SOCIAL STUDIESHISTORY

PPT PRESENTATION ON 3 BHAKTI SAINTS

ADI SHANKARACHARYA SANT KABIR DAS SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Adi ShankaracharyaDistinguished Teacher and Founder of Advaita

(Non-Duality) Philosophy

श्रुतितिस्म ृतितिप ुतराणानामालयं करुणालयम्|

नमािम भगवत्पादशंकरं लोकशङ्करम ् ||

Śruti sm ti pur n laya karu layaṛ āṇā āṃā ṃ ṇā ṃ|Nam mi Bhagavatp daśa kara ā ā ṅ ṃ

lokaśa karaṅ ṃ||

I salute the compassionate abode of the Vedas, Smritis and Puranas known as Shankara Bhagavatpada, who makes the world auspicious

Life EventsBorn during 788 CE to Shivaguru and Aryamba at Kalady, Kerala.

The birthplace of Adi Shankara at Kalady

Mastered the four Vedas by age of 8. Longed for renunciation since young age.

Sankara was inclined towards sanyaasa from childhood, but it was only after much persuasion that his mother finally gave her consent.

He then traveled (at age 12) from Kerala to North of India in search of Guru and met Acarya Govinda Bhagavatpada on banks of River Narmada.

Life Events contd…Philosophical encounter and discussions with eminent

scholars Mandana Misra.

Returns home to attend to mother’s illness. Custom of Nambudiris community.

Missionary tours to different parts of India establishing 4 Mathas (Dwarka, Puri, Badrinath, Shringeri).

• Final tour to Himalayan area of Kedarnath-Badrinath. • Attains maha samadhi in

Kedarnath in the year 820 CE at the age of 32.

Adi Sankara Keerthi Sthampa Mandapam, Kalady, Kerala

Contributions to HinduismIntroduced the philosophy of Advaita.He brought spirituality back in Hinduism.Hinduism revived at a time when Buddhism

and Jainism were gaining ground in India.Established four mathas:

◦ Joshimath in Badrinath (North)

◦ Govardhana math in Puri (East)

◦ Sringeri Sharda math in Shringeri (South)

◦ Dwarka Pitha in Dwarka (West)

Contributions to HinduismHe assigned his four main disciples as the heads of the four

institutions. Wrote Bhaja Govindam (“Worship Govinda”)Wrote many commentaries and Vedantic treatise:

◦ Vivekacudamani, Atma Bodha, Brahma Sutras, Visnu Sahasranama

A famous quote from Vivekac ma iūḍā ṇ , one of his prakarana granthas that summarises his philosophy is:

- Brahma satya jagat mithy , j vo brahmaiva n parahṃ ā ī ā

Brahman is the only truth, the spatio-temporal world is an illusion, and there is ultimately no difference between Brahman and individual self.

Thoughts of Wisdom…Just as a piece of rope is imagined to be a snake (in

the darkness) so is Atman (soul) determined to be the body by an ignorant person.

Neither by Yoga, nor philosophy, nor by work, nor by learning but by the realization of one’s identity with Brahman is liberation possible, and by no other means.

Sharadha Temple at Sringeri Disciples with Shankara - by Raja Ravi Varma

Thoughts of Wisdom…

The world is filled with attachments and aversions and is changing like a dream; it appears to be real as long as one

is ignorant, but becomes unreal when one is awake.

In Srisailam, he composed Shivanandalahari, a devotional hymn in praise of Shiva.

\Laksmi-Narasimha stotra

In 1983 a film directed by G. V. Iyer named Adi Sankaracharya was premiered, the first film ever made entirely in Sanskrit language in which all of Adi Shankaracharya's works were compiled. The movie received the National Film Awards for

Best FilmBest Screenplay

Best CinematographyBest Audiography

and has been known as a master piece.

Film on Adi Sankaracharya

Thoughts of Wisdom…

There are good souls, calm and magnanimous, who do good to

others as does the spring, and, who having themselves crossed this

difficult ocean of birth and death, help others also to cross the same,

without any motive whatsoever.

Thoughts of Wisdom…

A father has got his sons and others to free him from his debts, but he has got none but himself to

remove his bondage.

Thoughts of Wisdom…

Be not blindly attached to friend or foe, to son or kinsman, to peace or war. If you aspire for Vishnu’s realm,

look upon all things as of equal worth or opportunity.