Wondering monk who gave us Advita- Adi Sankaracharya

Kalady means ‘foot imprint’. It was the land where Advita’s exponent was born to a poor Namoodiri Brahmin’s family. His father Shivaguru and mother Aryamba were childless for a long time. They sought the blessing of Vadakkunatha of Trichur, who volunteered to bless them with prodigy with alpa ayusu or simpleton with long time. Aryamba preferred a prodigy. Thus was born the prodigy in their household around 788 AD who became the Faith of later times and scholar par excellence. In a short life of 32 years before his Samadhi at Kedarinath, he rewrote the Vedanta texts in prose and poetry which delighted many sages and savants. Vedas, Upanishads, and Vedantas. Sankara defined Advita not as a school of Philosophy, but a system of epistemology. Advita meant that reality is non dual, plurality is only an illusion born out of ignorance.

            The historicity of Adi Sankara stands on firm foundation despite scholarly quibbles over bio-graphical details. What we have today are set of tradition with few historical details from the period in antiquity.

            India’s past history is often shrouded in mystery. Poetical works have provided a background to the various empires which flourished in India since pre-historic times.  Though there have been debates regarding the actual period of times of Adi Sankara, it has been alluded by classical texts and the research undertaken by Sringeri Mutt, after painstaking research study, Adi Sankara’s date of birth has been confirmed as 788 AD as his birth was after 14 years of reign of Chandragupta II (who did not belong to Gupta dynasty but was part and parcel of Chalukya dynasty of Badami (733-800 AD).Kerala at that time was part of the Second Chera Empire when Kulasekhar’s ruled over the country (788-1102 AD). Max Muller attributes the date of birth-death of Sankara between 788-820 AD. The Malayalam Calender came into being during 825 AD which is a photo copy of Gregorian calendar   having 12 months of 30 days each month. It is sidereal solar calendar. 2013 April- May [Gregorian calendar] corresponds to 1188 Medom-Edavam 14^th [Malayalam calendar]. The finding of the Malayalam calendar coincides with the death of the greatest exponent of Advita, Adi Sankara. Kolla varsham does not behove that it has anything to do with Kollam, but simply means the’ Year’.

            If past Indian history is a clue, the formidable Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia attacked India during 327 BC and had to retreat due to illness which eventually led to his death. The satraps, who had boundaries of their reign, became powerful but not powerful enough to sway the different Indian Kingdoms which held sway over different parts of India. Mauryas between 322 BC and 185 BC had overrun many satraps and Kingdoms which ended with Emperor Ashoka becoming remorseful after the battle of Kalinga.  Budha’s teachings began to attract the Emperor who embraced Buddhism. His wife, Valsala, children Mahindra and Sangamitra, and brought the fringes of the borders to Buddhism. The Lamas of Tibet are later followers from the Buddhist religion. But adherence to ahimsa took of toll. Mauryas disappeared and imperial Guptas began to sparkle. Hindu religion took resurgence. Vikramaditya begam the golden rule of Gupta period where the nine gems adorned the Court. Kalidasa was a part of this reign. Meghasanthesa, Kumarasambhava, Shakuntala, were his creations.

            The winds of new faiths, belief systems, and dogmas were blowing across west coast when Sankara was a small infant. Religions came to Kerala with trade and commerce. If Alexander knew the way to India through bizarre passes, Arabs, Romans, Egyptians knew routes to Kerala Ports. Muziris or Kodungallur had the first visit of Jesus first disciple (ST Thomas Apostle). When we read books on Great Masters of Himalayas, you always came across Jesus being a part of India’s religious entourage. Bible attests the tenants of Hindu philosophy when it discusses these thoughts in parts. Islam was founded in the 7^th century and immediately it came to Kerala. 500 years ago, the Jews when they fled Jerusalam came to Kerala. You can find traces of old Roman and Egyptian influence, and with the passage of time, India assimilated European culture (after 16^th century). The balance was provided for, by great saints like Sankara who guarded the Hindu fortresses like a soldier. Buddhism and Jainism ransacked Kerala’s religious foundations. It was latter revived by Adi Sankara, single handedly. Nehru pays excellent tributes to Sankara in his ‘Discovery of India’.

Adi Shankara founded four Maṭhas (Sanskrit: मठ) to guide the Hindu religion. These are atSringeri in Karnataka in the south, Dwaraka in Gujarat in the west, Puri in Odisha in the east, and Jyotirmath (Joshimath) in Uttarakhand in the north. Hindu tradition states that he put in charge of these mathas his four main disciples: Sureśvara, Hastamalakacharya,Padmapāda,and Totakacharya respectively. The heads of the mathas trace their authority back to these figures. Each of the heads of these four mathas takes the title of Shankaracharya ("the learned Shankara") after the first Shankaracharya. The table below gives an overview of the four Amnaya Mathas founded by Adi Shankara and their details.

Shishya	Direction	Maṭha	Mahāvākya	Veda	Sampradaya
Hastāmalakācārya	East	Govardhana Pīṭhaṃ	Prajñānam brahma (Brahman is Knowledge)	Rig Veda	Bhogavala
Sureśvara	South	Śārada Pīṭhaṃ	Aham brahmāsmi (I am Brahman)	Yajur Veda	Bhūrivala
Padmapāda	West	Dvāraka Pīṭhaṃ	Tattvamasi (That thou art)	Sama Veda	Kitavala
Toṭakācārya	North	Jyotirmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ	Ayamātmā brahma (This Atman is Brahman)	Atharva Veda	Nandavala

After establishing these 4 mathas, Adi Shankara himself occupied Sarvajna Peetha -the Throne of Omniscience at Kanchi. Before undertaking the final journey, Sankara had spent his time at Baronets temple visiting the cave of Veda Vyas, who wrote the immortal Vedas, Brahma Sutra and Mahabharata. The maha Samadhi of Sankara occurred in a place which is few yards from the Kedarinath Temple, which is visited by scrores of people.

According to the tradition in Kerala, after Sankara's samadhi, at Vadakkunnathan Temple his disciples founded four mathas in Thrissur, namely Naduvil Madhom, Thekke Madhom, Idayil Madhom and Vadakke Madhom.

Regarding meditation, Shankara refuted the system of Yoga and its disciplines as a direct means to attain moksha, rebutting the argument that it can be obtained through concentration of the mind. His position is that the mental states discovered through the practices of Yoga can be indirect aids to the gain of knowledge, but cannot they give rise to it. According to his philosophy, knowledge of Brahman springs from inquiry into the words of the Upanishads, and the knowledge of Brahman that shruti provides cannot be obtained in any other way. It has to be noted that it is generally considered that for Shankara the Absolute Reality is attributeless and impersonal, while for Madhava and Ramanuja, the Absolute Truth is Vishnu. This has been a subject of debate, interpretation, and controversy since Shankara himself is attributed to composing the popular 8th-century Hindu devotional composition Bhaja Govindam (literal meaning, "Worship Govinda"). This work of Adi Shankara is considered as a good summary of Advaita Vedanta and underscores the view that devotion to God, Govinda, is not only an important part of general spirituality, but the concluding verse drives through the message of Shankara: "Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool! Other than chanting the Lord's names, there is no other way to cross the life's ocean". Bhaja Govindam invokes the almighty in the aspect of Vishnu; it is therefore very popular not only with Sri Adi Shankaracharya's immediate followers, the Smarthas, but also with Vaishnavas and others.

“Sri Sankara wrote a number of Vedantic works for imparting the knowledge of the self. He composed a number of hymns to foster the sense of devotion in the hearts of men and one of the hymns is the famous Bhaja Govindam. When intelligence matures and lodges securely in the heart, it becomes wisdom. When wisdom is integrated with Knowledge it becomes devotion. If it does not get transformed into devotion, such knowledge is useless tinsel.

“Adi Sankara has packed into the Bhaja Govindam song, the substance of all Vedanta and set the oneness of jnana and bhakti to melodious music. “

Rajaji, India’s last Governor General, in an introduction to the Bhaja Govindam song composed by Adi Sankara rendered by M S Subbalakshmi

A well known verse, recited in the Smarta tradition, in praise of Adi Shankara is:

Śruti smṛti purāṇānāṃālayaṃ karuṇālayaṃ|
Namāmi Bhagavatpādaśaṅkaraṃ lokaśaṅkaraṃ||
I salute the compassionate abode of the Vedas, Smritis and Puranas known as Shankara Bhagavatpada, who makes the world auspicious.

Adi Shankara begins his Gurustotram or Verses to the Guru with the following Sanskrit Sloka, that has become a widely sung Bhajan:

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Deva Maheshwara. Guru Sakshath Parambrahma, Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha.
Translation: Guru is the creator Brahma, Guru is the preserver Vishnu, Guru is the destroyer Shiva. Guru is directly the supreme spirit — I offer my salutations to this Guru.

The great Indian Muslim Philosopher Muhammad Iqbal considered him to be one of the greatest thinkers of medieval India and acknowledged influence by him.

Works

For more details on this topic, see Adi Sankara bibliography.

Adi Sankara's works deal with logically establishing the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta as he saw it in the Upanishads. He formulates the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta by validating his arguments on the basis of quotations from the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures. He gives a high priority to svānubhava ("personal experience") of the student. His works are largely polemical in nature. He directs his polemics mostly against the Sankhya, Buddha, Jaina, Vaisheshika and other non-vedantic Hindu philosophies.

Traditionally, his works are classified under Bhāṣya ("commentary"), Prakaraṇa grantha ("philosophical treatise") and Stotra ("devotional hymn"). The commentaries serve to provide a consistent interpretation of the scriptural texts from the perspective of Advaita Vedanta. The philosophical treatises provide various methodologies to the student to understand the doctrine. The devotional hymns are rich in poetry and piety, serving to highlight the relationship between the devotee and the deity.

Adi Shankara wrote Bhashyas on the ten major Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. In his works, he quotes from Shveshvatara, Kaushitakai, Mahanarayana and Jabala Upanishads, among others. Bhashyas on Kaushitaki, Nrisimhatapani and Shveshvatara Upanishads are extant but the authenticity is doubtful. Adi Shankara's is the earliest extant commentary on the Brahma sutras. However, he mentions older commentaries like those of Dravida, Bhartrprapancha and others.

            In his Brahma Sutra Bhashya, Adi Shankara cites the examples of Dharmavyadha, Vidura and others, who were born with the knowledge of Brahman acquired in previous births. He mentions that the effects cannot be prevented from working on account of their present birth. He states that the knowledge that arises out of the study of the Vedas could be had through the Puranas and the Itihasas. In the Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya 2.2, he says: quoteSarveśāṃ cādhikāro vidyāyāṃ ca śreyaḥ kevalayā vidyāyā veti siddhaṃ – It has been established that everyone has the right to the knowledge (of Brahman) and that the supreme goal is attained by that knowledge alone. Adi Shankara, in order to bring unity among various Hindu sects of those times, wrote five pancharathnam stotras for each of the following prime deities. The deities were Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Ganesh and Surya. The idea was that if you believed in Lord Shiva, you would chant Shiva pancharathnam stotra by placing Shiva's idol in the center other four Hindu deities surrounding Him, two on each side. Similarly if you believed in Vishnu, you would place Vishnu in the center. Those five stotras are Ganesha pancharathnam and Lalitha pancharathnam.

Some western academics consider only the Upadeśasāhasrī as an authentic work of Shankara among the independent philosophical works. There is a difference of opinion among scholars on the authorship of Viveka Chudamani, though it is "so closely interwoven into the spiritual heritage of Shankara that any analysis of his perspective which fails to consider [this work] would be incomplete".Adi Shankara also wrote commentaries on other scriptural works, such as the Vishnu sahasranāma and the Sānatsujātiya. Like theBhagavad Gita, both of these are contained in the Mahabhārata

Sankara need to be credited for setting up mutts and creating current worship systems at Sringeri, Kollur, Gokarna, Srisailam, Rameshwaram, kanchi, Dwaraka, Kashmir, Mahishi (Bihar), Omkareshwar, Joshimath which had 1200 year old temples, Puri etc. It looks somewhat odd that the great saint-philosopher did not visit any of the temples near his birth place like Vadakkanathan Temple at Trichur, Sri Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor, Shiva Temple at Vaikom, Devi Temple at Kodungallur, Sri Padmanabhaswami Temple at Anandankadu, etc. Kodungallor temple is more than 2,000years old as attested by Illango’s silapathikaram, published during his brother’s reign (Cheran Senkuttavan), Krishna Temple is older than Anandankadu temple, because, Krishna tells Vilwamangalam to build a temple for seshasai at anandankadu. Vilwamangalam is said to have been a savant of the 10th century AD. Guruvayurappan idol is around 5,000 years old.

The bukti cult, rejuvenation of golden age of sanathana Dharma was rekindled by Adi Sankara of kalady. Santana Dharma is vibrant thanks to philosophers, and efforts of jagadgurus like Sankara who restored the pristine glory of Advita philosophy of the Upanishads and re-established the path through which everyone can experience and become one with divinity. Seldom in history has one individual had so much influence on a nation, its civilization, its religion?

Kalady was re-discovered by 33th Jagadguru Sri Sharada Peetham at Sringeri.

Even though Sankara’s birth, parents, miraculous events of his childhood, contemporary history of Kalady including various landmarks and temples associated with his life have been discovered, catalogued and chronicled, legacy of Sankara has been preserved for the world by holding cenetary celebrations of consecration of temples on May 18, 2010. Advita means unity of atman and nirguna Brahman (Brahmin without attributes) on ideas found in Upanishads. Indian sub continent, importance of monastic life as sanctified in Brahma sutra Upanishads is based in strict ritualism and ritual monastism. Sankara has made copious comments on Bhagavat gita, Brahma sutra, Principal Upanishads.

Unity of Reality (God, Brahmna, Tao, Spirit, Energy, Light, Vibration) is central to all major world religions, thus their common moral foundation of ‘Do unto others as to thyself as other part of the Self? Wave structure of Matter is obviously once known, it begins it will seem strange simply because it takes time for our minds to adjust to new knowledge? The metaphysics of non dualism generates a number of profound philosophical difficulties, the first of which is this- why did the one (space) manifest itself as many (wave motion)? Why did the eternal become temporal; the infinite the finite; immutable become mutable? Many thinkers in the orthodox Hindu tradition argue that the answer is delight (ananda), the universe is Brahmin’s expression of delight in creation. Absolute also is bound by something that is dependent on something. The very question that finite is absurd, for it is self contradictory (Swami Vivekananda)(Collison: Fifty Eastern Thinkers 2000)

Vivekananda is correct on material substance (thing) exist, that there is no boundary which implies two things thus the one thing (infinite), and not dependent. What exists, there is no further reason for this (Aristotle concurs) Wave structure of matter in space explain and solve the problem of one and many; but also wave structure of matter. Matter interacts with all other matter in the universe; we see the stars as matter is the size of the universe. Only we see the high wave amplitude wave centers and partciels.

Our mind represents the world and thus the world we see is an illusion (maya) and the ignorance of the True nature of reality is (Avidya). Conversely, liberation from ignorance to true knowledge of Reality (Avidya, prana) results in Nirvana (moksha), freedom from desire. Sankara’s lower layer of experience is maya often translated as illusion.

To achieve this, mere state moksha or release from the cycle of birth or death which is samsara and moksha is the goal of life in Upanishad Philosophy. Only by attaining release can we be liberated from the ‘Law  of Karma’ the otherwise inescapable visiting a number of consequences of our actions which rules the cycles of repeated births and deaths in samsara. In Hinduism, the doctrine of reincarnation or transmigration of the souls rest on the general beliefs that all living things are besouled and that these should become incarnate in a succession of different type of bodies. Reincarnation is thought of as a more or less perpetual bondage to samsara, the wheel of life, a bondage to samsara, a wheel f life, a bondage maintained by the individuals passion and carvings (punarabi jananam, punarbi maranam…..)

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