Adi Shankara

India is known as Veda bhoomi or the land of the Vedas, home to

ancient Sanatana traditions for which Hinduism is known. With the
passage of time, many religions rose and gained strength leading to
the decline and weakening of Vedic traditions. At a time when various
religious dogmas, doctrines and schools were at loggerheads with
each other, the great visionary Adi Shankaracharya came to the rescue
of Hinduism by integrating diverse principles of various traditions of
worship and spirituality.
Adi Shankara became renowned as a man of tremendous knowledge,
incredible wisdom and an excellent debater with a deep insight into
the Vedas. True to the widely accepted notion that God would arrest
the decline of spiritual traditions by taking birth as an Avatara, many
Hindus believe that Sri Shankaracharya was a reincarnation of Lord
Shiva.
Though there are various theories with regard to the age in which
Adi Shankara lived, based on available evidence, it is believed that
he lived in the 7th century AD. Adi Shankara was born to a devout
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 Saivite couple, Shivaguru and
Aryamba in Kaladi in the state
of Kerala. His parents named
him Shankara taking him to
be a gift of Lord Shiva’s grace.
Shankara proved to be a
Precocious child. He began to
speak in Sanskrit in addition
to Malayalam in his very first
year. By the time he was two
years old, Shankara could read
and write several languages.
As a three-year-old, Shankara
began to read and explain the meaning of a number of slokas, poems
and puranas.
Adi Shankara’s parents performed his upanayanam when he was
five years old. His father passed away around this time and as a result,
bringing him up became his mother’s sole responsibility. The young
Shankara studied Vedas, Puranas and all the scriptures in the Gurukul
and completed his education by the time he was eight. Shankara was
interested in the deeper study of Vedas. He decided to focus on Vedic
studies setting it as his ultimate goal. Such a mature realisation at this
young age points to Shankara’s extraordinary intellect.
As a boy, Sri Shankara showed great sympathy towards the poor
and the deprived. As per the traditions of the Gurukul, children had
to seek alms and one such occasion, young Shankara went to the
doorstep of a poverty-stricken housewife. Since she had nothing else
to give, she gave him an amla fruit. Moved by this, the young Shankara
it is believed, worshipped Goddess Lakshmi Devi who was pleased
with his prayers and invocations. He appealed to Lakshmi Devi and
filled the poor woman’s house with hundreds of amla fruits made of
gold. Shankara’s life is full of a number of such miraculous incidents.
After completing his education in the Gurukul at the age of eight,
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 Shankaracharya returned home
to serve his aging mother. He also
used to spend his time teaching
students. The young Shankara
proved to be precocious beyond his
years and preached about the need
to respect and serve one’s parents as
one’s foremost duty.
Shankara wanted to renounce
the world and become a sanyasi or
ascetic. This was a time when society
was in a state of turmoil due to strong differences of opinion between
various schools of religious belief, which were creating disharmony
among people. Shankaracharya made it his mission to unite people
and realised that this could be done through spiritual awareness alone.
People could not be united through wars or socio-economic reforms,
he felt.
Shankara sought his mother’s permission to pursue this mission,
promising to return when needed, and left Kaladi in search of a
spiritual guru. It was during this time that Shankara came across
Govinda Bhagwatpada, the disciple of the renowned spiritual guru,
Gaudapada. The young student impressed the well-known scholar
with his humility, as also his deep understanding of spiritual matters
and thus became his disciple.
Shankara used to wash his guru’s feet every day and serve him
dutifully. He preached the message that true acquisition of knowledge
can take place only by serving one’s teacher. His teacher explained
to Shankara the essence of the Vedas and Puranas. Based on this

Indulgence in futile talks and concerning

others only distract the mind.
-Sri RamaKrishna Paramahamsa

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 Sh an k ar a c h ar y a
propagated the
truism that God
Sringeri Math
is knowledge,
he exists in all
human beings and
Dwaraka Math therefore, all men
are equal. They,
Kanchi Math therefore ought
Puri Math
to be treated with
equal respect.
Shankaracharya
stayed with his guru
Govinda Bhagwatpada for twelve years. On completion of education
he began to work on a treatise on Brahmasutras with the permission
of his guru. For this, he went to the holy temple town of Varanasi
where he attracted large crowds with his oratory. He explained the
complex principles ranging from the Vedas and Upanishads to the
Bhagwad Gita, mesmerising hordes of people who were amazed at the
vast knowledge the young boy demonstrated. He explained the most
difficult concepts in simple terms, and this endeared him to the people
there.
Sri Shankaracharya held debates and discussions with renowned
scholars of Varanasi on the Vedas, Upanishads and Advaita and won
them over with his knowledge and wisdom. Many of them became
his disciples. It is believed that one day, when Sri Shankaracharya was
walking along the banks of the Ganga with his disciples, Lord Shiva
appeared in the form of a Chandala and gave him some advice on
future actions.

Character has to be established

through a thousand stumbles.
-Swami Vivekananda

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 When Adi Shankara was in Varanasi, a youth came to him seeking
refuge. Sri Shankaracharya made him his disciple and named him
Sananda, who served his Guru with matchless dedication. Adi
Shankara debated with Mandana Mishra, who insisted on the need
and importance of ritualism and proved him wrong. He renamed
Mandana Mishra, who became his disciple, Sureshwara.
Once when Adi Shankara was in GokarnaKshetra, a Brahmin
couple approached him, seeking his blessings for their son, who
was mute. Shankara blessed the child following which, to everyone’s
amazement, the boy began to discuss the philosophy of the soul
with the sage. Sri Shankaracharya initiated the boy into the order of
Sanyasis, made him his disciple and named him Hastamalak.
Sri Shankaracharya toured the four corners of the country on
foot and established four 'mathas' or centres of dharma to spread the
message of spiritualism. They are located at Sringeri, Kanchi, Puri
and Dwaraka. Among the many followers of Sri Shankaracharya,
the principal ones were, Padmapada, Sureshwara (Vartikakara),
Hastamalaka and Thotaka. Adi Shankara appointed them as the
heads of the four matths established by him and asked them to devote
their time to spreading the
message of Dharma.
Realising that his mother
was in her last days, Adi
Shankara travelled to Kaladi.
He began reciting Shiva
Bhujanga Prayata Stotram
and Vishnu Stotram with
the realisation that her end
was near. It is believed that

When knowledge is used for the

benefit of others, it becomes skill and
it brings balance and insight.
-Swami Ranganathananda

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 Sri Shankaracharya
performed the last
rites of his mother in
his backyard since his
relatives were reluctant
to come forward and
help him. It is also said
that he ignited the pyre
with the help of fire
invoked by his power
of penance.

Later, Adi Shankara set out on his second round of travels through
India from Rameswaram and reached Sarada Nilayam known as
SarvagnaPeetham in Kashmir. It was said that only a scholar of
complete understanding and knowledge alone was eligible to sit on
this Peetham. On reaching the Himalayan state he held debates and
discussions with eminent scholars from various streams including
Jainism, Buddhism and other schools of thought such as Sankhya,
Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika. Adi Shankara proved his point and won
over all of them with his convincing arguments and sound logic. He
then ascended the SarvagnaPeetham. He was only thirty years old at
that time.

While travelling through India, Sri Shankaracharya visited several

holy places. Through his teachings made many temples do away
with animal sacrifice. He also installed the idols of many gods and
goddesses and to this day, rituals in many shrines are performed

What is done is done..Do not repent, do not brood

over past deeds..you cannot undo, the effect must
come, face it, but be careful never do the same
thing again. – Swami Vivekananda

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 as per the norms prescribed by
him. Sri Shankaracharya also
wrote interpretations of the
Bhagavadgita, Upanishads and
Brahmasutras, known together
as Prasthanatrayi. These works
made him very renowned. Sri
Shankaracharya also authored
40 treatises and 74 shorter works
among others. Prominent among
them are Vivekachudamani,
Nirvanashtakam, Manisha
panchakam, the celebrated eulogy
Bhajagovindam, Soundarya Lahari and Subramahnya Bhujanga
eulogy.
After bringing together divergent schools of spiritualism and
being recognised as Jagadguru, Sri Shankaracharya became one
with Brahma at the holy shrine of Kedarnath at the age of 32 years.
The work done by him within this short life span is tremendous to say
the least. Apart from his scholastic contributions, he brought about
unity of all the religious thoughts, established the concept of God
being one though worshipped in different forms by different people,
revived the Vedic traditions and removed the disharmony among the
people of this country. More importantly he re-established the concept
of one nation – Bharatvarsha.
His resting place (samadhi) in the backyard of the Kedarnath
temple, is worshipped by devotees from all over. ]

Don’t carry your mistakes around with you.

Instead, place them under your feet and use
them as stepping stones. – Gauthama Buddha

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