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From: ravi@crystal.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: "Adi Sankara": life of the Hindu philospher
Message-ID: <57@crystal.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Mar-86 17:27:06 EST
Article-I.D.: crystal.57
Posted: Mon Mar 17 17:27:06 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Mar-86 01:57:29 EST
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Thanks to Rajiv for his review of this unusual film.  I was aware of the
film and that it received the President's award a couple of years ago, and
so it was good to see the review.  I also seem to recall that Iyer, the film 
maker, is a committed Gandhian.  A couple of points raised about the film are 
interesting:

>                                Another complaint was the glorification
>of Brahmins: while they are shown as generally good, noble people, all
>the others a) speak the inelegant vernaculars instead of the graceful
>Sanksrit, b) appear as coarse, ill-groomed peasants. This depiction of
>Brahmins as a class apart is ironic considering Sankara's non-dualist
>theme and also the incident where he meets an untouchable. 

I have not seen the film; but I must agree that I too would find a depiction 
of Brahmins as a class apart offensive to my own modern-day sensibilities.
However, the film is set in 8th century India:  a period when acceptance of 
the caste system was arguably at its heighest.  Not only did Brahmins 
enjoy an exhalted social status, but other castes were certainly denied 
access both to knowledge and to any possibility of acquiring the sort of
sophistication that comes with knowledge and awareness.  In this sense,
it may be unfair to find fault with Iyer; the fault probably lies with
the social context of 8th century India.  One has to be careful not to
judge it by our present-day sensibilities.

Incidentally, the vernaculars have always been regarded as inelegant in the 
sense that seems to have come through in the film.  The word "sankritam" 
(which was the language of the elite), literally means "cultured", as 
compared with the more popular vernaculars that were "prakrit" meaning 
"natural".  In Kalidasa's "Shakuntalam", for example, Shakuntala, Dushyanta,
and the Rishis converse in Sanskrit while Shakuntala's friends and Dushyanta's
soldiers converse in the vernacular.

This value may arise from the fact that Sanskrit by this time was no longer
the language of the masses; its grammar had been rigidly codified and to 
speak it well required a mastery of its grammar as Panini had set it forth.
That was impossible without an extensive education.  Education automatically
conferred status in the Indian tradition.

>final quibble is a long, unnecessary scene, where Sankara and his
>disciples all pay tribute to a woman, for what appears to be no more
>than the fact that she had just cooked them a good meal. I feel that
>this scene was tacked on as an afterthought to show Sankara's deep
>affection for his mother; for, he hurries across hundreds of miles to
>her bedside when he knows she is dying. 

This scene appears to be a depiction of the legend of the goddess
Annapoorna feeding Sankaracharya (and his followers).  Annapoorna is the 
aspect of Parvati as the provider; legend has it that she manifested herself 
out of regard for Sankaracharya's knowledge and devotion, and fed 
Sankaracharya with her own hands (at Kashi, I think the legend says).
There is a composition by Sankaracharya called the "Annapoornashtakam" 
("eight hymns to Annapoorna") which is said to have been composed in 
connection with the episode.

The interpretation of the scene as having connections to his own mother
may not be off either, by the way.  As an ascetic, Sankaracharya is
required to renounce all worldly attachments, including his own family.
In the Annapoornashtakam, he refers to Shiva as his father, Annapoorna as 
mother, fellow devotees as family, and the three worlds as his own native
land.  That the mother-connection may be strong is evidenced by another
legend:  When his mother dies, orthodox Brahmins refuse to participate in
her creamtion since technically she died sonless (Sankara is an ascetic and 
has no ties to his mother), Sankaracharya thereby having no right to 
perform her last rites.  Sankaracharya defies this tradition and cremates
her himself, and in his own backyard.  I understand that this is still the
tradition among some very orthodox Namboodiri families in Kerala.