Sri Shankaracharya (Life- Achievement- Philosophy)

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Shruthi smruthi Puranaanaam aalayam Karunalayam Namami Bhagavathpaadam Shankaram Loka Shankaram ||

When Hindu Dharma was deteriorating due to the influence of other religions in Bharath, Shankaracharya, an Avatharara Purusha was born and reestablished the Vedic Hindu Dharma. He propogated the sacred values of Vedic Dharma to common man in a clear understandable way and guided so that Hindu Dharma stand firmly.

Shankaracharya was born in the year 788 A.D., on Vaishaka Shukla panchami in Vibhava naama Samwasthara, Sunday in Aaridhra nakshatra, in Kalati Village, Kerala of South India. At his seventh year of age he took sanyasa with the permission of his mother, left kalati, went to Omkarnath on the banks of river Narmada to become a disciple of Sri Govindapaada, a disciple of Sri Goudapaada.

Adishankaracharya established the Hindu religion on the firm foundation of Vedanta. With his dedicated efforts he designed the entire setup prevailing in those days to reestablish Hinduism in the Sananthana Vedic ideals at the time of Buddhist upsurge. With the misrepresentation of Hindu ideal way of life, the Hindus were in cross-road in the practice of Dharma. Shankaracharya opened up a new horizon for the spiritual life and brought a revolutionary transformation not only in Hindu philosophy but also in social life. He dedicated his life to the spiritual welfare of humanity and to bring harmony in the religious life.

Shankaracharya was a philosopher of extra ordinary genius, a holy sage and a seer of the ultimate truth of life. He was a distinguished personality in self-realization who believed in direct religious life experience, leading to liberation. His humane feelings, scientific thinking and reasoning are of asserting nature in consoling the ultimate reality of the real aspirant for understanding his Self for finding solaceness and truth even in modern scientific era. For him the realization of Advaita by knowledge (Jnana) is the final stage of Self-realization. But the other steps of importance namely Bhakti (devotion) and karma (action) finds their appropriate place in his writings and message. Although he is popularly recognized as a great philosopher of Advaita (monist), beyond that is also well recognized as an Avatara purusha of Lord Shiva Himself.

At the time of birth of Shankaracharya, the different religious sects had under gone a great change. The popular Hinduism was divided into Saivism, Vishnavism, Jainism, Buddhism etc. Image worship, sacrifice of animal and human beings were finding their own importance and coming in the way of the progress of Vedic religious practice. Religious transformation had taken place beyond recognition. The tantric cult emerged and influenced both Hinduism and Buddhism. The religious followers were under extreme confusion to find the real facts about the Hindu religious practice. The period witnessed conflict between different schools of philosophy, chiefly between those accepting the authority of Vedas and those which were not accepting the authority of Vedas, as source of knowledge. These rival schools of thoughts were debating over each other's belief with the main objective of either to vanquish or make them submissive. At this juncture Shankaracharya a giant among the vedantic scholars upheld the principles of Vedas to accept in the Advaita philosophy. He emphasized the right position of Vedanta established on firm basis of logic.