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How does he harmonize various schools of philosophy of the future? Naturally such questions crop up in the mind of readers. This has a reply. Shri Shankara was a master Yogi (Yogeshwar) the meaning of which is elaborately explained later here. Unscientific things would never be uttered by such yogis. A famous scholar from Karnataka is intimate to me. He is very intelligent, thoughtful and a person with very vast reading. He was with us for some time. While touring in the North India, we were discussing several things. Once he said "I haven't seen anything unscientific uttered from the master-yogis". Immediately I said nothing unscientific would be uttered by the master yogis. Unscientific means things which are beyond clear analysis and explanation, beyond any brilliant person's experience, and beyond any research process. Such unscientific things would never come from yogis. If anywhere such things are found, they would be proved as "true" - this is what we believe. Last year (in May, 2000) on the day of Shri Shankar Jayanti, there was a seminar in our "Shrimatha". Multi-facets of Shri Shankara's personality and life were discussed elaborately. In the seminar scientists narrated the similarities found in Shankara's Advaita philosophy and modern physics and mathematics. A scientist in physics made a lot of references to Shri Shankara. Wherever we find scientific discussion, there is relation to modernity. Discourses on factual reality is always eternal. As Shri Shankara's philosophical discourses abound in such narration of truth, he is much fascinated by the modernists. In this sense, he is a harmoniser of both the ancient and the modern disciplines.
The Harmoniser of Bhakti, Jnana and Rajayoga
Shri Shankaracharya is the greatest among the devotees; he is the most enlightened, and he is the greatest among Yogis. We get clear evidences from his own works for this statement. If we take the devotional literature, all know about “Devyaparadh Kshamapana Stotra". That whether it is composed by him or not, is still under debate among scholars. Even today it is not settled. But we have heard the elderly knowledgeable persons and great ones stating that nobody, except Shri Shankar, could ever write like this.
जगदम्ब विचित्रमत्र किम्। परिपूर्णा करुणास्तिचेन्मयी ॥ अपराध परम्परावृतम्।
नहि माता समुपेक्षते सुतम् ॥ 0, Mother, Aren't your perfectly compassionate ? The mother would never ignore her child even if he is surrounded by innumerable offences. As such, there is no wonder in the fact that you would forgive me and protect me. You would forgive me undoubtedly and protect me without fail.
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