Adi Shankara was a
Hindu philosopher and theologian from
India. He is the most renowned exponent of the
Advaita Vedanta school of
philosophy, from whose doctrines the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived. His works in
Sanskrit discuss the unity of the
Ātman and
Brahman, the idea that there is interconnected oneness in all of existence, that eternal Truth is Ātman that is within every human being and all living beings. He wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic canon (
Brahma Sutras, Principal
Upanishads and
Bhagavad Gita) in support of his thesis. Shankara also authored
Upadesasahasri, his most important original philosophical work. His works elaborate on ideas found in the Upanishads. He also explained the key difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, stating that Hinduism asserts "Atman (Soul, Self) exists", while Buddhism asserts that there is "no Soul, no Self".
Adi Shankara died in the thirty third year of his life, and reliable information on his actual life is scanty. Various texts state that Shankara travelled extensively across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers of competing Indian philosophies. He established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mīmāṃsā school established ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. He is reputed to have founded four mathas ("monasteries"), which helped in the historical development, revival and the spread of Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism. He is also credited with initiating the Kumbh Mela – one of the world's largest periodic religious pilgrimages.
Adi Shankara is believed to be the organiser of the Dashanami monastic order and the founder of the Shanmata tradition of worship. He is also known as Adi Shankaracharya.
The apparent multiplication of gods is bewildering at the first glance, but you soon discover that they are the same
GOD. There is always one uttermost God who defies personification. This makes
Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world, because its one transcendent God includes all possible gods. In fact Hinduism is so elastic and so subtle that the most profound
Methodist, and crudest idolater, are equally at home with it.
Religion
.jpg)
