The Rashtrakutas and their Times c20.58

c20.58

By advocating the superiority of Sanyāsa to Karmamārga and by maintaining that the Vedic sacrifices had merely a purificatory effect, S'ankarāchārya undoubtedly helped the tendency of the age to abandon the Vedic rituals; his controversy with Kumārila may or may not have been historical. It is true that S'ankara's arguments went equally against the Smārta Karmamārga, but we must not forget that people usually apply theories to the convenient and not to the logical extent. It must be also remembered that S'ankara himself was a fervent devotee of Pauranic deities and some of his most eloquent and appealing writings consist of prayers addressed to them. In this respect S'ankara was a powerful asset to the popular religion.