LIFE SKETCH OF ADI GURU SHANKARACHARYA, life journey of becoming a great guru.

4. BEFORE BIRTH
• About 2500 years ago, when the
spiritualization of the people greatly
reduced, all the Gods and the Rishis went to
Kailash and pleaded with Lord Shiva to revive
the world. Lord Shiva agreed with their
request and informed that he will be born in
this world. Lord Brahma, Indra and others
also agreed to be born in this world to help
Lord Shiva.

5. PARENTS
• Sivaguru and Aryamba
• In Kerala, a Brahmin and his wife,spent their life in
pooja and in giving alms (charity) to poor and in
other good deeds. This childless couple went to
Trichur and performed puja for 48 days to Lord
Shiva (Lord Vadakkunathan) and prayed for a son.
Lord Shiva melted in their devotion and appeared
before them and blessed them a son who is
extremely intelligent.

6. • And Shankara was born
on Vaishakh Shukla
Panchami in Punarvasu
Nakshatra, that is 16
April 509 B.C. at Kaladi
village in Kerala.

7. GURUKUL
• According to tradition a brahmachari
(student) had to go from house to
house and collect alms and give it to his
guru.
• On a Dwadasi day Shankara happened
to go to the house of a very poor
lady for alms for his guru.

8. GURUKUL
• She gave the only Amla fruit she had
to Sankara as she could not send a
Brahmachari empty handed. Sankara
was moved by her selflessness and
prayed to Goddess Lakshmi in a
sloka called On completion of this
stotram, GoddessLakshmi appeare
inperson and showered gold coins
on the poor lady's house.

9. AT THE AGE OF 8 YEARS OLD
• He wanted to take sanyasa and become a monk.
But his mother wouldn’t hear any of it. Shankara
did not leave without his mother’s permission and
he decided to wait a little longer.

10. AT THE AGE OF 8 YEARS OLD
• One day when Sankara was
taking bath, a crocodile
caught hold of his leg.
Sankara called out to his
mother. Aryambal came
running and she cried for
help. Sri Sankara told his
mother that his life was
nearing to an end, but if he
became a Sanyasi, he could
start a new life as a
sannyasi. Thus Sri Sankara
took Sanyasa when he was
only eight years old on
Kartik Shukla Ekadashi 2639
i.e. 16 October 502 B.C

11. SEARCH OF GURU
• Shankara left home to
search for a guru with a
promise to his mother that
he would come back when
he needed her.
• He then went in search of a
guru, a young Shankara
walked at least 2000
kilometers before meeting
Govinda Bhagavatpada.

12. Govinda Bhagavatpada
• Under Govinda Bhagavatpada’s guidance,
Shankara studied ‘Gaudapadiya Karika’,
‘Brahmasutra’, Vedas, and Upanishads. To
his teacher’s amazement, Shankara was
able to master almost all the ancient
scripts in a short time.
• During the course of his journey,
Shankara’s teachings were challenged by
many philosophers and thinkers. He was
even involved in a number of debates
pertaining to Hinduism.

13. Learns Principle of Oneness
• Sri Govinda Pada taught various Vedas to Sri
Sankara. He also taught about Advaita, the principle
that every one in this world is the manifestation of
God and that God and Atman are one and the
same.
• With the minimum efforts in his prayer and
worship, he attained yogasiddhi, or the highest
proficiency in yoga.

14. • Guru Swami Govind was pleased
with the proficiency of his disciple .
• He instructed Shankaracharya to
write the commentary on
vedantanta at kashi.
• There, he prayed to lord
vishwanath and began writing a
commentary on vedanta.
• There, many people became his
disciples, his fame spread
throughout the country.

15. UNTOUCHABLE PERSON
• One morning, Shankaracharya was going to bathe in
the river Ganga.
• Suddenly, an untouchable person came in his way.
Shankaracharya scolded him and commanded him
to move out of his way.
• The person questioned him, “whom are you calling
an untouchable- to this body or to the atman? Can
the soul be ever touched or stained”

16. UNTOUCHABLE PERSON
• Then what is the difference
between you and me?
• This reasoning of the person
influenced shankaracharya
greatly. Keeping aside all his
dignity, he fell at the feet of
that person. He paid the
highest regard.
• He began to think – he is
not an ordinary person,
he can be none other
than god himself.

17. FOUNDER OF ADVAITA VEDANTA
• ADVAITA means ‘not two’ or ‘non-dual’.
• It is the branch of Vedanta.
• It refers to the idea that Brahman alone is
ultimately real, the phenomenal transient world is
an illusory appearance of brahman, and the true
self, atman, is not different from Brahman.

18. BUDDHISM AND JAINISM
• After completing his commentary on vedanta
at Kashi, he visited different towns and cities
to interpret his opinion , and re-establish the
vedic religion.
• During those days, Buddhism and Jainism
were quite influential in the country. Both the
religions were opposed to the vedic religion.

19. KUMARILA BHATTA
• Therefore, Shankaracharya gave special
attention to this issue. Shankaracharya
wanted to eliminate the differences among
various religions. He wanted to establish pure
vedic religion.
• Kumatila bhatta, was a great thinker and
scholar of his time. He was an expert in
Buddhism and Jainism. Shankaracharya went
to meet him.

20. MANDAN MISHRA
• When he met Kumarila bhatta, he was about to
depart from the world through samadhi.
• So, he sent his close disciple, Mandan Mishra to
shankaracharya, who was also a learned person.
Even the great scholars had to think twice before
entering into scholarly debate with him.
• He live at Mahishmati. Shankarcharya went to
debate with him.

21. DEBATE BETWEEN BOTH OF THEM
• The debate between
Mandan Mishra and
Shankaracharya con tinued
for several days. Finally,
Mandan Mishra accepted
his defeat and became
famous as
Sureshwaracharya.
• The next important juncture
of Shankaracharya's life was
Sringeri, situated on the
bank of the River
Tungabhadra in the
state of Karnataka.

22. 'Vedanta Gyan peeth
• Shankaracharya established his first 'Vedanta Gyan
peeth' there and installed the statue of Sri Sharda,
the goddess of learning. His disciple
Sureshwaracharya was appointed as the chancellor
there. This peeth became the centre of Vedantic
learning.

23. FOUR DHAMAS
• After Sringeri,
Shankaracharya established
'Gowardhanpeeth' at
Jagannath Puri in the east,
'Kalkapeeth' at Dwarka in
the west and ‘Jyotipeeth' at
Badrikashram in the north.
These four peethas are re
garded as the four Dhams or
the four spiritual centres.

24. SHANKARACHARYA’s MOTHER
• Meanwhile, Shankaracharya's mother turned very old
and was on her deathbed. Therefore, he had to go to
Kaldi, according to the promise he had made to her.
Having reached there, he learnt that his mother had
died.
• After performing his mother's last rites,
Shankaracharya trav elled from
Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari in the
south to Kashmir in the north and from
Jagannath Puri in the east to Dwarka
in the west.

25. • His main aim was to propagate the Vedic religion.
During this course, he brought about the
regeneration of many discarded temples.
• He said, "The real life, is the one which shines forth
with knowledge, devotion, renunciation and
dedication.

26. • He propagated advaitism,
which means in the
universe, there is only one
pervasive Brahma. Brahma
is the only truth and the
whole world is a
myth,Brahma Satyam, Jaga
mithya.
• The world is ever changing
these changes are neither
import ant nor real.
Therefore, everyone must
see God pervaded in every
atom of the universe. One,
who has the extensive
vision, can find the entire
world as his motherland and
all human beings as his
brothers."

27. Books written by Adi Sankara
• A Bhasya on the Brahma Sutra .
• He wrote several books, which are of great
eminence. Commentaries on Brahmasutra and on
12 Upanishads like Isha, Kena, Katha, etc. and
commentary on the Geeta are well known. Besides,
SarvaVedanta-Siddhanta Sangraha, Viveka-
Churamani, Prabodh-Sudharaka, etc. are the other
celebrated works by Shankaracharya.

28. LAST DAYS OF SHANKARACHARYA
• No decisive detail is available on Shankaracharya's last
days. However, it is well known that he lived only up to
the age of 32 and died in year 820 CE.
• An average person will find the age of 32 too young to
understand the meaning of life, but Shankaracharya, in
his very short span of life, rekindled the torch of
religion throughout India and brought about a religious
renaissance. His works in the fields of religion and
philosophy are a description of the qualities of ancient
religion in India. He created history of Indian culture in
his own life.

29. • His works in the fields of religion and philosophy are
a description of the qualities of ancient religion in
India. He created history of Indian culture in his
own life.
• The saintly life of such a great person will constantly
inspire us.

30. REFRENCES
• https://blog.studyiq.com/biography-sankarachrya-
free-pdf-download/
• https://sojournwithsan.com/2020/06/14/kalady-
the-birthplace-of-jagadguru-adi-
shankaracharyasangeeta-venkatesh/
• http://www.sadgurus-saints-
sages.com/books/Adishankaraachraya/lifesketch.pd
f

31. .