BHAJA GOVINDAM & ADI SANKARA

Ques 1 Give the meaning of Bhaja Govindam. Ans 1 Bhaja Govindam - Seek , Seek the God. Bhaja means worship; Bhaja Govindam means Worship of Lord Govinda.

Ques 2 Fill in the blank: Bhaja Govindam is also called ______. Ans 2 Moha Mudgara.

Ques 3 Why is Bhaja Govindam called Moha Mudgara? Ans 3 In 31 simple, sweet and lucid slokas, giving homely analogies and illustrations for our easy understanding, Sankara tells us about the fallacy and futility of our life; and sloka by sloka, he removes veil after veil, dispelling our ignorance, illusions and delusion (moha) and showing us where the remedy for all our misery lies. Therefore it is called Moha Mudgara.

Ques 4 Fill in the blanks: Adi Sankara lived for _____ years and established ______philosophy as the essential unifying basis of the Hindu religion. Ans 4 32, Advaita .

Ques 5 Give Sankara’s birth details: a. Place of birth b. Century when he was born c. Parents’ names d. Fill in the blank: Sankara was born as a result of prayers to ______Ans 5 a. Kaladi village, central Kerala. b. 8th century A.D. c. Sivaguru and Aryamba. d. Lord Siva, of Vrishabachaleshwara temple at Trichur.

Ques 6 Fill in the blanks: a) Once when Sankara was bathing in the ______river; while his mother was standing on the river bank, a crocodile caught hold of his leg and started dragging him into deeper waters. b)When death was seemingly near, Sankara asked his mother’s permission to enter ______Sanyasa. c) When Aryamba reluctantly gave consent, the crocodile mysteriously let go of the boy and Sankara emerged from the river as a Bala Sanyasin at the very

SRI SATHYA SAI BALVIKAS, TAMILNADU 1 www.sssbalvikastn.org young age of ______. d) Sankara decided to become a wandering monk and soon left his village after assuring his mother that he would be at her side during her last days and would even ______. Ans 6 a) Purna b) Apat c) 8 d) Perform her funeral rights.

Ques 7 What is meant by Apat Sanyasa? Ans 7 It is the last ashram of Sanyasa, which every Hindu is supposed to take before his death. It means formal renunciation at a critical situation.

Ques 8 Fill in the blanks: After leaving his birthplace, he reached the banks of Narmada river where he met his Guru ______who was the disciple of ______of Mandukya Karika reputation. Ans 8 Govinda Bhagavatpada, .

Ques 9 In about how many years did Sankara complete his Vedantic studies and Sadhana? Ans 9 About 7 years.

Ques 10 After completion of studies what did his Guru ask him to do? Ans 10 His Guru asked him to go to Kashi and spread the message of by writing commentaries on the Brahma , the and the Bhagawad Gita.

Ques 11 Fill in the blanks: Sankara had established himself as a great philosopher in the city of ______by the age of ______. Ans 11 Kashi, sixteen.

Ques 12 Fill in the blanks: Sankara in his earlier years started on a tour of India for a ______under instructions from Veda who blessed him with a vision while he was writing ______. Ans 12 Dig Vijaya or spiritual conquest, Brahma Bhashya.

SRI SATHYA SAI BALVIKAS, TAMILNADU 2 www.sssbalvikastn.org Ques 13 Fill in the blanks: In order to establish the truth of ______over ______, Sankara had a great debate with Mandana Misra, who was a disciple of ______. Ans 13 Kanda, Kanda, Kumarila Bhatta.

Ques 14 In this debate, a. Who was the judge? b. What was the judge’s relationship with Sankara’s opponent? c. What was the condition of the debate? d. Who won the debate? e. By what name was the opponent later on called as? Ans 14 a. Ubhaya Bharati was the judge b. Ubhaya Bharati, the judge, was Mandana Misra’s scholarly wife c. The condition of the debate was that he who would be defeated would become the other’s disciple and take up the victor’s way of life. d. Sankaracharya won the debate e. After his defeat, Mandana Misra became a Sanyasi and was given the name Sri Sureswaracharya

Ques 15 Name the mutts established by Sankara and the names of his disciples who were chosen as the heads of these mutts. Ans 15 South – Sringeri mutt – Sri Sureswaracharya North – Badri mutt – Sri Totaka West – Dwaraka mutt – Sri Padamapada East – Jagannath Puri mutt – Sri Hastamalaka He is also said to have established the Kamakoti mutt at Kanchi in Tamilnadu.

Ques 16 How did Sankara keep up the promise given to his mother during her last moments? Ans 16 After a pretty long stay at Sringeri, he hastened to the bedside of his dying mother in his ancestral home at Kaladi and sped her soul to the “immortal realms of light” to the strains of mellifluous hymns in praise of Siva and . Undeterred by the opposition of his pharisaical (religious formalist) kinsmen, he cremated his mother’s body on the river bank behind the house and the spot has since become hallowed as a place of pilgrimage.

Ques 17 Sankara visited many holy shrines in India and established Sri Chakras in many of them. Name atleast three such temples. Ans 17 Kamakshi temple, Kanchi Nara Narayana temple, Badri Guhyeshwari temple, Nepal. SRI SATHYA SAI BALVIKAS, TAMILNADU 3 www.sssbalvikastn.org Ques 18 Fill in the blank: He earned the name of ______because of his triumphant tours all over India. Ans 18 Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya (best of peripatetic teachers)

Ques 19 Fill in the blank: As a symbol of recognition by the world of his scholarship and undisputed mastery in all of the then known branches of learning, he ascended the ______in Kashmir. Ans 19 Sarvajna Pitha

Ques 20 Fill in the blank: During his last visit to Nepal, he had a vision of ______. Ans 20 Sri Dattatreya.

Ques 21 Fill in the blank: From Nepal, Sankara went to ______, at which place he is said to have disappeared from this world. Ans 21 Kedarnath.

Ques 22 Fill in the blanks: Some say that he ended his earthly career by merging with ______at ______Ans 22 Mother Kamakshi at Kanchi.

Ques 23 Give the meaning of ‘Sankara’. Ans 23 Sam karoti iti Sankara – he who blesses is Sankara

Ques 24 How many Stanzas are there in Bhaja Govindam? Ans 24 31

Ques 25 Fill in the blank: Bhaja Govindam along with ______comes under the category of Prakarana Granthas Ans 25 Atma Bodha

Ques 26 What are Prakarana Granthas? Ans 26 Introductory manuals for spiritual studies are called Prakarana Granthas.

SRI SATHYA SAI BALVIKAS, TAMILNADU 4 www.sssbalvikastn.org Ques 27 What are commentaries on Indian scriptures called as? Ans 27 Bhashyas.

Ques 28 Name the occasion and year when Swami dwelled on this subject of Bhaja Govindam. Ans 28 Summer course on Indian culture and Spirituality, 1973 at Brindavan

Ques 29 How many stanzas did Swami elaborate upon? Ans 29 16

Ques 30 Mention the incident that triggered Sankara to write Bhaja Govindam. Ans 30 Once in Banaras, when Sankara was going on his daily rounds along with his fourteen disciples, he overheard a very old Pundit cramming Panini’s grammar rules. Sankara was touched with pity at the ignorance and folly of the man, wasting away the most precious “dusk hours” of his life for a mere intellectual accomplishment instead of spending them in contemplation on the Lord, praying for spiritual enlightenment and for release from the bondage of Samsara.

He knew that this was not the state of the particular old man alone, but was the general state of most of the men. Men waste and while away their lives in many futile ways, groveling in the mire of earthly attachments, forgetting God who is the only goal of life. In compassion for man’s plight, he burst forth into these stanzas of the Bhaja Govindam

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