Good question. what were the achievement of Shankara Bhagavat Pathal? This is your question.
now my answer: Shankara was a person of great charisma and authority besides the fact that he taught at a turning point of Indian religio-philosophical history. As we know from his own writings, he embraced the Vedic tradition while being a constructive religious reformer. From his works transpires philosophical commitment and astuteness as well as ardent devotion.
During his short life span (tradition holds that he lived for a mere 32 years), Shankara is said to have traveled the length and breadth of the country to give a new momentum to Vedantic orthodoxy (sanatana dharma) threatened, on the one hand, by the tradition of Buddhism, and by the Mimamsakas on the other. During his travels, Shankara met with scholars from a variety of schools and debated with them on various philosophical issues. Tradition has it that he debated with a
famous Mimamsa scholar called Mandana-mishra also known as Vishvarupa.
Accepting defeat, Mandana is said to have given up his life as a householder to become one of Shankar ’a s four disciples, namely Sureshvara, the other three being Padmapada, Totaka, and Hastamalaka. The monastic institutions that Shankara is said to have set up are the Jyotir Matha at Badarikasrama, the Kalika pitha at Dvaraka, the Govardhanapitha at Jagannatha ksetra, Puri, the Saradapitha at Sringeri, and the Kamakoti pitha at Kanci. The many still existent digvijayas depicts the life of Shankara in their own singular way. Some, for instance, say that he attained siddhi at
Kanchi while others assert that it was at Kedara in the Himalayas.
The tradition of Advaita refers to Shankara as the Bhasyakara or commentator on the authoritative texts of the Vedanta. The latter stands on three canons (prasthanas), i.e., the Upanisads (Sruti-prasthana), the Brahmasutras (Nyaya prasthana), and the Bhagavad-gita (Smrti prasthana). The Brahmasutras summarize the teachings of the Upanisads in the form of aphorisms. The teachings of the Upanisads are lengthy and complex and this is one of the reasons why they are explained in the Brahmasutras in the form of 555 short aphorisms. Since the Brahmasutras’ teachings are logically
arranged, the work is also named Nyaya or Tarka-prasthana. The Bhagavadgita is aSmrti-prasthana.
For the sake of clarity, we may classify the works of Shankara into three groups.
1. Commentaries on the authoritative texts of the Upanisads, the Bhagavadgita and the Brahmasutras as well as the Laghubhasysas, Visnu-sahasranama, Lalithatrisati, and other similar works.
2. Minor works expounding Advaita doctrines like the Upadesasahasri, Atmabodha, Vivekacudamani, Vakyavrtti, Aparoksanubhuti, etc.
3. Devotional works - the stotras or the hymnal literature. It may be said that Shankara was desirous of making the Advaita teachings available to the common man, and that it is for this very purpose that he would have written such literature, which is filled with non-dualistic themes. It must be kept in mind that Shankara did not solely give importance to gnosis (jnana) for he also recognized the important function of devotion on the path to moksha. For Shankara, knowledge was never antagonist to devotion.
The antics of Adi Shankara in the 8th century assuming he was born in 788 and died in 820 CE are well known and part of history. Sankara postulated the Vedas as authority; and hence was ranked as a Sanatani. Later on, the priestly class appropriated this and Max Muller called it Hinduism. Thus Hinduism dates back to to the 8th century. He was the arch foe of Buddhism and the principal architect of its downfall in India (Pande 1994: p. 255). Adi Shankara, along with Madhva and Ramanuja, was instrumental in the revival of Hinduism through aggressive and violent means.
now my answer: Shankara was a person of great charisma and authority besides the fact that he taught at a turning point of Indian religio-philosophical history. As we know from his own writings, he embraced the Vedic tradition while being a constructive religious reformer. From his works transpires philosophical commitment and astuteness as well as ardent devotion.
During his short life span (tradition holds that he lived for a mere 32 years), Shankara is said to have traveled the length and breadth of the country to give a new momentum to Vedantic orthodoxy (sanatana dharma) threatened, on the one hand, by the tradition of Buddhism, and by the Mimamsakas on the other. During his travels, Shankara met with scholars from a variety of schools and debated with them on various philosophical issues. Tradition has it that he debated with a
famous Mimamsa scholar called Mandana-mishra also known as Vishvarupa.
Accepting defeat, Mandana is said to have given up his life as a householder to become one of Shankar ’a s four disciples, namely Sureshvara, the other three being Padmapada, Totaka, and Hastamalaka. The monastic institutions that Shankara is said to have set up are the Jyotir Matha at Badarikasrama, the Kalika pitha at Dvaraka, the Govardhanapitha at Jagannatha ksetra, Puri, the Saradapitha at Sringeri, and the Kamakoti pitha at Kanci. The many still existent digvijayas depicts the life of Shankara in their own singular way. Some, for instance, say that he attained siddhi at
Kanchi while others assert that it was at Kedara in the Himalayas.
The tradition of Advaita refers to Shankara as the Bhasyakara or commentator on the authoritative texts of the Vedanta. The latter stands on three canons (prasthanas), i.e., the Upanisads (Sruti-prasthana), the Brahmasutras (Nyaya prasthana), and the Bhagavad-gita (Smrti prasthana). The Brahmasutras summarize the teachings of the Upanisads in the form of aphorisms. The teachings of the Upanisads are lengthy and complex and this is one of the reasons why they are explained in the Brahmasutras in the form of 555 short aphorisms. Since the Brahmasutras’ teachings are logically
arranged, the work is also named Nyaya or Tarka-prasthana. The Bhagavadgita is aSmrti-prasthana.
For the sake of clarity, we may classify the works of Shankara into three groups.
1. Commentaries on the authoritative texts of the Upanisads, the Bhagavadgita and the Brahmasutras as well as the Laghubhasysas, Visnu-sahasranama, Lalithatrisati, and other similar works.
2. Minor works expounding Advaita doctrines like the Upadesasahasri, Atmabodha, Vivekacudamani, Vakyavrtti, Aparoksanubhuti, etc.
3. Devotional works - the stotras or the hymnal literature. It may be said that Shankara was desirous of making the Advaita teachings available to the common man, and that it is for this very purpose that he would have written such literature, which is filled with non-dualistic themes. It must be kept in mind that Shankara did not solely give importance to gnosis (jnana) for he also recognized the important function of devotion on the path to moksha. For Shankara, knowledge was never antagonist to devotion.
The antics of Adi Shankara in the 8th century assuming he was born in 788 and died in 820 CE are well known and part of history. Sankara postulated the Vedas as authority; and hence was ranked as a Sanatani. Later on, the priestly class appropriated this and Max Muller called it Hinduism. Thus Hinduism dates back to to the 8th century. He was the arch foe of Buddhism and the principal architect of its downfall in India (Pande 1994: p. 255). Adi Shankara, along with Madhva and Ramanuja, was instrumental in the revival of Hinduism through aggressive and violent means.
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