अधीतमध्यापितमार्जितं यशो
न शोचनीयं किमपीह भूतले ।
अतः परं श्रीभवनाथशर्मणो
मनो मनोहारिणि जाह्नवीतटे ॥
Shankaramishra grew up to be a great scholar. All his education was under his father Bhavanathamishra. He composed many works on shastra and kavya. Gauridigambara-prahasana, Krishnavinoda-nataka, Manobhava-parabhava-nataka, Rasarnava, Durgatika, Chandogahnikoddhara, Vadivinoda, Upaskara, a gloss on Vaisheshika sutras, Amoda, a commentary on Udayana’s Kusumanjali, and a commentary of Sriharsha’s Khandanakhandakhadya are some of his works.
Bhavanathamishra, his father, felt contented. He thought that his life’s purpose has been achieved. He told his son:
I studied, taught, and earned fame.
There is nothing I aspired that I didn’t get.
Shankaramishra understood his father’s intent immediately. He said:
Now onwards, Bhavanathamishra’s mind
Is set only on the peaceful banks of Ganga.
True to this, Bhavanathamishra became a samnyasi in Kashi.
Translated from Kannada by Shashi Kiran B. N.
(The original article is from the anthology Kavitegondu Kathe.)
