The natural commentary on Vedānta-sūtra is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The great ācāryas of the four Vaiṣṇava communities (sampradāyas)—namely, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Viṣṇu Svāmī and Nimbārka—have also written commentaries on Vedānta-sūtra by following the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. At present the followers of all the ācāryas have written many books following the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the commentary on the Vedānta. Śaṅkara's commentary on Vedānta-sūtra, known as Śārīraka-bhāṣya, is very much adored by the impersonalist scholars, but commentaries written on the Vedānta written from the materialistic point of view are completely adverse to the transcendental service of the Lord. Consequently Lord Caitanya said that direct commentaries on the Upaniṣads and Vedānta-sūtra are glorious, but that anyone who follows the indirect path of Śaṅkarācārya's Śārīraka-bhāṣya is certainly doomed.
Lord Caitanya admitted that Śaṅkarācārya was an incarnation of Lord Śiva, and it is known that Lord Śiva is one of the greatest devotees (a mahājana) of the Bhāgavata school. There are twelve great authorities on devotional service, and Lord Śiva is one of them. Why, then, did he adopt the process of Māyāvādī philosophy? The answer is given in Padma Purāṇa, where Lord Śiva states:
- māyāvādam asac-chāstraṁ
- pracchannaṁ bauddham ucyate
- mayaiva kalpitaṁ devi
- kalau brāhmaṇa-rūpiṇā
"The Māyāvādī philosophy is veiled Buddhism." In other words, the voidist philosophy of Buddha is more or less repeated in the Māyāvādī philosophy of impersonalism, although the Māyāvādī philosophy claims to be directed by the Vedic conclusions. Lord Śiva, however, admits that this philosophy is manufactured by him in the age of Kali in order to mislead the atheists. "Actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead has His transcendental body," Lord Śiva states. "But I describe the Supreme as impersonal. I also explain the Vedānta-sūtra according to the same principles of Māyāvādī philosophy."
In the Śiva Purāṇa the Supreme Lord says:
- dvāparādau yuge bhūtvā
- kalayā mānuṣādiṣu
- svāgamaiḥ kalpitais tvaṁ ca
- janān mad-vimukhān kuru
"In the beginning of the Dvāpara-yuga, directed by My orders, many sages will bewilder the people in general by Māyāvādī philosophy." In the Padma Purāṇa Lord Śiva personally tells Bhāgavatīdevī:
- śṛṇu devi parakṣyāmi
- tāmasāni yathā-kramam
- yeṣāṁ śravaṇa-mātreṇa
- pātityaṁ jñāninām api
- apārthaṁ śruti-vākyānāṁ
- darśayaḻ loka-garhitam
- karma-svarūpa-tyājyatvam
- atra ca pratipādyate
- sarva-karma-paribhraṁśān
- naiskarmyaṁ tatra cocyate
- parātma jīvayor aikyaṁ
- mayātra pratipādyate
"My dear Devī, sometimes I teach Māyāvādī philosophy for those who are engrossed in the mode of ignorance. But if a person in the mode of goodness happens to hear this Māyāvādī philosophy, he falls down, for when teaching Māyāvādī philosophy, I say that the living entity and the Supreme Lord are one and the same."