Aadi Shankrachary's life story

Adi Shankaracharya was born in a poor Malayali Brahmin family in 788 AD in a village called Kaladi in the modern Ernakulam district of Kerala. His father's name was Shivguru who was proficient in scriptures and mother's name was Aryamba. For many years after the marriage of Shivguru and Aryamba, they did not have any children. Then he prayed to Lord Shiva for a son and his prayers were answered in the form of a boy in the auspicious Abhijeet Muhurta of spring.

Shankar was barely seven years old when his father passed away. His mother took full care of his proper education as was expected of a young Brahmin. Shankar was the owner of an unusual intelligence, from a very young age he was determined to become a monk. This made his mother very sad but some incidents hastened her decision. One day Shankar and his mother went to bathe in the river. When Shankar was taking a bath there, suddenly a crocodile caught hold of his leg and started dragging him down into the water. Then Shankar called out to the mother and said that she should allow him to become a monk, otherwise the crocodile would eat him. Then the mother immediately agreed and as soon as she said yes, the crocodile left Shankar's feet. Then Shankar was only eight years old.

Now Shankar was ready to start his sannyas. He handed over the responsibility of his mother to the relatives assuring them that he would definitely take care of her on her death bed and would also perform her last rites with his own hands. Then he set out in search of a guru. Shankara met Acharya Govindpada, his future guru, in an ashram near Badrinath in the Himalayan mountains. When Govinda asked Shankara who he was, he replied that he was neither fire, nor air, nor earth, nor water, but the immortal soul within every name and every form. Later he told his address. Swami Govindpad, being pleased with that young aspirant, initiated him and made him a monk. Shankara learned the philosophy of Advaita and later propagated this knowledge a lot. After this he went to Kashi i.e. Varanasi where he wrote commentaries on Bhagavad Gita, Brahma Sutras and Upanishads.

When Shankara was living in Kashi, it is said that he encountered a Chandala (an outcaste). It so happened that one day when Shankar was passing through a narrow lane with his disciples, suddenly he found a Chandala in front of him. According to the custom of those days, when a Chandala encountered a Brahmin, the Chandala had to step aside and give way to the Brahmin so that the Brahmin would not be tainted by his evil shadow. Shankar asked Chandal to move aside. That's why, taking them by surprise, that person scolded them and said, “Oh good Brahmin, who are you to ask me to move to the shore? This strong body of yours, which is made of food, cannot move on its own, then the pure infinite consciousness of which I am made, also cannot move when you say. Whom are you asking to clear the way and for what?" Suddenly Shankar realized his mistake and prostrated before the Chandal. It is said that Lord Shiva had actually come in the form of a Chandala, whom Shankar later recognized. After the completion of his victorious Deshatana, Shankara was finally handed over the leadership of the 'Sarvajan Peetha' (seat of omniscience). Sankara presented his arguments to the authorities of knowledge and easily defeated the authorities with his views and rebuttals.

During his journey Shankara went to Mahishmati where he encountered Mandan Mishra, the chief priest of Mahishmati's court. Mandan Mishra strongly hated the monks. Shankara challenged Mandan to a debate in which Bharati, Mandan's learned wife, became the arbiter. It was pre-decided that if Shankar was defeated, he would marry and adopt the life of a householder and if Mandan was defeated, he would adopt the form of a sanyasi. The debate between them went on for many days and finally Shankar was declared victorious. It is said that in reality Mandan's wife Bharti was an incarnation of Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Mandan Mishra, as decided earlier, became a monk after receiving initiation from Shankar and was named Sureshwar. In this way Shankara established his Advaita philosophy by winning over various communities. When Shankar came to know that his mother was unwell, he immediately went to Kaladi to meet his mother as promised. He consoled the mother and assured that she would get salvation. It is said that Shankara tried to teach Advaita philosophy to his mother but did not succeed. Then he started chanting the hymns of Shiva and Vishnu and helped his mother face death fearlessly. When Shankar wanted to perform the last rites of his mother, the Brahmin society opposed him because according to the tradition, after a person becomes a monk, all his family ties end. Without caring for anyone, Shankar decided to perform the last rites of his mother on his own. After dividing the body into several parts, they took it to the backyard of the house. When the Brahmins refused to give him fire, Shankar created fire with his yogic power.

Shankara established four mathas in the four corners of India – Joshi matha in the north, Puri in the east, Dwarka in the west and Sringeri in the south.

He made his four disciples Trotakacharya, Padampada, Hastamalaka and Sureshwaracharya in charge of these four monasteries respectively. After building the Joshi Math and the Badrinath Temple in the midst of the Himalayan Mountains, Shankara left for the heights of the Himalayan Mountains and left his body there in the 32nd year.

His writings propound the basic principles of Sanatana Dharma. Vivek Chudamani, Atmabodh, Aparokshanubhuti, Anand Lahari and Upadesh Sahasri are among his main writings. Apart from this, he also composed many hymns with deep meaning. The teachings of Sri Shankaracharya can be summed up in the following words -

"Brahma satyam jaganmithya jivo brahmaiva napar:"

In other words

"Brahman is the truth, this world is an illusion.

Jiva and Brahman are not different from each other."