Adi Sankara

Bhagwadpada Acharya Sankara (approximately 788-820 CE) was the most famous Advaitin[?] philosopher, in fact the most famous Hindu. He vigorously opposed Buddhism, because it rejected the Vedas. He was born in Kaladi, a small village in Kerala, India.

At the time Hinduism had lost some of its appeal, because of the influence of Buddhism. Sankara stressed the importance of the Vedas and his work helped Hinduism regain strength and popularity.

His teachers include: Gaudapada[?] and Govinda[?].

Sankara's theology maintains that spiritual ignorance (Avidya[?]) is caused by seeing the self (Atman[?] where self is not. Discrimination needs to be developed in order to true from false and knowledge (jnana[?]) from ignorance (avidya[?]).

Books written by Sankara for certain are:

• The commentary Bhasya[?] on the Brahma Sutra[?]
• The commentary on the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad[?]
• The commentary on the Taittiriya Upanishad[?]
• The Thousand Teachings or Upadesasahasri[?]

Books he probably wrote are:

• The commentary on Gaudapada's Karika to the Mandukya Upanishad[?]
• The commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, though there is no scholarly agreement on this.
• A hymn to the Goddess, Saundaryalahari[?].