hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
śruti smṛti purāṇānāṃālayaṃ karuṇālayaṃ|
namāmi bhagavatpādaśaṅkaraṃ lokaśaṅkaraṃ||
This is the traditional invocation to śaṅkara-ji. It says in general:
I bow to the compassionate one , to the śruti-s smṛti-s and purāṇā-s; to śaṅkara bhagavatpāda who is auspicious to this world.
śaṅkara-ji-s birth is perplexing as few can agree in full of his exact time of birth; most agree on the place. I ask those interested to form an opinion and share their insights.
Let me offer what I have gathered so far. There are many data points one can draw on. I continue to look as I have not come to a satisfying conclusion on the correct or persuasive chart that seems reasonable to me. Perhaps others can advance this thinking. What are we looking for ? An extraordinary chart¹.
Most ( but not all) agree on this small part of śaṅkara-ji’s birth data:
Now the year. Various birth years are quoted:
- We know father and mother in case anyone is interested.
- Day: Sunday
- time: : 12 noon also called out as abhijit suggesting a 11:45 A.M to 12:15 P.M. time frame
- Location: kālaṭi, kerala, India with the following coordinates - ( calculated by me) Long and Lat : 10º10’2.93” N 76º 26’ 23.48” E
The astrological indications (what was going on in the sky at this time) is the following ( all and any improvements & verified corrections are welcomed) this is where we are all over the map:
- 788 AD ( I prefer CE or Common Era )
- 805 CE - called out as 2631 of the yudhiṣṭhira era within the cycle known as nandana and this is considered 805 CE, yet this date is contested.
- 684 CE
- 508 BCE ( before common era) this is offered by the various śaṅkara-ji maṭḥa-s ; some would call the monasteries of ādi śaṅkara-ji
- 2593 of Kali Yuga or 509 BCE
- Some say between 650 CE and 700 CE, others say between 700 and 750 CE
Now to the sticky part. If you do your research you will read one view that offers the sun, saturn, mars and jupiter were all well placed i.e. śubha – bright, beautiful, eminent , distinguished; this suggests exaltation positions of these graha-s and I do not disagree in principle.
- The nakṣatra was punarvasū - this nakṣatra extends in two rāśi-s – gemini and cancer ( so a choice is needed); We know we call out the nakṣatra to indicate where the moon resides.
- The lagna was cancer, yet I have read otherwise ( to me it is a good fit as the 1st natural house of moksa). Yet I have read leo and aries also.
Yet if you read some sources, they offer that mercury was co-existing with mars. No issues till you consider the following:
Where is mars in exaltation ? In capricorn. And where is the sun in exaltation ? In aries. If this is the case I hope one can see the pickle this creates. Mercury is never more than 28º maximum distance in longitude from the sun. So, this placement seems odd and incorrect. It could suggest then that mars was in its mūlatrikoṇa position of aries, and this smooths out the issue of mercury, as all 3 graha-s i.e. sun, mars and mercury, would reside in aries.
So, we have aligned sun and mars to their proper locations and we know the śubha locations for saturn, jupiter.
One must decide the location of the moon i.e. the proper pada within punarvasū nakṣatra as this will not only determine if the moon is in the 1st or the 12th ( using cancer as lagna) but also the locations of rāhu and ketu ; we must also do 2 calculations – mean and true note and see which one makes most sense.
Now where is venus ? It is called out that venus resides in pisces ( this makes sense to me based upon the guru-status of venus). Yet is was not grouped with the others as being exalted , of which pisces would fit perfectly; and it fits the rule that venus is never further then 47º from the sun, so once again views very.
Let’s see if anyone has some well-reasoned inputs. Note that I am not the final authority that will offer conclusions to this matter as I continue to ponder what chart would reflect this most extraordinary human.
iti śivaṁ
1. An extraordinary chart - I will list out his accomplishments in a future email.
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