The most prominent thinker associated with the Advaita Vedanta school is Adi Shankaracharaya, but he wasn't the founder of Advaita; Adi Shankaracharaya's guru Govinda and Govinda's guru Gaudapada were also Advaitins. As I discuss in this question, Gaudapada is famous for his Karika or commentary...
@Tezz By the way, I don't know how many Tattvas are recognized by the Pancharatra Agamas and the Sri Vaishnava sect. I may post a question on that. Maybe we're the ones who believe in infinitely many Tattvas, haha
@Tezz By the way, did you know that Adi Shankaracharya rejects Mahat and the other evolutes of Prakriti in his Brahma Sutra Bhashya?
@Tezz Ramanujacharya accepts them in the Sri Bhashya though.
@Tezz See this section of Adi Shankaracharya's Brahma Sutra Bhashya: sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe34/sbe34141.htm Adi Shankaracharya argues that Mahat is neither seen by the senses nor mentioned in the Vedas, so we shouldn't accet its existence.
Arum Arum ArumAi Or aindum aindum aindumAi Eru Seer iraNDum moonrum Ezhum Arum eTTumAi | vEru vEru jnAnamAhi meyyinODu poyyumAi ooroDOSai Aya aindum Aya Aya mAyanE || Two ||
THe word Arum is the tamil word for six @Tezz
This is the interpretation
> six karmAs – adyayanam – chanting vEdAs , adyApanam – teaching vEdAs , yajanam – doing yAga himself, yAjanam - performing yAga for others, dAnam – giving alms, pratigraham – receiving alms. These are the exclusive karmas for Brahmins only
@SreeCharan as per western datings Titumantiram is of about 5th-6th century whereas all darshan sutras are dated in BCE...
@SreeCharan in Tirumantiram, Tirumular also writes about Patanjali::...
67: Eight Masters Seekest thou the Masters who Nandi's grace received First the Nandis Four, Sivayoga the Holy next; Patanjali, then, who in Sabha's holy precincts worshipt, Vyaghra and I complete the number Eight.
@SreeCharan what is Vyasas goal?... if his goal is to teach devotion of Vishnu to people then why did he write Shiva Purana... if his goal is to teach devotion of Shiva... why did he write Vishnu Purana.... similar case... 😀😀
Which Hindu scripture narrates the story of Vyāghrapāda (the name literally means tiger-footed)?
From Wikipedia:
Vyaghrapada was a rishi and he was entrusted with the task of picking up fresh flowers, untouched even by the honeybees, for offering to Shiva in his aspect as Nataraja in the tem...
@TheDestroyer Here's the translation: விநாயகர் காப்பு (Vinayaka Kavacham - this is the title)
ஐந்து கரத்தனை யானை முகத்தனை (One with five limbs and face of an elephant) இந்தின் இளம்பிறை போலும் எயிற்றனை (He whose tusks resemble the growing crescent moon) நந்தி மகன்தனை ஞானக் கொழுந்தினைப் (Nandi's son you are, The budding sprout of Wisdom you are) புந்தியில் வைத்தடி போற்றுகின் றேனே. (As i keep him in my mind, I worship his feet continuously)
@Tezz I wanted to know if his translations are authorised, which only occurs if the guru gives permission to him to do so. Rickross had said in the Agama Room that Woodroffe got initiated by a well known bengali tantric but no more info was available beyond that at this point
@SreeCharan Patanjali is believed to be Adi Shesha. Sri Hari and Sesha revived Meditative portion of vedas long ago. Actually, Karma portion, Meditative portion and Jnana portion should be followed (or complete Vedas to be precise) without following only philosophy or portion.
@Tezz That's the thing, i too had checked Wiki and no mention there. Also, from wiki page it seems like he wrote on multiple tantric lineages but i'm not sure, can you confirm if this is a correct deduction?
@TheDestroyer Wow, I'm amazed you are reading with such a deep source. No wonder it is poetically pleasing. Are you practising Yoga based on its principles?
Shaiva Siddhanta is based on the Shaiva Agamas and the poems of the 63 Nāyanārs . One of those 63 Nāyanārs is Saint Tirumūlar and also one of the 18 Siddhars and also a Yogi himself. His work Tirumantiram is the tenth of the twelve volumes of the Tirumurai, the key texts of Shaiva Siddhanta. He i...
@KeshavSrinivasan Do you think universe is infinite?
Infinite tattvas implies universe is infinite. Otherwise how something infinite can be contained in finite? Do you think universe is infinite? It can't. So how tattvas can be infinite? @KeshavSrinivasan
@anuvaramban Yeah. Since it is poetic, i think it is not Nandi or Vrishabha.
@Tezz I think few puranas say Nandi is vrishabha, though Shiva Purana says Nandi looks similar to Shiva. Nandi and Mahakala are two gatekeepers of Kailasa.
@Tezz Nandi usually refers to the bull kept in front of ShivaLingam in Temples and when Anthropomorphised he is the Gana who is also referred to as NandiKesava, he is the patron god of Mridangam. In fact, people who play exceptionally well are often conferred the title "Kali Yuga Nandi" although there is no consensus on the criterion for such things.
"Vrishabhah -The term Vrisha though not very familiar now is used in the Vedic literature to indicate Dharma-“the essential nature of a thing without which the thing cannot remain as the thing” is its Dharma. One who showers all Dharmas is called Vrishabhah. In short, one who showers glowing health, burning devotion and thrilling silence on all sincere seekers and faithful devotees is Vrishabhah; and He is Sri Narayana. "
Above is the interpretation of Vrishabha name in Vishnu sahasranama by Adi shankara @TheDestroyer @Tezz
@TheDestroyer Are you aware of Shiva Temples without Nandi in complete bull form facing Shiva? That would be interesting.
@TheDestroyer Also, wiki says this, "The oldest Saivite texts in Sanskrit, Tamil and other Indian languages, the name Nandi was widely used instead for an anthropomorphic door-keepers of Kailasha rather than his mount."
So if you find a temple where Nandi Bull form is not installed, then it is possibly a very old temple and you should check if the DwaraPalakas includes an Anthropomorphic NandiKesava
The general belief about Nandi (related to Lord Shiva) is that he is a bull who is generally in human form but at times changes into the form of a bull. But after reading Shiva Purana, I feel that Nandi is not the bull but a person who has an appearance similar to Lord Shiva. See the below snapsh...