Year :788 AD
Month : Vaishaka (April-May)
Day : Shukla Panchami (the fifth day of the bright half of the Lunar month)
Place : The serene village, Kalady, on the bank f the river Poorna in Kerala.
An event that was destined to rewrite the spiritual history of our sacred nation in the next thirty years occurred on that day in the family of Shivaguru, a Nambhoodiri brahmin and Aryamba, his wife. Aryamba had just given birth to a male child. The fortunate parents were very thankful to Lord Shiva, for they were issueless for long, and only after intense prayers to the most merciful Lord Shiva, was their wish granted. However, at that time, neither of them realised, even in the least, that the child was the incarnation of the Lord Himself with a magnificent spiritual mission! The joyous parents named the boy ‘Shankara’.
Shivaguru passed away even before the child reached five years of age. With the help of her relatives, Aryamba performed the sacred thread ceremony for her five year old son. From that day onwards events indicative of the supremacy of the divine boy started manifesting one after the other.
Sri Shankara ensured an astonishing adherence to the dictates of the scripture about the life styles of a Brahmachari. He went from home to home begging for food, as stipulated in the scripture as a sure means to destroy one’s ego, to be elevated spiritually! On a certain day, Sri Shankara stood before the doors of a poverty-stricken brahmin, announced His presence and begged for food. The lady of the house felt really miserable as she had nothing to offer to the divine celibate. Her frantic search all over the house got her only a dry gooseberry. With tears rolling down her cheeks over her inability to offer this godly Brahmachari some decent food, she offered this gooseberry to Him with her heart full of love. Sri Shankara was moved by her good heart. Desirous of putting an end to her penury, the divine boy prayed to Goddess Sri Mahalakshmi through a verse emanating extempore from His sacred lips. Lo! There was an instant shower of golden gooseberries in her house! The sacred verse came to be called the famous “Kanakadhara Stotram”.
On another occasion, finding His mother staining herself mush in walking up to the river Poorna for her daily bath, Sri Shankara prayed to Goddess Ganga to shower Her grace on His mother. The next morning the residents of the Kalady Agrahara were taken aback as they found that the river Poorna had changed her course and was flowing right near the backyard of Sri Shankara’s house! Aryamba found it very convenient to take her daily bath in the river!
On the knowledge front, Sri Shankara amazed scholars by His mastery over the Vedas and the Shastras, even before He was eight years of age! Even the king of that region, himself a scholar, visited Sri Shankara and took his blessings.
The time for starting on his divine mission arriving, Providence enacted a divine drama to pull Sri Shankara away from the clutches of worldly life. One day, when he was taking a bath in the river, a crocodile caught his leg. Panic stricken at this sight, Ayamba started wailing in pain. Sri Shankara asked for her permission to embrace Sanyasa (asceticism) so as to escape the deadly jaws of the animal. She immediately gave her consent. Sri Shankara took to Sanyasa, uttering the sacred words “Hail! I grant freedom to all beings from fear arising on account of me.” This sacred vow of Ahimsa worked a miracle! The crocodile left Sri Shankara unhurt!
Sri Shankara, now a young acetic, left Kalady and reached the banks of river Narmada where the great Sage Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada was residing. Initiated by the holy Acharya into the sacred Sanyasa Ashrama, Sri Shankara started serving him devoutly. One day, the river Narmada was in spate causing a deluge in the region. Unable to bear the suffering of the people, Sri Shankara placed His wooden pot on the bank and recited a Mantra. Lo! The river entered the pot in its entirety! Observing this event, Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada realised Sri Shankara’s supremacy and advised him to leave for the holy city of Varanasi to commence the mission for which He had incarnated. Sri Shankara obeyed His Guru’s commands, and left for Varanasi. By then, this great ascetic was addressed by all as Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada.
At Varanasi, the divine master defeated in debate the scholars of different schools of thought and established the supremacy of the Advaita school of thought over all other schools. Sri Shankara undertook sacred tours all over India, spreading the tenets of Dharma. He penned unequalled Bhashyas (commentaries) to all the major Upanishads, a few minor Upanishads, the Bhagavat Gita, Sage Vyasa’s Brahmasutras and Sri Vishnu Sahasranama. Besides, He also wrote philosophical treatises such as Viveka Choodamani, Atma Bodha, Upadesha Sahasree, and the like. In addition, He composed soul-stirring verses on almost all forms of God.
To help the devoted minds, Sri Shankara instituted the Shanmatha (worship of six forms of God) namely, Shaiva (Lord Shiva), Vaishnava(Lord Vishnu), Shakta (Ambal), Ganapatya(Lord Ganapathy), Kaumara(Lord Subrahmanya) and Saura(Lord Soorya).
As he went around the country with all his glory, thousands fell at His sacred feet and vowed to stick to Dharmic ideals. People derived great joy in becoming His disciples! His four principal disciples were Sri Sureshwara, Sri Padmapada, Sri Hastamalaka, and Sri Thotaka. For the sustenance and the propagation of Dharma to continue even after His time, He established the four celebrated Amnaya Peetams at Srigeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Badri, and assigned to each a specific Veda, an exclusive form of worship, a specific Kshetra (place of worship) and a specific Theertha (source of sacred water). He nominated His accomplishing all these monumental deeds, Sri Shankara ascended the Sarvajna Peetam (Throne of Transcendental Wisdom) in Kashmir.
At the age of 32, Sri Shanakara reached Kedarnath. Indicative of His departure from this world once and for all, the inimitable Acharya walked through the snow clad ranges of the mighty Himalayas and disappeared.