Adi Shankara (
Malayalam??? ???????? ,
Devanagari ??? ?????,
Adi Sa?kara, pronounced
[a?d?i ?a?k?r?]); (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as
Sa?kara Bhagavatpadacarya and
Adi Sa?karacarya, was an Indian
philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of
Advaita Vedanta, the most influential sub-school of
Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity of the
soul and
Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as
without attributes. He hailed from
Kalady of present day
Kerala.
Shankara travelled across India and other parts of South Asia to propagate his philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers. He founded four mathas ("monasteries"), which helped in the historical development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta. Adi Shankara is believed to be the organizer of the Dashanami monastic order and the founder of the Shanmata tradition of worship.
His works in Sanskrit, all of which are extant today, concern themselves with establishing the doctrine of Advaita (Nondualism). He also established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mimamsa school established strict ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. Shankara relied entirely on the Upanishads for reference concerning Brahman and wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic Canon (Brahma Sutra, Principal Upanishads and Bhagavadgita) in support of his thesis. The main opponent in his work is the Mimamsa school of thought, though he also offers some arguments against the views of some other schools like Samkhya and certain schools of Buddhism that he was partially familiar with.
Traditional accounts of Adi Shankara's life can be found in the Shankara Vijayams, which are poetic works that contain a mix of biographical and legendary material, written in the epic style. The most important among these biographies are the Madhaviya Sa?kara Vijaya? (of Madhava, c. 14th century), the Cidvilasiya Sa?kara Vijaya? (of Cidvilasa, c. between 15th century and 17th century), and the Keraliya Sa?kara Vijaya? (of the Kerala region, extant from c. 17th century).[2][3]
