Adi Shankracharya The Incarnated Saint

One of the greatest philosophers of India, Adi Shankaracharya founded the Advaita Vedanta, which is one of the sub-schools of Vedanta. Adi Shankaracharya wholeheartedly believed in the concept of the Vedas but at the same time advocated against the rituals and religious practices that were over-exaggerated. On a closer introspection of the life history of Sri Sankaracharya, we find that he also started the monastic order known as 'Dashanami' and the 'Shanmata' convention of worship. Given here is Adi Shankaracharya's brief biography, which will give you valuable insight into the life of this great poet and philosopher. 

Above both videos are a brief biography about the Greatest Saint of India who born in Kaladi, Kerala, India and traveled across the nation, and settled in the Himalayas 

Below is a Video of the complete reciting of "Soundarya Lahari" Listen when you are at complete peace ( Recited by Mambala Sisters)

Born in a simple Brahmin family approximately in the 8th century A.D in Kaladi, Kerala, he was named Shankara and is considered to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva. It is said that Shankaracharya's mother Aryamba had a vision that Lord himself told her that he would incarnate in the form of her first-born child. Right from childhood, he showed a penchant for spiritual knowledge. He could easily recite the Puranas and the Epics and mastered the Vedas during his early years in Gurukul. Adi Shankara's teachings were thoroughly adopted by his disciples later on. 

                              Below is the video of "Soundarya Lahari" with Lyrics in Tamil too.

Right from childhood, Shankaracharya was interested in Sanyasa and wanted to lead a meaningful life detached from worldly pleasures. Once, while taking a bath in the Purna River, Shankaracharya was attacked by a crocodile. Though his mother wanted to rescue him, she could not and was helpless. Seeing the haplessness of his mother, he asked her permission for letting him renounce the world. She was left with no choice but to agree. As soon as he recited the mantra, the crocodile left him. Shankaracharya began his life as an ascetic from then on. He proceeded further down south of India in search of a Guru. 

             Below is the video of ' Soundarya Lahari' recited by Famous "MS Shubalakshmi"

Below is the video of Bhajan bring sung by "MS Shubhalakshmi". Great voice

One fine day on the banks of River Narmada he met a man named Govinda Bhagavatpada. Since Shankaracharya was much learned about the Vedas and the Puranas, Govinda Bhagavatpada agreed to be his Guru for attaining spiritual knowledge. Under his guidance, Shankaracharya gained expertise in different forms of Yoga that included Hatha, Raja, and Jnana yoga. He then received the knowledge of Brahma. Thereafter he was known as Adi Shankaracharya whose sole purpose of life was to spread the teachings of Brahma Sutras all over the world. 

Above video is of Shri Adi Shankaracharya's nice Stuthi... His basic teaching reciting of his one of the famous poem...

Adi Sankaracharya believed in the philosophy of "non-dualism". He believed in the fact that every individual has a divine existence, which can be identified with the Supreme cosmic power. Though bodies are diverse, the soul is one. The moment someone believes that the concept of life is finite; they are discarding an entirely higher and different dimension of life and knowledge. Self-realization is the key to attain Moksha and connect with God. Though he died young, he left an invaluable treasure of spiritual knowledge for future generations.

Below is provided a little more elaborated form of the life history of Shri Adi Shankaracharya.

Birth and childhood: 

Sankara was born to the Namboodiri Brahmana couple, Sivaguru and Aryaambba, in a small village called Kaladi in Kerala. The couple had remained childless for a long time and prayed for children at the 'vadakkunnathan' temple in nearby Trichur. Siva is said to have appeared to the couple in a dream and promised them a choice of one son who would be short-lived but the most brilliant philosopher of his day, or many sons who would be mediocre at best. The couple opted for a brilliant, but short-lived son, and so Sankara was born.

Sankara lost his father when quite young, and his mother performed his upanayana ceremonies with the help of her relatives. Sankara excelled in all branches of traditional vaidIka learning. A few miracles are reported about the young Sankara. As a brahmacArin, he went about collecting alms from families in the village. A lady who was herself extremely poor, but did not want to send away the boy empty-handed, gave him the last piece of Amla fruit she had at home. Sankara, sensing the abject poverty of the lady, composed a hymn (kanakadhara stavam) to Sri, the goddess of wealth, right at her doorstep. As a result, a shower of golden Amlas rewarded the lady for her piety. On another occasion, Sankara is said to have re-routed the course of the Purna river, so that his old mother would not have to walk a long distance to the river for her daily ablutions.

Samnyasa: 

Sankara was filled with the spirit of renunciation early in his life. Getting married and settling into the life of a householder was never part of his goal in life, though his mother was anxious to see him as a grihastha. Once when he was swimming in the river, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. Sankara sensed that he was destined to die at that moment, and decided to directly enter the fourth Asrama of samnyasa right then. This kind of renunciation is called Apat samaanyasa. The crocodile released him when he thus mentally decided to renounce the world, and Sankara decided to regularize his decision by going to an accomplished guru. To comfort his anxious mother, he promised that he would return at the moment of her death, to conduct her funeral rites, notwithstanding the fact that he would be a sannyasI then.

Sankara then traveled far and wide in search of a worthy guru who would initiate him and regularize his vow of samnyasa, till he came to the banks of the river Narmada in central India. Here was the ASrama of Govinda bhagavatpAda, the disciple of gaudapada, the famous author of the mandukya karikas. Sankara was accepted as a disciple by Govinda, who initiated him into the Paramahamsa order of samnyasa, the highest kind of renunciation. Seeing the intellectual acumen of his disciple, Govinda commanded Sankara to expound the philosophy of Vedanta through commentaries on the principal Upanishads, the Brahmasutras, and the Gita. Sankara took leave of his guru and traveled to various holy places in India, composing his commentaries in the meantime. At this time he was barely a teenager. He attracted many disciples around him, prominent among whom was Sanatana, who was later to be called padmapAda. In this period, Sankara wrote commentaries on Badarayana's Brahmasutras, the various Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. These commentaries, called Bhashyas, stand at the pinnacle of Indian philosophical writing and have triggered a long tradition of sub-commentaries known as Varttikas, Tiks, and Tippanis. He also commented upon the adhyAtma-patella of the Apastamba sutras, and on Vyasa's Bhashya to Patanjali's yoga sutras. In addition to these commentarial texts, Sankara wrote independent treatises called prakarana granthas, including the upadesasahasrI, Atmabodha, etc.

In addition to writing his own commentaries, Sankara sought out leaders of other schools, in order to engage them in a debate. As per the accepted philosophical tradition in India, such debates helped to establish a new philosopher, and also to win disciples and converts from other schools. It was also traditional for the loser in the debate to become a disciple of the winner. Thus Sankara debated with Buddhist philosophers, with followers of sAm.khya, and with Purva Mimamsa kas, the followers of Vedic ritualism, and proved more than capable in defeating all his opponents in debate. Sankara then sought out kumArila Bhatta, the foremost proponent of the Purva Mimamsa in his age, but Bhatta was on his deathbed and directed Sankara to viSvarUpa, his disciple. viSvarUpa is sometimes identified with Mandana Misra.

Sankara's debate with Visvarupa was unique. The referee at the debate was Visvarupa's wife, Bharati, who was herself very well-learned and regarded as an incarnation of Goddess Saraswati. At stake was a whole way of life. The agreement was that if Visvarupa won, Sankara would consent to marriage and the life of a householder, whereas if Sankara won, Visvarupa would renounce all his wealth and possessions and become a sannyasi disciple of Sankara. The debate is said to have lasted for whole weeks, till in the end, Visvarupa had to concede defeat and become a sannyasi. Bharati was a fair judge, but before declaring Sankara as the winner, she challenged Sankara with questions about Kamasastra, which he knew nothing about. Sankara, therefore, requested some time, during which, using the subtle yogic process called parakAya-praveSa, he entered the body of a dying king and experienced the art of love with the queens. Returning to Visvarupa's home, he answered all of Bharati's questions, after which Visvarupa was ordained as a sannyAsI by the name of Suresvara. He was to become the most celebrated disciple of Sankara, writing vArttikas to Sankara's Bhashyas on the Yajurveda Upanishads, in addition to his own independent texts on various subjects.

Establishment of Mathas: 

Sankara continued to travel with his disciples all over the land, all the while composing philosophical treatises and engaging opponents in debate. It is said that none of his opponents could ever match his intellectual prowess and the debates always ended with Sankara's victory. No doubt this is true, given the unrivaled respect and popularity that Sankara's philosophical system enjoys to this day. In the course of his travels, Sankara stayed for a long time at the site of the old Asrama of the Rishis Vibhandaka and Rshyasrnga, in the place known as Suragiri (Sringeri). Some texts mention that Sankara stayed at Sringeri for twelve years. A hermitage grew around him here, which soon developed into a famous maTha (monastery). Suresuvara, the disciple whom he had won after a long debate, was installed as the head of this new Asrama. Similar mathas were established in the pilgrim centers of Puri, Dvaraka, and Joshimath near Badrinath, and padmapAda, hastAmalaka and trotaka were placed in charge of them. These are known as the Amnaya mathas, and they continue to function today. Their heads have also come to be known as SankarAcAryas, in honour of their founder, and revered as Jagadgurus, or teachers of the world. Sankara also organized the community of ekadaNDI monks into the sampradAya of dasanaml sannyasins and affiliated them with the four mathas that he established.

Meanwhile, Sankara heard that his mother was dying, and decided to visit her. Remembering his promise to her, he performed her funeral rites. His ritualistic relatives would not permit him to do the rites himself, as he was a sannyasi, but Sankara overrode their objections, and built a pyre himself and cremated his mother in her own backyard. After this, he resumed his travels, visiting many holy places, reviving pUjAs at temples that had fallen into neglect, establishing 'Sri yantras' at devi temples as in Kanchipuram, and composing many devotional hymns.

Ascension of the sarvajnapitha: 

In the course of his travels, Sankara reached Kashmir. Here was a temple dedicated to Sarada (Sarasvati), the goddess of learning, which housed the sarvajnapITha, the Throne of Omniscience. It was a tradition for philosophers to visit the place and engage in debate. The victorious one would be allowed to ascend the sarvajnapITha. It is said that no philosopher from the southern region had ever ascended the pitha, till Sankara visited Kashmir and defeated all the others there. He then ascended the sarvajnapITha with the blessings of Goddess Sharada. (A few centuries later, rAmAnuja, the teacher of visishtadvaita, would visit the same sarvajnapitha in search of the Baudhayana Vrtti. However, a variant tradition places the sarvajnapitha in the south Indian city of Kanchipuram.)

Sankara was reaching the age of 32 now. He had expounded the Vedanta philosophy through his writings; he had attracted many intelligent disciples to him, who could carry on the Vedantic tradition; and he had established monastic centers for them in the form of mathas. His had been a short, but eventful life. He retired to the Himalayas and disappeared inside a cave near Kedarnath. This cave is traditionally pointed out as the site of his samAdhi. Other variant traditions place Sankara's last days at Karavirpitham or at Mahur in Maharashtra, Trichur in Kerala or Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. It is a measure of SankarAcArya's widespread fame that such conflicting traditions have arisen around his name.

True to the traditions of samanyasa, Sankara was a peripatetic monk, who travelled the length and breadth of the country in his short lifetime. His fame spread so far and wide, that various legends are recounted about him from different parts of India. The true sannyAsI that he was, he lived completely untouched by the fabric of society. So much so that even the location of Kaladi, his birth-place, remained generally unknown for a long time. The credit of identifying this village in Kerala goes to one of his 19th-century successors at Sringeri, Sri Sachidananda Siv abhinava Narsimha Bharati. Similarly, the credit of renovating Sankara's samadhi-sthala near Kedarnath goes to Sri Abhinava Sachidananda tirtha, his 20th-century successor at Dvaraka.

Shri Adi Shankaracharya has given the following guidelines to remain away from poverty. 

╔══════════════════╗
║       घर मे गरीबी आने के कारण      ║ 
╚══════════════════╝
1= रसोई घर के पास में पेशाब करना ।
2= टूटी हुई कन्घी से कंगा करना ।
3= टूटा हुआ सामान उपयोग करना।
4= घर में कूडा - कचरा रखना।
5= रिश्तेदारो से बदसुलूकी करना।
6= बांए पैर से पैंट पहनना।
7= संध्या वेला मे सोना।
8= मेहमान आने पर नाराज होना।
9= आमदनी से ज्यादा खर्च करना।
10= दाँत से रोटी काट कर खाना।
11= चालीस दीन से ज्यादा बाल रखना ।
12= दांत से नाखून काटना।
14= औरतो का खडे खडे बाल बांधना।
15 = फटे हुए कपड़े पहनना ।
16= सुबह सूरज निकलने तक सोते रहना।
17= पेड के नीचे पेशाब करना।
18= उल्टा सोना।
19= श्मशान भूमि में हसना ।
20= पीने का पानी रात में खुला रखना ।
21= रात में मांगने वाले को कुछ ना देना ।
22= बुरे ख्याल लाना।
23= पवित्रता के बगैर धर्मग्रंथ पढना।
24= शौच करते वक्त बाते करना।
25= हाथ धोए बगैर भोजन करना ।
26= अपनी सन्तान को कोसना।
27= दरवाजे पर बैठना।
28= लहसुन प्याज के छिलके जलाना।
29= साधू फकीर को अपमानित करना या फिर और कोई चीज खरीदना।
30= फूक मार के दीपक बुझाना।
31= ईश्वर को धन्यवाद किए बगैर भोजन करना।
32= झूठी कसम खाना।
33= जूते चप्पल उल्टा देख कर उसको सीधा नही करना।
34= हालात जनाबत मे हजामत करना।
35= मकड़ी का जाला घर में रखना।
36= रात को झाडू लगाना।
37= अन्धेरे में भोजन करना ।
38= घड़े में मुंह लगाकर पानी पीना।
39= धर्मग्रंथ न पढ़ना।
40= नदी, तालाब में शौच साफ करना और उसमें पेशाब करना ।
41= गाय , बैल को लात मारना ।
42= माँ-बाप का अपमान करना ।
43= किसी की गरीबी और लाचारी का मजाक उडाना ।
44= दाँत गंदे रखना और रोज स्नान न करना ।
45= बिना स्नान किये और संध्या के समय भोजन करना ।
46= पडोसियों का अपमान करना, गाली देना ।
47= मध्यरात्रि में भोजन करना ।
48= गंदे बिस्तर में सोना ।
49= वासना और क्रोध से भरे रहना एवम्...
50= दूसरे को अपने से हीन समझना आदि ।
----- ----- ----- ----- ----
शास्त्रों में है कि जो दूसरो का भला करता है।
ईश्वर उसका भला करता है।
             निवेदक -

                शंकराचार्य जी ।

One night Sri Adi Shankaracharya, the great Advaita master, was desperately searching for something on the street outside his small hut.

When his pupil returned from his errand, he saw this and curiously asked the Master, “Aacharya, what are you looking for here on the street at this hour?”

Shankaracharya replied, “I lost my needle, I am looking for it.”

The pupil joined him in the search, but after searching for a while, he asked, “Can you try and recollect where you might have dropped it?”

Shankaracharya said, “Of course, I remember. I dropped it near the bed in the hut.”

The pupil, utterly astonished at the strange answer, said, “Aacharya, you say you lost it inside the house, then why are we looking for it outside?”

Shankaracharya innocently replied, “There is no oil left in the lamp, so it is pitch dark inside the house. Hence I thought of searching for it outside since there is enough street light here.”

While holding back his laugh, the pupil said, “If you lost your needle inside the house, how could you even expect to find it outside?”

Shankaracharya simply smiled back at the pupil and said, "Isn't that what we do? We run to far away temples and walk up mountains to search for what we have lost inside ourselves. We are all seeking outside what we have lost inside us. Why? Just because it is pitch dark inside.
"Silly, aren’t we?" 
"Light the Lamp inside you and find your lost treasure right therein."

"Shraddha Peth" at POK which was established by "Shri Adi Shankracharya"

Adi Shankracharya's pictorial biography...

Note: Details provided above are gathered from various reliable books and internet links by Sudesh DJV... Indore / MP /India

Sudesh DJV writes on contemporary subjects in the form of Articles and poems which is in the interest of the Nation in particular and for Mankind in general.