Shankara was born into a poor Nambudiri Brahmin family at Kaladi, present-day Kerala, India. His parents, Shivaguru and Aryamba, offered their prayers to Lord Shiva, requesting the deity to bless them with a child. Their prayers were soon answered in the form of a baby boy. His father was a priest in a Shiva temple. A few theories suggest that Aryamba had a dream in which Lord Shiva himself promised her that he would be taking birth as her child, which is why many consider Shankara an incarnation of Shiva. Because Shankara lost his father when he was just seven, his mother assumed the role of educator. Aryamba played a crucial role in teaching Vedas and Upanishads to the young Shankara.

There are at least fourteen different known biographies of Adi Shankara’s life. All were composed several centuries after his time and are filled with legendary stories and incredible anecdotes, some of which are mutually conflicting. Today there are no materials with which to reconstruct his life with certainty. His date of birth is controversial. The most accepted birth date places him as a scholar living in the first half of the 8th Century CE.

Right from childhood, he was keen on becoming a monk. Though his mother opposed the idea, Shankara knew what he wanted to do. Once, he accompanied his mother to a nearby river and plunged into the river. Suddenly, a crocodile appeared from beneath the river and caught hold of his leg. Shankara then cried out to his mother, saying that a crocodile was pulling him into the river. When his mother felt helpless, Shankara urged her to allow him to die as a monk. As soon as Aryamba gave her consent, the crocodile spared Shankara’s life and went back into the river. Shankara was miraculously unharmed and went on to become a monk as his mother had permitted him to do so.

Throughout his early life, Shankara astounded many with his knowledge and intelligence. He started writing his analysis of the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita at a young age. Then, he renounced the world and became a sannyasin (ascetic) against his mother’s will. Before leaving his mother, Shankara assured her that he would be with her in her last days and perform the funeral rites, a promise he fulfilled despite the problems he faced from his community.

He then searched for a Guru, and according to a few ancient scripts, the young Shankara walked at least 2,000 kilometers before meeting Govinda Bhagavatpada, a pupil of Gaudapada. Nothing certain is known about Govinda, but Gaudapada is notable as the author of an important Vedanta work, Mandukya-Karika, in which the influence of Mahayana Buddhism—a form of Buddhism aiming at the salvation of all beings and tending toward non-dualistic or monistic thought—is especially evident in its last chapter.

Under Govinda Bhagavatpada’s guidance, Shankara studied ‘Gaudapadiya Karika,’ ‘Brahmasutra,’ Vedas, and Upanishads. To his teacher’s amazement, Shankara was able to master almost all the ancient scripts in a short time. His Guru deemed that Shankara was ready to write commentaries on primary scriptural texts at the age of twelve. At his Guru’s command, Shankara wrote commentaries elucidating the subtle meanings hidden in the teachings of the scriptures. At the age of sixteen, he dropped his pen, having completed writing all the major treatises. Once he understood the ancient Hindu scripts, he traveled across India, propagating ‘Advaita Vedanta’ and ‘Dashanami Sampradaya.’ During his journey, many philosophers and thinkers challenged Shankara’s teachings. He was involved in several debates about Hinduism and its beliefs, but Shankara managed to astound his doubters with his intelligence and clarity. He continued propagating his ideas and was soon accepted as a legitimate Guru by many.

From the age of sixteen to thirty-two, 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: ‘Brahman – Pure Consciousness – is the Absolute Reality. The world is unreal. This is the correct understanding of the Sastra and is the thundering declaration of Vedanta.‘

A tradition says that Shiva, one of the principal gods in Hinduism, was Shankara’s family deity and that he was by birth a Shakta, or worshipper of Shakti (the consort of Shiva and female personification of divine energy). Later, he came to be regarded as a worshipper of Shiva or even an incarnation of Shiva himself. It is highly possible that he was familiar with Yoga (one of the classical systems of Indian philosophy and a technique to achieve salvation). One study has suggested that in the beginning, he was an adherent of Yoga and later became an Advaitin (Non-dualist).

Biographers narrate that Shankara first went to Kashi (Varanasi), a city celebrated for learning and spirituality, and then traveled all over India, holding discussions with philosophers of different creeds. His heated debate with Mandana Mishra, a philosopher of the Mimamsa (Investigation) school, whose wife served as an umpire, is perhaps the most exciting episode in his biography and may reflect a historical fact – that is, a keen conflict between Shankara, who regarded the knowledge of Brahman as the only means to final release, and followers of the Mimamsa school, which emphasized the performance of ordained duty and the Vedic rituals.

Shankara’s style of writing is lucid and profound. Penetrating insight and analytical skills characterise his works. His approach to truth is psychological and spiritual rather than logical; therefore, he is perhaps best considered a prominent spiritual teacher rather than a philosopher in the modern sense. His works reveal that he was versed in the orthodox Brahmanical traditions and was well acquainted with Mahayana Buddhism. He is often criticized as a ‘Buddhist in disguise’ by his opponents because of the similarity between his doctrine and Buddhism.

Despite this criticism, one should note that he made full use of his knowledge of Buddhism to severely attack Buddhist doctrines or transmute them into his Vedantic non-dualism. He tried with great effort to ‘vedanticise’ Vedanta philosophy, which his predecessors had made extremely Buddhistic. The basic structure of his philosophy is more akin to Samkhya, a philosophical system of nontheistic dualism, and the Yoga school than to Buddhism. The Advaita Vedanta school founded by him has always been pre-eminent in the learned circles of India.

Ancient India was sunk in a quagmire of superstitions and scriptural misinterpretations in those days. Degraded ritualism flourished. The essence of Sanatana Dharma, with its all-embracing message of love, compassion, and the universality of humanity, was lost entirely in the blind performance of these rituals. Shankaracharya challenged various eminent scholars and leaders of different religious sects in vigorous disputes. They championed their interpretations of the scriptures, but the prodigious boy sage could easily overcome all of them and make them understand his teachings’ wisdom. Many of these men of stature then accepted Shankaracharya as their Guru. They started to practice by following his guidance, and this change in their lives also wrought a change in the lives of their innumerable followers, who came from all strata of society.

Adi Shankaracharya is renowned for his spectacular commentaries on ancient texts. His review of ‘Brahma Sutra’ is known as ‘Brahmasutrabhasya,’ and remains the oldest surviving commentary on ‘Brahma Sutra.’ It is also considered his best work. Adi Shankaracharya is also well-known for his ‘stotras’ (poems). He composed many poems praising gods and goddesses. The ones dedicated to Krishna and Shiva are considered most important among his ‘stotras.’ He also wrote the famous ‘Upadesasahasri,’ which translates to ‘a thousand teachings.’ ‘Upadesasahasri’ is one of his most important philosophical works.

He composed 72 devotional and meditative hymns like Soundarya Lahari, Sivananda Lahari, Nirvana Shatakam, Maneesha Panchakam. In addition, he wrote 18 commentaries on the major scriptural texts, including the Brahma Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, and the 12 major Upanishads. He also authored 23 books on the fundamentals of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, which expound on the principles of the non-dual Brahman. These include Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Vaakya Vritti, Upadesa Sahasri, among others.

At the age of 32, Adi Shankaracharya retired to the Himalayas. Tradition holds that he entered a cave near Kedarnath and was never seen again. Therefore, the cave that he entered is considered his final resting place.