Advaita Vedanta

===Monastic order - Mathas===
{{See also|Dashanami Sampradaya}}
[[File:Vidyashankara Temple at Shringeri.jpg|thumb|(Vidyashankara temple) at [[Sringeri Sharada Peetham]], [[Shringeri]]]]

Advaita Vedānta is not just a philosophical system, but also a tradition of [[Sannyasa|renunciation]]. Philosophy and renunciation are closely related:<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition" />

{{blockquote|Most of the notable authors in the advaita tradition were members of the sannyasa tradition, and both sides of the tradition share the same values, attitudes and metaphysics.<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition" />}}

According to tradition, around 740 AD Gaudapada founded [[Shri Gaudapadacharya Math]]{{refn|group=note|{{lang-sa|श्री संस्थान गौडपदाचार्य मठ}}, {{IAST|Śrī Sansthāna Gauḍapadācārya Maṭha}}}}, also known as {{IAST|Kavaḷē maṭha}}. It is located in [[Kavale]], [[Ponda taluk|Ponda]], Goa,<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vidya-ashramvidyaorder.org/index.V.html |title=Asram Vidya Order, ''Biographical Notes About Sankara And Gaudapada'' |access-date=14 July 2011 |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809145405/http://vidya-ashramvidyaorder.org/index.V.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and is the oldest [[matha]] of the [[South India]]n [[Saraswat Brahmin]]s.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|title=Shri Gowdapadacharya & Shri Kavale Math (A Commemoration volume)| page=10}}</ref><ref group=web>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101459/http://www.shrikavalemath.org.in/default.htm Kavale Math Official Website]</ref>

Shankara, himself considered to be an incarnation of [[Shiva]],<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition" /> is credited with establishing the Dashanami Sampradaya, organizing a section of the [[Dashanami Sampradaya|Ekadandi monks]] under an umbrella grouping of ten names.<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition">[http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Shankara/shankar4.html Sankara Acarya Biography – Monastic Tradition] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508091224/http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Shankara/shankar4.html |date=8 May 2012}}</ref> Several Hindu monastic and Ekadandi traditions, however, remained outside the organisation of the Dasanāmis.<ref>Karigoudar Ishwaran, ''Ascetic Culture''</ref><ref>Wendy Sinclair-Brull, ''Female Ascetics''</ref><ref>H.A. Rose, Ibbetson, Denzil Ibbetson Sir, and Maclagan, ''Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province'', p. 857</ref>

Sankara is said to have organised the Hindu monks of these ten sects or names under four {{IAST|[[Matha|Maṭhas]]}} (Sanskrit: {{lang|sa|मठ}}) (monasteries), called the ''Amnaya Mathas'', with the headquarters at [[Dvārakā]] in the West, [[Jagannatha Puri]] in the East, [[Sringeri]] in the South and [[Badrikashrama]] in the North.<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition"/> According to tradition, each math was first headed by one of his four main disciples, and the tradition continues since then. Yet, according to Paul Hacker, no mention of the ''mathas'' can be found before the 14th century CE.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=28}} Until the 15th century, the timespan of the directors of Sringeri Math are unrealistically long, spanning 60+ and even 105 years. After 1386, the timespans become much shorter.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=28-29}} According to Hacker, these mathas may have originated as late as the 14th century, to propagate Shankara's view of Advaita.{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=29}}{{refn|group=note|Nakamura also recognized the influence of these mathas, which he argues contributed to the influence of Shankara, which was "due to institutional factors". The mathas which he established remain active today, and preserve the teachings and influence of Shankara, "while the writings of other scholars before him came to be forgotten with the passage of time".{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|pp=680–681}}}}{{refn|group=note|According to Pandey, these Mathas were not established by Shankara himself, but were originally ashrams established by [[Vibhandak Rishi|Vibhāņdaka]] and his son [[Rishyasringa|Ŗșyaśŗnga]].{{sfn|Pandey|2000|pp=4–5}} Shankara inherited the ashrams at Dvārakā and Sringeri, and shifted the ashram at Śŗngaverapura to Badarikāśrama, and the ashram at Angadeśa to Jagannātha Purī.{{sfn|Pandey|2000|p=5}}}} According to another tradition in Kerala, after Sankara's [[samadhi]] at Vadakkunnathan Temple, his disciples founded four mathas in Thrissur, namely [[Naduvil Madhom, Thrissur|Naduvil Madhom]], Thekke Madhom, Idayil Madhom and Vadakke Madhom.

Monks of these ten orders differ in part in their beliefs and practices, and a section of them is not considered to be restricted to specific changes attributed to Shankara. While the dasanāmis associated with the Sankara maths follow the procedures attributed to Adi Śankara, some of these orders remained partly or fully independent in their belief and practices; and outside the official control of the Sankara maths. The advaita sampradaya is not a [[Saiva]] sect,<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition" />{{sfn|Nakamura|2004|pp=782–783}} despite the historical links with Shaivism.{{refn|group=note|Sanskrit.org: "Advaitins are non-sectarian, and they advocate worship of Siva and Visnu equally with that of the other deities of Hinduism, like Sakti, Ganapati and others."<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition" />}} Nevertheless, contemporary Sankaracaryas have more influence among Saiva communities than among Vaisnava communities.<ref group=web name="MonasticTradition" />