Adi Shankara visited the pre-existing Sharada Peethn Kashmir in late 8th century CE or early 9th Century CE. The Madhaviya Shankaravijayam states this temple had four doors for scholars from the four cardinal directions. The southern door (representing South India) had never been opened, indicating that no scholar from South India had entered the Sarvajna Pitha. Adi Shankara opened the southern door by defeating in debate all the scholars there in all the various scholastic disciplines such as Mimamsa, Vedanta and other branches of Hindu philosophy; he ascended the throne of Transcendent wisdom of that temple.
This was not all to his might before opening the southern door. According to some authors, he was defeated in discourse by a woman scholar in Kashmir before even being let in the city. The basic reason was that he didn't, until then believe in (to be simlpy put) the power of Shakti.
ReplyDeleteIt was in Kashmir, where he got his final revelation that, kind of changed his thinking and paved way for highest realisation. He got a glimpse of Shakti in Kashmir.
He was so enlightened and overwhelmed that he wrote Saundarya Lahiri (considered a master-piece in sanskrit literature) in praise of Shakti on the hill that time known as Gopadari Hill (now Shankaracharya Hill)...
Nameste Sharede Devi Kashmir purvasini
Tavaham prartheye, nityam vidya danam ch dehi mae.
Later, he had discourses with brahmins in which he defeated them; and opened the southern gate and was awarded a degree and ascended to the highest seat of knowledge in Sharda Peeth, the highest university of that era.
nice info
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