← Explore on the interactive map

Adi Shankara

Type Figure Region Kerala Time 788–820 Also known as Shankaracharya

Adi Shankara (c. 788–820) was an Indian philosopher who systematized Advaita Vedanta, debated rival schools and founded four mathas.

Timeline

  1. 788–800Kaladi · KeralaBorn into a Brahmin family in Kerala, southern India, he lost his father early, left home as a youth in search of enlightenment, and studied under Govinda Bhagavatpada, laying the foundations of his Advaita thought.
  2. c. 800–815Varanasi · Uttar PradeshTraveled throughout India, debating Buddhist, Mimamsa, Samkhya and other schools, and wrote works such as the Brahma Sutra Bhashya and Atma Bodha, systematically expounding the absolute monism of the identity of Brahman and the self.
  3. c. 815–820Kedarnath · UttarakhandFounded four mathas (monasteries) in the east, west, north and south of India, establishing a monastic lineage; he died at Kedarnath around 820, and his Advaita thought became one of the mainstream traditions of Hindu philosophy.

Sources