INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

ISSN : 2277-7881
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, APRIL 2012

IS SANKARA A PHILOSOPHER, THEOLOGIAN OR A

SOCIAL REFORMER?

Dr.P.I.Devaraj Dr.Syamala.K
Lecturer in Philosophy Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy Department of Philosophy
Sree Sankaracharya Sree Sankaracharya
University of Sanskrit University of Sanskrit
Kerala Kerala

In the history of Indian philosophy the place of Sankaracharya is both

permanent and high. He is gifted with extra-ordinary intelligence, a deeply penetrating
mind, critical insight, logical reasoning, philosophical analysis, religious purity, sublimity
of renunciation and profound spirituality. His contribution to Indian philosophy and to
Vedic religion and culture is unparalleled. The credit of establishing Advaita Vedanta
as a sound philosophical system goes to Sankaracharya. He was a champion of
knowledge and he dedicated his life to selfless service (nishkama karma) and devotion
to God (bhakti). Hence his life can be considered as an ample proof that selfless
service and devotion may go well with spiritual enlightenment (jnana).Although he
disclaimed originality, he wrought a revolution in the minds of men, the salutary effects
of which can be felt even today. This was made clear by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan when
he stated “His philosophy stands forth complete, needing neither a before nor an
after…whether we agree or differ, the penetrating light of his mind never leaves as
wherever we were.”1 He thus set a model in thinking and exposition which subsequent
philosophers in India have striven to follow. Here in this paper our attempt is to discuss
whether Sankara is a Philosopher, theologian or a social reformer. Many attempts
were made to unravel this issue among the Indian and Western scholars. The discussion
seems to be relevant since it is possible for us to place him in all the above said heads.
Sankara appeared on the firmament of Indian thought at a time the country was
caught in a great churning process- politically, socially and culturally. It was such
chaotic atmosphere that Sankara brought his life giving philosophy of the Non-dual
Brahman of the Upanishads. He never claimed for himself any kind of originality for
his teachings. His originality was in reinterpreting the great traditions of the country to
suit the conditions of the time.
Works of Sankara
Sankara’s writings show great intellectual power, logical precision and emotional
profundity. If it is asked what the greatest contribution that Sankara has made is, the
answer would be the exposition of the true import of the scriptures through his various
commentaries and many books. It is not definitely known how many books he had
written, but it is said that it is more than one hundred and fifty. To read through these
books even once, it would take a number of years. To study them, even whole life time
will not be sufficient. This was made clear by Prof. Namboothiri when he mentioned

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that, “…too little has been said and much has been left out of the unfathomable depth
and unmeasurable vastness of Sankara’s ocean of knowledge. Yet there is one consoling
thought: to experience the salinity of the vast ocean we need only a drop on our
tongue.”2
The works of Sankara can be broadly classified into these sections. 1.
Commentaries (Bhasyas). They are commentaries on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad
Gita and the Brahmasutra. They together form the Prasthanatarya and Sankara’s
bhasyas serve as a guide, a golden key, unlocking for us the vast treasure chambers
of wisdom contained in our scriptures. These three works form the cornerstone on
which the whole edifice of Hinduism stands. 2. Books dealing with the fundamental
concepts of Vedanta (Prakarana granthas), Vivekachoodamani, Atma-bodha,
Tattvabodha etc are some of the Prakarana granthas, and 3.Meditation verses
(Stotras) His stotras invariably consisted of prayers to grant one the true light of
knowledge and discrimination and to save one from the wheel of birth and death- thus
setting forth an ideal to be pursued by the students.
Sankara as a theologian:-
Sankara was not only a great thinker and noblest of Advaitic philosopher, but
he was essentially an inspired champion of Hinduism. This was rightly pointed out by
Swami Chinmayananda when he wrote, “An exquisite thinker a brilliant intellect, a
personality scintillating with the vision of Truth, a heart throbbing with industrious faith
and ardent desire to serve the nation, sweetly, emotionally, and relentlessly logical, in
Sankara the Upanishads discovered the fittest spiritual general.”3 Such a powerful
leader was needed at that time when Hinduism had been almost smothered within the
entanglements of the Buddhist philosophy.
Sankara has developed a number of stotras or hymns in praise of Gods and
he has written Bhasyas or prasthanatraya which forms the basis on which the whole
of Hinduism is based. Hence he was an inspiration to our country as a reviver of the
glorious Hindu culture. He was not an exclusive Saivate or Vaishnavite or Sakta and
yet he stood out to be the best among Saivates, Vaishnavaites and Saktas, thus
setting a model for the respective groups for the correct method of worship. One of
the very first tasks of Sankara was to promote religious harmony among the Hindus.
As we saw earlier, he sought to unite them on the basis of the principle of unity which
is Advaita. This was made clear by Prof. Victor George when he stated that,
“Sankaracharya was not to be a critic by denying the personal God and worship but
interested to establish unity among the systems. His mission is not to bring quarrel
among various theological systems but to see that a spirit of unity prevails. He interpreted
the theology of the Upanishads and preached it for the benefit of humanity, as people
are misguided with false doctrines.”4 Temples and places of pilgrimage play a great
role in Hindu religious life. Sankara visited most of them, and imparted sanctity wherever
necessary, by correcting wrong ways of worship, by putting a stop to sacrifices that
involved violence to living beings. Sankara also established monastic centers or mutts
in the different parts of the country. He also charged his principal disciples to head

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them so that each become a centre of Advaita tradition. Of the several mutts the most
important are Badri, Dwaraka, Jagannath and Sringeri. He erected the edifice of
Advaita and established four monasteries as centers of religious teachings and missionary
work. These mutts, to this date, are sources of light and wisdom to millions of Hindus.
It was envisaged that the spiritual welfare of the whole country would be looked after
by these four mutts from their centers in east, west, north and south. The monks and
bramacharis belonging to each mutt were enjoined to make a special study of one of
the four Vedas along with all the scriptural literature in general. So we can say that
Sankaras’s vision of establishing mutts was to radiate India’s ageless message of
Sanatana dharma from various strategic points. It is in this context that we think
Sankara is referred to as a theologian.
But he who condemns Sankara as a mere theologian whose faith is pinned to
the Vedas must be either hopelessly ignorant of Sankara-Vedanta or be himself nothing
less than a prejudiced dogmatic. Sankara never accepted the sruti blindly. It is only
because he fully knows that sruti is the result of the highest realization of the ancient
sages, that he builds Advaita on the firm foundation of Vedas. Now let us have brief
look into the basic teachings of Sankara’s advaita.
Sankara as a philosopher:-
All search of knowledge originates in our instinct of curiosity. It becomes so
insistent in some persons that they make it their life’s mission and they become
philosophers in the technical sense of the term. Philosophy signifies a natural and
necessary urge in human beings to know themselves and the world in which they live
in and have their being. Hence philosophy is defined as the interpretation of man and
nature and their relation towards each other. In this sense, philosopher is a person who
is always seeking to find answers to the ultimate questions regarding the world. As
Sankara discussed such ultimate questions and found his own answers to them, he
may be regarded as a philosopher in the right sense of the term. Again, the orthodox
and heterodox systems of Indian thought, though distinct in their origin and general
spirit, exhibit certain common features like epistemology, metaphysics and ethics. All
these elements can be clearly seen in the thought of Sankara and so also he may be
considered as a philosopher. In this part of my paper we are highlighting that aspect of
Sankara by giving a brief look into his Advaita System.
The philosophy of Sankara is sublime and unique, highly inspiring and elevating.
It commands the admiration of the whole world. Indian philosophy has always come
to be identified with Sankara’s Advaita philosophy.The quintessence of Sankara’s
philosophy was stated by himself in half-a-verse:
‘Brahma satyam jagan mithya
Jeevo brahmaiv naparah’
‘Brahman, the Absolute, alone is real; this world is unreal (maya); and the jeeva or
the individual soul is not different from Brahman.’ The Upanishadic terms Brahman
and atman indicates the highest Reality, which is non-dual. Supreme Brahman is
nirguna, nirvisesha, niraakaara, that is, without the gunas or attributes, formless,

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without any special characteristics, immutable, eternal, and non-agent. Brahman is

above all needs and desires; it is always the witnessing subject; it can never become
the object as it is beyond the reach of the senses. It is non dual or one without a
second. The Absolute, the Existence (sat), Consciousness (cit), and Bliss (ananda)
form the swaroopa of Brahman. Brahman is not an object as it is adrsya, beyond the
reach of the eyes. Its nature cannot be defined in terms of any categories; hence the
Upanishads declare: neti, neti- not this not this. This does not mean that Brahman is
a negative concept, or a nonentity or contentless void. It is all-full, infinite, changeless
self-existent, self-delight, self-knowledge and self-bliss. It is the essence of the knower.
It is the Seer (drshta), transcendental truth (turiya), Silent Witness (sakshi).
Saguna Brahman and nirguna Brahman are not separate or two Brahmans.
The same Brahman appears as saguna Brahman for the worship of the devotees; it
is the same Truth from two different points of view. Nirguna Brahman is the highest
Brahman from transcendental view point (paramathika); the saguna Brahman is
from the relative view point (vyavahaika). The Supreme Truth is that Brahman which
is non-dual and relation less. To Sankara this world is only relatively real (vyavaharika
satta).He advocated vivarta-vada, the theory of phenomenal appearance or
superimposition (adhyaasa). Just as snake is superimposed on the rope in the twilight,
this world and body is superimposed on Brahman or Atman or Supreme Self. If we
get knowledge of the rope, the illusion of the snake in the rope will automatically
vanish. Similarly, if we get knowledge of Brahman or the imperishable, the illusion of
the body and the world will disappear. When avidya or the veil of ignorance is destroyed
through knowledge of the eternal, when mithya-jnana or false knowledge if removed
by real knowledge of the imperishable, we shine in our true, pristine, divine, splendor
and glory.
Atman is the same as Brahman. It is Pure Consciousness. It is the Self which
is the Self-luminous and which transcends the subject-object duality and the trinity of
knower, known and knowledge, and all the categories of the intellect. This Self can
never be denied, for the very idea of denial presupposes it. It cannot be doubted, for all
doubts rest on it. All assertions, all doubts, all denials presuppose it. He who knows
Brahman becomes Brahman. Everything is relative and therefore ultimately unreal.
The self alone is not relative. It is, therefore, self-proved.
The principle that makes for the phenomenal appearance of the world is Maya. It has
significance only from the relative (vyavaharika) stand point and not from the stand
point of Absolute. Maya or Avidya is not pure illusion. It is not only absence of
knowledge. It is also positive wrong knowledge. In fact it is indescribable. Brahman is
the ground on which the world appears through Maya. When right knowledge dawns
the essential unity of the jiva with the Paramatman is realized and Maya or Avidya
vanishes.
Jiva is a blend of the self and the non self. The jiva in its true character is
‘Saksin’ or witness which represents pure consciousness. It is characterized by
swaroopajnana whereas the empirical self or jiva is characterizes by vrittijnana.

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According to advaita, soul is not created. Only its empirical outfit is created and what
happens at death is the change of this empirical outfit. Human experience is distinguished
into three states namely waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The true self transcends all
these three stages. It is known as the turiya or the fourth.
The only way of realizing Brahman is jnana, and in order to attain this jnana
and the supreme realization of the Absolute, a four-fold path is prescribed: viveka-
right discrimination; vairagya-detachment from the sensory attractions, leading to the
extinction of desires; sama dana, uparati, titiksha, Samadhi and sradha-calmness,
self control, detachment, endurance, creative concentration and faith,; and, above all,
mumukshutva- the sustained urge to attain liberation and the resolute will to shed
human limitations and realize the Absolute in life. Bhakti or devotion is only a step to
secure the grace of God, which would obliterate the distinction between the aspirant
and God; and so is karma, actions without attachment, which bring purity of mind and
which lead to the higher state of jnana.
We can observe that the advaita of Sankara, in its different aspects, is an
attempt to follow out the Upanishadic idea of the unity of all existence to its logical
conclusion. According to Chandradhar Sharma, “One may or may not agree with
Advaita; one may freely choose any other school of Vedanta or any other system of
philosophy as more satisfactory; but one cannot logically deny that Shankara’s
interpretation is the correct interpretation and Advaita is the is the central teaching of
the Upanishadic philosophy.”5 With all its defects and excellence it stands in the history
of human thought as the most consistent system of monism.
Sankara as a social reformer:-
The age which saw the advent of Sankara was a dark period of unrest and strife.
The country was divided into a number of principalities which had very little in common
between them. The land had no religious master, and the population drifted without a
goal stagnating in innumerable sects, each championing its own narrow, limited view
point to the exclusion of all others. India was thus going through great intellectual,
spiritual and social turmoil. It was into such an age of fuming confusion, chaotic
intellectual anarchy and social decadence that Sankara was born. This was pointed
out by Jawaharlal Nehru when he wrote, “Adi Sankara strove hard to synthesize the
diverse currents that were troubling the mind of India of his day and to build a unity of
outlook out of that diversity. In a brief life of 32 years, he did the work of many long
lives and left such an impression of his powerful mind and rich personality on India
that is very evident today. He was a curious mixture of a philosophy and a scholar, an
agnostic and a mystic and a poet and a saint and in addition to all this, a practical
reformer and an able organizer”.6 A lot is known of Sankara as a philosopher but a
very few is known about ‘the Sankara’ as a social reformer. The more we learn to
adore him not as a divine incarnation but a sincere man inspired to serve the country
through his philosophy and reconquer the nation from its slavery to alien ideologies,
the more we shall successfully pay our tribute to our own culture. This part of our
paper is an attempt in that direction to see Sankara as a social reformer rather than a

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philosopher or theologian.
Sankara who was imbued with a divine compassion which exerts in the
direction of providing enlightenment to the ignorant and suffering humanity blossomed
as a moral leader, a mentor of mankind and a spiritual ruler of the world. By advocating
the path of knowledge (jnana-marga) Sankara has liberated man from rituals and
sacrifices. This is something that affected the social life of the individual and society.
To Sankara we owe the true conception of Swaraj. He realized that the unity
of India cannot be based on any kind of political kinship. So by establishing the four
religious monasteries in the four corners of India, Sankara had visualized the national
integration and solidarity of the country. In his article ‘What we owe to Sankara’,
Satchidananda Murthy remarks that “Sankara’s missionary zeal and his establishment
of monasteries influence the national leaders and political thinkers to conceive national
integration and oneness of the people”.7
Again, Sankara has brought out a revolution by introducing the Sadhana
catustaya as the only four prerequisites to learn Brahmavidya. He made it possible
that caste and occupation are not criterion for brahmavidya. He also went against
the dharmasastra view of life of going through all the four life stages to become a
sanyasin. He became a sanyasi straight away from the life of brahmacarya. Also
he performed the funeral rite of his mother as per her wish when he was a sanyasin.
Here we find in him appealing to reason rather than blindly following the sruti. He
was of opinion that reason must be our guide if it contradicts with sruti because
reason is much nearer to our experience. Thus we find in Sankara’s life many instances
where there was a triumph of wisdom and reason with reference to human values
against the conventions. Swami Vivekananda, continuing this line of thinking, developed
out of the main positions of Sankara’s philosophy the demand for equality of human
beings. Starting from the upanishadic sentences of ‘tat tvam asi’ and ‘aham brahma
asmi’, the metaphysics of Vedanta was turned by Swami Vivekananda towards the
social aspects of society. Thus we see that Vivekananda on the basis of Sankara’s
philosophical concept developed a thorough humanist social philosophy responding to
the demands of his time.
The aim of life, according to Sankara, is beyond what is achieved through life. Again,
even after the realization of the ultimate end, the liberated person does not leave
society or the world, nor becomes interested in it. Sankara’s life itself is a glaring
example of this fact.
Even though in the transcendental level, Sankara has negated all dualism, it
does not mean that dualism of right and wrong is as truer as all other dualism in the
pragmatic level. Before the achievement of liberation, he says man must have due
consideration for the right and wrong. Hence there is enough place for it in Sankara’s
philosophy. But after liberation is achieved such a consideration becomes superfluous
because the liberated person realizes the Brahman. Attainment of liberation transforms
all his life. By the transformation, the moral values are even more glorified and
spiritualized. This gives a new inspiration, energy, peace and stability in practical life.

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Thus the ultimate end in Advaita philosophy is beyond right and wrong but instead of
negating them, it leads to them ultimate fulfillment.
Sankara’s system is unmatched for its metaphysical depth and logical
consistency. It destroyed many old dogmas, not by violently attacking them but by
suggesting something more reasonable and practical. Sankaracharya sought to clean
the Vedic philosophy of obscurities and inconsistencies, and thereby making it both
comprehensive and acceptable to the people at large. He thus resurrected the India of
the ages and reawakened India’s national genius. By means of his remarkable clearness,
his supreme wisdom, and his profound spirituality he has so stamped himself upon
Vedanta that it has remained the paragon of Indian philosophy and has given solace to
the sorrowful heart of a large segment of mankind.
To conclude the discussion it may be pointed that Sankara was a theologian
as well as a philosopher who tried his level best to bring about social reforms in the
country through the Advaitic philosophy of unity and oneness. This was essential
during his period. It is this unity based on ethical and spiritual values, revitalized by
Sankara that help us to stand in good stead even today.

Reference:-
1. Radhakrishanan, Dr. S (1966) ‘Indian Philosophy’ Vol .II, London: George Allen
& Unwin. P466

2. Namboodiri,Krishnan,Prof.P.K ‘Experiencing Advaita’, The Week, December,

25, 2011p.4

3 Chinmayananda,Swami (1978) , ‘Sankara: the Missionary’, Bombay: Central

Chinmaya Mission Trust.p.4

4. Victor, P.George, (2007) ‘Life and Teachings of Adi Sankaracharya’, New Delhi.
D.K. Print world, pp.42-43

5. Sharma,Chandradhar.(2007) ‘The Advaita Tradition in Indian Philosophy’, Delhi.

Motilal Banarsidass, p166

6. Nehru, Jawaharlal. (1982) ‘The Discovery of India,’ New Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru
Memorial Fund), p 190

7. Murthy, Saccidananada.(1989) ‘What We Owe to Sankara’ in Balasubramanian,R

& Sibjajivan Bhattacharya , eds., ‘Perspectives of Sankara’, New Delhi:
Department of Culture, Govt.of India. p.443

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