Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shankaracharya, ), was an Indian Vedic scholar and teacher (''acharya''), whose works present a harmonizing reading of the ''sastras'', with liberating knowledge of the self at its core, synthesizing the Advaita Vedanta teachings of his time. The title of Shankracharya, used by heads of the amnaya monasteries is derived from his name.

Due to his later fame, over 300 texts are attributed to his name, including commentaries (''Bhāṣya''), introductory topical expositions (''Prakaraṇa grantha'') and poetry (''Stotra''). However most of these are likely to be by admirers or pretenders or scholars with an eponymous name.W Halbfass (1983), Studies in Kumarila and Sankara, Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik, Monographic 9, Reinbeck Works known to be written by Shankara himself are the ''Brahmasutrabhasya'', his commentaries on ten Mukhya (principal) Upanishads, his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, and the Upadesasahasri. The authenticity of Shankara being the author of has been questioned.

The central postulation of Shankara's writings is the identity of the Self ( Ātman) and ''Brahman'', defending the liberating knowledge of the Self, taking the Upanishads as an independent means of knowledge, against the ritually-oriented Mīmāṃsā school of Hinduism.Shyama Kumar Chattopadhyaya (2000) ''The Philosophy of Sankar's Advaita Vedanta''
Sarup & Sons, New Delhi Shankara's Advaita shows influences from Mahayana Buddhism, despite Shankara's critiques; and Hindu Vaishnava opponents have even accused Shankara of being a "crypto-Buddhist," a qualification which is rejected by the Advaita Vedanta tradition, highlighting their respective views on ''Atman'', ''Anatta'' and ''Brahman''.

Shankara has an unparallelled status in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta, but his influence on Hindu intellectual thought has been questioned.
Until the 10th century Shankara was overshadowed by his older contemporary Mandana-Misra, and there is no mention of him in concurring Hindu, Buddhist or Jain sources until the 11th century. The popular image Shankara started to take shape only in the 14th century, centuries after his death, when Sringeri ''matha'' started to receive patronage from the kings of the Vijayanagara EmpireR. Blake Michael (1992), The Origins of Vīraśaiva Sects, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8 and shifted their allegiance from ''advaitic'' Agamic Saivism to Brahmanical Advaita orthodoxy. Hagiographies dating from the 14th-17th centuries deified him as a ruler- renunciate, travelling on a digvijaya (conquest of the four quarters) across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy, defeating his opponents in theological debates. mphasis added/ref> These hagiographies portray him as founding four mathas ("monasteries"), and Adi Shankara also came to be regarded as the organiser of the Dashanami monastic order, and the unifier of the Shanmata tradition of worship.

Dating

Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scanty. His existing biographies were all written several centuries after his time and abound in legends and improbable events. The records of the Sringeri Matha state that Shankara was born in the 14th year of the reign of "Vikramaditya", but it is unclear to which king this name refers.K.A. Nilakantha Sastry, ''A History of South India'', 4th ed., Oxford University Press, Madras, 1976. Though some researchers identify the name with Chandragupta II (4th century CE), modern scholarship accepts the Vikramaditya as being from the Chalukya dynasty of Badami, most likely Vikramaditya II (733–746 CE).

Several different dates have been proposed for Shankara:
* 509–477 BCE: This dating is based on records of the heads of the Shankara's cardinal institutions s. The exact dates of birth of Adi Shankaracharya believed by four monasteries are Dvārakā at 491 BCE, Jyotirmath at 485 BCE, Jagannatha Puri at 484 BCE and Sringeri at 483 BCE. while according to the Kanchi Peetham Adi Shankara was born in Kali 2593 (509 BCE).
* 44–12 BCE: the commentator Anandagiri believed he was born at Chidambaram in 44 BCE and died in 12 BCE.
* 6th century CE: Telang placed him in this century. Sir R.G. Bhandarkar believed he was born in 680 CE.
* CE: Late 20th-century and early 21st-century scholarship tends to place Shankara's life of 32 years in the first half of the 8th century.Adi Shankara
Encyclopedia Britannica (2015) According to the Indologist and Asian Religions scholar John Koller, there is considerable controversy regarding the dates of Shankara – widely regarded as one of India's greatest thinkers, and "the best recent scholarship argues that he was born in 700 and died in 750 CE".
* 788–820 CE: This was proposed by early twentieth century scholars and was customarily accepted by scholars such as Max Müller, Macdonnel, Pathok, Deussen and Radhakrishna.Y. Keshava Menon, ''The Mind of Adi Shankaracharya'' 1976 pp. 108Madhava-Vidyaranya.
Sankara Digvijaya – The traditional life of Sri Sankaracharya
', Sri Ramakrishna Math. . Accessed: 14 Sep 2016), p. 20 The date 788–820 is also among those considered acceptable by Swami Tapasyananda, though he raises a number of questions. Though the 788–820 CE dates are widespread in 20th-century publications, recent scholarship has questioned the 788–820 CE dates.
* 805–897 CE: Venkiteswara not only places Shankara later than most, but also had the opinion that it would not have been possible for him to have achieved all the works apportioned to him, and has him live ninety-two years.

The popularly-accepted dating places Shankara to be a scholar from the first half of the 8th century CE.

Works

Adi Shankara's works are the foundation of Advaita Vedanta school of Hinduism, and his doctrine, states Sengaku Mayeda, "has been the source from which the main currents of modern Indian thought are derived". Over 300 texts are attributed to his name, including commentaries (''Bhāṣya''), original philosophical expositions (''Prakaraṇa grantha'') and poetry (''Stotra''). However most of these are not authentic works of Shankara and are likely to be by his admirers or scholars whose name was also Shankaracharya. Piantelli has published a complete list of works attributed to Adi Sankara, along with issues of authenticity for most.

Authentic works

Shankara is most known for his systematic reviews and commentaries (''Bhasyas'') on ancient Indian texts. Shankara's masterpiece of commentary is the ''Brahmasutrabhasya'' (literally, commentary on Brahma Sutra), a fundamental text of the Vedanta school of Hinduism.

His commentaries on ten Mukhya (principal) Upanishads are also considered authentic by scholars, and these are: ''Bhasya'' on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the Chandogya Upanishad, the Aitareya Upanishad, the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Kena Upanishad, the Isha Upanishad, the Katha Upanishad, the Mundaka Upanishad, the Prashna Upanishad, and the Mandukya Upanishad. Of these, the commentary on Mandukya, is actually a commentary on Madukya-Karikas by Gaudapada.

Other authentic works of Shankara include commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita (part of his Prasthana Trayi Bhasya). His ''Vivarana'' (tertiary notes) on the commentary by Vedavyasa on Yogasutras as well as those on Apastamba Dharma-sũtras (''Adhyatama-patala-bhasya'') are accepted by scholars as authentic works of Shankara. Among the ''Stotra'' (poetic works), the Daksinamurti Stotra, the Bhajagovinda Stotra, the Sivanandalahari, the Carpata-panjarika, the Visnu-satpadi, the Harimide, the Dasa-shloki, and the Krishna-staka are likely to be authentic.

Shankara also authored Upadesasahasri, his most important original philosophical work.Wilhelm Halbfass (1990), Tradition and Reflection: Explorations in Indian Thought, State University of New York Press, , pp. 205–208John Koller (2007), in Chad Meister and Paul Copan (Editors): The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion, Routledge, , pp. 98–106 Of other original ''Prakaranas'' (प्रकरण, monographs, treatise), seventy-six works are attributed to Shankara. Modern era Indian scholars such as Belvalkar as well as Upadhyaya accept five and thirty-nine works respectively as authentic.

Shankara's stotras considered authentic include those dedicated to Krishna (Vaishnavism) and one to Shiva (Shaivism) – often considered two different sects within Hinduism. Scholars suggest that these ''stotra'' are not sectarian, but essentially Advaitic and reach for a unified universal view of Vedanta.

Shankara's commentary on the Brahma Sutras is the oldest surviving. However, in that commentary, he mentions older commentaries like those of Dravida, Bhartrprapancha and others which are either lost or yet to be found.

Works of doubtful authenticity or not authentic

Commentaries on Nrisimha-Purvatatapaniya and Shveshvatara Upanishads are attributed to Shankara, but their authenticity is highly doubtful. Similarly, commentaries on several early and later Upanishads attributed to Shankara are rejected by scholars to be his works, and are likely works of later scholars; these include: Kaushitaki Upanishad, Maitri Upanishad, Kaivalya Upanishad, Paramahamsa Upanishad, Sakatayana Upanishad, Mandala Brahmana Upanishad, Maha Narayana Upanishad, Gopalatapaniya Upanishad. However, in Brahmasutra-Bhasya, Shankara cites some of these Upanishads as he develops his arguments, but the historical notes left by his companions and disciples, along with major differences in style and the content of the commentaries on later Upanishad have led scholars to conclude that the commentaries on later Upanishads were not Shankara's work.

The authenticity of Shankara being the author of has been questioned, though it is "so closely interwoven into the spiritual heritage of Shankara that any analysis of his perspective which fails to consider his workwould be incomplete." According to Grimes, "modern scholars tend to reject its authenticity as a work by Shankara," while "traditionalists tend to accept it." Nevertheless, does Grimes argue that "there is still a likelihood that Śaṅkara is the author of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi," noting that "it differs in certain respects from his other works in that it addresses itself to a different audience and has a different emphasis and purpose."

The '' Aparokshanubhuti'' and ''Atma bodha'' are also attributed to Shankara, as his original philosophical treatises, but this is doubtful. Paul Hacker has also expressed some reservations that the compendium '' Sarva-darsana-siddhanta Sangraha'' was completely authored by Shankara, because of difference in style and thematic inconsistencies in parts. Similarly, ''Gayatri-bhasya'' is doubtful to be Shankara's work. Other commentaries that are highly unlikely to be Shankara's work include those on ''Uttaragita'', ''Siva-gita'', ''Brahma-gita'', ''Lalita-shasranama'', ''Suta-samhita'' and ''Sandhya-bhasya''. The commentary on the Tantric work ''Lalita-trisati-bhasya'' attributed to Shankara is also unauthentic.

Shankara is widely credited with commentaries on other scriptural works, such as the Vishnu sahasranāma and the Sānatsujātiya,Johannes Buitenen (1978).
The Mahābhārata (vol. 3)
'. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. but both these are considered apocryphal by scholars who have expressed doubts. ''Hastamalakiya-bhasya'' is also widely believed in India to be Shankara's work and it is included in ''Samata''-edition of Shankara's works, but some scholars consider it to be the work of Shankara's student.

Philosophy and practice

As per Nakamura, Shankara was not an original thinker, but systematised the works of preceding philosophers. The central theme of Shankara's writings is the liberating knowledge of the identity of the Self ( Ātman) and ''Brahman''. Moksha is attained in this life by recognizing the identity of ''Atman'' and ''Brahman'', as mediated by the '' Mahavakyas'', especially ''Tat Tvam Asi'', "That you are."

Systematizer of Advaita

According to Nakamura, comparison of the known teachings of the early Vedantins and Shankara's thought shows that most of the characteristics of Shankara's thought "were advocated by someone before Śankara". Shankara "was the person who synthesized the ''Advaita-vāda'' which had previously existed before him". According to Nakamura, after the growing influence of Buddhism on Vedānta, culminating in the works of Gauḍapāda, Adi Shankara gave a Vedantic character to the Buddhistic elements in these works, synthesising and rejuvenating the doctrine of Advaita.

According to Koller, using ideas in ancient Indian texts, Shankara systematized the foundation for Advaita Vedānta in the 8th century, reforming Badarayana's Vedānta tradition. According to Mayeda, Shankara represents a turning point in the development of Vedānta, yet he also notices that it is only since Deussens's praise that Shankara "has usually been regarded as the greatest philosopher of India." Mayeda further notes that Shankara was primarily concerned with ''moksha'', "and not with the establishment of a complete system of philosophy or theology," following Potter, who qualifies Shankara as a "speculative philosopher." Lipner notes that Shankara's "main literary approach was commentarial and hence perforce disjointed rather than procedurally systematic ..though a systematic philosophy can be derived from Samkara's thought."

Shankara has been described as influenced by Shaivism and Shaktism, but his works and philosophy suggest greater overlap with Vaishnavism, influence of Yoga school of Hinduism, but most distinctly express his Advaitin convictions with a monistic view of spirituality, and his commentaries mark a turn from realism to idealism.

''Moksha'' - liberating knowledge of Brahman

The central theme of Shankara's writings is the identity of the Self ( Ātman) and ''Brahman'', One of Shankara's main concerns was explaining the liberating knowledge of the Self, and defending the Upanishads as an independent means of knowledge against the ritually-oriented Mīmāṃsā school of Hinduism.

According to Shankara, the one unchanging entity (Brahman) alone is real, while changing entities do not have absolute existence. Shankara's primary objective was to explain how moksha is attained in this life by recognizing the identity of ''Atman'' and ''Brahman'', as mediated by the ''Mahāvākyas'', especially ''Tat Tvam Asi'', "That you are." Correct knowledge of Atman and Brahman is the attainment of ''Brahman'', immortality, and leads to ''moksha'' (liberation) from suffering and ''samsara'', the cycle of rebirth This is stated by Shankara as follows:

''Pramanas'' - means of knowledge

Shankara recognized the means of knowledge, but his thematic focus was upon metaphysics and soteriology, and he took for granted the ''pramanas or "means to gain knowledge, reasoning methods that empower one to gain reliable knowledge". According to Sengaku Mayeda, "in no place in his works ..does he give any systematic account of them," taking ''Atman-Brahman'' to be self-evident (''svapramanaka'') and self-established (''svatahsiddha''), and "an investigation of the means of knowledge is of no use for the attainment of final release." Mayeda notes that Shankara's arguments are "strikingly realistic and not idealistic," arguing that ''jnana'' is based on existing things (''vastutantra''), and "not upon Vedic injunction (''codanatantra'') nor upon man (''purusatantra'').

According to Michael Comans (aka Vasudevacharya), Shankara considered perception and inference as a primary most reliable epistemic means, and where these means to knowledge help one gain "what is beneficial and to avoid what is harmful", there is no need for or wisdom in referring to the scriptures. In certain matters related to metaphysics and ethics, says Shankara, the testimony and wisdom in scriptures such as the Vedas and the Upanishads become important.

Merrell-Wolff states that Shankara accepts Vedas and Upanishads as a source of knowledge as he develops his philosophical theses, yet he never rests his case on the ancient texts, rather proves each thesis, point by point using the ''pramana