Sri Śaṅkara in Cambodia?

Summary

S. Srikanta Sastri critically examines the claim, put forward by D. C. Majumdar and K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, that a Cambodian inscription proves the great Advaita philosopher Śaṅkara visited Cambodia around 800 AD. The inscription records that a monk named Siva Soma installed the god Bhadreśvara and learnt the śāstras from Bhagavat Śaṅkarafile:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=%24ri%20S%E2%80%99am,XI. Previous scholars assumed that this Bhagavat Śaṅkara was Adi Śaṅkara and that Siva Soma was his disciple. Sastri argues that this identification is untenable. Siva Soma was a grandson of Jayendradhipativarman and guru of Indravarman I (r. 877–889 AD)file:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=verse%20of%20the%20inscription%2C%2015,been%20published%20by%20%E0%A4%AB%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%9F%20Vangiya. The Cambodian king Jayavarman II, who founded the Angkorian dynasty, reigned from 787 to 854 AD. Sastri points out that the eighth century in Cambodia was chaotic; Pasupata Saivism rather than Advaita Vedanta dominatedfile:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=. He provides a chronological table showing kings Jayavarman II, Jayavarman III and Indravarman I alongside priests Siva Kaivalya, Siva Soma and Vama Sivafile:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=Indravarma%201%20%28577. An inscription of 895 AD records that Vama Siva, a disciple of Siva Soma, consecrated Bhadreśvarafile:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=Indravarma%201%20%28577. These data suggest that Siva Soma belonged to a lineage of Pasupata teachers, not Advaitins. Sastri notes that the Saiva tantras learned by Siva Kaivalya—Vinasika, Nayottara, Sammoha and Siraccheda—are associated with the Kalamukha Pasupata sectfile:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=These%20regulations%20remind%20%E0%AA%AA%E0%AA%A1%20of,were%20ardent%20Saivas. He emphasises that Śaṅkara, an opponent of tantra, would not have sanctioned such practices and could not have been the guru of a Pasupata teacherfile:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=Sri%20Samkara%20in%20Cambodia%3F%20Sanmatas,Saiva. Furthermore, internal chronology places Adi Śaṅkara in the late sixth or early seventh century, as a contemporary of Buddhist philosopher Śāntarakṣita and playwright Bhavabhutifile:///home/oai/share/whole.txt#:~:text=Bhagavat%20Samkara%2015%20no%20other,than%20Adi. Sastri concludes that Bhagavat Śaṅkara in the Cambodian inscription was a different teacher, perhaps a Saiva preceptor with the surname Śaṅkara. The article argues that the evidence for Śaṅkara’s presence in Cambodia is chronologically and doctrinally untenable and urges caution in using epigraphic references to support historical conjectures.