2 Quotes & Sayings By Shankara
Vidyaranya is one of the most respected names in Indian philosophy. He was the head of the Vedanta school of philosophy, which is known as Advaita, or non-dualistic. Shankara is most famous for his works commentaries on the Vedas and Upanishads. Shankara's main philosophical system, called Advaita Vedanta (Hindi for "non-dualistic") or Vishishtadvaita (Hindi for "qualified non-dualism"), is based on two premises: (1) Brahman (the absolute reality) and (2) Atman (the individual soul)
Shankara holds that Atman and Brahman are not separate; rather, they are different aspects of the same reality. "Atma" (Self) is the same as "Brahman" (Universal Spirit), which is all pervasive and indivisible. Shankara's ideas exerted a profound influence on various schools of Hinduism, especially Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Yoga and Tantra.