Well According to Jagat Guru Adi Shankaracharya and all most of his works, all 6 sects viz Brahma/Sourya, Vishnu, Mahesha (the Kailash deity), Devi, Kaumara and Ganapati are that of Saguna Brahmana, he says only Lord Shiva is the Nirguna Parambrahma and us supreme than Sagunas.
Lets see some of his Bhasyas.:
According to BSB of Adi Shankara.:
Sankara bhasyam.:
भाष्यम् शाङ्करभाष्यम् ॥
कार्यब्रह्मलोकप्रलयप्रत्युपस्थाने सति तत्रैव उत्पन्नसम्यग्दर्शनाः सन्तः तदध्यक्षेण हिरण्यगर्भेण सह अतः पर परिशुद्धं विष्णोः परमं पदं प्रतिपद्यन्ते इतीत्थं क्रममुक्तिः अनावृत्त्यादिश्रुत्यभिधानेभ्योऽभ्युपगन्तव्या । न ह्यञ्जसैव गतिपूर्विका परप्राप्तिः संभवतीत्युपपादितम् ।। स्मृतेश् च । ( ब्रसू -४,३.१० । )
The idea is to convey that inferior saguna brahman , Lord Brahma of Brahmalokha , the entire hiranyagarbha along with pure and independent supreme state of Vishnu finally dissolves into the eternity and attain Krama mukthi ( liberation by stages ) during pralaya ( Dissolution ) this has to be admitted on the strength of the Upanishadic texts speaking of non - return etc. For we established earlier that it is incomprehensible that the supreme Brahman should be reached by any process of moving forward . +
भाष्यम् शाङ्करभाष्यम् ॥ स्मृतिरप्येतमर्थमनुजानाति ब्रह्मणा सह ते सर्वे संप्राप्ते प्रतिसंचरे । परस्यान्ते कृतात्मानः प्रविशन्ति परं पदम् इति । तस्मात्कार्यब्रह्मविषया एव गतिश्रुतयः इति सिद्धान्तः ।। कं पुनः पूर्वपक्षमाशङ्क्य अयं सिद्धान्तः प्रतिष्ठापितः कार्य बादरिः इत्यादिनेति स इदानीं सूत्रैरेवोपदय॑ते परं जैमिनिर् मुख्यत्वात् । ( ब्रसू -४,३.११ । )
As the smrithis also state , at the end of life of Lord Brahma ( Hiranyagarbha ) ie during the time of dissolution of the visvà ( universe ) , including the supreme state of conditioned saguna Brahman ( Paramam padam/Vishnu ) attains ultimate gathi as declared by the siddantham this is what the upanishads say . What was the objection in the background , in answer to which the conclusion is presented in the aphorisms starting with , " Badari thinks that they are led to the conditioned Brahman " etc. ( IV . iii . 7 ) ? That objection is now being shown by the aphorisms them - selves . Jaimini ( thinks that they are led ) to the supreme Brahman ( that being the primary meaning ) .
भाष्य ५.२ इति पृष्टवते तस्मै स होवाच पिप्पलादः एतस्मै सत्यकाम । एतद्ब्रह्म वै परं चापरं च ब्रह्म परं सत्यमक्षरं पुरुषाख्यमपरं च प्राणाख्यं प्रथमजं यत्तदोङ्कार एवोङ्कारात्मकमोङ्कारप्रतीकत्वात् । परं हि ब्रह्म शब्दाधुपलक्षणानह सर्वधर्मविशेषवर्जितमतो न शक्यमतीन्द्रियगोचरत्वात्केवलेन मनसावगाहितुम् । ओङ्कारे तु विष्ण्वादिप्रतिमास्थानीये भक्त्यावेशितब्रह्मभावे ध्यायिनां तत्प्रसीदति इत्येतदवगम्यते शास्त्रप्रामाण्यात्तथापरं च ब्रह्म । तस्मात्परं चापरं च ब्रह्म यदोङ्कार इत्युपचर्यते । तस्मादेवं विद्वानेतेनैवात्मप्राप्तिसाधनेनेवोङ्काराभिध्यानेन एकतरं परमपरं वान्वेति ब्रह्मानुगच्छति नेदिष्टं ह्यालम्बनमोङ्कारो ब्रह्मणः ॥ २
That Brahman who is the supreme purusha alone is the ever existed supreme primordial entity which is the Jiva ( athman ) of universe from him the sound ' Om ' was born and indeed he the supreme purusha alone is to be known by Om the supreme syllable . He who is beyond all attributes the nirguna purusha is not accessible with senses and on the meditation of omkara meditating upon him is not possible hence we use substitutes like the images of Vishnu to meditate upon . Therefore , he who knows thus , attains either the higher or the lower Brahman
Description of Nirguna Parambrahma.: .
Verse 2.1.4 parent : Mundaka II , Khanda अग्नीर्मूर्धा चक्षुषी चन्द्रसूर्यौ दिशः श्रोत्रे वाग्विवृताश्च वेदाः वायुः प्रणो हृदयं विश्वमस्य पद्भ्यां पृथिवी ह्येष सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा ॥ ४ ॥
agnīrmūrdhā cakṣuși candrasūryau diśaḥ śrotre vāgvivſtāśca vedāḥ | vāyuh praạo hệdayam viśvamasya padbhyam prthivi hyeșa sarvabhūtāntarātmā || 4
|| 4. This is he , the internal atman of all created things whose head is agni , whose eyes are the sun , and the moon , whose ears are the four directions , whose speeches are the emanated Vedas , whose breath is vayu , whose heart is all the universe and from whose feet the earth proceeded .
भाष्यम् शाङ्करभाष्यम् ॥ आत्मनन्ति चैनं परमेश्वरमस्मिन्मूर्धचुबुकान्तराले जाबालाः य एषोऽनन्तोऽव्यक्त आत्मा सोऽविमुक्ते प्रतिष्ठित इति । सोऽविमुक्तः कस्मिन्प्रतिष्ठित इति । वरणायां नास्यां च मध्ये प्रतिष्ठित इति । का वै वरणा का च नासीति । तत्र चेमामेव नासिकाम् सर्वाणीन्द्रियकृतानि पापानि वारयतीति सा वरणा सर्वाणीन्द्रियकृतानि पापानि नाशयतीति सा नासी इति वरणानासीति निरुच्य पुनरप्यामनन्ति कतमच्चास्य स्थानं भवतीति । भ्रुवोणिस्य च यः संधिः स एष धुलोकस्य परस्य च संधिर्भवति इति । तस्मादुपपन्ना परमेश्वरे प्रादेशमात्रश्रुतिः । अभिविमानश्रुतिः प्रत्यगात्मत्वाभिप्राया । प्रत्यगात्मतया सर्वैः प्राणिभिरभिविमीयत इत्यभिविमानः अभिगतो वायं प्रत्यगात्मत्वात् विमानश्च मानवियोगात् इत्यभिविमानः । अभिविमिमीते वा सर्वं जगत् कारणत्वादित्यभिविमानः तस्मात्परमेश्वरो वैश्वानर इति सिद्धम् ।।
Moreover Jabalas speak about the supreme brahman Parameshvara as the supreme Lord who resides between interstice of the head and chin of the universal conscious . But who is parameshvara , he's the Avimuka of Varanasi ! Thus I'm he the Avimuka ( Sovimuktha ) of Varanasi (Kashi), What is Varana ? and what is nasi ? Varana refers to the illusory attributes that one possesses and nasi refers to the destruction of it . He's the supreme atman , the eternal reality , the only one who is infinite , hence Parameshvara ( Shiva ) alone is Vaishvanara .
Shankara bhashyam on mandukya upanishad 1:12 सर्वद्वैतोपशमत्वादेव शिवः । ओङ्कारो यथा व्याख्यातो विदितो येन स परमार्थतत्वस्य मननान्मुनिः ॥
The Lord of all appearing due to the substratum of duality is Shiva . The one who realizes him as omkara and contemplates on him is the great seer , great saint .
Bhasya of adi Shankara on dharmittara a vedic scripture.
Siva - dharmottara it is shown that the yogis remain con centrated in their hearts :
The yogīs realise Siva in their hearts ,
and not in images .
One who , leaving aside Siva existing within the heart ,
worships Him as existing externally like one who , rejecting a morsel of food on his palm licks his own elbow !
As a blind man does not see the sun that is risen , similarly they do not see here Sankara ( Śiva ) who exists everywhere and is of non appearance (nirakar) because they are devoid of tha eye of Knowledge . He who realises the all - pervasive Siva has Him seated in the heart . Those who do not see Siva within the heart seck
ततः परं ब्रह्म परं बृहन्तं यथानिकायं सर्वभूतेषु गूढम् । विश्वस्यैकं परिवेष्टितारमीशं तं ज्ञात्वाऽमृता भवन्ति ॥ ७ ॥ aa : than that ( the Personal Brahman ) higher बृहन्तम् infinite परम् supreme ब्रह्म Brahman यथानिकायम् ac cording to the bodies paxay in all beings TCH hidden . विश्वस्य of the universe एकम् single परिवेष्टितारम् enveloper ईशम् Gods तम् Him ज्ञात्वा realising अमृताः immortal भवन्ति become .
Higher than this Personal Brahman (Saguna,) is the (Nirguna) infinite Supreme Brahman , who is concealed in all beings according to their bodies , and who , though remaining single , envelops the whole universe . Knowing Him to be the Lord , one becomes immortal .
So adi Sankara in his bhasyas clearly stated that vishnu is the saguna parambramha and he dies and gets salvation during pralaya where as shiva (vaishvanara) is the only parmatma nirguna and is beyond turiya state. We pray on vishnu (Saguna) as a substitute of omkara viz shiva (Nirguna). He also said that nirguna Brahman is higher than saguna Brahman.
“ ”.
Sampat Upasana is a kind of meditation in which something is imagined as identical with something else on account of some kind of similarity or likeness. As, for example, when the cosmic being (Purusha) is worshipped through the identification of His different limbs with the different parts of the worshipper’s body from the top of the head to the chin. The head of the worshipper is heaven, the eyes the sun and the moon, and so on. In this meditation of the cosmic Person He is limited to the size of a span, the distance from the top of the head to the chin. Therefore, says Jaimini, in the text under discussion, Parameshvara is regarded as of the size of a span.
:: .
And finally at the end of bhashya on the second padha of the 1st chapter of Brahma sutras (1:2:32);
, ( ) .
There were a sect of very ancient people called “Jabalas” who were vedic shaivites classified to into two types “Bhasmajabalas” and “Rudrakshajabalas”, they consider Shiva to be the Lord, Adi Shankaracharya comments upon this as.
Shankara bhashyam 1.2.32 states:-
Moreover the Jabalas speak about Parameshvara as eternal Lord as being in the interstice between the top of the head and the chin. Where does he reside? He reside in Varanasi, what is varana and what is nasi? varana means the the illusory form that a being possess and nasi refers to permanent destruction of it. He is Avimukta of Varanasi the supreme Parameshvara the Vaishvanara. (As stated above).
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: :-
अन्तःप्रज्ञत्वादिस्थानिधर्मप्रतिषे्धः कृतः ।
प्रपच्चोपशममिति जाग्रदादिस्थानधर्माभाव उच्यते ।
अत एव शान्तमविक्रियम्, शिवं उअतोऽद्वैतं भेदविकल्परहितम् ।
अतुर्थ तुरियं मन्यते प्रतीयमानपादत्रयरुपवैलक्षण्यात् ।
स आत्मा अ विज्ञेय इति प्रतीयमा II
The ones who have ego of dharma or attributes of three states of consciousness (waking, etc), their dharma-s are negated (prohibited), now, the absence of dharma of waking state, etc are being told. This is the reason why he is शान्त (Santa, peaceful) meaning he is अविकारी (avikAri, without any change); and since it is अद्वैत (advaita, non-dual) meaning free from duality of difference, hence he is शिव (Siva) He is believed to be the forth state तुर्य (turya); because this extraordinary forth state is different from the three syllables (in earlier verses).This is आत्मा (Atman), and only he is fit to be known (worthy of knowing).
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:
सर्वद्वैतोपशमत्वादेव शिवः ।
ओङ्कारो यथा व्याख्यातो विदितो येन स परमार्थतत्वस्य मननान्मुनिः II
The Lord of all appearing due to the substratum of duality is Shiva. The one who realizes him as omkara and contemplates on him is the great seer, great saint.
Nirguna manasa puja of Shankaracharya gives us more clarity.
Shri bruhad Shankara Digvijay' by mAdhava vidyAraNya svAmI, in 6th Sarga sloka 41 says,
दास्स्तेऽहं देहदृष्ट्याऽस्मि शम्भो जातस्तेंऽशो जीवदृष्ट्या त्रिदृष्टे ।
सर्वस्याऽऽत्मन्नात्मदृष्ट्या त्वमेवेत्येवं में धीर्निश्चिता सर्वशास्त्रेः ॥ ६ - ४१ ॥
From Sarira Bhava, I am servant of Lord Shiva, From Jiva-Bhava, I am part (ansh) and you are whole (anshi), From Atma Bhava, I am you and you are me.
:-
Virincih panchatvam vrajati harir apnoti virathim
Vinasam kinaso bhajati dhanado yati nighanam;
Vitandri mahendri vithathir api sammeelita-drsa
Maha-samhare smin viharati sati tvat-patirasau.
The creator reaches the dissolution,
The Vishnu attains dissolution.
The god of death even dies,
Kubera the lord of wealth expires,
The Indras close their eyes one after one,
And attain the wake less sleep,
During the final deluge,
But you my chaste mother,
Play with your consort the Sadashiva
Shakthi is atma vidya jnana and atman is not devi so it cannot be said.
.
: :-
Indeed the deva-s did not recognize Rudra who had entered the heavenly world wandering in with a solar luster. They said: “Who are you?”. [He replied]: “I am Rudra, I am Indra, I am the Āditya, I am the arrival of all the divine luster. They said: We shall not offer a share to this one [i.e. Rudra]. Roaring he [Rudra] yelled at them. He rushed at them. They [the other deva-s] said: “Sir, you are all of this”. Because roaring he yelled at them that is Rudra’s fierceness (rudratvam). Because they called him sir (bhavān) that is Bhava’s lordship over existence. Because they said you are all this that revealed Śarva’s [prowess] as an archer. ' ' .
He's the Omkara meditated upon by the Nondual self he's the supreme incorporeal absolute taught by Jabalas, he is the absolute brahman of Upanishads the Nondual meditation on him is ultimate as Rishis teach, he's neither existent nor inexistent, even though he's incorporeal he takes different forms in Hearts and Shrines, in the meditation by the conscious as per Upanishadic injunctions, his eyes are sun, moon and agni, his body is full of golden effulgence with golden beard, golden form and golden nails, his Rudra form is just his Valour and a manifestation but eternally he's Parameshvara. Who is he? He's the Avimukteshwara of Varanâsi the supreme absolute Paramaatma who controls Brahma and Vishnu. He's the Vaishvanara the ONE (Non dual).
~ Adi Shankarabhagavatpadha (Kaliyuga Jagadguru)
Bhagavathpadha Shankara in his Brahma sutra bhashya 4.1.3 states:-
The supreme is to be realized as the supreme absolute reality just like the way how , address him as the eternal absolute Brahman the self, that oh though you appear deity (Devata) thou indeed art me ( ), I indeed am thee ( ), As a matter of fact, the Vedic texts make us understand Brahman as absolute The self is the supreme absolute, that absolute supreme self is the only reality. "That is Truth, that is the Self, and That thou art". As for the argument that on the '' . .
So, according to Adi Shankara the real meditation is the one and only unifying oneself with Nirguna Brahman and rest are only gauna meditation.
Furthermore, In his commentary on brahmasutras, Sri Adi Shankaracharya cites Bhagawad Gita verse in BSB (2:3:45), but terms it as ‘ishvara Gita’.
“īśvaragītāsvapi ca īśvarāṃśatvaṃ jīvasya smaryate mamaivāṃśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ iti ||” (Shankara’s Brahmasutra Bhashya 2:3:45)
“In the Isvaragita (Bhagavad-gîtâ) also it is said that the soul is a part of the Lord, ‘an eternal part of me becomes the individual soul in the world of life. [This verse is from Bhagavad Gita (BG 15:07)]”.
Clearly, he knows that Bhagavad Gita is not any different Gita, rather, it is the very same Shiva whose Ishvara Gita was spoken in more elaborate way by himself via the mouth of Krishna, while maintaining the core message of Vedanta identical.
Therefore Bhagavad Gita was the same discourse of Shiva passed on to us by the teacher (Acharya) Krishna, in his yogic trance where through Krishna Shiva spoke the Gita. Hence Krishna is our gitacharya.
According to Shivananda Lahari by Adi Shankara.:
4
Sahasram varthanthe jagathi vibhutha kshudra phalada
Na manye swapne vaa thadanusaranam that krutha phalam
Hari brahmadeenamapi nikata bhaja masulabham
Chiram yache shambho shiva thava padombhoja bhajanam
Thousands of Gods abound,
Offering trifling gifts to them who pray,
And never even in my dreams would I pray.
Or request gifts from them.
To Shiva who is close to Vishnu, Brahma and other Gods,
But who is difficult for them to near,
I would beseech and beg always,
For his lotus like feet.
**8
Yadha bhuddhi ssakthou rajatha mithi kachasamani mani
Rjale paishte ksheeram bhavathi mrigthrishnasu sallam
Thadha deva branthya bhajathi bhavadanyam jada jano
Maha devesam twam manasi cha na mathwa pasupathe.""
Similar to the intellect calling,
The shell as silver,
The stones of glass as precious gems,
Water mixed with flour as milk,
The mirage as water,
Oh God of all beings,
The foolish ones worship,
Other gods than you,
Without thinking of you,
Who is the greatest God of all.
23
Karomi twapoojam sapadhi sukhadho me bhava vibho,
Vidhitwam Vishnutwam dhisasi khalu tasya phalamithi,
Punascha twam dhivi bhuvi vahan pakshi mrugatha
Madrushtwa tat khedam kada miha sahe Sankara Vibho.
Perform of I your worship,
And you appear before me soon,
And you become granter all pleasures to me ,
Oh Lord who is everywhere.
But if you grant the position of creator,
Or the position of Lord Vishnu instead,
As a reward for my worship,
Then I would have to become a bird and fly in the sky,
Or Become an animal and dig deep in the earth, (The story of Lingabhava where Brahma became a swan and flew upward to find Shiva's head and Vishnu became a boar and dug downward to find Shiva's feets)
To see you again my Lord.
How can I bear this sorrow of not seeing you,
Oh Lord Sankara who is everywhere.
According to Shiva Manasa Puja by Adi Shankara.:
Aathma thwam Girija Mathi sahacharaa, prana sarreram gruham,
Pooja theey vishayopa bhoga rachana, nidhra samadhi sthithi,
Sanchara padayo pradakshina vidhi, , sthothrani sarva giraa,
Yadyath karma karomi thathad akhilam, shambho thavaradhanam. ||4||
My soul is your temple my lord,
My activities are thine attendants,
My body is thine home,
My acts to please my senses are thine worship,
My act of sleep is the deep meditation on thee,
All my walks with my feet are thine perambulations,
What ever falls from my mouth are thine prayers,
Oh Lord, everything I say and do are thine forms of worship. ||4||
Matha cha Parvathy Devi,
Pitha devo Maheswara,
Bandhava Shiva Bakthamscha,
Swadeso Bhuvana thrayam ||6||
My mother is the goddess Parvathy,
My father is the Lord Shiva,
My friends are the devotees of Shiva
And my native place is all the three worlds. ||6||
I hope this clarifies your queries...
