Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.1160

c9.1160

7) Hastāmalaka. Hastāmalaka was one of the best disciples of Śaṅkara. There is a story about his becoming Śaṅkara's disciple. He was born dumb. His father, Divākara took Hastāmalaka to Śaṅkara believing that due to the blessing of the great Guru his son would gain powers of speech. Śaṅkara asked the dumb boy, 'who are you?' and the boy answered, 'I am the soul, which has no relationship with the parts and attributes of body and mind and which is also entirely different from them'. There were certain verses, which the boy recited as answer to Śaṅkara's question and each verse ended with 'nityopalabdhisvarūpamātma' (I am the ātman and eternal knowledge, consciousness, is its characteristic). The boy's answer pleased Śaṅkara, who took him as a disciple of the boy was given sannyāsa under the name Hastāmalaka the meaning of which word is he who is in possession of knowledge like the gooseberry in one's palm.