Refutation of the false claims on Gauḍīya Śaṅkarācārya
Introduction:— Gauḍīya Śaṅkara ācārya—a bengali medieval ācārya, and by no means a follower of Śaṅkara’s Advaita school—is the celebrated author of the work Tārā-Rahasya-Vṛttikā. This text is composed in devotion to Bhagavatī Tāriṇī. Within this treatise, the author cites materials from the Āgamas of the Nepāla tradition, Vedic literature, the Tantric scriptures of medieval Bengal, and the Pāñcarātra corpus. However, certain groups—particularly the Khātākula (Śaṅkarites but practitioners of tantrik books for business), who attempt to forcibly conflate the entirely distinct Smārta and Śākta traditions—have begun to misinterpret this work. In their effort to falsely portray Ādi Śaṅkarācārya as a spiritual authority /Guru within the Śākta tradition, they claim that the Tārā-stotra cited in the Tārā-Rahasya-Vṛttikā was composed by the so-called “Smārta Jagadguru” Ādi Śaṅkara. The present note is intended to dispel and correct this series of misconceptions and misrepresentations...