Adi shankaracharya biography in english pdf
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Who Was Shankaracharya?
Do you Know who Shankaracharya was? Shankaracharya is the head of the Sringeri Sharada Peeth, one of the most important Hindu religious centres in India. Shankaracharya oversees the spiritually and intellectually rigorous Vedanta program at the Peetha.
Who Was Shankaracharya?
Shankaracharya (born Adi Shankara) was an Indian philosopher who lived from about 788-820 CE. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of Indian philosophy. He is best known for his philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, which teaches that there is a single reality, which is the underlying basis of all appearances.
Shankara is also credited with unifying the various schools of Hindu thought and helping to revive Hinduism after the Islamic invasions.
Shankaracharya’s Early Life
Shankaracharya was born in 788 AD in a small village in the southern Indian state of Kerala. At a very young age, he showed an intense interest in spiritual matters and the nature of the universe. He renounced the world at the age of 16 and went on a spiritual journey
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The Life of Adi Shankaracharya
The very fact that Hinduism is still a dynamic and all-encompassing religion stands as ample testimony to the deeds of Adi Shankaracharya. Apart from being the champion of Advaita philosophy, one of his invaluable contributions towards Hinduism was the reordering and restructuring of the ancient Sannyasa order. These Sannyasis help eternal code of life contained in the Vedas, still flows as the dynamic force underlying and unifying all humanity reach the masses.
Bhagavan Adi Shankaracharya is considered to be the ideal Sannyasi. It is commonly accepted that he lived about one thousand two hundred years ago though there are historical sources that indicate that he lived in an earlier period. He was born in Kalady, Kerala and in his short life span of 32 years, his accomplishments seem a marvel even today, with our modern conveyances and other facilities. At the tender age of eight, burning with the desire for Liberation, he left home in search of his Guru.
From the southern state of Kerala, the young Shankara walked about 2000 kilometres— to th
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Shankaracharya
Religious title in the Advaita tradition
This article is about a title used in the Advaita traditions. For the philosopher, see Adi Shankara.
Shankaracharya (Sanskrit: शङ्कराचार्य, IAST: Śaṅkarācārya, "Shankara-acharya") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi Shankara; teachers from the successive line of teachers retrospectively dated back to him are known as Shankaracharyas.
Etymology
The word Shankaracharya is composed of two parts, Shankara and Acharya. Acharya is a Sanskrit word meaning "teacher", so Shankaracharya means "teacher of the way of Shankara".[1]
Establishment of the tradition
According to a tradition developed in the 16th century, Adi Shankara set up four monasteries known as Mathas or Peethams, in the North, South, East and West of India, to be held by realised men who would be known as Shankaracharyas. They would take on the role of teacher and could be consulted by anyone with sincere queries of
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