Book Description
About The Book
Adi Shankaracharya was born to a couple namely Shivagaru and Aryambal after years of earnest prayers to Lord Shiva. It is believed that Lord Shiva appeared in his dream to Shivagaru, and granted his prayer for a child, but giving 2 options:: A knowledgeable son who will be short-lived or a normal son who will have a longer life span. And Shivagaru selected the former one. In this way, his parents named him Shankara who means the one born with Lord Shiva’s grace and considered him as an incarnation of Lord Shiva. According to the divine wish, Sankaracharya had to become a religious teacher, Sannyasin; but his mother was not interested in it. One day it is said that a miracle happened: When he was taking bath in a nearby river, a crocodile caught hold of his leg and dragged him; his mother saw and cried. The very fact that Hinduism is still a dynamic and all-encompassing religion stands as ample testimony to the deeds of Adi Shankaracharya. Apart from being the champion of Advaita philosophy, one of his invaluable contributions towards Hinduism was the reordering and restructuring of the ancient Sanyasaorder. He propagated the eternal code of life contained in the Veda, which still flows as the dynamic force underlying and unifying all humanity. Adi Shankaracharaya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker is a meticulously researched and comprehensive account of his life and philosophy. Highly readable, and including a select anthology of Shankaracharya’s seminal writing, the book also examines the startling endorsement that contemporary science is giving to his ideas today.
About the Author
Dr. Niranjan Vaishya, M.A. and Ph.D. (Philosophy), Associate Professor and H.O.D, Deptt of Computer Science, S.K.Roy College, Muralipura. He has been teaching the subject for last sixteen years. He has attended around thirty three seminars at national level and fifteen at international level. He has published numerous articles in various widely reputed journals and magazines. He has been invited at various colleges to deliver speeches in various international conferences.
Preface
Adi Shankaracharya is considered to be the ideal Sannyasi. It is commonly accepted that he lived about one thousand two hundred years ago though there are historical sources that indicate that he lived in an even earlier period. He was born in Kalady, Kerala and in his short life span of 32 years, his accomplishments seem a marvel even today, with our modern conveyances and other facilities. At the tender age of eight, burning with the desire for Salvation, he left home in search of his Guru. From the age of 16 to 32, Shankaracharya went forth, traveling across the length and breadth of ancient India bringing to the hearts of the masses the life-giving message of the Vedas. Apart from his immense intellectual & organizational abilities, Shankaracharya was an exquisite poet, with a heart brimming with Love of the Divine. He established 4 Ashrams in 4 corners of India & entrusted his 4disciples to teach and propagate Advaita through them.
