Hindu gurus and saints

[Jainarayan]

On this list of Hindu gurus and saints I recognize some names and have read a miniscule amount about them, for example:

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Adi Shankara
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Paramahansa Yogananda
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Satya Sai Baba
Shankaracharya
Sri Aurobindo
Swami Vivekananda

I certainly don't expect a rundown on each and every one, but I am wondering out of the linked list who are the most respected by the wider Hindu world, and who are largely dismissed as being unorthodox.

Or is this just too broad an inquiry?

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam TBTL: I think you should explore on your own, given the varied opinions you will see expressed here. Either look on line, or read books by them if you wish. This is a mixed bag of scholars, bhaktars. Individuals have strong strong biases especially if they consider any one saint to be their personal guru.

Aum Namasivaya

[Jainarayan]

Namaste EM...

Yes, I thought that might be the way to go. It's probably no different than exploring various temples to see where I am most comfortable, and what falls in line with my feelings.

What prompted my question was a comment elsewhere about some swamis who deviate from Scripture. It had to do with the Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta posts.

Thanks, as always.

[Ananda]

Hello TouchedbytheLord,

I can give you a quick run down of the list of names you've provided in your post.


A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness movement (ISKCON), who are more famously known as Hare Krishnas. That's probably the most popular Vaishnava sect of Hinduism, though members, and Prabhupada himself had said on occasion that ISKCON is not a part of Hinduism. Prabhupada toured the West extensively, and wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, called, ironically, the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.

Adi Shankara, also known as Shankaracharya, was the classical proponent of Advaita Vedanta. He is perhaps the most famous Indian philosopher, next to the Buddha, and was the main drive behind the flourishing of non-dualism in India and then abroad. He wrote commentaries on all of the major Upanishads, as well as the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra, amongst many other texts. He travelled across India in the eight century, and set up four monasteries in each corner of the country. The monastic tradition descending from Shankara still exists today, and Shankara's writings have inspired many of the most famous modern saints and sages, including many on your list.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was a disciple in the Shankaracharya tradition before he founded his own movement, called Transcendental Meditation (TM). The TM movement was very influential in the West in the 60s and 70s, and popularised meditation practices, as well as the celebrity guru culture. Tm could be described as a sort of neo-vedanta approach, stripping the ideas presented in the traditional method down and repackaging them for a western audience, so I guess you could describe the Yogi as an unorthodox teacher.

Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Vivekananda were two highly influential spiritual teachers in the early to mid 20th century, and helped to spread Vedanta teachings and ideals, albeit in a universalized form, to the western world. Yogananda established the famous Self-Realization Fellowship, and developed Kriya Yoga. Vivekananda was the disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and taught Advaita Vedanta under the guise of universalism. Vivekananda travelled extensively across the world, including America and the UK, and set up Vedanta Societes there, as well as establishing the Sri Ramakrishna Math and Mission.

Sri Aurobindo was an Indian freedom fighter, poet, philosopher and guru in the first half of the 20th century. He wrote copious amounts of philosophical texts on both East and Western religions, creating a synthesis of ideas. He wrote commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Gita, amonst a mountain of other, less relevant works.

Satya Sai Baba was a famous Indian guru and philanthropist who proclaimed himself the reincarnation of a famous saint, Sai Baba of Shirdi. Satya Sai Baba was another teacher of universalism, which is a watered down version of Vedanta, distilled with the teachings and figures of other religions, and often called neo-vedanta. Satya Sai Baba was a controversial figure, known by his miracles and clairvoyance, he was frequently criticized and controversy and scandal dogged him until his death this year.




Hope I've helped.

[Jainarayan]

Namaste Ananda. Yes, you certainly did help. So, as an adherent of Advaita, I would be interested in reading the works of Adi Shankaracharya.

Thank you.

[Ananda]

TouchedbytheLord,

So, as an adherent of Advaita, I would be interested in reading the works of Adi Shankaracharya.

You certainly would! I recommend his Bhagavad Gita Commentary to start off with, then the Upanishads, then the Brahma Sutra. He wrote a lot of independent texts, also, (prakarana granthas), such as Upadesa Sahasri, and Vivekachudamani, which I highly recommend reading on the side.

[Jainarayan]

Thanks for the direction. I have the William Buck Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the Eknath Easwaran Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, and the Penguin Classics Srimad Bhagavatam (Canto X). I have an e-copy of Sri Ramcharitmanas, but I'll probably get hard copy too. So I have a lot of reading to do. Maybe I should start with his commentaries?

[Ananda]

Hello TouchedbytheLord,

I have a copy of the Eknath Bhagavad Gita- it is lovely! Each chapter has an introduction of a detailed explanation of the subject matter and how it relates to the whole Vedanta teaching. As for a commentary on the Gita, I recommend the Gita Bhashya of Shankara, translated by Swami Gambhirananda.

You can read an online version of the first 10 chapters of it here;


http://www.sankaracharya.org/gita_bhashya.php

I recommend you purchase a hard copy of it, however, which can be bought here;

https://advaitaashrama.org/publicati...ils.php?bid=52

[Jainarayan]

Hello TouchedbytheLord,

I have a copy of the Eknath Bhagavad Gita- it is lovely! Each chapter has an introduction of a detailed explanation of the subject matter and how it relates to the whole Vedanta teaching. As for a commentary on the Gita, I recommend the Gita Bhashya of Shankara, translated by Swami Gambhirananda.

You can read an online version of the first 10 chapters of it here;


http://www.sankaracharya.org/gita_bhashya.php

I recommend you purchase a hard copy of it, however, which can be bought here;

https://advaitaashrama.org/publicati...ils.php?bid=52

Thanks so much. This is the sort of guidance and recommendations I need and welcome.

I've had advaitaashrama in my Favorites bookmarks for a while now. I plan on eventually getting the entire Bhāgavata Purāṇa from that site. It's 4 volumes. Someone here recommended it.

[TatTvamAsi]

That list is highly misleading.

It suggests, to the newcomer or layman, that all those gurus/saints are of equal standing in Hinduism.

There is a whole spectrum of saints there.

The three main ones are SankarA, RamanujA, and MadhvA, they are the fathers of Advaita (non-dualism), VisiStadvaita (qualified non-dualism), and Dvaita (dualism), respectively speaking.

Some people consider these sages avatArs, or incarnations of certain deities. Adi SankarA, for example, is considered an avatAr of SivA by Smartas.

Sri Ramana Maharishi is considered to have reached sahaja samAdhI.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is also one of the "top" so to speak. As is Shirdi Sai Baba.

There are many others who are seminal in the long list of Hindu saints/seers but that particular list lumps some "entry-level" saints with giants.

Think of it like compiling a list of Physicists that contain Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Erwin Schrodinger along with some graduate students of Physics from Caltech, MIT, and Princeton, oh, and of course, IIT!

There is most definitely a hierarchy in sainthood and sages like Sankara being lumped together with Yogananda. The latter was a scion of Hinduism and India, but was not a "sage" like Sankara. He never pretended to be one either.