Dear Rohit, Yes, Sankara was a devotee of Supreme Lord Narayana. Although Sankara taught impersonal philosophy but he never denied the personal form of the lord. He maintained that the Supereme Lord Narayana is beyond material conception. In Kali yuga to stop the animal sacrifice, the supereme lord appeared as Buddha and rejected the vedas ( Based on Srimad Bhagavatham). The purpose of Sankara's appearance was to mislead the atheist, so he preached the mayavada philosphy (advaita). Yes, in Padma purana and Siva purana, the appearance of Sankara is mentioned. The quote of Padma Purana is as follows where Lord Siva states: mayavadam asac chastram pracchannam bauddham ucyate mayaiva kalpitam devi kalau brahmana rupina (In kaliyuga I will appear in form of a brahmana to preach mayavada philosophy to mislead the atheist)- not the direct translation. In Siva Purana, the Supreme Lord says dvaparadau yuge bhutva kalaya manususadisu svagamaih kalpitas tvam ca janan mad vimukhan kuru (In the begining of Dwara yuga, directed by my orders manay sages will bewilder people in general by Mayavada philosophy) - this is still going on and on in Kali yuga. Again in Padma purana, Lord Siva personally tells Parvathi: srnu devi paraksyami tamasi yatha kraman yesam sravana matrena patiyam jnaninam api apartham sruti vakyanam darsayal loka garhitam karma svarupa tyajyatvam atra ca pratipadyate sarva karma paribhramsan naiskarmyam tatra cocyate paratma jivayor aikyam mayatra pratipadyate (My dear Devi, sometimes I teach mayavadi philosophy for those engrossed in the mode of ignorance (tamo guna), but if a person in the mode of goodness (satva guna) happens to hear this, he falls down, for when teaching mayavadi philosophy, I say that the living entity and the supreme lord are one and the same. (The above quotes are taken from Teachings of Lord Chaitanya by Srila Prabupada) Lord Chaitanya (Madhava sampradaya) said mayavadi bhasya sunile haya sarva nasa which means if one hears mayadi bhasya he/she is doomed. Sankara in his last words instructs bhaja govindam, bhaja govindam bhaja govindam mudha mute samprapte sannihite kale na hi na hi raksati dukrn karane (workship govinda, workship govinda fools, all your grammtical knowledge will not save you at the time of death) So Sankara is Lord Siva. Lord Siva himself is the greatest vaisnava. (Vaisnanam yatho samboh) Lord Siva also says at of all types of workship, workship of visnu is the greatest (ardannam sarvesam visnum ardannam param). I hope it answers your questions Rohit. I have answered based on my limeted knowledge on the subject. I know there many scholars/acaryas/bhagavathas who can provide further explanation to the questions. Hope to hear from them. Bala Penang, Malaysia http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/District/9622/resbala.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! http://auctions.yahoo.com
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