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Does any one know of a source (preferably a publication in print) of 'Sri Sankara Bhashyam' for 'Sri Nrusimha Tapani Upanisad'?

As a background - some people, possibly Vaishnavas, believe that 'Sri Adi Shankaracharya' wrote a bhashyam for 'Sri Nrusimha Tapani Upanisad'. But I am not aware of any Smartha schools / institutions endorsing this notion. Personally I have not seen a Sankara Bhashyam for 'Sri Nrusimha Tapani Upanisad'.

Any one with additional references, please provide.

Sarvabhouma
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Vidyarthi
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  • Yes, there is definitely one bhAshya on the Nrsimha tapani upanishad, supposedly written by Shankara. Paul Hacker mentions it. Its authenticity is debatable, though. –  Nov 18 '19 at 07:40

5 Answers5

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Commentary of Shankaracharya on Nṛsiṃha pūrva tāpaniya Upanishat exists.

Collected Works of Sankara 1910 Edition published by Sri Vani Vilas Press, Sri Rangam.

This book is a collection of various works which are believed to be written by Adi Shankaracharya. It contains following works:
1. Brahmasutra-bhashya
2. Brahmasutra-bhashya
3. Brahmasutra-bhashya
4. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 1: Isa, Kena [2], Katha, Prasna
5. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 2: Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitareya
6. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 3: Taittiriya, Chhandogya 1-3
7. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 4: Chhandogya 4-8
8. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 5: Brihadaranyaka 1-2
9. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 6: Brihadaranyaka 3-4
10. Upanishad-bhashya, vol. 7: Brihadaranyaka 5-6, Nrisimhapurvatapani
11. Bhagavad-Gita-bhashya, vol. 1: chaps. 1-9
12. Bhagavad-Gita-bhashya, vol. 2: chaps. 10-18
13. Vishnusahasranama and Sanatsujatiya Bhashyas
14. Vivekachudamani, Upadeshasahasri
15. Miscellaneous Prakaranas vol. 1: Aparokshanubhuti, etc. [7 works]
16. Miscellaneous Prakaranas vol. 2: Prabodhasudhakara, etc. [25 works]
17. Stotras, vol. 1 [30 works]
18. Stotras, vol. 2 [35 works, plus Lalita Trisatistotra Bhashya]
19. Prapanchasara, vol. 1
20. Prapanchasara, vol. 2.

Commentary on Nṛsiṃha pūrva tāpaniya Upanishat Starts with page 3352.

Sarvabhouma
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  • the link says that it some of those listed may or may not be Adi Shankara, but rather one of the later Sankaracharyas. other than the 10 major Upanishads, any other Upanishad commentaries are suspect. – Swami Vishwananda Nov 18 '19 at 12:47
  • @SwamiVishwananda Questions can and have been raised even about some of the ten upanishad bhAshyas. The vAkya bhAshya on the kena upanishad is one example. There are differences between some of the upanishad bhAshyas and the brahmasUtra bhAshya too, which anyone can notice on careful reading. –  Nov 18 '19 at 13:13
  • @SwamiVishwananda Yes. That is why I put emphasis on believed to be written. The book also lists many stotras for which the authorship of Adi Shankaracharya is debated. However my answer is for the question whether the commentary of upanishat is available or not. Some people believe this is the commentary of Adi Shankaracharya. – Sarvabhouma Nov 18 '19 at 13:14
  • Thank you @Sarvabhouma I accept this answer. This is what I was exactly looking for. By any chance are there other volumes of this edition available? I have noticed references to Sri Vani Vilas Press in various books, is it still in business? I suppose not, but want to confirm – Vidyarthi Nov 22 '19 at 02:39
  • @Vidyarthi My search results were not positive. I think it's not publishing anymore. There are 20 volumes of the work "Collected works of Sankara". The one I linked in the answer is a compilation of all the volumes. If you are accepting this answer. Click on ✔️ below the vote count. – Sarvabhouma Nov 22 '19 at 18:26
  • Thank you @Sarvabhouma. I just accepted your answer. I didn't know clicking on the tick mark was the official way of accepting the answer. – Vidyarthi Nov 25 '19 at 23:24
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Yes

Acharya bhagwatpada wrote commentaries on 12 upanishads.

The authenticity of Narsimha Tapniye bhasya has been accepted by major giants of smartha sampraday including sridhar swami ji, Vidyaranya ji and Dharma samrat swami sri karpatri ji maharaja.

Purva puri shankaracharya I.e Sridhar swami, in his Bhasya to bhagwat puran 10.87.21,quotes a passage from Narsimha purva tapniye upanishad, without naming it and then goes on to quote a Line from a "सर्वज्ञ भाष्यकार" Commentary to that sruti enter image description here and the same line, with some changes, is indeed found in Shankar bhasya to narsimha purva tapniye upanishad. The very same shloka has been copied by Gaudiya acharayas like Sanatan goswami in his Brihad bhagwat mitra,jeev goswami in his bhagwat sandarbha and even the "chaitanya charitamrut". enter image description here

Jeev goswami :-

enter image description here

brihad bhagwatmrit

muktā api līlayā vigrahaṁ kṛtvā bhagavantaṁ bhajanti iti śrī śaṅkarācārya bhagavat padānāṁ vacanam. Proof from the text

Swami vidyaranya in his shankar digvijaya, canto 15, accepts the fact that Acharaya Bhagwatpada wrote a bhasya on narsimha tapniye Upanishad.

enter image description here

Atlast, dharma samrat swami Sri Karpatri ji Maharaj, in his Ramayana Mimansa, too accepts the authenticity of Narsimha Tapniye Upanishad bhasya of adi shankaracharya.

This much is more than enough to convince any Honest Advaitin, about the authenticity of the Shankar bhasya on Narsimha Tapniye Upanishad.

Narayana

Śrī Vaisnava
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Yes, Adi Shankara bhagawath padha has written bhashya on Shvetashwatara upanishad and he has quoted almost entire upanishad in various parts of his Brahma sutra bhashya.

Adi Shankara bhagawath padha didn't write any bhashya on Narasimha tapaniya or other minor non considerable texts. It may be of some later Shankaracharya.

None of the works except prasthana trayi bhashya "Brahma sutra bhashya - Upanishad bhashya and Gita bhashya" of Adi Shankara bhagawath padha can be accepted, because they had no roots before 13th or 14th century, Even Modern day famous Saundarya lahari, Bhaja Govindam, Shivananda lahari, Vishnu sahasranama bhashya or other stotras are not penned by Adi Shankara.

SHAIVAMRUTAM
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  • Shaivamrutha-Sudhakara - thanks for the comment. It is hard to be certain about these, but Sringeri Sankara Matam accepts the Nrsimha Purva Tapinya Upanisad Bhashyam as original Adi Sankaracharya's work, and so does Anandashrama. There is no trace of SvetasvatarOpanisad Bhashyam by Sri Anandagiri, who was known to have commented on other Upanisad Bhashyams of Sri Adi Sankaracharya. Prof Farquar also notes an ancient bhashyam for Sri Nrsimha Tapani Upanisad as the work of either Sri Adi Sankaracharya or Sri Gaudapada. I am not saying this proves any thing, but there is room to think either way. – Vidyarthi Dec 01 '22 at 00:15
  • I am also of the view the stotras are possibly the works of Sankaracharyas who followed Sri Adi Sankara. The authorship of Sri Dakshinamurthi Stotram needs more examination because the work "Manasollasa" which is an exposition of Sri Dakshinamurthi Stotram, is attributed to Sri Adi Sankara's disciple Sri Suresvaracharya. It is believed in some scholarly circles that Suresvaracharya wrote that following Sri Adi Sankaracharya's composition of Sri Dakshinamurthi stotram. Nothing can be said with certainty, but I am also of the view that most of the stotras were probably composed by later Acharyas – Vidyarthi Dec 01 '22 at 00:26
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There are 108 Upanishads. See question here - Available sources for the 108 Upanishads?

I assume you are referring to the Nrisimhatapini Upanishad. Adi Shankara wrote commentaries on 10 Upanishads (possibly 11). Swami Nikhilananda writes in his 4 volume translation of the major Upanishads (The Upanishads: A New Translation, V1, General Introduction, p 9):

Sankaracharya wrote his celebrated commentaries on the Isa, Kena, Katha, Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitareya, Taittiriya, Chhandogya, Brihadaranyaka, and possibly also the Svetasvatara Upanishad. These are regarded as the major works.

I've never seen a reference to a commentary by Adi Sankara on the Nrisimhatapini.

Swami Vishwananda
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  • Thank you Swami Vishwananda. Yes Nrisimhatapani upanishad... different way to spell that in English I guess.

    Even I have not seen Sri Sankara Bhashyam for this Upanisad. But I have heard a person claim it exists. So wanted to check if others are aware of any source.

    Thank you for the response again.

     – Vidyarthi Nov 18 '19 at 06:07
  • "I have never seen a reference" is a personal experience. It can be a comment, but it cannot be an answer. –  Nov 18 '19 at 07:54
  • @Lazy Lubber, In my reading Swami Vishwananda provided his answer by pointing to the source of Sankara Bhashyams. In this context, "I have never seen a reference" means "no, not with what I have seen" (the answer "no" is implied there). He also offered sources to back it up. I guess style and expressions differ from person to person, so I got his answer. From SarvaBhouma's response above, it there seems to be a bhashyam attributed to Sri Adi Sankara, even though that is in dispute. I accept both well intended answers, though SarvaBouma's answer gives me something to examine further. – Vidyarthi Nov 25 '19 at 23:15
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Just wanted to post another answer here, which is kind of answering my own question. Sri Anandashrama also published a BHAshyam for Sri Nrsimha Purva Tapinya Upanisad attributing it to Sri Adi Sankaracharya.

Vidyarthi
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