Sri Sri Jagadguru Shankaracharya Mahasamsthanam, Dakshinamanaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri



Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri

Sri Totakacharya


When Adi Shankaracharya was at Sringeri, He accepted a disciple endowed with great humility named Giri. Giri had neither the learning of Sureshwara and Padmapada nor the realisation of Hastamalaka. However, Giri was unrivalled in scrupulous personal attention to the Acharya. He found pleasure in looking after the personal comforts of the Acharya as a devoted servant. His co-disciples naturally entertained a lesser idea of his intellect. Even Padmapada was not free from this misconception. Once when Giri had gone to the river for washing clothes, the Acharya waited for his arrival before he would begin his exposition. The other disciples were impatient. Padmapada could not restrain himself. He said: ‘Why should we wait for one who is no better than a wall?’ Sri Shankaracharya naturally did not relish this remark. He decided to bless the devout Giri. So by a mental flash, He endowed Giri with knowledge of all the Shastras. When Giri returned from the river, he was literally in bliss. He sang the praise of the Acharya in a few brilliant stanzas in Totaka metre. Since then, Giri got the title of Totakacharya. The stanzas became famous as Totakashtakam. Totakacharya was from then on counted amongst the foremost disciples of Sri Adi Shankaracharya. He condensed the essential teachings of the Upanishads in a small treatise. This treatise is titled Shruti Saara Samuddharanam and is composed in the same Totaka metre.

 
  • Weapons do not cut This (Atma); nor does fire does burn It. Water does not wet (nor drown) nor does wind dry It. This (Atma) cannot be slain, nor burnt, nor wetted, nor dried up. It is changeless, all-pervading, stable, immovable and eternal. Bhagavan Sri Krishna on Significance of God
  • Do not be proud of wealth, people (relations and friends), and youth. All these are snatched by Time in the blink of an eye. Giving up this illusory world, know and attain the Supreme. Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavatpada on Mohamudgara
  • Today God is altogether ignored and this is the cause of all our suffering and misery. Jagadguru Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamigal on Significance of God
  • By God’s grace, we have obtained a human birth, the power of discrimination and someone to teach us about the ultimate, truth. If we still remain lazy, we will be wasting a marvelous opportunity. Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamigal on Significance of God
  • No man is omniscient. Hence man should not have the ego that he knows all. It is ego that leads man astray and drives him to commit sins. Jagadguru Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamigal on Significance of God's Names