Acharya Shankara

Shankaracharya,the great sage who wanted to revive sanathana dharma from religious corruption. The sage who traveled all over India teaching "advaitha".

The life of Shankara
Born in788 A.D
Started learning at 5.
mastered the vedas at 8.(amazing)
renounced worldly life at 11.
wrote bramhasutrabhashyam at just 16.
Died at the age of 32.

The teachings of Shankara

Shankara followed and taught Advaitha and stressed that there are no two different things in this world and every thing in this world is a single entity.

Writings of Shankara

Acharya Shankara wrote books for all levels of spiritual seekers.
1.For those those who have just begun(like me),he wrote small devotional poems.ex:ganesha pancharatnam, lingaashtakam etc.

2.For the next level, he included philosophy into his poems ex:Atma shatakam, Dakshina murthy stotram etc.

3.For the people who were deeply keen on religious ides he wrote books like Panchadasi,Vivekachudamani.

4.for those who were advanced in spiritual pursuit he wrote books like Bramhasutrabhashya(commentary on bramhasutra) and commentaries on other sacred books.

this thread is to discuss the life and ideas of this great saint.

vishnu said:

The life of Shankara
Born in788 A.D
Started learning at 5.
mastered the vedas at 8.(amazing)
renounced worldly life at 11.
wrote bramhasutrabhashyam at just 16.
Died at the age of 32.

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left his body at such a young age, it is said that certain souls come to this world for a specific purpose and when that purpose is achieved, there's no need to stay any longer....who knows, maybe it's true

Namaste.

The reason I haven't replied until now, is because I saw this thread wasn't talking about Adi Shankaracharya, born in a lot of years BC sometime, but the new Acharya School that took place in the early ADs.

I was waiting for the first post to confuse the two.

Anyway, I followed the teachings of Adi Shankaracharya, in his composition and translation of the various Shiva Ashtakams and Stutis. Then, I read His works on Divine Mother and Kundalini Yoga - Saundarya Lahari.

I saw Adi Shankaracharya as being the perfect combination of Jnana and Bhakti, leading to his particular stance on Advaita Vedanta.

I didn't get into any of the teachings of the later Acharyas.

This thread is about Adi shankaracharya ,and as far i know he wasn't born in B.C

vishnu said:

This thread is about Adi shankaracharya ,and as far i know he wasn't born in B.C

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Oh okay then, sorry. I got told he was...it was a long time ago, sorry for any confusion.

Then yes, the comments I made still stand.

I love the story when at 8 (IIRC) he expounded Vedanta while somebody tried to stop him from crossing a bridge!

He gave Hinduism much....much!

There are a lot of interesting stories about him, like when he chanted the kanakadhara stotram because of the pain he felt after seeing the poor woman's and her kindness to him

This is the greatest legacy he left for me:

[youtube]_8r9Y1hzMFs[/youtube]
shivoham by purusotam das jalota..flv - YouTube

your right every word of this "Nirvana shatakam"(or atma shatakam) is filled with so much meaning

Shri Shankaracharya was born, according to the current tradition, on Vaisakha Sudha Panchami (around May) in the village Kaladi near Ernakulam in Kerala.

His birth date varies from the sixth century BC to the eighth century AD. The traditional date is Kaliyuga 2593 or 509 BC.

Professor Telang, however, on the basis of a reference to punna Vervan, in the “Bramh Sutra Bhasya” of Shankar, whom he (Telang) identifies with the Buddhist king of Magadh, holds that he must have lived in the sixth century AD. But modern orientalists like Max Mueller and others have somehow fixed it as 788 to 820 AD….

And Das Gupta and Radhakrishnan the well-known writers on the history of Indian philosophy, have accepted and repeated it in their books.

His mission was to establish the Vedic religion once again which was at its lowest ebb due to the supremacy of Buddhism.

His Guru was the Great Saint Shri Govindpad.

Shankar was a great towering personality who within the course of a short life, brought about a thorough revolution in the social, religious, spiritual and philosophical life and thought of India. He laid the foundation of modern Hinduism on a composite, comprehensive, and all-inclusive universal basis.

vishnu said:

This thread is to discuss the life and ideas of this great saint.

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There are many members in the forum who follow 'Advaita'. I am one of them and Sankara is my first guru. Most people here are already familiar with his life history. Perhaps that is why there is no thread on him. But it is good that you have started one.

Sagarworld said:

Shri Shankaracharya was born, according to the current tradition, on Vaisakha Sudha Panchami (around May) in the village Kaladi near Ernakulam in Kerala.

His birth date varies from the sixth century BC to the eighth century AD. The traditional date is Kaliyuga 2593 or 509 BC.

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He was born around the eighth century A.D.

Sagarworld said:

His mission was to establish the Vedic religion once again which was at its lowest ebb due to the supremacy of Buddhism.

His Guru was the Great Saint Shri Govindpad.

Shankar was a great towering personality who within the course of a short life, brought about a thorough revolution in the social, religious, spiritual and philosophical life and thought of India. He laid the foundation of modern Hinduism on a composite, comprehensive, and all-inclusive universal basis.

STORY OF ADI SHAKARACHARYA - Sagar World

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Shankaracharya consolidated the doctrine of Advaita as taught by his Guru Govindpad, but was not able to implement it practically as shown by the way he asked a Chandala or Dalit to move away from him. The Dalit was actually an enlightened being who questioned his understanding of Advaita. Shankaracharya realising his error in judgement, prostrated before the Dalit master and offered pranams to him.

Shankaracharya composed the Maneesha Pachakam, commemorating this incident, and extolling the Dalit master as his Guru.

An Encounter between The Holy and The Lowly - Adi Sankara`s Maneesha Panchakam

This incident is highlighted to show that practical advaita is manifest in equality and universal brotherhood.

The upper caste Hindus however, were slipshod in their understanding and practical implementation of advaita, and relegated Shankaracharya as an another admirable figure like Buddha, and continued with their casteist practices ignoring their teachings.

I believe he wrote close to 75 books in his lifetime (could be more) among them commentaries on the Upanishads, of course Vedanta and the various gods and goddesses of the pantheon.

Yeah, it is just amazing as to what all he could achieve in his short span of 32 years. Understanding all philosophies current at that time, writing books and poetry, participating in debates, establishing the Hindu religious orders and places of Hindu worship. He must have had a very powerful personality.

1. Shankara lived during the 8th Century AD. All other dates are bogus.

2. Stories handed down to us about his life are hagiographic. All we know for for sure is that he was the author of the Brahma Sutra Bhashya of the Advaita Sampradaya. Nothing else is certain, including his lifespan and the number of texts actually authored him. The oldest extant biography (Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam) was authored 600 years after his time.

3. Someone wrote above that he revived/rescued Sanatana Dharma. That is false and stems from a false understanding of Hinduism aka Sanatana Dharma. Shankara was a medieval author and like many others during his time, he engaged in Polemics with people of rival schools. His primary opponents were the Mimamsakas and to a lesser extent, Bhartrprapancha’s school and Mahayana Buddhists.

4. Shankara’s long term fame was cemented by Sureshwara, Vachaspathi Mishra, Harsha, Chitshuka and several other later Advaitic authors. Not to leave out 19th Century European scholars and finally, Vivekananda.