YOGALife I Summer 2010 - Sivananda Yoga

Shankara, his Life and Teachings
Shankara
his life and teachings
By Prof. Pandey
To find a person equal to Shankara
anywhere in the world is no easy
task. He had unsurpassed
influence on all the major areas
of India’s history, from the
Gurukula system, its philosophical
developments to its spiritual
tradition which started with the
Vedas. Though he lived for only
thirty two years, his achievements
were unparalleled.
The time in which Shankara
lived is uncertain. Those belonging
to his lineage say that he lived
more than two thousand years
ago, but other scholars who hold
a neutral and objective opinion,
believe that Shankara lived around
the 7th century AD.
Shankara was a legendary
figure during his lifetime. He was born in the south of
India, in the state of Kerala. He is still widely revered and
worshipped in this area and across India. Evidence of his
influence can also be found all the way to Kathmandu
in sacred sites and temples.
At a very early age he had a strong desire to
renounce the world. His mother, however, would not
allow it. He was her only child; she loved him dearly and
could not bear to give him up to a life of renunciation.
One day he went to take a bath in the river and some
miraculous beast got hold of his legs. It pulled him
deeper into water so he cried for someone to help him.
His mother was nearby and saw what was happening.
She yelled for him to come out. Shankara replied
cunningly that unless she would permit him to take
Sannyas (vow of renunciation), the dangerous animal
would take him into the water. Feeling helpless, she had
to accept to save her son’s life. Even at that very early
age, against the tradition of Sannyas dharma, upon
his mother’s request, Shankara vowed that when she
departed this world he would come personally to per -
form the last rites of the Hindu religion. Against the
strict rules of conduct of a Sannyasin, Shankara took this
pledge and fulfilled his promise.
Shankara lived a short life and within his lifetime he
mastered all the classical scriptures and literature of his
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YOGALife I Summer 2010
time. He is recognized as the
greatest philosopher to have lived
as well as the philosopher of
Vedanta. Vedanta is the philosophy
propounded in the Upanishads.
The Upanishads are ancient
scriptures, several hundred in
number. Shankaracharya realised
that it would be a great feat for a
single person to study and under -
stand all the Vedic texts. He pro -
duced a compressed form of the text
in the form of sutras (aphorisms).
These are known as the Brahma
Sutras. Today they comprise of the
Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and
Srimad Bhagavad Gita as well as
the Bhagavad Gita.
The Upanishads are the explana -
tion of the Vedas, the Brahma Sutras
are the concluding aphoristic compression of the Upanishads,
and the Bhagavad Gita is a commentary on the Upanishads.
The Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad
Gita together are known as the Prasthan trayi. Prasthan
means to come and go. Like the human life cycle, we
leave one place to reach another and later leave that
destination as well. Life in essence is constant change.
Shankara did not claim that he was providing new
information. He simply provided a commentary, an
explanation of the philosophy in a condensed form in
this Prasthan trayi. He is best known for the commentaries
he wrote on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the
Bhagavad Gita.
The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna
and his disciple and friend, Arjuna, which took place before
the great battle of Mahabharat. Lord Krishna taught
Arjuna that while fighting the enemy, the man of duty
does not consider whether they are relatives, friends, kith
or kin, since whosoever stands in the path of righteousness
is helping to promote the wrong, unethical and the illegal.
There has been a long tradition of writing comm -
entaries in India, but the earliest one known is that
written by Shankara. He is considered to be a Jagad
Guru, a teacher of the whole world. He is said to be the
first Acharya and the first Jagad Guru to exist.
In order to understand his achievements and