Who was Adi Shankar ?

A boy was taking bath in the river as per his daily routine. Suddenly a crocodile grabbed his leg and started pulling his prey. Sensing that his end was near he called out for his widowed mother. Seeing the commotion, his mother rushed to the spot. Boy demanded that he be allowed to be initiated into “SANYAS” as it was the end of his life. Seeing no other option, mother granted permission and miraculously crocodile also left the boy alone. The boy in the river was Shankar born in Kaladi, Kerala.

He was a child prodigy, displaying command over Sanskrit at the age of 4. After his upnayan he demanded to be a sanyasi, but his mother refused and he stayed along. But after the above incident he left his hometown and wandered north in search of his GURU. On the banks of Narmada, he met Govindgiri in a cave in deep meditation. Govindgiri is supposed to have said that he was waiting for him. Under his Guru, he developed command over Shastras and also did tapasya to attain self-realisation. Adi Shankaracharya was not a mere philosopher but a man who had experienced “Ultimate Truth” and used his superb intellect to preach among people.

Bharat during those times was in the grip of blind beliefs or superstitions and people had forgotten Dharm. Shankaracharya travelled around the country participating in discussions and defeated many proponents of old way of thought. To ensure a structured way of propagation of Sanatan dharm he established Peeths in four corners i.e Dwarka, Badrinath, Puri and Sringeri. He composed Brahma Sutras, commentary on Geeta and Upanishads, Vivekachudamani and many other texts to simplify and make people understand real Sanatan Dharm.

Realizing that his mission was over, he took Samadhi at the age of 32. Yesterday was Adi Shankaracharya’s jayanti.

PS: Shankaracharya preached a dharm which taught fearlessness, we should inculcate this quality in all out acts especially when our neighbor is getting crazy !!!