Buddhism and Jainism emerged as a rejection of the Vedic religion’s caste system, sacrificial rituals, and Brahmin supremacy. Buddhism, in particular, challenged Vedic (Brahmanical) religion by offering an alternative spiritual path. The Buddha condemned the caste system, which elevated Brahmins as the highest class, declaring all humans equal and denying distinctions based on birth. He also rejected the existence of the soul (atman) and God. Supported by the Mauryas, Kushans, and to some extent the Guptas, Buddhism thrived in India for over a millennium (6th century BCE to 8th century CE). Instead of Vedic rituals and animal sacrifices, Buddhism advocated meditation and inner consciousness to foster ethical behavior and a better life. Thinkers like Dharmakirti, Shantirakshita, and Nagarjuna elevated Buddhist teachings to their zenith.
Buddhism’s egalitarian view, transcending caste, attracted the masses, with a significant portion of the population adopting it. This posed a doctrinal and existential challenge to Vedic/Brahmanical religion.
Adi Shankaracharya was the first to confront this challenge. Historians place his life between 788–820 CE, though some, like Kota Venkata Chelam, claim he lived from 509–477 BCE. Since many labeled Shankaracharya a "crypto-Buddhist," scholars positioned him after the Buddha, though some pundits might argue he predated him to avoid this association.
1. Life and Biography
Historical evidence about Shankaracharya’s personal life is scarce. Details about his birth, personality, spiritual crusade, establishment of monasteries (mathas), and death come from Shankara Vijayams—biographies written from the 14th century by poets like Vidyaranya, Anandagiri, and Chidvilasa—and various commentaries attributed to Shankaracharya.
Adi Shankaracharya was born in a Sambudri Brahmin family in Kalady, Kerala. His father was Shivaguru, and his mother was Aryamba. At a young age, he mastered the Vedas, Upanishads, and logic. With his mother’s permission, he took sannyasa (renunciation) and studied Vedanta under Guru Govinda Bhagavatpada.
Shankaracharya vigorously propagated Advaita Vedanta, teaching that Brahman is the ultimate reality, the world is an illusion (maya), and the individual soul (jivatma) is identical to the universal soul (paramatma). He traveled across India to spread his teachings and established four mathas: Sringeri in Karnataka, Dwarka in Gujarat, Jyotir Math (Joshimath) in Uttarakhand, and Puri in Odisha. These mathas were founded to provide spiritual leadership and preserve Sanatana Hindu Dharma, led by Vedic scholars.
Shankaracharya authored commentaries on the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Brahma Sutras, as well as works like Bhaja Govindam, Soundarya Lahari, and Nirvana Shatkam. At the age of 32, he is said to have attained jiva samadhi (spiritual liberation) at Kedarnath in the Himalayas.
This is a broad outline of Shankaracharya’s life.
2. Spiritual Crusade Against Buddhism
Shankaracharya played a pivotal role in reviving Hinduism, which had waned under the influence of Buddhism and Jainism. By his time, Buddhism remained strong in India. The 7th-century Chinese traveler Xuanzang noted the presence of numerous Buddhist monasteries and monks alongside temples.
Buddhists and Charvakas promoted rational thinking, seeking the truth behind the world’s existence and viewing it as knowable through the senses. Shankaracharya’s declaration that the world is an illusion (jagat mithya) devalued efforts to understand it, stifling truth-seeking. Post-Shankaracharya, studies in medicine, chemistry, and astronomy stagnated. Most ancient Indian discoveries were made by Buddhist, Jain, or Vedic sages before his time. His Advaita doctrine led society toward illusionism and supernaturalism, hindering scientific progress.
Buddhists taught that suffering is real and liberation from it is life’s goal, offering paths to overcome it. By declaring the world illusory, Shankaracharya rendered suffering a falsehood, dismissing human pain as maya. This undermined empathy for those suffering under the caste system, reinforcing its injustices. It fostered apathy toward social inequalities, poverty, and discrimination, discouraging the oppressed from fighting back by eroding their consciousness of resistance.
Shankaracharya is called a "crypto-Buddhist" for borrowing elements from Buddhist texts, but equating him with the Buddha is a distortion. The Buddha rejected Vedic rituals and the caste system, while Shankaracharya upheld them, declaring the Vedas inviolable and the caste system eternal. Buddhist monasteries welcomed Shudras and women, but Shankaracharya’s mathas were exclusively for Brahmin men. His role in suppressing Buddhism was significant. Labeling him a crypto-Buddhist is as misleading as claiming Vyasa was a Shudra or Valmiki a Boya—falsehoods spread by pundits to legitimize their narratives.
The 14th-century Shankara Digvijaya by Madhavacharya (Vidyaranya) states (1.27–56) that gods, lamenting the neglect of Vedic Dharma due to the rise of Buddhists, Jains, and Shaiva Kapalikas, appealed to Shiva. Shiva promised to incarnate as Shankaracharya, with his son Kartikeya as Kumarila Bhatta, to defeat these faiths through logic. Indra would incarnate as King Sudhanva to aid Vedic restoration. This portrays Shankaracharya as Shiva’s avatar, born to eradicate non-Vedic religions.
Madhavacharya claims King Sudhanva of Ujjain, supported by Shankaracharya and Kumarila Bhatta, destroyed thousands of Buddhist monasteries and monks from the Himalayas to Rameshwaram. Xuanzang’s 7th-century records mention a Brahmin king ruling Ujjain, and the play Mrichchakatika notes a relative of Ujjain’s king harassing Buddhists, lending historical weight to Sudhanva’s role. In Shankara Digvijaya (Canto 7), Kumarila Bhatta tells Shankaracharya, “The earth is overrun with Buddhists who ignore the Vedas. I will defeat them and restore Vedic glory.” Shankaracharya responds, “Bhatta, you were born to eradicate Buddhists; no sin will touch you.” (Shankara Digvijaya, 7.77–121, trans. Swami Tapasyananda)
Swami Vivekananda remarked, “Shankaracharya defeated Buddhist monks in debates and burned them alive. What can we call this if not religious fanaticism?” (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. VII, p. 116)
Shankaracharya traveled India, engaging materialist Buddhists in debates, using abstract arguments like “the world is illusory,” “I am Brahman,” and “the soul is the supreme soul” to defeat them, followed by mass burnings akin to brutal crusades. His followers systematically attacked non-Hindu faiths like Buddhism, Jainism, and Kapalika sects. The mutilated Buddha statues found across India today date to Shankaracharya’s era.
It is said Shankaracharya dismantled a Buddhist monastery to establish the Sringeri matha. Epigraphic evidence confirms Vijayapuri near Nagarjunakonda was a major Buddhist center in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE. A.H. Longhurst’s excavation report notes Shankaracharya and his followers destroyed Buddhist monasteries there (The Buddhist Antiquities of Nagarjunakonda, 1938, p. 6). Allegations persist that Buddhist sites like Srisailam, Badrinath, Puri, Sabarimala, and Tirupati were converted into Hindu temples.
Like today’s Sangh Parivar, Shankaracharya waged a spiritual crusade against non-Hindu religions.
3. Shankaracharya: Staunch Advocate of Manuvada
Shankaracharya appointed an acharya for each of the four mathas he established, tasking them with upholding caste-based duties (varnashrama dharma) in their regions. He composed the Mahaanushasanam (26 verses), outlining these duties. Key verses include:
- “Ensure the caste system we established is protected in your jurisdictions.” (Verse 3)
- “The heads of the mathas must use their authority to safeguard this Aryan tradition.” (Verse 8)
- “May they wield King Sudhanva’s authority like Indra’s command to protect dharma.” (Verse 14)
- “Let the four castes honor these mathas to the best of their ability.” (Verse 17)
- “These rules align with the teachings of Manu, Gautama, and others.” (Verse 22)
- “In previous ages, Brahma, Vasishta, and Vyasa were world teachers. In this Kali Yuga, I am the world teacher.” (Verse 25)
Shankaracharya claimed he restored the Sanatana Hindu caste system disrupted by Buddhism, urging its preservation. The Mahaanushasanam resembles a “corporate governance manual” for running the mathas. These institutions continue to operate on these principles, established to protect and propagate the caste system.
Shankara Vijayams recount Shankaracharya traveling India, debating scholars like Mandana Mishra, Bhaskara, and Kumarila Bhatta, defeating them, and spreading his teachings. When Buddhism’s influence led to fierce criticism of the Vedas and Upanishads, Shankaracharya’s commentaries revived their prominence, preventing Vedic religion from fading into obscurity.
In his commentary on the Brahma Sutra (“Shravanadhyayanartha pratishedhat smriteshcha…”), Shankaracharya states that Shudras are forbidden from hearing the Vedas. If they do, molten lead should be poured into their ears; if they recite them, their tongues should be cut off (Brahma Sutra Bhasya, Swami Gambhirananda, p. 233). Such pronouncements reversed Buddhism’s 1,000-year advocacy of human equality, reinstating the caste system. His directive that education is forbidden for Shudras influenced later Puranic and epic commentaries.
In his Brahma Sutra commentary (9, Apashudradhikaranam, 34–38), Shankaracharya explicitly declares Shudras ineligible for Vedic study or Brahma Vidya (spiritual knowledge) due to their lack of upanayana (sacred thread ceremony). Historically, upanayana was universal across Aryan and non-Aryan communities, but it was gradually denied to Shudras, marking them as subservient. This divided society, with the upper three castes deemed superior and Shudras their servants. Dalits (ati-Shudras) were entirely excluded.
In his Bhagavad Gita commentary (18.41), Shankaracharya justifies the caste system through the karma theory, stating that birth as a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, or Shudra results from past actions. This doctrine diminishes individual agency and effort, encouraging passive acceptance of injustice and fostering despair. The karma theory has been a tool to subjugate 80% of the population as slaves for 2,000 years.
In his commentary on Bhagavad Gita 4.13 (“Chaturvarnyam maya srishtam…”), where Krishna says the four castes were created based on qualities and actions, Shankaracharya interprets that Shudras, dominated by tamoguna (ignorance), must serve the upper castes. This entrenched Manusmriti’s principles in society.
4. The Emergence of Hinduism
Between 1500–500 BCE, Vedic religion, centered on deities like Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Soma, and practices like sacrifices, Vedas, and Upanishads, held sway. By 600 BCE, Buddhism, Jainism, Charvaka, and Ajivika faiths arose in protest against Vedic excesses. Buddhism’s emphasis on social equality, simple ethics, and freedom from ritualistic and caste oppression attracted the masses, diminishing Vedic religion’s influence. By 600 CE, Vedic religion had fragmented into Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Sauryam (sun worship), Ganapatya (Ganesha worship), Skanda (Kartikeya worship), Kapalika, and Pashupata sects, leading to disunity. By Shankaracharya’s time, 72 sects reportedly existed.
Against this backdrop, Shankaracharya emerged, suppressing Buddhism with illusionist doctrines, reviving the Vedas and Upanishads through commentaries, and unifying Vedic sects under the Panchayatana Puja system, with a Brahmin as its head. This system involves worshiping Shiva, Surya, Ganesha, Parvati, and Vishnu as primary deities, consolidating Vedic sects into a stronger entity. Buddhists were co-opted by portraying the Buddha as Vishnu’s avatar through fabricated tales. This erased India’s religious and cultural diversity, forcibly assimilating or eliminating non-Vedic faiths in a spiritual crusade.
Vedic religion adopted Buddhist practices like meditation, monasticism, and idol worship, and Jain principles like non-violence, asceticism, and karma theory. It created 18 Puranas, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata as cultural frameworks for the Vedas and Dharma Shastras. Over time, Vedic religion evolved into what we now call Hinduism.
Shankaracharya’s role in this process was political. While scholars celebrate Hinduism’s consolidation, they rarely acknowledge how Buddhism’s egalitarian and scientific ethos was erased. Shankaracharya’s crusade was a key factor in Buddhism’s decline.
5. Conclusion
Shankaracharya’s life as an 8th-century figure is known through 14th-century biographies, with no evidence bridging the six-century gap. Even the mathas he reportedly founded have inscriptions only from the 14th century. No contemporary inscriptions or references exist, raising doubts about whether he was one person, multiple figures, or a mythical construct like Chanakya. Mythical figures often wield greater influence than historical ones. Shankaracharya, like Lord Rama, is a revered, mythical icon today. His attributed powers are historically unverifiable, and discussions must focus on the societal impact of his legacy, not its historicity.
Shankaracharya did not engage with the masses; his audience was Vedic scholars. His actions—writing commentaries, reinforcing the caste system, establishing Brahmin-led mathas, denying education to women and Shudras, and suppressing Buddhist monasteries—served the elite, oppressing 90% of the population.
Scholars repeatedly claim Shankaracharya’s commentaries saved Vedic Dharma from Buddhist and Jain critiques. Madhavacharya writes in Shankara Digvijaya, “As Rama destroyed demons to save Sita, Shankaracharya defeated Buddhists who maligned the Vedas, restoring the Upanishads’ glory. Victory to the great Shankara, benefactor of the three worlds!” (4.110)
Advaita Vedanta remains incomprehensible to the masses, yet scholars hailed it as a monumental discovery. Using Shankaracharya’s commentaries, pundits perpetuated the caste system, karma theory, and Brahmin supremacy, leading society into superstition and inequality. Under the guise of dharma, they exploited the labor of Shudras and Dalits.
The Panchayatana Puja system diminished India’s cultural diversity, prioritizing Brahmin-led rituals. A story in Shankara Digvijaya recounts Shankaracharya encountering a Chandala in Kashi and asking him to step aside per custom. The Chandala asks, “Are you telling my body or soul to move?” Shankaracharya, realizing his error, recognizes the Chandala as Shiva and bows. Some claim this shows Shankaracharya opposed untouchability, but the text also calls him Shiva’s avatar. Who, then, is the Chandala as Shiva? Such narratives are scholarly manipulations.
Shankaracharya’s influence persists. When Dr. Ambedkar introduced the Hindu Code Bill in Parliament, the head of Karnataka’s Sankeshwara Matha, linked to Shankaracharya’s school, said, “Ganga water may be sacred, but not if it comes through a street tap. Similarly, the ‘Dharma Shastra’ (Hindu Code Bill), though authentic, cannot be deemed valid from a ‘Mahar’ like Dr. Ambedkar.” This reflects the enduring power of Shankaracharya’s Mahaanushasanam.
For upholding the caste system and restoring Brahmin supremacy, pundits venerate Shankaracharya as “Shankara Bhagavatpada” and Shiva’s avatar, celebrating Shankara Jayanti with grand rituals.
Today, as Bahujans, empowered by constitutional rights, live with dignity, they must critically examine Shankaracharya’s role in pushing them into centuries of servitude. Amid claims that the past was glorious, such understanding is vital.
By Bolloju Baba
References
- Brahma Sutra Bhasya of Shankaracharya, Swami Gambhirananda, p. 233
- Sri Shankaravatara Charitamu, Yerrapragada Venkata Suryanarayana Murthy
- The Buddhist Antiquities of Nagarjunakonda, A.H. Longhurst, Delhi, 1938, p. 6
- Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. VII, p. 116
- Tirupati Balaji was a Buddhist Shrine, K. Jamanadas
- Sankara Digvijaya, trans. Swami Tapasyananda, Ramakrishna Math
- Sri Shankara Vijayamu, Chilukuru Venkateshwarlu
- Adi Shankaracharya Vyaktitvam Tattvam, Ravipudi Venkataadri
- Decline and Fall of Buddhism, Dr. K. Jamanadas
- Slavery, Jyotirao Phule
- On Hinduism, Wendy Doniger
- Vedabahyulu, Bolloju Baba
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