Adi Shankara

**Adi Shankara** (788 CE-820 CE), also called **Adi Shankaracharya** (, ), was an Indian Vedic scholar, philosopher and teacher (_acharya_) of Advaita Vedanta. While he is often revered as the most important Indian philosopher in the history of Hinduism, reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and the historical influence of his works on Hindu intellectual thought has been questioned by scholars. The historical Shankara was probably relatively unknown until his school expanded some centuries later and he was also Vaishnava-oriented. His true impact lies in his "iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture He wrote many books such as _Saundarya laharifor lauding Lakshmi_. He also wrote many hymns including the Bhavani Ashtaka and Mahishasuramardini stotra in praise of goddess Durga. Shankara gave explanations for Brahma Sutra, Bhagavat Geeta, etc. His first guru was Gaudapada, who lived as a seer on the banks of river Narmada. He established for Maths in four extreme corner to spread the message of Advaita other all over the country. They are namely Jyotirmatha at Badrinath, Shardapitha at Dwarka, Govardhanmatha at Puri and Sringeri matha at Sringeri.

Until the 10th century Shankara was overshadowed by his older contemporary Maṇḍana Miśra, and there is no mention of him in concurrent Hindu, Buddhist or Jain sources until the 11th century except for philosophers from his own school and his immediate disciples like Padmapada and Sureshvara who revere him in their respective commentaries., this may however wasn't done out of respect as other scholars point out The legendary Shankara was popularized for the first tme in the 14th century when Vidyaranya wrote one of the earliest biographies after him, centuries after his death, based over earlier sources by other biographers when Sringeri _matha_ started to receive patronage from the emperors of the Vijayanagara Empire and shifted their allegiance from _Advaitic_ Agamic Shaivism to Brahmanical Advaita orthodoxy. Hagiographies compiled and recorded by the tradition, dating from the 12th-17th centuries deified him as a ruler-renunciate, travelling on a digvijaya (conquest of the four quarters) across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy, defeating his opponents in theological debates. These hagiographies portray him as founding four mathas (monasteries), and Adi Shankara also came to be regarded as the organiser of the Dashanami monastic order, and the unifier of the Shanmata tradition of worship. The title of Shankaracharya, used by heads of certain monasteries in India, is derived from his name. Tradition also portrays him as the one who reconciled the various sects (Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism) with the introduction of the  form of worship, the simultaneous worship of five deities – Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi, arguing that all deities were but different forms of the one Brahman, the invisible Supreme Being.

## _Shankara Vijayams_

_Shankara Vijayams_ (IAST __) are traditional hagiographies of the Advaita Vedanta exegete Adi Shankara, describing his 'conquest of the four quarters'. In these hagiographies, Shankara is deified as a ruler-renunciate, bringing harmony to the four quarters. The genre may have been modelled on the _digvijayas_ of Madhvacharya, since one of the earliest Shankara-hagiography post-dates Madhva (1238-1317). The Shankara-_digvijayams_ mimick the royal _digvijayams_, as his 'conquest of the four quarters' and the establishment of his kingdom is followed by his coronation with this ascent of the Throne of Omniscience (_sarvajña-pīṭha_), akin to the _rajasuya_ rites.

The main Shankaravijayams are:
- _Brihat Shankaravijayam_, no complete extant text., though Narayan Shastri claims to posses its manuscripts in the library of madras., It is the earliest of all Shankara's biographies which is traditionally attributed to Chitsukha(12th century to early part of the 13th century) though could possibly include a later forging, and controversial within the contemporary Advaita-tradition. According to Sundaresan, "all claims about Citsukha and his _Brhat Sankaravijaya_ ultimately derive from a highly questionable, solitary source."
- _Pracina-sankara-vijaya_, also called _Anandagirīya Shankaravijayam_, no complete extant text and is only available in excerpts, attributed to Anandagiri (13th century to early part of 14th century). According to Isayeva "the most authoritative, reliable and the most widely-cited hagiography of Sankara." It is frequently cited by followers of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, but rejected by followers of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham According to Sundaresan, "quotations attributed to it must be viewed critically."
- _Cidvilāsīya Shankaravijayam_, attributed to Chidvilasa, c. between 15th century and 17th century
- _Keralīya Shankaravijayam_, extant in Kerala, c. 17th century
- _Madhavīya Shankara (Dig)vijayam_ (of Madhava). Traditionally attributed to Madhava-Vidyaranya (14th century). The attribution and dating is disputed; the author was a Madhavi, and the proposed date is 17th or even 18th century. this criticism and dating however is regarded as baseless by others who maintain the normal 14th century dating. The work contains almost no new material at all and mostly follows the earlier sources.

## Other websites

- Complete information about Sankaracharya and his works

## Infobox (hindu leader)

- **image**: Raja Ravi Varma - Sankaracharya.jpg
- **caption**: Painting of Adi Shankara, exponent of Advaita Vedanta with his disciples by Raja Ravi Varma
- **religion**: Hinduism
- **birth date**: 8th Century CE CE
- **birth name**: Shankara
- **death date**: 9th century CE
- **guru**: Govinda Bhagavatpada
- **philosophy**: Advaita Vedanta
- **honors**: Jagadguru
- **known for**: Expounded Advaita Vedanta