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| Śāṅkara | |
|---|---|
| Name | Śāṅkara |
| Birth date | c. 788 CE (traditional claims vary) |
| Birth place | Kaladi, Kerala (traditional) |
| Death date | c. 820 CE (traditional) |
| Occupation | Philosopher, monk, teacher |
| Notable works | Brahmasūtrabhāṣya, Upaniṣad bhāṣyas, Bhāgavata commentary (traditional attribution disputed) |
| Tradition | Advaita Vedānta |
Śāṅkara. Śāṅkara is traditionally revered as the principal expounder of Advaita Vedānta and a central figure in classical Indian philosophy. He is credited with synthesizing teachings from the Brahma Sūtras, the principal Upaniṣads, and the Bhagavad Gita into a coherent non-dualistic doctrine that influenced institutions such as the Dashanami Sampradaya and monastic centers like the Sringeri Sharada Peetham and Kanchipuram traditions.
Traditional biographies place Śāṅkara's birth in Kaladi, linking him to lineages associated with Kerala and the Nambudiri community; other accounts situate his origins near Benares or the Narmada region. Hagiographies recount early prodigious mastery of the Vedas and a meeting with an influential teacher, sometimes identified with figures tied to the Bhakti movement or major monastic traditions such as the Dashanami order. His life story intersects with narratives involving patronage from rulers and interactions with scholars of Mimamsa, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, and Buddhism such as proponents of Mādhyamika and Yogācāra schools.
Śāṅkara's corpus, ascribed in traditional lists, includes commentaries on the Brahma Sūtras, several principal Upaniṣads, and the Bhagavad Gita; these works articulate doctrines that respond to rival positions from Bhedabheda proponents, Vishishtadvaita exponents like Ramanuja (later critics), and Buddhist philosophers such as Nagarjuna and Asanga. The doctrinal core emphasizes identity between Atman and Brahman as argued against dualist readings found in traditions associated with Dvaita Vedanta founders and medieval disputants. His polemical engagements engage concepts treated by authors of the Nyāya Sūtras, commentators like Vācaspati Miśra, and scholastic traditions of Kashmir Shaivism.
Central to Śāṅkara's teaching are doctrines named in classical lists: Brahman as the immutable reality, Māyā as the principle of apparent plurality, Avidyā as ignorance of true identity, and Moksha as liberation realized through jñāna and śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana practices. He employs classical scriptural hermeneutics such as adhikāra and lakṣaṇa to reconcile textual divergences in the Upaniṣads and to rebut Buddhist theories of no-self advanced by figures like Dharmakīrti. Śāṅkara also adapts epistemic resources debated in treatises like the Pramāṇa-s literature, interacting with epistemologists such as Gautama and later commentators like Udyotakara.
The works ascribed to Śāṅkara encompass technical commentaries (bhāṣya), concise treatises (prakaraṇa), and devotional stotras; the most prominent are the Brahmasūtrabhāṣya and bhāṣyas on principal Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gita. His commentarial method combines close exegesis, logical refutation, and appeal to scriptural authority, drawing on styles established in the Vedāntic exegetical tradition and resonating with rhetorical moves found in Mīmāṃsā hermeneutics. The compact prakaraṇa works attributed to him, such as guides on jīvātman and brahman, influenced pedagogical curricula at monastic seats like Sringeri and texts studied alongside Gorakhnath and Adi North regional scholasticism (regional names vary in manuscripts).
Śāṅkara's commentaries generated extensive sub-commentarial traditions; medieval and early modern scholars including Padmapāda, Suresvara, Vacaspati Misra, and later defenders like Madhusūdana Sarasvatī wrote glosses and systematic defenses. His hermeneutical principles shaped debates with Ramanuja, Vallabhacharya, and Madhva in the medieval period, and influenced commentarial networks across centers such as Kashmir, Kancheepuram, Jagannath Puri, and Varanasi. The Advaita school under Śāṅkara's banner informed ritual and monastic reforms linked to institutions like Jagadguru seats and stimulated contestations with Tantric and Shaiva movements.
Traditional accounts portray Śāṅkara as a sannyāsin who established four maṭhas in the four cardinal directions—associated with Sringeri, Dvaraka, Puri, and Badrinath—and who engaged in itinerant teaching across sites such as Kanchipuram, Kashi, and Ujjain. Hagiographies describe debates with regional scholars, royal patrons from dynasties like the Pallavas and Pandyas, and exchanges with ascetic leaders of Buddhist and Jaina schools. His monastic activity is tied to the organization of the Dashanami order and the institutional consolidation of Advaita monasticism.
Modern scholars in fields associated with institutions like Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Banaras Hindu University, and University of Madras have reassessed Śāṅkara's corpus, authorship, and chronology; notable academics such as Paul Hacker, S. Radhakrishnan, Anantanand Rambachan, Richard King, and T.M.P. Mahadevan have debated textual attributions and the interplay of Śāṅkara with Buddhism and Tantra. Contemporary research engages manuscript traditions preserved in libraries like the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and archives in Sanskrit manuscript projects, questioning medieval hagiography and tracing reception in colonial-era interpretations by figures linked to Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.
Artistic and ritual representations of Śāṅkara appear in temple sculpture traditions across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Uttarakhand, and in paintings that circulated in courts such as the Mysore and Tanjore ateliers. Literary depictions occur in works associated with the Bhakti literary corpus and in modern cultural productions tied to organizations like the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and prominent cultural festivals in Kumbh Mela settings. Statues, festival rites, and didactic murals at monastic seats like Sringeri and Jagannath Puri codify an institutional memory that interacts with academic reconstructions in museums and university exhibitions worldwide.
Category:Advaita Vedanta Category:Classical Indian philosophers Category:Sanskrit writers