Yajussakha as it was his sakha and one on the Kanvasakha also
as it was Visvarupa's sakha. It would thus be clear that the conversion of Visvarupa was real and that therefore the doctrinal
differences between the Brahmasiddhi and the Naiskarmyasiddhi
are not a bar to identity of authorship.
The reference in the Guruvamsakavya alluded to by Professor Hiriyanna remains to be elucidated: In verses 44 to 60 of canto II there are specific references to the Grhastha Visvarupa who became Suresvara as a Sannyasin on the completion of his two vartikas on the Upanisad-Bhasyas. And in verses 47 to 50 in the same canto, there is a specific reference to the possibility of another Grhastha called Mandanamisra whom Sankara , met on his way before seeing Visvarupa. From this, Professor Hiriyanna concluded that Mandanamisra and Visvarupa alias Suresvara to be different. The author of the Guruvamsakavya Kasi Laksmana Sastri was a court Pandit attached to His Holiness Sri Saccidanandacandra who was the fourth predecessor of His Holiness Sri Narasimhabharati who died in I913 A.D. The manuscript of the Guruvamsakavya was placed in the hands of the proprietor of the Sri Vani Vilas Press by Sri Narasimhabharati who when he was asked regarding this apparent challenge to existing tradition which identified Mandanamisra with Suresvara explained graciously that in ancient days Mandana was merely an honorific title and that there was no contradiction as the references under question were to two independent personalities who were both known by the name of Mandana, one who was the Grhastha who had the benefit of Sankara's advice and lived and died as a Grhastha and the other, the famous Grhastha Visvarupa who later on became a Sannyasin and died as Suresvara. This in brief, is the solution offered by His Holiness Sri Narasimhabharati.
And it seems to be consistent enough when Vidyaranya the author of the Samkṣepasankaradigvijaya states in VII-113 to 117 that the popular name of Mandanamiśra was Umveka and that he was also well known to all as Visvarūpa.
Cidvilasa identifies Mandana and Sureśvara in unmistakable terms. In the eighteenth chapter of his Sankaravijayavilāṣa (Adyar Library manuscript) he says as follows:-
- "Tato Mandanamiśrosau samutthayatibhaktitaḥ!
- Pradakṣiṇatrayaṁ kṛtvä namaskrtya sahasraśaḥ!!
- Dadau Mandanamiśraya sannyasaṁ jitaretase
- surajyeşthämśajatatvat jnätva ta deśikottamaḥ il
- sureśvaracarya iti mudabhikhyam adat tada.
Vidyaranya quotes Vyasacala whom Govindanatha also quotes. Govindanatha's Sankaracãryacarita is now available in print
