Shankaracharya, (IAST: Śaṅkarācārya) is a commonly used title of heads of maţhas (monasteries) in the Advaita tradition. The title derives from Adi Shankara, a theologian of Hinduism, who is one of the best representative of the true tradition of Hinduism. He is honoured as Jagadguru, a title that was used earlier only to Lord Krishna. established mainly four maţhas in four regions of India. The Shankaracharya tradition is described in Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's commentary on Verse 2, Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad-Gita.[1] The popular view among historians is that there were four mathas established by Ādi Śankara which are:
- the Uttarāmnāya matha, or northern matha at Joshimath
- the Pūrvāmnāya matha or eastern matha, the Govardhana matha, at Puri
- the Dakshināmnāya matha, or the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, the southern matha, at Shringeri
- the Paśchimāmnāya matha, or the Dwaraka Pitha, the western matha, at Dwarka .
It is also not surprising that there are a number of other mathas, which also claim to have been directly established by Adi Shankaracharya himself. One such institution which is very popular today is Kanchi matha .
Like in all other religions and sects, there is a certain amount of rivalry between certain groups who claim to have been initiated into the Shankaracharya Order.
The existence of such multiple mathas need not be surprising since it is very much possible that a Guru/or descendant of the shankaracharya lineage could have had many disciples. This could have resulted in the branching out of the parent institution. It is also possible that a Guru might have died without naming a successor leading to the formation of rival groups.
It is a historically known fact that some of the mathas - such as the Joshimath and Govardhan matha have a broken lineage and were later revived.
See also
References
- ^ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita, a New Translation and Commentary, Chapter 1-6. Penguin Books, 1969, p 256-257 (v 2)
External links
 |
This article about a person notable in Hinduism is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
