Philosopher · Early Middle Ages · India

Adi Shankara

c. 788–c. 820 (traditional)

Indian thinker who consolidated Advaita Vedanta, the nondualist school holding that the self and ultimate reality are one. Tradition credits him with commentaries on the Upanishads and the founding of four monasteries. Dates about 788 to 820 are traditional and debated.

Facts

Lived: Traditionally about 788 to 820. Some scholars place him earlier.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Shankara
From: Kalady, Kerala, India.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Shankara
School: Advaita Vedanta, absolute nondualism.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Shankara
Known for: The claim that atman is brahman, that plurality is illusion, and commentaries that made Vedanta the dominant Hindu philosophy.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Shankara

Images

Adi Shankara, painting by Raja Ravi Varma (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Connected

PhilosopherThe Buddhac. 563–c. 483 BC (traditional)

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