Life
According to most of the texts, Adi Shankaracharya (686 - 718) was born as the son of Namboothiri Brahmin couple, Shivaguru and Ar in a place called Kalady, which is a small village in Kerala, India. People are of the say that, this great soul survived for only thirty two years. It is said that, Shankaracharya was born after many years of his parents' marriage. His parents had offered prayers to Lord Shiva at the Vadakkunnathan temple for the birth of child.
There is an interesting legend associated with the birth of Adi
Shankaracharya. It is believed that, Lord Shiva appeared in the dreams
of Sankara's parents and asked them to make a choice, whether they want
to have a mediocre child who lives a long life or a precocious child who
would not survive for a longer period of time. Thus, they mutually
decided to go in for the second option. Later, a son was born to them,
who was named Shankara. Shankara is a Sanskrit word, which means
bestower of goodness. Adi Shankaracharya lost his father when he was
very young. When he was five years old, he began his student life. He
always wanted to lead the life of a monastic.Adi Shankaracharya Philosophy
Adi Shankaracharya had a strong faith in the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. Advaita is a term which basically means identity of the self (which is more commonly referred to as 'Atman') and the Whole (Brahman). Adi Shankaracharya took the initiative of promoting the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, which is based on the concept of non duality. The beliefs & philosophies of Adi Shankaracharya formed the base for the Smarta tradition or Smartism. More…
Mathas Adi Shankaracharya founded four Mathas, one at Sringeri in Karnataka in the south and the others at Jyotirmath (Joshimath) in Uttarakhand in the north, Puri in Orissa in the east and Dwaraka in Gujarat in the west. For each Math, he gave responsibility to one of his disciples.
