http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/1998-October/031078.html
On Mon, 5 Oct 1998, Jaldhar H. Vyas wrote: > 1. In his works, Shankaracharya spends much of the time refuting the > views of other schools. (Particularly Samkhya which was the most serious > rival amongst the astika darshans.) It seems out of character for him to > then be commenting on another darshans sutras. I believe Trevor Leggett > had a theory that Shankaracharya started his career as a Yogi and then was > "converted" to Vedanta by Govindacharya. This sounds rather improbable > and doesn't match the traditional accounts. That Sankaracarya began as a Yogin, who became a Vedantin, is Paul Hacker's theory. However, note that traditional accounts and the paramparA verses often describe Sankara and his guru using the word yogI. Meanwhile, Hajime Nakamura has shown how the vivaraNa is consistent with advaita vedAnta in many ways. While this is not necessarily proof that the vivaraNa is authentically attributed, one cannot simply dismiss it either.
