Life
Ādi Śaṅkara (traditionally placed in the early 8th century) is the central figure of Advaita Vedānta commentary. Works attributed to him expound non-dual Brahman through bhāṣya on the prasthāna-traya. Dating, authorship of many stotras and hagiographic travel tales remain debated. ORDL presents him as a literature mentor for Vedānta—not as a living guru substitute.
The system
- Advaita: world as mithyā relative to non-dual Brahman/ātman.
- Prasthāna-traya commentary as the scholastic spine.
- Monastic matha lineages in later memory—read against critical history.
Key works
- Brahma-sūtra-bhāṣya (attributed)
- Upaniṣad bhāṣyas (corpus attributed)
- Bhagavad-gītā-bhāṣya (attributed)
Where to start
- A modern annotated translation of one major bhāṣya
- Then a critical introduction to Advaita history (dating and authorship debates)
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