Adi Shankaracharya

Adi Shankaracharya – Dispelling Ignorance with the Sword of Debate

Around 1200 years ago, the Indian subcontinent was divided politically and religiously. Hinduism was divided into several sects like – Vaishnavas, Shaivas, followers of Shakti etc. Religious malpractices and violence were rampant with everyone wanting to prove their superiority.

Other religions like Jainism and Buddhism were also spreading. Followers were led astray due to high-handed behavior of dogmatic leaders. The need was for someone who could rediscover the missing links of true religion and re-present spirituality in its original form.

This was when Adi Shankaracharya was born to a Brahmin family in a small village of Kerala. He was quiet, contemplative and stood apart from other children. He had a sharp memory and could assimilate volumes of literature just by reading them once.

By the age of three, Shankara had read many scriptural texts. He could memorize and reproduce Shlokas from the Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, and Mahabharata just by listening to their recital. His parents and everyone in the village were in awe of this prodigious child’s extraordinary ability and deep wisdom. What would take other students twenty years of study was completed by him in just two years! He embraced Brahmacharya and became a Yogi.

Observing the discord and malpractices among various religious sects, he took up the enormous responsibility of reinstating the real meaning of Dharma. He traveled across India by foot with the aim of uniting the populace on a purely spiritual basis, beyond all religious dogma. He visited several schools of wisdom and debated with the heads of various sects. The objective of his debates was not to prove his own intellectual prowess, but to free people from their ignorance and false knowledge.

He established Peethas (monasteries) in four corners of India for the spread of Advaita Vedanta (the science of non-duality) to the common man. These formed the cornerstones of Hindu Dharma. Having accomplished his life mission, Adi Shankaracharya gave up his mortal body in the state of Samadhi at the young age of 32 years.

Even today religions and sects are still divided and out to prove their own supremacy, resulting in discord and violence. The common thread of understanding of the Truth is needed today to bind all religions together, so as to establish peace and harmony in the world.