Sankaracharya exercised a deep influence on Indian thought, intellect and spiritual life. Theimpact of his intellect and spiritual knowledge on Indian philosophy, poetry, science, metaphysis ethics and humanism is evident even today. Distinguishing transcendental knowledge from empirical knowledge, he asserted that the religion and the essence of scriptures are concerned onlywith the former, Apart from his philosophical teachings, Sankaracharya popularised Sanskrit by singing and writing it in a simple way as praised by sister Nivedita in the following words, "to have written poems whose grandeur makes him unmistakable even to foreign and unlearned ears and at the same time to have lived with his disciples, in all the radiant love and simple pathos of the saints-this is the greatest that we must appreciate but cannot understand". Sri Sankara was born in Kaladi village in Kerala in 788, Sankara mastered the four Vedas and became an ascetic even at an early age.

Travelling all over India by foot, he propagated a unifying spiritual outlook among all people through discussions and debate. Sankara re-established Advaita and systematised it. To him, "Jeevathma" and "Paramathma" are the same, one and indivisible. He attempted to reconcile conflicting religious sects, reject undesirable practises considered to be religious and fight empty ritualism. To quote Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in his Dicovery of India, "he was a curious mixture of a philosopher and a scholar, an agnostic and mystic a poet and a saint, and in addition to all this, a practical reformer and an able organiser".

Sankaracharya never claimed for himself any kind of a originality for his teachings. His originality was in reinterpreting the great Indian traditions.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India