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71st VARDHANTI
JAGADGURU SHANKARACHARYA SRI SRI SRI BHARATI TIRTHA MAHASWAMIJI Compiled by Nirupama propagate Advaita though them. Each of these ashrams was assigned the task of maintaining and preserving for posterity, the four Vedas (the main knowledge books of Sanatana Dharma) and a Maha Vakya. The primary disciples given the responsibility were Hastamalakacharya (Govardhana Puri), Sri Sureshwaracharya (Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham), Sri Totakacharya (Badarinath) and Sri Padmapadacharya (Dwaraka). Apart from his immense intellectual and organisational abilities, Adi Shankaracharya was an exquisite poet, with a heart brimming with love for the divine. He composed 72 devotional and meditative hymns like Soundarya Lahari, Sivananda Lahari, Nirvana Shatakam, Maneesha Panchakam. He also wrote 18 commentaries on the major scriptural texts including the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and 12 major Upanishads. He also authored 23 books on the fundamentals of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy which expound the principles of the non-dual Brahman. These include Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Vaakya Vritti, Upadesa Sahasri, among many others. Considered to be an incarnation of Lord Siva, Sri Shankara lived only a short life span of 32 years. There are many inspiring legends about him.
Sri Adi Shankaracharya was the founding father of Advaita Vedanta and his entire life was spent for the preservation of Sanatana Dharma. My father Dr. B. V. Raman, in his book Notable Horoscopes works out the birth date of Sri Adi Shankaracharya as 25th March 44 B.C. Adi Shankara, was born in Kalady. He met his Guru Sri Govindapada when he walked a distance of 1250 miles (about 2000 kilometers) to the banks of the sacred river Narmada. He stayed there for four years serving his Guru. Under the teacher’s compassionate guidance, the young Shankaracharya mastered all the Vedic scriptures. At the age of twelve, Acharya Sri Govindapada felt that Sri Shankara was ready to write commentaries on major classical texts. At his Guru’s command Sri Shankara wrote commentaries elucidating the subtle meanings hidden in the teachings of the scriptures. At the age of sixteen, he completed writing all the major treatises. These included Yogasutra Vivarana Bhashya, commentary on the Adhyatma Patala of the Apastamba Dharmasutra, and commentaries on the Vishnu Sahasranama and Lalita Trishati. A Sankhya work called Jayamangala and a Nyaya work called Sthirasiddhi are also attributed to him.
Sringeri also called Sri Kshetra Sringeri is a hill town and taluk headquarters located in Chikkamagaluru district in Karnataka, on the embankment of river Tunga. Great sages like Vibhandaka, Rishyashringa, and others have meditated here in the ancient times. The serene and calm environs of Sringeri charmed Sri Shankara and he established his first Vedanta Jnana Peetha here. He installed there the idol of Sri Sharada, the Goddess of Learning, and named Sri Sureshwaracharya as the head of the Sharada Peetham. This illustrious Peetham has been adorned by an unbroken succession of 37 illustrious Gurus right from Sri Adi Shankaracharya’s direct disciple, Sri Sureshwaracharya. On the ocassion of Adi Shankara's Jayanti this year, let us all pay our reverential pranams to his lotus feet.
From the age of sixteen to thirty-two Sri Shankara travelled across the length and breadth of India and spread the importance of Advaita Vedanta and its philosophy through discourses and debates with other thinkers.
Mahasannidhanam’s 71st Vardhanti
Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahasannidhanam’s (the presiding Pontiff and the
He established four Peethams in four zones of India and entrusted his four disciples to teach and June 2021
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