Shankaracharya <\/strong><\/p>\n When the Supreme Personality of Godhead orders, Lord Shiva descends to this material world. The Padma Purana states that Lord Shiva appeared as a Brahmana in the age of Kali to introduce the M\u0101y\u0101v\u0101d\u012b philosophy to eradicate the Buddhist philosophy being preached at the time. Lord Shiva in a conversation with Parvati Devi, foretold how he would spread this M\u0101y\u0101v\u0101d\u012b philosophy in the guise of a sanny\u0101s\u012b. He later descended as Sripada Shankaracharya and preached the philosophy of monism. However, he did compose a number of beautiful verses known as \u2018Bhaja Govindam\u2019 wherein he writes \u201cjust worship Govinda\u201d. There are many commentators who consider Shankaracharya to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva, the greatest devotee of the Lord, understanding that out of necessity of that time he could not directly advocate devotion to the personal form of the Lord as the highest goal of life. But, just before he departed from this world Sri Shankaracharya spoke these last words:<\/p>\n bhaja govindam, bhaja govindam<\/em><\/p>\n bhaja govindam mudhamate<\/em><\/p>\n samprapte sannihite kale<\/em><\/p>\n na hi na hi rakshati dukrinyakarane<\/em><\/p>\n ‘Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh you fools, just worship Govinda. Your rules of grammar and word jugglery will not help you at the time of death.”<\/p>\n It was wonderful to visit his birth place and to recount how he was directed by the Lord to preach monism and how he followed the Lord\u2019s order.\u00a0 We all took darsana of all the temples there before going to \u2018Crocodile Ghat\u2019 another place made famous by Shankaracharya.<\/p>\n Crocodile Ghat<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018Muthala Kadavu\u2019 or \u2018Crocodile Ghat\u2019 is well-known for being the place where Shankaracharya decided that he would take sanny\u0101sa (ascetic life). Shankara (as he was called at the time) had wanted to become a sanny\u0101s\u012b but his mother, Aryamba, did not agree with this desire.\u00a0 One day, Shankara was touched by a dog and, as per custom he had to take bath. Accompanied by his mother, Shankara went down to the river Poorna to bathe. While in the water, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. His mother was helpless because she could not rescue her son. Upon seeing the helplessness of his mother, Shankara told her that the crocodile would let him go if she allowed him to become a sanny\u0101s\u012b. Desperate, his mother agreed, and the crocodile freed Shankara. Shankaracharya began his life as an ascetic from then on and travelled further down south of India in search of a Guru.<\/p>\n We had planned to leave Kalady the next day, but somehow we were delayed in our departure and ended up staying another two days. Perhaps Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar, wanted to stay at Adi Shankaracharya\u2019s birth place for a while longer. We all took this opportunity to do sa\u1e45k\u012brtana in the town and distribute books. Wherever we went we were welcomed by the residents. We arranged evening class after Gaura ararti which many people attended. The people in this area are very favorable. After our short stay we set off for our next destination.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t