This is response of mine is for all those who are genuinely interested in knowing further on this matter.
I would be interested if he had said so in so many words otherwise it is all speculation.
There is no need to reiterate the obvious in so many words. The subject of the prasthAnatrayi bhAShya is not about determining the supreme deity. It is about the nature of nirguna/saguna brahman (Vishnu).
Did I mention bhagavatafan on this, yes I said it was an interpretation of a Vaishnava on advaitin work which he agreed has a double meaning and it does not prove that Shankracharya did not apply bhasma.
What I quoted is not a Vaishnava's (in the sense of Ramanuja/Madhva follower) interpretation on advaitin work. To dismiss someone as a 'Vaishnava' (as if it is a bad word) is sheer lack of will to analyse. The Acharyas who I quoted (Padmapada, Vishnubhatta, Akhandananda) were advaitins.
Let me reiterate why;
He is born in a Shaiva family
His all four math follow the same tradition.
His guru who he met on the banks of river Narbada, Sri Govinda Bhagavatpaada from Omkareshwar ashram a Saiva
His gurus Guru Shri Saunsthan Gaudapadacharya a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin belief in Smarta.
Both gurus are seen with bhasma, if the sisya don't follow the guru then you can have your way!!
Now if this does not prove his wearing of Tripund nothing will
All these are stories concocted after 14th/15th centuries. There is no proof from any authentic work of any of these.
I have asked the so-called "traditional" smArthas about this verse. All of them simply equivocate or they say 'this verse is not important', 'don't rake up issues unnecessarily, accept a guru and follow him' etc.
The authentic works of Shankara displays the following characteristics:
* Unanimously whenever the Supreme Brahman is identified as a deity, Shankara mentions Vishnu/Narayana/Vasudeva.
* Whenever Shankara quotes an example of upAsana, he states "yathA sAlagrAme hariH". Not even in one place in the entire prasthAnatrayi bhAShya you find "yathA linge shivaH"
* Shankara's immediate disciple Sureshvara says even more clearly that Vishnu is Supreme, and Shiva is subordinate, in his work Naishkarmyasiddhi:
"viSNoH pAdAnugAM nikhila-bhava-nudaM sha^nkaro(a)vApa yogAt
sarvaj~naM brahmasaMsthaM muni-gaNa-sahitaM samyagabhyarcya bhaktyA |
vidyAM ga^ngAM-iva-ahaM pravara-guNa-nidheH prApya vedAntadIptAM
kAruNyAt-tAm-avocaM janimRtinivahadhvastaye duHkhitebhyaH ||"
- (Naishkarmya Siddhi, IV.76)
[Having worshipped (Acharya Sri) Sankara -- who is all-knowing, established in (the knowledge of) Brahman, accompanied by a host of sages -- with devotion, I obtained from him who is the treasure of most excellent virtues, knowledge which, like the river Ganga, is illuminated by the Vedanta, that follows the feet of Lord Vishnu, and that, while destroying the sorrow of worldly existence, Sankara had attained through yoga; and from compassion, I have set it forth for sufferers to overcome the cycles of birth and death and obtain liberation.]
* Sureshvara also says the following in his sub-commentary (Vartika) on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Bhashya Vartika, as a dialogue between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi:
atisnEhApakRShTOmA dEhArdhaM shUlinaH shritA
tvaM tu sarvAtmanA AtmAnaM kRtsnaM mAm-Aptmuicchasi
Translation: Carried away by great love, Uma occupied half of the trident-bearer's (Shiva's) body body. You, however, wish to secure the whole of me, the Self, by your whole self.
Would any wearer of tripundra/rudrAkSha or Shakti upAsaka say such a thing?
* Anandagiri mentions in Mandukya Upanishad Bhashya Tika that Gaudapadacharya gained advaita jnAna by worshiping the Lord of Badarinath.
Now, think about why:
* Shankara does not talk about Shanmata in any of his bhAShyas.
* Shankara does not say that Pancharatrins are narrow-minded in Pancharatra Adhikarana of Brahma Sutra Bhashya. On the contrary, Shankara says that the position of the Pancharatrins regarding Narayana as the only object of worship, and the Pancharatrins' mode of worship are absolutely acceptable.
* Shankara interprets "Ishvara" in Gita where Krishna says "Ishvara" in third person as "IshanasheelaH nArAyaNaH"
* Shankara says that the worshipers of the other deities obtain paltry results such as svarga and return to samsAra, while the Vaishnavas obtain the eternal result of mOkSha even though the effort involved is the same (Gita Bhashya 7.20-23, 9.23-25)
* Neither Shankara nor any early advaitin says that Shankara established four mutts
* Neither Shankara nor any early advaitin has worshiped Chandramouleeshvara (the main deity installed in the four mutts) their invocatory verses.
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