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When Adi Shankara defeated Mandana Mishra, his wife Ubhaya Bharati said he also have to defeat her in debate. In order to turn the debate towards her, she started asking about Kama Shastra. But as a celibate Shankara knew nothing about Kama Shastra. So, he asked one month time to learn Kama Shastra which was accepted by Ubhaya Bharati. Then Shankara entered the body of a king who is about to die and learnt Kaama Shastra.

Now, many people say as a Sanyasi, Shankara never did this act. So this might be a story created by disciples of Shankara. My question is, in which book this story is mentioned first?

TheLittleNaruto
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Tat Tvam Asi
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    As far as I know, Madhaviya Sankara Vijaya, a reputed source on Sri Adishankaracharya's chatriam by Sri Madhava Vidyaranya mentions this. – Vishwanath N May 20 '18 at 14:39
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    Scripture is definitely not the right tag for this Q.. so you can drop it.. – Rickross May 20 '18 at 14:58
  • @VishwanathN I know that, but it was written down after many years of Shankara's life. I want to know about any source which mention this incident before that book. – Tat Tvam Asi May 20 '18 at 15:47
  • No, there are no sources older than Vidyaranya's work that mention this incident. None of Adi Shankaracharya's disciples mention it, for instance. – Keshav Srinivasan May 20 '18 at 15:54
  • @KeshavSrinivasan so, are there any possibility that this story was made by his disciples? – Tat Tvam Asi May 20 '18 at 16:09
  • Some also say Smartha disciples are very devoted to their guru than others and so they don't do guru droha – Tat Tvam Asi May 20 '18 at 16:10
  • I think what may have happened is that in the numerous centuries between Adi Shankaracharya's time and Vidyaranya's time, various folklore stories accreted around Adi Shankaracharya. Just like various folklore stories have accreted around Rama and Krishna that have no basis in Hindu scripture. – Keshav Srinivasan May 20 '18 at 16:32
  • @KeshavSrinivasan there are many more myths about Shankara's life. Some even doubt the authenticity of Manisha Panchakam, Gaudapada meeting Shuka, etc. – Tat Tvam Asi May 20 '18 at 16:57
  • @NarayanaSharma Personally I doubt all of those as well. But then I'm not an Advaitin, I'm a Sri Vaishnava. – Keshav Srinivasan May 20 '18 at 17:12
  • @KeshavSrinivasan yeah, I saw your profile. If Shuka meeting gaudapada is a myth, then entire Advaita and smartha sampradaya cannot be real. Between have you ever read tripura rahasya? If yes, do you know who is the author of this work? – Tat Tvam Asi May 20 '18 at 17:25
  • the only place it is mentioned is in his biography and there are many myths in his biography. whether or not it actually happened lies today only in the realm of speculation and conjecture. It was written many years after his death and is not mentioned by him anywhere. – Swami Vishwananda May 21 '18 at 11:22
  • Most of the works of Sankara are recognized as his. There are a few that are debated. No one debates whether the Sankara Dig Vijaya was written by him. Madhava-Vidyaranya is the author. It does not matter for a follower of Sankara whether all the myths are true or not; what shines is his clear logic and exposition of the Advaita. – Swami Vishwananda May 22 '18 at 09:22
  • Does this answer your question? Was Adi Shankaracharya’s Parakaya Pravesha to learn Kamashastra Dharmic? – Rakesh Joshi Oct 26 '20 at 05:08

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