Adi Shankaracharya's 1,235th birth anniversary was observed on April 25 this year. Known for the revival of Hinduism, Shankaracharya is one of the greatest Hindu philosophers.
About Shankaracharya
Shankaracharya, or Adi Shankaracharya, was born at Kaladi, presently a village in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. He travelled the length and breadth of India to spread the message of the Vedas and revive Hinduism. He composed extensive commentaries on the Brahma Sutras of Badarayans and the chief Upanishads, Bhagwat Gita and founded an order of Hindu monks to carry on his work.
Adi Shankaracharya was best known for his the doctrine of Advaita Vedanata.
Shankara maintained that the only reality was Brahman, the impersonal world soul of the Upanishads with which the individual soul is identical.
In fact his Brahman is not really different from the void or the nirvana of the Mahayana Buddhism. Hence, he is also called a crypto Buddhist by his opponents.
Apart from being one of the greatest minds of the world, Shankaracharya was an able organizer. He established four famous monasteries at Sringeri (in Chikmagalur district Karnataka) Dwarka (in Jamnagar district of Gujarat), Puri in Orissa and Badrinath on the snowy heights of the Himalayas in the state of Uttrakhand.
Though Shankaracharya died at a comparatively early age of 33 years at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, his teachings continue to inspire people across generations.
Key Takeaways
- The doctrine of Shankaracharya is often known as advaita (‘allowing no second’ i. e. pure monism) or kevaladvaita (strict monism).
- His place in Hinduism can be compared to that of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Roman Catholic Church.
