Adi Shankaracharya

 

Introduction

·       Shankracharya was a Nambudari Brahmin born in Malabar(Kaladi) in early 8^th century CE.

·       Persecute by Jainism he took a triumphant visit to north India, where he worsted his opponents in debates.

Philosophy

·       Knowledge: God and created are one, and differences were not real but apparent and arose due to ignorance.

·       Salvation: The way to salvation is devotion to God(bhakti), strengthened by the knowledge that the God and created are same.

·       How to Achieve Salvation: At the deepest level of meditation (’निर्विकल्प समाधि’) the complete identity between God and created is realized and all the suffering of life ceases and that state is called (सच्चिदान्द ब्राह्मण).

Efforts and Impact

How did Sankaracharya seek to integrate the different religions cults in India?

Contemporary Conditions:  At this time, the expression of Hinduism which is sourced from the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta of Upanishad was under threat.

1.       Different Sects: A multitude of sects, each adhering to different scriptural interpretations had arisen

2.       Mimansa: Reliance on elaborate rituals of Mimansa school had become a common practice.

3.       Band J: In addition Buddhism and Jainism had become quite strong.

Writing: He wrote extensive commentaries on Upanishad, Brahma Sutra and Gita.

·       Consistent System in Upanishad: By able use of logical argument and figurative interpretation of some phrases he reduced all the self-contradictory argument of the Upanishads to a consistent system.

·       Shanmata system: This not only revitalized the philosophical system but also united different sects into a common framework of Shanmata system.

·       Framework: This framework advocated that various Hindu paths were all valid ways of approaching the supreme non-duality and the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta stood over and above all the other forms of Hinduism and encapsulated them.

Tour: In addition to this voluminous writings the other strategy he adopted to integrate different sects was to tour the Indian subcontinent. On tour he would meet religious personalities of different schools, engage them in debate and win over them to Advaita Vedanta. He took three such tours of India.

Disciple Scholars: Adi Shankara had a number of disciple scholars during his travels, who authored their own literature on Shankara and Advaita Vedanta and led to further integration.

Monasteries: Another step which led to integration of different sects was the founding of monastic centers (matha), with each matha having its own Shankracharya chosen from amongst his closest disciples. These mathas were set up at cardinal points of the country(4- Jagannathpuri, Shringeri, Dwarka and Badrinath) and resulted in the whole of sub-continent linked with teachers of Advaita Vedanta. These institutes led to physical and spiritual unification of the country.

Other Efforts and Impact

·       Influence on different It was only after Shankara that the theologians of the various sects of Hinduism utilized Vedanta philosophy to a greater or lesser degree to form the basis of their doctrines, while the Nath-tradition established by him, led "its theoretical influence upon the whole of Indian society became final and definitive”.

·       Difference between Buddhism and Jainism: 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".

·       Challenge to Buddhism and Jainism: He posed the most serious challenge to Buddhism and Jainism after he reformulated the Hindu philosophy.

·       Importance of Monastic Life: He established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mīmāṃsā school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. He is reputed to have founded four mathas  ("monasteries").

·       Panchayatana: He introduced the Pañcāyatana form of worship, the simultaneous worship of five deities – Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. Shankara explained that all deities were but different forms of the one Brahman, the invisible Supreme Being.

Criticism

The path of knowledge put forward by him could be understood by few and thus could not influence the masses.