{"id":2806,"date":"2025-05-02T11:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudlatnid.com\/?p=2806"},"modified":"2025-05-02T17:55:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T21:55:34","slug":"about-adi-sankaracharya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sudlatnid.com\/?p=2806","title":{"rendered":"About Adi Sankaracharya"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adi Shankaracharya \u2013 The Greatest Teacher or Guru of Advaita Vedanta<\/h1>\n

Adi Shankaracharya<\/em>, or Adi Shankara<\/em>, or the first Shankara<\/em>, was a great Vedic guru, philosopher, and teacher. Adi Shankaracharya<\/em> was an ocean of wisdom and possessed vast knowledge from a very early age. Throughout his journey, Adi Shankara<\/em> integrated the concepts of older \u201cAdvaita Vedanta<\/em>\u201d and taught the fundamental purpose of Upanishads.<\/p>\n

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Adi Shankaracharya<\/em> was from a poor Brahmin family from Kaladi<\/em> (currently Kerala, India). His father was Sivaguru<\/em>, and his mother was Aryamba<\/em>. Both of his parents were great devotees of Lord Shiva<\/em>. every day they prayed to the Lord for a child, which was later fulfilled.<\/p>\n

It is believed that one day, Lord Shiva<\/em> came into Aryamba\u2019s<\/em> dream and told her that he would appear in this world as her child. Thus, Adi Shankaracharya<\/em> is often cited as the avatar of Mahadev<\/em> himself. At an early age, Shankara<\/em> lost his father. So, it was his mother Aryamba<\/em>, who brought him up and educated him. From an early age, Shankara<\/em> was found to be an exceptionally brilliant child. At age two, he could fluently speak and write in Sanskrit. He studied all four Vedas and could recite them effortlessly by age four. When he turned twelve, he left his home and started living an ascetic life. While searching for a guru, Adi Shankara<\/em> met his acharya Govinda Bhagavatpada<\/em>. Under his guidance, Shankara read and studied numerous ancient texts such as Vedas<\/em>, Brahmasutras<\/em>, Upanishads<\/em>, etc.<\/p>\n

One of Adi Shankaracharya\u2019s<\/em> most remarkable works is his commentaries of Brahma Sutras<\/em> ( an ancient text by Sage Vyasa<\/em>). Brahma Sutra Bhasya<\/em> is the oldest surviving commentary on Brahma Sutras<\/em>. Moreover, he had also commented on ten Upanishads<\/em> such as Brihadaranyaka<\/em>, the Chandogya<\/em>, the Aitareya<\/em>, the Taittiriya<\/em>, the Kena<\/em>, Isha<\/em> Upanishad, the Katha<\/em> Upanishad, the Mundaka<\/em>, the Prashna<\/em>, and the Mandukya<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Guru Adi Shankaracharya<\/em> is the author of the ancient Sanskrit text, Upadesasahasri<\/em> (the thousand teachings). It is an 8th-century text which consists of two parts \u2013 metric and prose. The metric or verse part includes nineteen chapters, whereas the prose part has three branches. The first part talks about the issues of Advaita Vedanta<\/em>. In this verse, he states that pure consciousness, atman, and awareness are the true self, not a body and mind. Then, in the prose part, the sage explained ways to reach the final destination or liberation.<\/p>\n

Writings<\/h2>\n

Besides commentaries on important texts, he wrote stotras for Sri Krishna<\/em> (Vaishnanism) and Lord Shiva<\/em> (Shaivism). He composed seventy-two hymns for gods and goddesses. He also wrote twenty-three texts to spread his teachings of non-dualism or Advaita Vedanta<\/em>. They are –<\/p>\n

Bhasya<\/h3>\n