Adi guru shankaracharya

LIFE SKETCH OF ADI GURU SHANKARACHARYA, life journey of becoming a great guru.

1. आदि शंकराचार्य

2. PRESENTATION ON PHILOSOPHY OF ADI SHANKARACHARYA Ms . Ritu Ahirwal Student of BNYS

3. BEFORE BIRTH About 2500 years ago, when the spiritualization of the people greatly reduced, all the Gods and the Rishis went to Kailash and pleaded with Lord Shiva to revive the world. Lord Shiva agreed with their request and informed that he will be born in this world. Lord Brahma, Indra and others also agreed to be born in this world to help Lord Shiva.

4. PARENTS Sivaguru and Aryamba In Kerala, a Brahmin and his wife,spent their life in pooja and in giving alms (charity) to poor and in other good deeds. This childless couple went to Trichur and performed puja for 48 days to Lord Shiva (Lord Vadakkunathan ) and prayed for a son. Lord Shiva melted in their devotion and appeared before them and blessed them a son who is extremely intelligent.

5. BIRTH And Shankara was born on Vaishakh Shukla Panchami in Punarvasu Nakshatra , that is 16 April 509 B.C. at Kaladi village in Kerala.

6. GURUKUL According to tradition a brahmachari (student) had to go from house to house and collect alms and give it to his guru.  On a Dwadasi day Shankara happened to go to the house of a very poor lady for alms for his guru.

7. GURUKUL She gave the only Amla fruit she had to Sankara as she could not send a Brahmachari empty handed. Sankara was moved by her selflessness and prayed to Goddess Lakshmi in a sloka called On completion of this stotram , GoddessLakshmi appeare inperson and showered gold coins on the poor lady's house.

8. AT THE AGE OF 8 YEARS OLD He wanted to take  sanyasa   and become a monk. But his mother wouldn’t hear any of it. Shankara did not leave without his mother’s permission and he decided to wait a little longer .

9. AT THE AGE OF 8 YEARS OLD One day when Sankara was taking bath, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. Sankara called out to his mother. Aryambal came running and she cried for help. Sri Sankara told his mother that his life was nearing to an end, but if he became a Sanyasi , he could start a new life as a sannyasi . Thus Sri Sankara took Sanyasa when he was only eight years old on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi 2639 i.e. 16 October 502 B.C

10. SEARCH OF GURU Shankara left home to search for a guru with a promise to his mother that he would come back when he needed her. He then went in search of a guru, a young Shankara walked at least 2000 kilometers before meeting Govinda Bhagavatpada .

11. Govinda Bhagavatpada Under Govinda Bhagavatpada’s guidance, Shankara studied ‘ Gaudapadiya Karika ’, ‘ Brahmasutra ’, Vedas, and Upanishads. To his teacher’s amazement, Shankara was able to master almost all the ancient scripts in a short time. During the course of his journey, Shankara’s teachings were challenged by many philosophers and thinkers. He was even involved in a number of debates pertaining to Hinduism.

12. Learns Principle of Oneness Sri Govinda Pada taught various Vedas to Sri Sankara . He also taught about Advaita , the principle that every one in this world is the manifestation of God and that God and Atman are one and the same. With the minimum efforts in his prayer and worship, he attained yogasiddhi , or the highest proficiency in yoga.

13. Guru Swami Govind was pleased with the proficiency of his disciple . He instructed Shankaracharya to write the commentary on vedantanta at kashi . There, he prayed to lord vishwanath and began writing a commentary on vedanta . There, many people became his disciples, his fame spread throughout the country.

14. UNTOUCHABLE PERSON One morning, Shankaracharya was going to bathe in the river Ganga . Suddenly, an untouchable person came in his way. Shankaracharya scolded him and commanded him to move out of his way. The person questioned him, “whom are you calling an untouchable- to this body or to the atman? Can the soul be ever touched or stained”

15. UNTOUCHABLE PERSON Then what is the difference between you and me? This reasoning of the person influenced shankaracharya greatly. Keeping aside all his dignity, he fell at the feet of that person. He paid the highest regard. He began to think – he is not an ordinary person, he can be none other than god himself.

16. FOUNDER OF ADVAITA VEDANTA ADVAITA means ‘not two’ or ‘non-dual’. It is the branch of Vedanta. It refers to the idea that Brahman alone is ultimately real, the phenomenal transient world is an illusory appearance of brahman , and the true self, atman, is not different from Brahman.

17. BUDDHISM AND JAINISM After completing his commentary on vedanta at Kashi , he visited different towns and cities to interpret his opinion , and re-establish the vedic religion. During those days, Buddhism and Jainism were quite influential in the country. Both the religions were opposed to the vedic religion.

18. KUMARILA BHATTA Therefore, Shankaracharya gave special attention to this issue. Shankaracharya wanted to eliminate the differences among various religions. He wanted to establish pure vedic religion. Kumatila bhatta , was a great thinker and scholar of his time. He was an expert in Buddhism and Jainism. Shankaracharya went to meet him.

19. MANDAN MISHRA When he met K umarila bhatta , he was about to depart from the world through samadhi . So, he sent his close disciple, Mandan Mishra to shankaracharya , who was also a learned person. Even the great scholars had to think twice before entering into scholarly debate with him. He live at Mahishmati . Shankarcharya went to debate with him.

20. DEBATE BETWEEN BOTH OF THEM The debate between Mandan Mishra and Shankaracharya con tinued for several days. Finally, Mandan Mishra accepted his defeat and became famous as Sureshwaracharya . The next important juncture of Shankaracharya's life was Sringeri , situated on the bank of the River Tungabhadra in the state of Karnataka.

21. 'Vedanta Gyan peeth Shankaracharya established his first 'Vedanta Gyan peeth ' there and installed the statue of Sri Sharda , the goddess of learning. His disciple Sureshwaracharya was appointed as the chancellor there. This peeth became the centre of Vedantic learning.

22. FOUR DHAMAS After Sringeri , Shankaracharya established ' Gowardhanpeeth ' at Jagannath Puri in the east, ' Kalkapeeth ' at Dwarka in the west and ‘ Jyotipeeth ' at Badrikashram in the north. These four peethas are re garded as the four Dhams or the four spiritual centres .

23. SHANKARACHARYA’s MOTHER Meanwhile, Shankaracharya's mother turned very old and was on her deathbed. Therefore, he had to go to Kaldi , according to the promise he had made to her. Having reached there, he learnt that his mother had died. After performing his mother's last rites, Shankaracharya trav elled from Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari in the south to Kashmir in the north and from Jagannath Puri in the east to Dwarka in the west.

24. His main aim was to propagate the Vedic religion. During this course, he brought about the regeneration of many discarded temples. He said, "The real life, is the one which shines forth with knowledge, devotion, renunciation and dedication.

25. He propagated advaitism , which means in the universe, there is only one pervasive Brahma. Brahma is the only truth and the whole world is a myth,Brahma Satyam, Jaga mithya . The world is ever changing these changes are neither import ant nor real. Therefore, everyone must see God pervaded in every atom of the universe. One, who has the extensive vision, can find the entire world as his motherland and all human beings as his brothers."

26. Books written by Adi Sankara A Bhasya on the Brahma Sutra . He wrote several books, which are of great eminence. Commentaries on Brahmasutra and on 12 Upanishads like Isha , Kena , Katha , etc. and commentary on the Geeta are well known. Besides, SarvaVedanta-Siddhanta Sangraha , Viveka-Churamani , Prabodh-Sudharaka , etc. are the other celebrated works by Shankaracharya .

27. LAST DAYS OF SHANKARACHARYA No decisive detail is available on Shankaracharya's last days. However, it is well known that he lived only up to the age of 32 and died in year 820 CE. An average person will find the age of 32 too young to understand the meaning of life, but Shankaracharya , in his very short span of life, rekindled the torch of religion throughout India and brought about a religious renaissance. His works in the fields of religion and philosophy are a description of the qualities of ancient religion in India. He created history of Indian culture in his own life.

28. His works in the fields of religion and philosophy are a description of the qualities of ancient religion in India. He created history of Indian culture in his own life. The saintly life of such a great person will constantly inspire us.

29. REFRENCES https://blog.studyiq.com/biography-sankarachrya-free-pdf-download/ https://sojournwithsan.com/2020/06/14/kalady-the-birthplace-of-jagadguru-adi-shankaracharyasangeeta-venkatesh/ http://www.sadgurus-saints-sages.com/books/Adishankaraachraya/lifesketch.pdf

30. THANK YOU .