The Greatest Teacher of Advaita Vedanta-Adi Shankaracharya

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Adi Shankaracharya was a prominent Vedic guru, philosopher, and teacher known as Adi Shankara or the First Shankara. From a young age, Adi Shankaracharya was an ocean of wisdom and held immense knowledge. His ideas and efforts are one of the most influential forces in the modern development of Hindu religion and philosophy.

Adi Shankara incorporated the concepts of previous “Advaita Vedanta” and conveyed the essential purpose of Upanishads during his trip. For his contributions and teachings, Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya is still remembered today.

Background History

There are disagreements among historians, intellectuals, and researchers over Adi Shankara’s birth. As a result, each of them comes up with their own theories and dates for Shankaracharya’s birth. The following are some of the suggested dates:

These four institutes were founded on various dates, according to records from Adi Shankaracharya’s four cardinal peethams, such as Dvaraka Pitham (491 BCE), Jyotirmatha Pitham (491 BCE), and Jyotirmatha Pitham (491 BCE) (485 BCE). Furthermore, literature like as Shankara Satpatha and others provide information on his birth’s astronomical data, highlighting 509 BCE as his date of birth. As a result, experts believe Adi Shankara lived between 509 and 477 BCE.
Anandagiri or Anandajnana, a scholarly commentary, dates saint Adi Shankaracharya’s birth from 44 BCE to 12 BCE. Sir Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, an Indian scholar, believes Adi Shankara was born in the year 680 CE. Swami Adi Shankaracharya, according to philosopher John M. Koller and numerous Indologists, lived between 700 and 750 CE.

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Adi Shankaracharya was born into an impoverished Kaladi Brahmin family (currently Kerela, India). Sivaguru was his father, and Aryamba was his mother. His parents were both devout followers of Lord Shiva. As a result, they prayed to the Lord every day for a child, which was later granted.

According to another story, Lord Shiva appeared in the Aryamba’s dream one night and told her that he would arrive in this world as her kid. As a result, Adi Shankaracharya is frequently referred to as Mahadev’s avatar.

Shankara lost his father when he was a child. As a result, Aryamba, his mother, educated him. Shankara was an extraordinarily bright youngster from an early age. He could speak and write Sanskrit fluently at the age of two. By the age of four, he had memorized all four Vedas and could recite them fluently.

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He fled his home at the age of twelve and began an ascetic life. Adi Shankara met his acharya Govinda Bhagavatpada while looking for a guru. Shankara read several ancient works under his tutelage, including the Vedas, Brahmasutras, and Upanishads, among others. Everyone was astounded by his ability to master so many old writings in such a short time.

At the age of thirty-two, Jagadguru Shankaracharya attained Maha Samadhi and left this planet with his immeasurable teachings. During his twenty-year journey, he journeyed on foot in every direction of the Indian Subcontinent to share knowledge, demonstrating his tenacity and dedication. Many contemporaneous scholars and philosophers of his time, on the other hand, were hostile to his teachings and ideals.

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