Questions tagged [adi-shankaracharya]
For the questions relevant with Adi Shankaracharya, philosopher, theologian, preceptor and expounder of "Advaita Vedanta"
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Why is Sankaracharya accused as Pracchana Bauddha (crypto-buddhist) by many Vedantins?
Let us see some of the accusations of vedantins
SANKARA’S ACCUSERS
Bhaskara (9th Century CE), the propounder of bhedabheda-siddhanta was one of the earliest Indian philosophers to attack Mayavada. ...
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Do any commentators other than Adi Shankaracharya disagree with both Pancharatra and Shaiva Agamas?
As I discuss in this question, by far the most popular school of Hindu philosophy is the Vedanta school, which bases its tenets on the doctrines laid out in the Brahma Sutras, a work by the sage Vyasa ...
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Was Adi Shankaracharya a Shaiva or a Vaishnava? What were his views on Shiva and Vishnu?
Adi Shankaracharya taught Advaita philosophy. What was his belief on how one should see Shiva and Vishnu? Was he a Shaiva or a Vaishnava? Are Shiva and Vishnu same as per Him?
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According to ShankarAchArya in Advaita, is the universe "unreal" or "unworthy"?
Recently I came across one of the key quote, which sums up Adi ShankarAchArya's Advaita philosophy:
The Brahman of the Upanishads is the only Reality, and everything else—this world of manifoldness—...
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Difference between Smartas and Advaitins?
What is the difference between a Smarta and an Advaitin? Both are the followers of Adi Sankaracharya only.
People who worship Lord Shiva are called Shaivite and those who worship Lord Vishnu are ...
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Which are the principle texts/scriptures of Advaita Vedanta?
I want to learn & study the Advaita Vedanta. So, which are the principle texts/scriptures of Advaita Vedanta? In other words which are the major text/scripture related to Advaita Vedanta.
I know ...
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Do followers of dvaita really believe that advaitins are "deceitful demons"?
I came across a Shloka by Madhvacharya (ananda teertha) in which he calls advaitins as "deceitful demons". Also, in the work madvavijaya considered to be the authentic biography of Madhvacharya, the ...
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How did the Advaita Acharya Gaudapada meet Vyasa's son Shuka?
The most prominent thinker of the Advaita Vedanta school is Adi Shankaracharaya, but he wasn't the founder of Advaita; Adi Shankaracharaya's guru Govinda and Govinda's guru Gaudapada were also ...
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Was Adi Shankaracharya’s Parakaya Pravesha to learn Kamashastra Dharmic?
Adi Shankaracharya traveled all around India engaging scholars in religious debate. During one such debate, Bharati, wife of scholar
Madana Mishra, attempted to defeat Adi Shankara in the topic of
...
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Was Ubhaya Bharati right in asking a question related to Kama Sutra?
I would like to split question into two parts:
1) Ubhaya Bharati was appointed the judge between Adi Shankaracharya and Mandana Mishra. After Mandana accepts defeat from Shankaracharya, why was ...
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Which scriptures defines the three levels of reality?
According to Advaita Vedanta, there are three levels of reality:
Pāramārthika (परमार्थिक)
Vyāvahārika (व्यवहारिक)
Prāthibhāsika (प्रतिभासिक)
The wikipedia article on Advaita Vedanta says that:
...
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Help me to find out the verse : "Brahma satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah"
According to wikipedia, The Famous verse from Vivek Chudamani (विवेकचूडामणि) is:
Brahma satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah
Translation: Brahman is the only truth, the world is unreal, and ...
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Are there any other Puranas that predict Adi Shanakaracharya besides the Bhavishya Purana?
Adi Shankaracharya is predicted in the Bhavisya Purana. What about the other Puranas?
Do any other Puranas predict his birth and exploits or make mention of him?
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What is the Birth date of Adi-Sankarācharya?
When was Adi-Sankarāchārya born? Specifically, why is there so much of a variation in the dates given by Kānci, Dwāraka, Joshī Mutts and Śringerī Mutts?
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K.S. Bhagavan's critique of Adi Shankara
An Indian writer named K.S. Bhagavan published in 1982 a book entitled
Shankaracharya and Reactionary Philosophy = ಶಂಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರತಿಗಾಮಿತನ.
I heard that Bhagavan criticized Adi Shankara in ...
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Why did Adi Shankara promote idol worship?
Today Adi Shankaracarya's Adavaitvaad is a prominent philosophy in Hinduism but if we go through his life, we see that he not only preserved the idol worship practices across India but actively ...
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Why did Ramanujacharya & Adi Shankaracharya never refer to the Srimad Bhagavatam in their works?
While reading from a Shaivite blog (though I am a Vaishnava) of whether the Srimad Bhagavatam or the Devi Bhagavatam is more authentic, I came across an interesting claim of the blogger that ...
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Did Adi Shankaracharya support animal sacrifice?
I had always assumed that the Advaitin philosopher Adi Shankaracharya opposed animal sacrifice in Vedic Yagnas (fire-rituals). Here is what this blog post says, for instance:
In the 7th century A....
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Are Sri RamaKrishna's statements about attaining Brahman through Bhakti inline with Adi Shankara?
According to Shankaracharya, knowledge of Brahman can only be had through Jnana Yoga but recent Mahatmas like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa say that it can also be gotten through Bhakti Yoga. Why doesn't ...
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Did Adi Shankaracharya really believe in Hari-Hara abheda?
Smarthas i.e. followers of Adi Shankaracharya believe that Sriman Narayana and Shiva are one and the same. They claim that this is what Shankara had taught.
The Vishnu Sahasranama mentions the name "...
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What is the source for the famous conversation between Adi Shankara and Chandala
Where is the conversation between Adi Shankaracharya and Chandala mentioned? I want the name of the scripture or whatever the source was.
Specifics : The specific conversation I am talking about ...
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How does Adishankaracharya Advaita explain concept of Avatar?
In Chapter 33 of book Autobiography of a Yogi, Yogananda says that Babaji is Mahaavatar (great incarnation). Sri Mahavatar Babaji is believed to be avatar of Shiva who is still teaching Kriya Yoga to ...
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What is the mystery of Hari Sankara Stotra composed by Adi Shankara?
Shankara Digvijaya states that when Adi Shankara reached temple of Hari Shankara then he composed such verses with ambiguous meaning which could praise for both Shiva and Vishnu at the same time.
It ...
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Does Shankara teach to renounce one's own duties?
Padma Purana 6.236:
The doctrine of illusion (Mayavada) is an impious, wicked belief and
against all the conclusions of the Vedas. It is only covered Buddhism.
My dear Parvati, in Kali-Yuga I ...
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What is the Vishishtadvaitin equivalent to "Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya Jeevo Brahmaiva Naparah"?
The philosophy of Advaita Vedanta was summed up by Adi-Shankara in a single verse:
Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya, Jivo Brahmaiva Naparah
English Translation: Brahman is the only Truth, the world is ...
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Apart from the Padma Purana, does any other Purana say that Adi Shankaracharya will teach mayavadi philosophy?
In the Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Chapter 236, Lord Shiva says to Parvati that He would incarnate as Adi Shankaracharya to teach the mayavadi philosophy:
mayavadam asac chastram pracchannam ...
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Did Adi Shankaracharya lose a debate against the Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu?
This website, of dubious reliability, claims that Adi Shankaracharya lost in a debate against the Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu:
Towards the end of his short life, defeated in debate by the ...
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From which scripture does Adi Shankara quote about Maheswara shaping name and forms of all beings from the words of Veda?
In his Brahma Sutra Bhasya 1.3.28, Adi Shankaracharya gives a long commentary while proving about the eternity of Vedas.
He quotes about various scriptures there like:
Thus Scripture declares in ...
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Debate between Maṇḍana Miśra and Ādi Śankara
I have read that there was a debate between Maṇḍana Miśra, an exponent of Mīmāmsā, and Ādi Śankara, an exponent of Advaita, in which Maṇḍana Miśra's wife was the judge. Ādi Śankara won the debate and ...
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Did Adi Shankaracharya accept equality of 5 major gods in his works?
I want to know if Adi Shankaracharya said that the five Panchatayana deities (Shiva, Surya, Vishnu, Durga, Ganesh) are Saguna Brahman from his works.
Did he differentiate between them or said all ...
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Why do we need to worship nirguna brahman?
If nirguna brahman is just consciousness, form less etc then why do we need to worship nirguna brahman?
Note: This post is just to better understand nirguna brahman but nothing else.
Till now I ...
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Which is right varna based on birth or varna based on Guna and karma?
Which is right varna is based on birth or varna is based
On guna and karma ? In view of advaita followers
The kamakoti peetham tell that varNa is by guNa but guNa is by birth
But vaishanvas tells that ...
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Is Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta philosophy compatible with Vaishnavism?
There are many schools of thought like VisistAdvaita, Achintya Bheda Abheda and Dvaita which are followed by different sects of Vaishnavites. Most of these Vaishnava sects seem to be very critical of ...
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What scriptures mention Shiva's Dakshinamurthi form?
One of the most popular forms of Shiva worshipped in South India is the sage Dakshinamurthi, whose name literally means "the South-facing form". Dakshinamurthi is the subject of the famous ...
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How can Brahman possibly be devoid of qualities?
If Brahman and Prakriti are not separate, but two sides of the same coin ... i.e. if Brahman 'IS' Prakriti, then that makes Brahman full of qualities. How can it possibly be devoid of attributes when ...
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How many mutts did Adi shankaracharya establish in his lifetime?
Adi Shankaracharya is an advaita philosopher and wrote commentaries to the prasthāna trayi and composed many stotras on different deities.. It is believed that he established four mutts(denoting four ...
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Does Adi Shankaracharya believe the existence of the soul requires scripture to establish?
In Hindu philosophy there are three main Pramanas or valid means of knowledge: Pratyaksha or sensory perception, Anumana or inference, and Shabda or revelation/scripture. And there is a hierarchy of ...
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Did Adi Shankara's philosophy somewhat change in his last years or after writing Brahma Sutras?
From Saundarya Lahiri written by Adi Shankar I found following verse -
kvaṇatkāñcī-dāmā kari kalabha kumbha-stananatā
parikṣīṇā madhye pariṇata śaraccandra-vadanā |
dhanurbāṇān pāśaṃ ...
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Where does the Advaitin commentator Anandagiri discuss the authenticity of Hindu stories?
As I discuss in this question, by far the most popular school of Hindu philosophy is the Vedanta school, which bases its tenets on the doctrines laid out in the Brahma Sutras, a work by the sage Vyasa ...
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Do characters in the same Brahmavidya always have the same caste?
As I discuss in the this answer, by far the most popular school of Hindu philosophy is the Vedanta school, which bases its tenets on the doctrines laid out in the Brahma Sutras, a work by the sage ...
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What is Adi Shankara referring to when he says "He has Vajra marks on his feet"?
Vishnu Sahasranama stotra are thousand names of Vishnu said by Bhishma to Yudhishtira and other Pandavas. This occurs in Mahabharata while there are other versions of thousand names in Garuda Purana, ...
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What are Bhujanga stotrams?
Bhujanga means a snake, or one that has shoulders as locomotive limb.
There are many Bhujanga stotrams, on Shiva, Vishnu etc, on almost all deities. What is the definition of a Bhujanga stotram, or ...
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What arguments Adi Shankara makes to claim that Supreme is devoid of any attributes?
The interpretation of 'Nirguna' is different in different philosophies.
Srila baldeva VidyaBhushan in His Govind Bashya (Gaudiya vaishnav commentary on vedanta sutras)interprets 'Nirguna' as being ...
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Why does the Universe exist?
If I am Brahman as Shankara states:
I am other than name, form and action.
My nature is ever free!
I am Self, the supreme unconditioned Brahman.
I am pure Awareness, always non-dual.
— Adi ...
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Is it true that Adi SankarAcharaya cursed Hindus of Kerala?
I read somewhere that Adi SankarAcharya cursed Keralite Hindus. Basically, the post claimed that dwindling numbers of Hindus in Kerala is due to Adi Sankara's curse to Kerala that the people there ...
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To whom does the illusion belong?
According to the great Adi Shankaracharya, the waking world is an illusion (or as unreal as dream if not an illusion).
My question is, who imagines this waking world? Is it result of your desires or ...
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What scriptures describe Brahma's son Sanatkumara being reborn as Shiva's son Kartikeya?
As I discuss in this question, by far the most popular school of Hindu philosophy is the Vedanta school, which bases its tenets on the doctrines laid out in the Brahma Sutras, a work by the sage Vyasa ...
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How do Sri Vaishnavas interpret the "Vedas are not Vedas" quote in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad?
In Hindu philosophy there are three main Pramanas or valid means of knowledge: Pratyaksha or sensory evidence, Anumana or reasoning, and Shabda or revelation/scripture. But as I discuss in this ...
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Sex as Yagna by Adi Shankaracharya
Sex is an activity involving multiple benefits. In India, according to scriptures, the primary purpose of marriage is to have progeny and then the other uses are gaining sexual pleasure, the ...
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What Ayurvedic texts describe shadows as sweet or cold?
As I discuss in this question, by far the most popular school of Hindu philosophy is the Vedanta school. But there are five other Astika or orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy: Purva Mimamsa, Samkhya,...