Advaita Vedanta Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Adi Shankara==== {{Main|Adi Shankara}} {{See also|History of India#Late Middle Kingdoms – The Late-Classical Age|l1=Late-Classical Age|History of Hinduism#Middle Ages|l2=Hinduism in the Middle Ages}} Very little is known about Shankara. According to Dalal, "Hagiographical accounts of his life, the ''[[Digvijaya (conquest)|Śaṅkaravijayas]]'' ("Conquests of Śaṅkara"), were composed several centuries after his death,"<ref group=web name=Stanford_Dalal2021/> in the 14th to 17th century, and established Shankara as a rallying symbol of valuesin a time when most of India was conquered by Muslims.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}} He is often considered to be the founder of the Advaita Vedānta school, but was actually a systematizer, not a founder.<ref group=web name=Stanford_Dalal2021/>{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=678}} =====Systematizer of Advaita thought===== Shankara was a scholar who synthesized and systematized ''Advaita-vāda'' thought which already existed at his lifetime.{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=678}} 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".{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=678}} 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,{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|p=13}} synthesising and rejuvenating the doctrine of Advaita.{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|p=679}} According to Koller, using ideas in ancient Indian texts, Shankara systematized the foundation for Advaita [[Vedanta|Vedānta]] in the 8th century, reforming [[Badarayana]]'s Vedānta tradition.<ref name=johnkoller/> According to Mayeda, Shankara represents a turning point in the development of Vedānta,{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|p=13}} yet he also notices that it is only since Deussens's praise that Shankara "has usually been regarded as the greatest philosopher of India."{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=XV}} Mayeda further notes that Shankara was primarily concerned with ''moksha'', "and not with the establishment of a complete system of philosophy or theology,"{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=XV}} following Potter, who qualifies Shankara as a "speculative philosopher."{{sfn|Mayeda|1992|p=XVIII, note 3}} 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."{{sfn|Lipner|2000|p=56, incl. note 12}} =====Writings===== {{Main|Adi Shankara bibliography}} Adi Shankara is best known for his reviews and commentaries (''Bhasyas'') on ancient Indian texts. His ''Brahmasutrabhasya'' (literally, commentary on [[Brahma Sutra]]) is a fundamental text of the Vedānta school of Hinduism.{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=6–7}} His commentaries on ten [[Mukhya Upanishads|Mukhya]] (principal) Upanishads are also considered authentic by scholars.{{sfn|Mayeda|2006|pp=6–7}}{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=30–31}} Other authentic works of Shankara include commentaries on the Bhagavad Gitā (part of his [[Prasthana Trayi]] Bhasya).{{sfn|Rambachan|1991|pp=xii–xiii}} He also authored [[Upadesasahasri]], his most important original philosophical work.<ref name=johnkoller>John Koller (2007), in Chad Meister and Paul Copan (Editors): ''The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion'', Routledge, {{ISBN|978-1-134-18001-1}}, pp. 98–106</ref><ref name=halbfassyoga>Wilhelm Halbfass (1990), ''Tradition and Reflection: Explorations in Indian Thought'', State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-0362-4}}, pp. 205–208</ref> The authenticity of Shankara being the author of {{IAST|[[Viveka Chudamani|Vivekacūḍāmaṇi]]}}<ref>Adi Shankaracharya, [https://archive.org/stream/vivekachudamanio00sankrich#page/n3/mode/2up Vivekacūḍāmaṇi] S Madhavananda (Translator), Advaita Ashrama (1921)</ref> has been questioned, and "modern scholars tend to reject its authenticity as a work by Shankara."<ref>John Grimes (2004), ''The Vivekacudamani of Sankaracarya Bhagavatpada: An Introduction and Translation'', Ashgate, {{ISBN|978-0-7546-3395-2}}, p.23</ref> =====Influence of Shankara===== While Shankara has an unparalleled status in the history of Advaita Vedanta, scholars have questioned the traditional narrative of Shankara's early influence in India.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|King|2002|p=128}}{{sfn|Roodurmun|2002|pp=33–34}} Until the 10th century Shankara was overshadowed by his older contemporary [[Maṇḍana Miśra]], who was considered to be the major representative of Advaita.{{sfn|King|2002|p=128}}{{sfn|Roodurmun|2002|pp=33–34}} Only when Vacaspati Misra, an influential student of Maṇḍana Miśra, harmonised the teachings of Shankara with those of Maṇḍana Miśra, Shankara's teachings gained prominence.{{sfn|King|1999|p=55}} Some modern Advaitins argue that most of post-Shankara Advaita Vedanta actually deviates from Shankara, and that only his student Suresvara, who's had little influence, represents Shankara correctly.{{sfn|Potter|2006|p=6-7}} In this view, Shankara's influential student Padmapada misunderstood Shankara, while his views were manitained by the Suresvara school.{{sfn|Potter|2006|p=6-7}} According to [[Satchidanandendra Sarasvati]], "almost all the later Advaitins were influenced by Mandana Misra and [[Bhāskara (Bhedabheda Vedanta)|Bhaskara]]."{{sfn|Satchidanandendra Sarasvati|1997|p=6}}{{refn|group=note|name="Influence_of_Shankara"}} Until the 11th century, Vedanta itself was a peripheral school of thought;{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=157; 229 note 57}} Vedanta became a major influence when Vedanta philosophy was utilized by various sects of Hinduism to ground their doctrines,{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|pp=691-693}} such as [[Ramanuja]] (11th c.), who aligned [[bhakti]], "the major force in the religions of Hinduism," with philosophical thought, meanwhile rejecting Shankara's views.<ref group=web name=EB_Ramanuja>Encyclopædia Britannica, [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramanuja Ramanajua] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621165517/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramanuja |date=21 June 2022 }}</ref> The cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta started only centuries later, in the [[Vijayanagara Empire]] in the 14th century,{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}}{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|pp=178–183}} when Sringeri ''matha'' started to receive patronage from the kings of the Vijayanagara Empire and became a powerful institution.{{sfn|Goodding|2013|p=89}} [[Vidyaranya]], also known as Madhava, who was the Jagadguru of the Śringeri Śarada Pītham from ca. 1374–1380 to 1386{{sfn|Goodding|2013|p=89}} played a central role in this growing influence of Advaita Vedanta, and the [[deification]] of Shankara as a [[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)|ruler]]-[[Sannyasin|renunciate]].{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29–30}}{{sfn|Blake Michael|1992|p=60–62 with notes 6, 7 and 8}}{{sfn|Nowicka|2016|p=147}}{{sfn|Bader|2001|p=vii}} From 1346 onwards Sringeri ''matha'' received patronage from the Vijayanagara kings, and its importance and influence grew rapidly in the second half of the 14th century.{{sfn|Goodding|2013|p=89}}{{refn|group=note|The insignificance of Srineri ''matha'' before this time was such, that Hacker and Kulke & Rothermund have argued that Sringeri ''matha'' may have been founded by Vidyaranya himself, proclaiming that it was established by Shankara himself.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|1998|p=177}}}} Vidyaranya and the Sringeri matha competed for royal patronage and converts with Srivaisnava ''Visistadvaita'', which was dominant in territories conquered by the Vijayanagara Empire,{{sfn|Stoker|2016|p=55-56}} and Madhava (the pre-ordination name of Vidyaranya) presented Shankara's teachings as the summit of all ''darsanas'', portraying the other ''darsanas'' as partial truths which converged in Shankara's teachings.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}} The subsequent ''[[Digvijaya (conquest)|Shankara Digvijayam]]'' genre, following the example of the earlier ''Madhva Digvijayam'',{{sfn|Clark|2006|p=157}} presented Shankara as a [[Chakravarti (Sanskrit term)|ruler]]-[[Sannyasin|renunciate]], conquering the four quarters of India and bringing harmony.{{sfn|Nowicka|2016|p=147}}{{sfn|Bader|2001|p=vii}} The genre created legends to turn Shankara into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his ''digvijaya'' ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror."{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}}{{sfn|Kulke|Rothermund|1998|p=177}} Shankara's position was further established in the 19th and 20th century, when neo-Vedantins and western Orientalists, following Vidyaranya, elevated Advaita Vedanta "as the connecting theological thread that united Hinduism into a single religious tradition."{{sfn|King|2002|p=129}} Shankara became "an iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture," despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta.{{sfn|King|2002|pp=129-130}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page