Adi Shankaracharya — the Jagadguru of Advaita who revived Sanatan Dharma
A story: Shower of Gold
Before he was eight, as a young Brahmachari, the young Shankara went to a house to beg for his daily food. The hostess was a kind but very poor lady. All she could give him was a small amalaki goose-berry fruit. Shankara was deeply touched by the sincerity of this poor lady and he invoked Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth) by singing spontaneously the Kanakadhara Stotra. The legend has it that the Goddess showered golden amalaki fruits into the house.
The guru-disciple paramparas of India are like malas strung with gems; each jewel is precious and invaluable. Still, some shine with an attention-commanding splendor. Sri Adi Sankaracarya was such a diamond. Sri Sankara’s accomplishments were many, but he is singled out because his brilliant commentaries on the prasthana-trayam — Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Brahma Sutras — crystallised the Advaita Vedanta Darshanam forever, establishing it as the ultimate message of the Vedas. During his short life of 32 years, he travelled the length and breadth of India, on foot, engaging in debates with the leading proponents of the other Indian schools of thought. The very fact that Hinduism is still a dynamic and all-encompassing religion stands as ample testimony to the deeds of Adi Shankaracharya.
Life
Most scholars agree that Sankara lived between 788 and 820 CE, although some say he was born as early as 77 BCE. Regardless of the date, all agree he was born in Kalady, which today is in the Ernakulam District of Kerala. He was initiated into Vedic study at five and mastered all four Vedas by eight, at which point he took sannyasa and headed north in search of a guru. From the southern state of Kerala, the young Shankara walked about 2000 kilometres — to the banks of the river Narmada, in the central plains of India. On the banks of the Narmada River (in modern day Madhya Pradesh), he met the sannyasi who was to become his guru, Govinda Bhagavadpada. According to legend, when Govinda Bhagavadpada asked Sankara for his identity, the child burst forth with a spontaneous composition of 10 Sanskrit verses (today referred to as the Dasa Sloki), in which he illustrated the profundity of his wisdom and inner experience. He was immediately accepted as a disciple.
At the age of twelve, his Guru deemed that Shankara was ready to write commentaries on major scriptural texts. At his Guru’s command, Shankara wrote commentaries elucidating the subtle meanings hidden in the teachings of the scriptures. At the age of sixteen, he dropped his pen having completed writing all the major treatises.
From the age of sixteen to thirty-two, Shankaracharya went forth, travelling across the length and breadth of ancient India bringing to the hearts of the masses the life-giving message of the Vedas — “Brahman, Pure Consciousness, is the Absolute Reality, the world is unreal.” This is the correct understanding of the Sastra is the thundering declaration of Vedanta ”
ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः।
अनेन वेद्यं सच्छास्त्रमिति वेदान्तडिण्डिमः॥ (ब्रह्मज्ञानावलीमाला)
In essence, the individual is not different from Brahman. Thus by the statement “Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya, Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Para” he condensed the essence of the voluminous scriptures.
Reviving Sanatan Dharma
In those days ancient India was sunk in a quagmire of superstitions and scriptural misinterpretations. Degraded ritualism flourished. The essence of Sanatana Dharma, with its all-embracing message of Love, Compassion and the Universality of Humankind was completely lost in the blind performance of these rituals. There were innumerable sects following their own narrow philosophies and systems of worship. People were totally blind to the underlying common basis of the One God.
For their benefit, Shankaracharya formulated the six sect system of worship which brought to the fore the main godheads — Vishnu, Siva, Shakti, Muruka, Ganesha and Surya. He established sanmata division and panchayatana system of worship, which helped reintegrate a Hinduism that was in danger of fracturing into various cults, showing the various gods and goddesses to be but different personifications of the one ultimate reality. He also formulated the rituals and rites to be followed in most of the major temples in India.
Shankaracharya challenged various eminent scholars and leaders of various religious sects in vigorous disputes. They championed their own interpretations of the scriptures but the prodigious boy sage was easily able to overcome all of them and make them understand the wisdom of his teachings. These men of stature then accepted Shankaracharya as their guru.
They started to practice in accordance with his guidance, and this change in their lives also wrought a change in the lives of their innumerable followers, who came from all strata of society.
Sankara’s advaitic commentary on prasthana-trayam (18 commentaries on the major scriptural texts including the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and 12 major Upanishads) was his magnum opus and his greatest contribution for the upliftment of mankind. In addition to that he also authored 23 books on the fundamentals of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy which expound the principles of the non-dual Brahman. These include Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Vakya Vritti, Upadesa Sahasri, among others.
Although he was a proponent of Advaita Vedanta philosophy, he never rejected Dvaitic spiritual practices such as karma yoga and selfless service, meditation on God with form, mantra Japa, bhajan, following dharma and developing values, etc. Not only did Sankara acknowledge the necessity of such practices for purifying the mind, but he also made outstanding contributions to them, including methods for conducting puja and the composition of various devotional hymns like Soundarya Lahari, Sivananda Lahari, Nirvana Shatakam, Maneesha Panchakam, Mahishasura-Mardini Stotram etc.
Sankara’s sole desire was to lead mankind to the ultimate realization: the supreme reality of the universe, of God and of all beings is one and the same — an eternal blissful consciousness. Yet in his wisdom, Sankara understood that, for this transformative understanding to dawn, the above-mentioned preparatory steps were needed in order to purify and refine the mind. Thus, the Advaitin accepts Dvaitic methods while always trying to imbibe the Advaitic principle. Shankaracharya’s teachings made it clear that the real experience of ‘everything is one’ may come in its own time. But from the beginning we have to develop the thought that this is the truth.
Establishing the Four Maths — Char Dhams
In many ways, Sankara was India’s first monastic organizer. During his travels across the length and breadth of India, he established four maths (ashrams) to unify the scattered and diverse groups of Sannyasis. These maths were established, about 700 AD, in four different corners of India — one in Sringeri, Karnataka (southern India); one in Dvaraka, Gujarat (western India); one in Puri, Orissa (eastern India); and one in Jyotirmath, Uttarakhand (northern India). He selected four of his senior-most disciples to head each of these maths. Each of these maths was assigned the task of maintaining and preserving for posterity, one of the four Vedas (the main scriptures of Hinduism) and a Maha Vakya. Shankaracharya reorganised all the Sannyasis in India into ten main groups (the Dasanami Sannyasa Tradition) allocated to different maths.
Towards the end of his life, Sankara ascended to sarvajna-pithams in SriNagar, Kashmir and in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.
Reflecting upon Sri Sankara’s life — which was the epitome of sannyasa — should annihilate any wrongheaded notion that renouncement of action is the crux of Hindu monasticism. As Sankara demonstrated, both in deed and word, what requires eradication is not action but the misunderstanding that one is the actor. Cidananda rupah sivoham sivoham — ’I am consciousness-bliss. I am Siva. I am Siva.’ Sankara did not only pen this composition; he lived it. And having done so, he left his body at the mere age of 32, having ensured the truth of Advaita Vedanta would thrive not only in India but throughout the world.
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