Was the work of Shri Sankaracharya completed?

 

The timeline of Adi Shankaracharya is one of the most debated topics in Indian history. The mystery stems from relying on traditional monastery (matha) records versus modern historical texts.

Many prominent Advaita monastic institutions (such as the Kanchi Peetham) and traditional texts place his birth in 509 BCE, while Modern historians generally accept 788 CE as the accurate birth year.

Further, some think, keeping (i) his very short life span of 32 years, (ii) his engaging in continuous tours and (iii) many scholarly debates, in view that except his commentary on Brahma Sutras, the authorship of remaining literary works attributed to him, ie., Gita Bhashya, Saundarya Lahari, Bhaja Govindam, etc, were in fact not authored by Shri Adi Shankara.

As his foundational biographies (such as the Sankara Vijayam texts) were compiled centuries after his time and are largely hagiographic, exact, factual day-to-day events remain heavily shrouded in mythological legends.

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Whatever may be timeline of Shri Adi Shanka, he was undoubtedly the need of hour, as the then society in India was in total disarray.

1. Society was divided into countless, often warring sects. The public was losing sight of the underlying unity of God
2. Scholars could not grasp the pure spiritual concepts of Rig Veda and composed/initiated many rituals that were not in line with the Rig Veda
3. The over-emphasis on elaborate Vedic rituals by the priesthood created disillusionment, causing many to look towards Buddhism and Jainism
4. Without a central religious authority, India was vulnerable to philosophical chaos.
5. To solve this, he traveled the length and breadth of India on foot held discussions with various scholars, stopped the onslaught of Buddhism and established four cardinal Mathas (monasteries) strategically located across the country

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As Shri Adi Shankara lived only for 32 years, he could not complete the task of taking back the society to the lofty ideals of Rig Veda.

Initiating Shanmata (6 ways of worship) might have been done someone else at a later date, but attributed to Shri Adi Shankara, as he was an Advaiti.

Coming to the question part - Was the work of Shri Sankaracharya completed? - I think it depends upon the circumstances.

As the then circumstances of his period caused his birth, similar circumstances if exist now, then another great personality like Shri Adi Shankara might take birth for re-establishing the spiritual concepts of Rig Veda or Sanatana Dharma.

Please note the re-establishing the Sanatana Dharma does indicate that wiping out of the majority of customs/rituals prevailing now, which do not conform to the Sanatana Dharma.

 

 

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