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“Spiritual hunger is common to all; but tastes differ.
There are different forms of God to suit all tastes.”
Swami Yogaswarupananda, of the Divine Life Society,
a Vedanta-based foundation in Rishikesh,

Adi Shankaracharya - the savior of Hinduism

Gyan Rajhans P. Eng.
BHAJANAWALI RADIO PROGRAM

May 13 is the Adi Shankaracharya Jayanti. Adi Shankaracharya, one of the greatest social and religious leaders of Hinduism, was born, about the last quarter of the 8th century at Kaladi, in Kerala, India. In this article, I shall deal with him as the savior of Hinduism in the 8th century.

When Adi Shankaracharya took birth, India was wallowing in the dark pit of decadence. Buddhism and Jainism had lost their pristine glory. Corrupt practices had crept into Hinduism. The people could not turn to the existing modes of Hinduism for solace and purposeful direction. In the name of the Vedas, the various sects of Hinduism had tried to propagate travesties rather than truths of the Vedic religion. Adi Shankaracharya had a panoramic view of all these when he wrote in his Gita Bhashya:-"Finding the texts being interpreted in all sorts of contradictory and conflicting ways." It was to silence the impostors who deliberately twisted the texts that he wrote the epoch-making Prasthana Traya Bhashya and his other illuminating treatises. Shankara’s rational commentaries undid at once the misinformed Hindu interpreters. He gave to the body of these texts the coherence of a system and thus won acceptability for his doctrine known as Advaita Vedanta.

Adi Shankaracharya, in the words Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was "a curious mixture of a philosopher and a scholar, an agnostic and a mystic, a poet and a saint, and, in addition to all this, a practical reformer and able organizer." He debated with relentless logic and outwitted the deluded, though scholarly interpreters of Vedic texts. He silenced by convincing arguments the clamour against Vedic authority. He revitalized Hinduism.

What is Adi Shankaracharya’s Advaita Vedanta?

Advaita means non-dualism and Vedanta means the conclusion of the Vedas. Adi Shankaracharya postulated four central doctrines:

1. Brahman, the Absolute is Reality. In the Absolute Brahman the distinction between the knower, knowledge and the objects to be known, the subject, object and means, by which they are cognized, is dissolved.

2. The world though not unreal so long as we are in it and of it, becomes irrelevant and illusory when higher perception of Brahman (the Absolute) is attained.

3. The Absolute (Brahman) can be realized by following a four-fold path:

Viveka- right discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent, the real and the unreal; Vairagya-detachment from the sensory attractions; Sama, Dama and Shraddha-calmness, self-control and faith; and Mumukshutva-the constant yearning to attain the liberation from the finiteness of individuality (Moksha).

4. Bhakti or Devotion is only a step to secure the grace of God, which would obliterate the distinction between the aspirant and God.

The above doctrines can be summed up in three short statements of Adi Shankaracharya:

"Brahma Satyam
Jagan Mithya
Jivo Brahmaiva Na Parah"

This translates roughly as follows:

"God alone is real,
the world is unreal,
the individual is none other than God"

This means that there is only one supreme reality, Brahman, the Supreme Being. Brahman is infinite and omnipresent, therefore nothing can be added to it and furthermore, there cannot be a place where he is not. There is no place for the world or man or any creature outside Brahman. It transcends all pairs of opposites and descriptions.

The reality of the world is then relative as opposed to the absolute nature of Brahman. In that sense, and in comparison with Brahman, the world is unreal. By unreal, it is meant illusory, very much like a dream, which has its own subjective reality, but which is illusory compared with the waking state.

The last of the three statements above asserts that the true nature of each individual is Brahman. Because of "avidya", i.e., our original and inherent spiritual ignorance, we have forgotten our true identity and mistakenly believe that we are little, limited individuals.

Brief life and the work of several lives

Adi Shankaracharya lived for just thirty-two years. But, during the brief span, he did the work of several long lives. Lord Shri Krishna gave the standing promise in the Gita to re-enthrone the majesty of the moral law whenever it declines. Accordingly, great souls come to this world periodically to fulfill the needs of the times.

Adi Shankaracharya’s advent called for the ruthless banishment of wrong ideas about Hinduism with the superiority of intellect, reason and logic. When he was born, India was going through great intellectual, spiritual and social turmoil. Hinduism or Vedic religion had become mere performance of elaborate rituals. Hindu religion had developed a lot of intolerant sects devoted to thousands of deities. There was much of squabbles, dissensions and corruption in the name of religion. It was into this fuming confusion and decadence that he started pouring forth the life-giving, purifying and unifying philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.

Ever since then, the Hindu religion, in spite of all its superficial differences in worship and practice, has been always basically anchored to the all-comprehensive and non-sectarian philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, a philosophy which is intellectually ac-acceptable and spiritually satisfying. Because of these great reforms, the followers of Hinduism have never suffered from the conflict of which deity to worship. All gods and goddesses are revered and worshipped by them because Adi Shankaracharya’s philosophy is one of inclusion and not exclusion.

Hinduism survived mainly due to his philosophy which continues to represent the dazzling, effulgent efflorescence of Hinduism. During his all-too-brief life of 32 years, he accomplished his life’s mission of giving the succeeding generations the distilled essence of the Vedic and Upanashadic truths.

Jaya Jaya Adi Shankara!

Gyan Rajhans, an internationally recognized heath & safety professional has been broadcasting the only non-commercial Vedic religion radio program in North America since 1981 & worldwide web cast on www.bhajanawali.com since 1999. Mr. Rajhans has published extensively on religious and spiritual matters. Some articles are available on the Bhajanawali web site. He has translated Sri Mad Bhagvad Gita in English for the younger generation. Mr Rajhans has been conferred various titles, including that of Rishi by Hindu Prarthana Samaj of Toronto Hindu Ratna by Hindu Federation of Toronto.

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