Shankaracharyas of Hinduism
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A backgrounder
January 18, 2024: The Indian Express
The shankaracharyas head the four Hindu mathas (monasteries) — in Dwarka (Gujarat), Joshimath (Uttarakhand), Puri (Odisha), and Sringeri (Karnataka) — that are believed to have been founded by the eighth-century religious scholar and philosopher Adi Shankara.
Who are the shankaracharyas?
Shankaracharya, literally ‘teacher of the way of Shankara’, is a religious title used by the heads of the four cardinal mathas or peeths believed to have been established by Adi Shankara (c 788 CE-820 CE). According to tradition, they are religious teachers who belong to a line of teachers going back all the way to Adi Shankara himself.
However, there is little historical evidence for the existence of these mathas prior to the 14th century CE, when the Vijayanagara kingdom began to patronise the Sringeri matha. Indologist Paul Hacker noted that prior to 1386, “the timespan of the directors of Sringeri Math are unrealistically long,” spanning over 60 years each, and peaking with Vidyashankara, who headed the matha for 105 years (Philology and Confrontation, 1995).
This indicates that the lineage was probably only retrospectively established to trace back to Adi Shankara — and thus provide legitimacy to these monasteries, which would become centres of knowledge and learning. Today, these mathas comprise religious shrines and temples, as well as libraries and residences. They are fairly complex and spread-out organisations that are geared towards preserving and furthering Shankara’s tradition.
And who was Adi Shankara?
According to the most popular versions of Adi Shankara’s life-story, he was born in Kalady village on the bank of the River Periyar in what is today Kerala’s Ernakulam district.
According to a popular legend, a crocodile caught hold of the young Shankara, and told his mother that it would let him go only if she allowed him to take sanyas. After she reluctantly agreed, Shankara swam ashore — and subsequently left home and became a sanyasi (ascetic).
Shankara’s many hagiographies paint a picture of a remarkable scholar-monk who, after being initiated into studies by Govindacharya, was constantly on the move, visiting important spiritual centres, challenging prevalent philosophical traditions, and establishing mathas and organising monastic orders.
From Kanchi in Tamil Nadu to Kamrup in Assam, from Kashmir and the Kedar and Badri dhams in the Himalayas to Kashi (Varanasi) on the bank of the Ganga and Puri on the Bay of Bengal, Adi Shankara is said to have traversed the length and breadth of the Indian landmass preaching Advaita Vedanta. (More on that later.)
He is also popularly identified as the author of 116 works, including celebrated commentaries (or bhashyas) on 10 Upanishads, the Brahmasutra, and the Bhagavad Gita. However, the authorship of many works attributed to Shankara remains disputed.
What is Advaita Vedanta?
Shankara is most associated with Advaita Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy and spiritual discipline.
Advaita Vedanta articulates an ontological position of radical nondualism — it posits that all that we perceive is ultimately illusory (maya), and that the principle of brahman (not to be confused with the caste Brahmin) is the only true reality of all things, transcending empirical plurality. The fundamental thrust of Advaita Vedanta lies in the unity of atman or individual consciousness, and brahman or the ultimate reality.
This philosophical tradition found its most sustained early articulation in the works of Shankara, who “endeavoured to communicate nonduality through systematised theories of metaphysics, language, and epistemology”, and whose “philosophy and methods comprise a teaching tradition intended to culminate in a direct liberating recognition of nonduality that is synonymous with liberation or freedom (moksha)” (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy).
What is the legacy of Shankara?
Shankara’s legacy today transcends his contributions to metaphysics and theology. His travels across the subcontinent have often been interpreted as a near nationalistic project where faith, philosophy and geography are yoked together to imagine a Hindu India which transcended the political boundaries of his time.
And his four cardinal mathas, located in the North and South, East and West of India, are seen as the ultimate examples of this project. His mathas are thus also seen as keepers of Hindu faith and traditions. This is what makes the shankaracharyas’ refusal to attend the inauguration of the Ayodhya temple so significant.
