AD. He was mentored and by Govinda Bhagvatpada.
Aryanism/Brahmanism or Hinduism prior to Shankara had dwindled in its space and sphere of influence on account of its orthodoxy and dogmatic approach; consequently there emerged as many as 62 heterodox sects. Prominent among them were the Charavaka philosophy, Tantra and the astonishing growth of Buddhism and Jainism.
However, with passage of time, Buddhism which ushered in a platform of change to the seekers too became elitist and secluded in nature, mirroring the fallacious practices of orthodox Hinduism. The death knell was inflicted by Shankara through his philosophy and doctrine of Advaita (non–duality). His commentaries were spellbinding and demoralized Buddhist scholars.
One is bewildered at the farsightedness of Shankaracharya. He connected the four corners of the country. Seeds of Incredible India! were sown with extraordinary precision. In fact the concepts of pilgrimages and even tourism were laid. Pt Nehru writes,” Whatever the religious significances of these pilgrimages in the minds of the people might have been, they were looked upon also, as they are today, as a holiday time and opportunities for merry-making and seeing different parts of the country”.
However, our purported discussion veered around as to why there is no mention of Islam and Christianity in the works of Adi- Shankara?
Historically speaking ancient India was introduced to Christ and Christianity by St Thomas who landed at Muziris( Cranganore- in Kerala) somewhere around 52 AD.
Thomas Didaemus referred to as the doubting Thomas was known to have spread the message of Jesus Christ with messianic zeal and brought into the fold Hindus and Jews of Cranganore, Palayam and Quilon districts in Kerala. He was persecuted and killed in a cave which is known as St Thomas Mount in 72 AD. Apparently the Armenian Christians discovered his grave, where a church was built. This is the famous church built at Mylapore in Chennai. The country was also exposed to St Bartholonew, by Bishop David of Basra in 300AD, also to a noted Syrian merchant Thomas of Cara in Travancore around 345 AD.
In Kerala, the God’s own country and the backyard of Shankara the Knanaya colonies were established in 4th century AD. The famous Syrian Churches of Kerala were established at Thzhekad Sasanan. They were also famous for the Mampally Sasanan around 774 AD. And all these developments took place prior to the birth of Adi Shankara.
Let us now posit the introduction of Islam in India. The Arab traders landed on the Indian shores in 7th century AD in coastal Malabar and in Gujarat. The first mosque called the Juma Masjid was built in 629 AD by Malik ibn Dar at Cheraman which also happens to be in Kerala.
By a strange coincidence, the first mosque constructed in India, the virtual introduction of Christianity in this country and the birthplace of Advaita philosophy all happen to be in Kerala. Yet there is no mention about these two religions in the works of Adi Shankara.
Given this background, why is that only Buddhism is mentioned in the scholarship of Shankaracharya and in the body of works of Adi Shankara? Are there some missing links in ancient Indian history which need to be unraveled?
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