12-FOOT STATUE OF ADI SHANKARACHARYA

Recently, the Prime Minister has unveiled a 12-foot statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath (Uttarakhand).

Important points:

• Known as Adi Shankara, born 11th May 788 AD, at Kaladi near Kochi, Kerala.
• Took Samadhi at the age of 33, at Kedar tirth.
• He was a devotee of Shiva.
• Propounded the Doctrine of Advaita (Monism) and wrote many commentaries on the Vedic canon (Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita) in Sanskrit.
• He was opposed to Buddhist philosophers

Major Work:

1. Brahmasutrabhasya (Bhashya or commentary on the Brahma Sutra).
2. Bhajagovinda Stotra.
3. Nirvana Shatakam.
4. Prakaran Granths.

Contributions:

• Was responsible for reviving Hinduism in India to a great extent when Buddhism was gaining popularity.
• Established four Mathas in the four corners of India at Shingeri, Puri, Dwaraka and Badrinath– for propagation of Sanathana Dharma.
• It articulates a philosophical position of radical nondualism, a revisionary worldview which it derives from the ancient Upanishadic texts.
• According to Advaita Vedantins, the Upanishads reveal a fundamental principle of nonduality termed ‘brahman’, which is the reality of all things.
• Advaitins understand brahman as transcending individuality and empirical plurality. They seek to establish that the essential core of one’s self (atman) is brahman.
• The fundamental thrust of Advaita Vedanta is that the atman is pure non-intentional consciousness.
• It is one without a second, nondual, infinite existence, and numerically identical with brahman.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT