Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya

श्रुति स्मृति पुराणानां आलयं करूणालयं ।

नमामि भगवत्पाद शंऽकरं लोकशंऽकरं ।।

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti.

Also it is the birthday of Guru Ramanujacharya.

We bow down to both these great Avtaaras who came to earth out of Universal necessity and showed Human beings the path of enlightenment and led them onto it.

Shankaracharya, in his life span of 32 years has led a life, which even people his age cannot even think of. He reached out to the four corners of India, on foot. Leading a difficult ascetic life, He propounded the philosophy of Adwait Vedanta (non dualism). His guru Bhagwatpaad Gaudpadacharya initiated him into a monastic life at Omkareshwar, on the banks of river Narmada.

During his life, he had many debates with scholars belonging to different thoughts and won them over. Chief among them is Mandan Mishra who later became his disciple and was called Sureshwara.

Totakacharya was also one of his disciples, who has given the music world a new meter called the ‘Taka’ or ‘Totaka’ meter.

Shankaracharya established 4 mathas in the four directions of India to establish Vedic supremacy and gave these mathas to his disciples the responsibility to learn, teach and preach and also research on the Vedas. Totakacharya was given the responsibility of the Northern Matha of Jyotirmath. Sureshvara was installed on the southern Sringeri Sharada Peetha; Padmapada, the eastern Govardhan Peetha and Hastamalakcharya the western Dwarka Peetha.

Not only this, He also gave a structure to the monastic fold of India. He formed 10 different subdivisions wherein all the monks were place which was called the Dashnaami Sampradaay.

All of them gathered every 12 years at Prayagraaj for the Kumbh. It was here that the theories and experiments about the Vedic thought, culture and civilisation were discussed and the future course of action of coming 12 years was decided. Adi Shankaracharya took all these pains to see that things take place as decided. He called it the “Aamnaay” (systems) and the 4 Shankaracharya Peethas were given this responsibility to take care to see that it is followed.

Have specifically written about the cultural work that Adi Guru Shankaracharya has done and will not be talking about his contribution to the Vedic literature, which in itself solicits an independent blog.