Shankaracharya Mathas In India
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Shankaracharya Mathas In India
Shankaracharya (, , " Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi Shankara; teachers from the successive line of teachers retrospectively dated back to him are known as Shankaracharyas. Etymology The word Shankaracharya is composed of two parts, Shankara and Acharya. Acharya is a Sanskrit word meaning "teacher", so Shankaracharya means "teacher of the way of Shankara". Establishment of the tradition Adi Shankara, known as Adi Shankaracharya, set up four monasteries known as Mathas or Peethams, in the North, South, East and West of India, to be administered by realised men who would be known as Shankaracharyas. They would take on the role of teacher and could be consulted by anyone with sincere queries of a spiritual nature and they would guide the humanity in times of trouble and provide solace. Another monastery Kanchi Kamkoti Peetham in sout ...
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Raja Ravi Varma - Sankaracharya
Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested from the ''Rigveda'', where a ' is a ruler, see for example the ', the "Battle of Ten Kings". The title has equivalent cognates in other Indo-European languages, notably the Latin Rex and the Celtic Rix. Raja-ruled Indian states While most of the Indian salute states (those granted a gun salute by the British Crown) were ruled by a Maharaja (or variation; some promoted from an earlier Raja- or equivalent style), even exclusively from 13 guns up, a number had Rajas: ; Hereditary salutes of 11-guns : * the Raja of Ali Rajpur * the Raja of Bilaspur * the Raja of Chamba * the Raja of Faridkot * the Raja of Jhabua * the Raja of Mandi * the Raja of Manipur * the Raja of Nar ...
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Padmapāda
Padmapadacharya was an Indian philosopher, a follower of Adi Shankara. Padmapāda's dates are unknown, but some modern scholarship places his life around the middle of the 8th century; similarly information about him comes mainly from hagiographies. What is known for certain is that he was a direct disciple of Shankara, of whom he was a younger contemporary. Padmapada was the first head of Puri Govardhana matha. He is believed to have founded a math by name Thekke Matham in Thrissur, Kerala. Keralites believe that he was a Nambuthiri belonging to Vemannillom, though according to textual sources he was from the Chola region in South India. Padmapāda, together with Sureśvara, developed ideas that led to the founding of the Vivarana school of commentators. The only surviving work of Padmapāda known to be authentic is the ''Pañcapādikā''. According to tradition, this was written in response to Shankara's request for a commentary on his own '' Brahmasūtrabhāsya' ...
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Atharva Veda
The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), "Veda and Upanishad," in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, , page 38 The text is the fourth Veda, and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.Laurie Patton (1994), ''Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: Essays in Vedic Interpretation,'' State University of New York Press, , page 57 The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Rigvedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms. It is a collection of 730 Music of India#History, hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.Maurice Bloomfield''The Atharvaveda'' Harvard University Press, pages 1-2 About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapt verses from the Rigveda, and exce ...
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Jyotir Math
Uttarāmnāya Śrī Jyotish Pītham or JyotirMath is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams established by the Ādi Śaṅkara 1200 years ago to preserve Hinduism and Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of non-dualism. Located in the city of Joshimath, Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, it is the uttarāmnāya ''matha'' or Northern Āmnāya Pītham, amongst the four Chaturamnay Peethams - Kalady Kerala, birthplace of Adi Shankara with the others being the Sringeri Śārada Pīṭhaṃ (Karnataka) in the South, Dvārakā Śāradā Pītham (Gujarat , Dwarka) in the West and Purī Govardhanmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ (Odisha, Puri) in the east. Its appointees bear the title of Shankaracharya. It is the headquarters of Giri, Parvata & Sagara sects of the Dasnami Sampradaya (monistic order). Their Vedantic mantra or Mahavakya is ''Ayamātmānam brahma (This Atman is supreme being) and'' as per the tradition initiated by Adi Shankara it holds authority over Atharva Veda. The head o ...
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Totakacharya
Totakacharya (IAST ') 8th century CE) was a disciple of Ādi Śaṅkara, the Advaita Vedanta teacher. He was made the first Jagadguru (''head'') of the Jyotir Pīthaṃ, the original northern maṭha founded by Ādi Śaṅkara in Uttarakhand. He founded a maṭha by name Vadakke modam in Thrissur, Kerala. Meeting Ādi Śaṅkara The states that when Ādi Śaṅkara was at Śṛṅgeri, he met a boy named Giri. Ādi Śaṅkara accepted the boy as his disciple. Giri was a hard-working and loyal disciple of his Guru, Ādi Śaṅkara, though he did not appear bright to the other disciples. One day, Giri was busy plucking flowers for pooja, when Ādi Śaṅkara sat down to begin a lesson on Advaita Vedānta. He however did not start the lesson saying he was waiting for Giri to come back from his chores and singing lessons. At this, Padmapada pointed to a wall and said that it would be the same if Ādi Śaṅkara taught to this dumb object as he taught to Giri. Now, Ādi Śaṅ ...
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Sama Veda
The ''Samaveda'' (, , from '' सामन्'', "song" and ''वेद'', "knowledge"), is the Veda of melodies and chants. It is an ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, and is one of the sacred scriptures in Hinduism. One of the four Vedas, it is a liturgical text which consists of 1,875 verses. All but 75 verses have been taken from the Rigveda. Three recensions of the ''Samaveda'' have survived, and variant manuscripts of the Veda have been found in various parts of India. While its earliest parts are believed to date from as early as the Rigvedic period, the existing samhita text dates from the post-Rigvedic Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, between c. 1200 and 1000 BCE or "slightly rather later," roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda and the Yajurveda. Along with the Samhita layer of text, the ''Samaveda'' includes Brahmana texts, and a final layer of the text that covers philosophical speculations (Upanishads). These layers of the compilation date from the post-Rigvedic Mantr ...
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Dwarka Sharada Peetham
Pascimāmnāya Śrī Śāradā Pītham or Dwarka Sharada Math, is one amongst the four cardinal peethams believed by its followers to be established by Adi Shankara, preserving and propagating Sanatana Dharma and Advaita Vedanta, the doctrine of non-dualism. Located in the city of Dwaraka, Gujarat, India it is the ''pascimāmnāya matha'', or Western Āmnāya PīthamPasricha, Prem C. (1977) The Whole Thing the Real Thing, Delhi Photo Company, p. 59-63 amongst the four Chaturāmnāya Pīthams. It is also known as the Kālikā Matha. Their Vedantic mantra or Mahavakya is ''Tattvamasi'' ("That('s how) you are"). According to tradition, believed to be initiated by Adi Shankara, it holds authority over Sama Veda. The head of the matha is called Shankarayacharya, the title derives from Adi Shankara. Structure Dvaraka Pitha is one of the four (religious centers) believed by tradition to be established by Adi Shankaracharya (9th cent. CE,) who is portrayed as pioneering the unif ...
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Hastamalakacharya
Hastamalakacharya (IAST ') (c. 8th century BCE) was a disciple of Adi Shankara, the Advaita philosopher. He was made the first Jagadguru (''head'') of the Dvāraka Pīṭhaṃ, the monastery founded by Adi Shankara in Dwaraka. Hastamalaka founded a matha by name Idayil Matham in Thrissur, Kerala. Meeting Adi Shankara The Mādhavīya Śaṃkaravijayam states that when Adi Shankara was at Kollur, he accepted invitations by brāhmaņas to have Bhikşa (''alms'' or food) at their houses. On such an occasion he visited a village called Śrīvalli (near Chitrapur, Uttara karnataka), where every house was said to emit the holy smell of the smoke of Agnihotra sacrifice, to accept Bhikşa. That place was inhabited by about two thousand brāhmaņas who were learned in the Vedas and performed the Yajnas prescribed in the Vedas. There was also a temple dedicated to Shiva and Parvati. In that village there lived a brāhmaņa, Prabhākara, who was noted for his learning. He had a son ...
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Bharathi Tirtha
Bharathi Tirtha Mahaswamiji (), ( Purvashrama name Seetharama Anjaneyalu) (born 3 April 1951), is an Indian religious leader who is the current and 36th Shankaracharya of Sringeri Sharada Peetham, an important Hindu monastery in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta established by Sri Adi Shankara. Early life and career Jagadguru Sri Sri Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji was born 03 April 1951 to a Telugu Smartha family from Machilipatnam. His family later moved to Narasaraopet, Andhra Pradesh. He was a religiously minded child. His '' upanayana'' ceremony was performed when he was seven years of age. In addition to schooling, he spent his time studying Sanskrit and took lessons in the Vedas from his father who himself was a Vedic scholar. In the year 1966, at the age of 15, Anjaneyalu approached the 35th Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamiji, seeking religious guidance from him. Jagadguru Sri Sri Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha ...
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Yajur Veda
The ''Yajurveda'' (, , from यजुस्, "worship", and वेद, "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism'' (Editor: Gavin Flood), Blackwell, , pages 76–77 An ancient Vedic Sanskrit text, it is a compilation of ritual-offering formulas that were said by a priest while an individual performed ritual actions such as those before the yajna fire. Yajurveda is one of the four Vedas, and one of the scriptures of Hinduism. The exact century of Yajurveda's composition is unknown, and estimated by Witzel to be between 1200 and 800 BCE, contemporaneous with Samaveda and Atharvaveda. The Yajurveda is broadly grouped into two – the "black" or "dark" (''Krishna'') Yajurveda and the "white" or "bright" (''Shukla'') Yajurveda. The term "black" implies "the un-arranged, unclear, motley collection" of verses in Yajurveda, in contrast to the "white" which implies t ...
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Sringeri Sharada Peetham
Dakṣiṇāmnāya Śrī Śāradā Pīṭham () or Śri Śṛṅgagiri Maṭha (); , ) is one amongst the four cardinal Matha, pīthams following the Daśanāmi Sampradaya - the ''peetham'' or ''matha'' is said to have been established by acharya Adi Shankara, Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara to preserve and propagate Sanatana dharma, Sanātana Dharma and Advaita Vedanta, Advaita Vedānta, the doctrine of Nonduality (spirituality), non-dualism. Located in Sringeri, Śringerī in Chikmagalur district in Karnataka, India, it is the Southern Āmnāya Pītham amongst the four Chaturāmnāya Pīthams, with the others being the Dwarka Sharada Peetham, Dvārakā Śāradā Pītham (Gujarat) in the West, Govardhan Math, Purī Govardhana Pīṭhaṃ (Odisha) in the East, Jyotir Math, Badri Jyotishpīṭhaṃ (Uttarakhand) in the North. The head of the matha is called Shankaracharya, Shankarayacharya, the title derives from Adi Shankara. Śri Śringerī Mutt, as the Pītham is referred to in common ...
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Sureśvara
Sureśvara (also known as Sureśvarācārya, was a 9th-century Indian philosopher, who studied under Śankara. Śankara is said to have entrusted to Sureśvara his first monastic institution, the Sringeri Sharada Peetham. Sureśvara is believed to have founded the Naduvil Matham in Thrissur. His Maha Samadhi is located near the Sharada temple of Sringeri Mutt in Sringeri Karnataka. Life Little is known for sure about Sureśvara's life. According to a persistent but erroneous tradition within Advaita Vedānta, before he became a disciple of Śankara, Sureśvara was known as Maṇḍana Miśra, a Mīmāmsāka. After being defeated in a debate by Śankara, Miśra renounced his life as a householder and became a sannyāsin. Whether this Maṇḍana Miśra was the same as the author of '' Brahmasiddhi'' is questioned by modern scholars on the basis of textual analysis. Sureśvara was the Advaita tradition's '' Vārttikakāra'' (commentator), meticulously and critically ...
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