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Top 10 Facts about Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara also known as Adi Shankaracharya was an Indian Vedic scholar and teacher. His works present a harmonizing reading of the sastras with liberating knowledge of the self at its core. The title Shankaracharya was used by heads of the Amnaya monasteries and is derived from his name. 300 texts were attributed to his name including commentaries, introductory topical expositions, and poetry. Most of these are likely to be by admirers or scholars with an eponymous name.

The works written by Shankara are the Brahmasutrabhasya, his commentaries on ten Mukhya which translates to the principal, the Upanishads, his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, and the Upadesasahasri. The image of Shankara began to take shape in the 14th century which was centuries after his death. Hagiographies define him as a ruler-renunciate who went on a conquest of the four quarters across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy.

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 1. Dated in History when Shankara Lived as Recorded by Scholars

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Shankara’s actual life isn’t recorded but scholars throughout the years have recorded which time period he was born and his main events. It has been dated that in 509-477 BCE, there have been records of the Shankara’s birth date. Monasteries have recorded that he was indeed born in Kali 2593 which is in 509 BCE.

Scholars place Shankara’s life of 32 years in the 8th century. However, there has been much controversy regarding the dates of Shankara. He is regarded as one of India’s greatest thinkers but many don’t know in what century he actually existed in.

2. His Authentic Works as Recorded in History

Many of his authentic works include his commentaries in the Bhagavad Gita and his Vivarana on the commentary by Vedavyasa. His notes are accepted by scholars as authentic works of Shankara. He also authored Upadesasahasri which is one of the most original philosophical works. Today, Indian scholars accept five and thirty-nine works respectively as authentic.

 His commentary on the Brahma Sutras is one of the oldest surviving among his other commentaries. In the commentary, he mentions older commentaries like those of Dravida and Bhartrprapancha.

3. Doubts about His Authentic Works Arose in India

Over the years, scholars debated the authenticity of his commentaries. Upanishads attributed to Shankara have been rejected, it has been noted that his works are likely the works of other scholars like Kaushitaki, Paramahamsa Upanishad, Mandala Brahmana Upanishad, Gopalatapaniya Upanishad, Maha Narayana, and many more.

Shankara cites some of these Upanishads as he developed his arguments. However, the historical notes that have been left by his companions and disciples, show that there is a difference in the style and the content of the commentaries. Scholars believe that the commentaries on later Upanishads were not Shankara’s work.

He is widely credited with commentaries on other scriptural works like the Vishnu Sahasranama and the Sanatsujatiya. Both are considered apocryphal by scholars who have expressed doubts. All in all, most scholars still believe that the work actually belongs to one of his students.

4. Shankara’s Work was Unique and Sytematic

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Shankara is considered to be a systematized thinker who uses the work of preceding philosophers. The theme of Shankara’s writings is liberating knowledge of the identity of the Self, Atman, and Brahman. Moksha recognizes the identity of Atman and Brahman as mediated by the Mahavakyas.

According to Nakamura, Shankara’s thoughts show that most of the characteristics were advocated by someone before him. He is characterized as a Vedantic character to the Buddhistic elements in these works. He is described as a man who was influenced by Shaivism and Shaktism but his works and philosophy show evidence of a greater overlap with Vaishnavism. His commentaries show a turn from realism to idealism.

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5. Shankara’s Liberating Knowledge on Brahman

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The theme of Shankara’s writings is the identity of the Self, Atman, and Brahman. His main concerns are explaining the liberating knowledge of the Self. His primary objective was to explain how moksha is attained in this life by recognizing the identity of Atman and Brahman.

The correct knowledge of Atman and Brahman is the attainment of Brahman which is immortality and leads to moksha, liberation, from suffering, and the Samsara, the cycle of rebirth. Shankara recognized that the means of knowledge is his focus on metaphysics and soteriology. Epistemology means to gain knowledge that empowers one to gain reliable knowledge. 

Shankara accepts the Upanishads and Vedas as a source of knowledge as he develops his philosophical theses. He proves that the sramanas are means of knowledge, of reason, and experience. 

6. Shankara’s Argument on Revelations

Scholars note that his arguments on revelation are about apta vacana which means sayings of the wise, relying on words, and testimony of past or present reliable experts. It is considered that such testimonies are valid because they assert human beings the things they want to know. 

Shankara considered the teachings in the Vedas and Upanishads as apta vacana. He suggests the importance of the teacher-disciple relationship which combines logic and revelation to attain moksha.

7. Shankara’s Opinion on Contemplative Exercises

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Shankara is considered the purity and steadiness of the mind and is only achieved in Yoga because it is an aid to gaining moksha knowledge. Shankara taught that the knowledge of Brahman springs only from inquiry into the teachings of the Upanishads. The method of yoga that is encouraged in his teachings notes Comans, this included the withdrawal of the mind from sense objects.

Shankara taught that Patanjali’s system is a meditative exercise of withdrawal from the particular and identification with the universe that leads to contemplation of oneself. He presented a type of yoga that involved merging the particular into the general. However, he rejected those yoga system variations that included complete suppression which leads to liberation. He placed great emphasis on the study of the Upanisads and emphasized the necessary and sufficient means to gain self-liberating knowledge.

8. Similarities In Other Works in History

Scholars note that there are some similarities between Shankara’s Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism. According to him, the major difference between Advaita and Mahayana Buddhism is that they have different views on Atman and Braham.

His philosophy shows strong similarities with the Mahayana Buddhist philosophy which he attacks. Some believe that Shankara and his followers borrowed much of their dialectic form of criticism from the Buddhists. S.N. Dasgupta believed that Shankara’s philosophy was largely a compound of Vijnanavada and Sunyavada Buddhism.

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9. Shankara’s Historical Impact on India

Shankara lived in Late Classical Hinduism which lasted from 650 to 1100 CE.  the era is known for being politically unstable and followed the Gupta dynasty and King Harsha of the 7th century CE. At the time, Buddhism emerged as a powerful influence in India’s spiritual traditions. As Buddhism began to fade away, Shankara traveled all over India to help restore the study of the Vedas.

He is portrayed as the one who reconciled the various sects with the introduction of the Pancayatana form of worship. Shankara and his contemporaries made a significant contribution to understanding Buddhism and the ancient Vedic traditions. They transformed the extant ideas and reformed the Vedanta tradition of Hinduism and made it India’s most important spiritual tradition.

10. The Recorded Conquests of Shankara

Hagiographies of Adi Shankara’s life showed that his life is recorded as mere stories or legends. They all bear the name Sri Shankaracharya but they likely refer to other ancient scholars like Vidya-Sankara, Sankara-Misra, and Sankara-Nanda. Some hagiographies are probably written by those who sought to create a historical basis for their ritual or theories.

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