Biography of Shankaracharya

(188 A.D. - 820 A.D.)

A great scholar and philosopher, Shankaracharya was born in village Kaladi in Kerala in 788 A.D. At the tender age of four, he was initiated (Diksha) into the religious order of life by Swami Govinda Bhagabatpad at the bank of Narmada river. By the age of seven he became well-versed in Vedic literature.

He undertook the task of reforming and reviving religion at a time (8th century), when the Indian society was deeply entrenched in many ills, conservative ideas and religious fanaticism. He toured the whole country and taught Vedic principles to people. He is called Jogatguru' because of his efforts towards spreading of Vedic culture. He set up four main centres to spread his teaching and these are - Sringeri (Karnataka), Dwarka (Gujrat), Puri (Orissa) and Badrinath (Uttaranchal).

He expounded the theory of Advaita' (monoism). Most of his ideas are collected in books like 'Brahmasutra', 'Manish Panchakam', 'Geeta Bhashyya', 'Vivek-Chudamani'. He died at the age of 32 at Kedarnath.