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Revival of Vedic Dharma

CHENNAI: It is because of great preceptors that Vedic Dharma continues to prevail in the lives of people and thereby they are able to tread the arduous path to salvation through enlightenment. Vidyaranya’s Sankara Dig Vijaya is an exhaustive account of the life and times of Adi Sankara, whose advent is seen as the most significant event in the history of India’s religion and philosophy, at a time when people were caught in the grip of powerful forces that vehemently opposed Vedic Dharma and caused the spread of restlessness among the people, pointed out Sri Mani Dravid Sastrigal in a lecture.

The way of life prescribed by the Vedas had gradually lost its charm and hold on the people. Under the influence of other faiths that championed the non-Vedic path, people were persuaded to believe that the Vedic tenets (Srutis) were wrong teachings and had to be abandoned. They slowly had moved away from Vedic practices such as the observance of the duties during the different stages in one’s life (Ashrama Dharma).

Adi Sankara is believed to be an incarnation of Siva whom the celestials approached with a fervent plea to save Vedic Dharma from sinking into oblivion and restore its rightful place in the lives of people. All incarnations of the Supreme Being have been for the purpose of establishing Dharma and vanquishing Adharma. Adi Sankara’s role was to fight the subtle evil of Adharma that held sway in the mental outlook of the people. He had to re-establish the import of the Vedas that was lost in the maze of specious arguments, gross misrepresentations and clever misquotations.

Jaimini and Kumarila Bhatta were scholars who preceded Adi Sankara and firmly believed in the validity and authority of the Vedic injunctions and their works (Jaimini’s treatise Purva Mimamsa on the study of the Vedic rituals and Kumarila Bhatta’s commentary on this work) helped to revive Vedic Dhrama to a certain extent. The result was that the people began to believe in the practice of these rituals as the ultimate goal. It was Adi Sankara’s teachings that renewed the excellences in Vedic thought and established the path of spiritual development through knowledge and Bhakti leading to salvation.

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