Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara, also known as Adi Shankaracharya or Shankara Bhagavatpada, was an influential Indian philosopher and Advaita Vedanta teacher traditionally placed in the 8th century CE. Although historical details about his life remain sparse, his later prominence transformed him into an iconic figure within Hindu religious and philosophical culture. Subsequent tradition credited him with consolidating Advaita Vedanta, reconciling diverse devotional sects, and establishing monastic institutions that shaped later Hindu religious identity.

Life, Context and Traditional Narratives

Reliable biographical data for Adi Shankara are limited, and much of his popular image derives from medieval hagiographies composed between the 14th and 17th centuries. These narratives portray Shankara as a digvijaya conqueror, an itinerant monk who travelled across the Indian subcontinent debating rival schools of thought and reviving Vedic learning. They also depict him as the organiser of the Daśanāmi monastic order and founder of four key mathas located at Sringeri, Puri, Dvārakā and Joshimath. The modern monastic title Śankarācārya used by the heads of certain Hindu monasteries derives from his name, reflecting the enduring institutional legacy attributed to him.
A major element of the traditional narrative is his role in doctrinal reconciliation through the Śaṇmata system of worship—an integrative form of ritual practice involving devotion to six deities: Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. Tradition holds that Shankara taught these deities to be manifestations of one supreme Brahman, thereby promoting unity across sectarian lines including Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism.

Works and Intellectual Contributions

Although around 300 texts are attributed to Shankara, critical scholarship regards only a limited corpus as authentically his. Works widely accepted as genuine include:

• Brahmasūtra Bhāṣya
• Commentaries on ten principal Upanishads
• Bhagavad Gītā Bhāṣya
• Upadeśasāhasrī

These writings centre on the liberating knowledge (jñāna) of the self (ātman) as non-different from Brahman. Shankara drew upon the Upanishads as independent scriptural authorities, challenging the ritualistic exegesis characteristic of the Mīmāṃsā tradition. His interpretation synthesised earlier strands of Advaita thought and set an enduring philosophical framework for later Vedantins.
Although he critiqued Buddhist philosophical positions, elements of Mahāyāna thought have been detected in his writings, particularly concerning epistemology and metaphysics. Vaishnava critics historically accused him of advocating ideas too close to Buddhism, but the Advaita tradition distinguishes its affirmation of an eternal self from Buddhist doctrines of anattā.

Dating and Chronological Debates

Multiple and conflicting chronologies exist for Shankara, shaped by traditional monastic lineages, textual interpretations and modern scholarly analysis.
Traditional dates: The four cardinal mathas assign dates ranging from 509–477 BCE, supported by monastic genealogies and astronomical references in texts such as Śaṅkara Vijaya. The Kanchipuram Peetham places his birth in 509 BCE and death in 476 BCE. However, these dates conflict with epigraphical and historical evidence.
Scholarly dates: Nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholars initially proposed 788–820 CE. While influential for decades, this estimate has been reconsidered. Recent critical scholarship tends to situate Shankara in the early 8th century, with a plausible lifespan between c. 700 and 750 CE. This range is inferred from engagement with philosophical debates traceable to authors active between the 5th and 7th centuries, and from the fact that Vāchaspati Miśra’s commentary—dependent on Shankara’s work—dates to the early 9th century.
Other proposed datings include the 6th century CE, the 1st century BCE, and a late 8th to early 9th-century chronology spanning up to ninety-two years. These variants reflect divergent interpretive traditions rather than established historical data.

Traditional and Historical Perspectives

Within Advaita Vedanta, Shankara enjoys unparalleled authority, and hagiographic literature casts him as the restorer of dharma at a time when Buddhism and Jainism were seen as challenges to Vedic orthodoxy. This portrayal has influenced modern interpretations that depict him as contributing to Buddhism’s eventual decline in India, although historical verification of such claims remains limited.
His philosophical influence, however, is complex. Early medieval evidence indicates that Shankara’s impact was not immediately dominant. Scholars note that until the 10th century, the Advaita thinker Maṇḍana Miśra overshadowed him. Maṇḍana, a Mīmāṃsā scholar and follower of Kumārila, authored the Brahmasiddhi, a critical Advaita text whose theory of error shaped Vedāntic discourse for centuries. His student Vāchaspati Miśra harmonised Maṇḍana’s thought with that of Shankara in the Bhāmatī sub-school of Advaita, which emphasised ontological aspects of ignorance (avidyā) and advocated yogic contemplation as a pathway to liberation.
Only from the 14th century onward—particularly under Vijayanagara patronage—did Shankara’s image grow into the dominant representative of Advaita Vedanta. The Sringeri matha, once aligned more closely with Agamic Shaivism, elevated his position, contributing to the widespread acceptance of Shankara as the central figure of Advaitic orthodoxy.