This is an elucidative and reconciliatory interpretation of Sri Shankaracharya's life and philosophy. Sri Shankaracharya, an exponent of Advaita Vedanta, is one of the greatest philosophers of India. He was a brilliant thinker and vigorous debater, who reconciled the conflicting sects prevalent in his time, and refuted the harmful, negative systems of thought, thus reviving the Sanatana Dharma and rescuing the foundering Vedic culture. A careful study of his life and philosophy will reveal Shankara's immense contribution to world thought, and dispel the myths and wrong ideas still held about him.
Learning and wisdom are superfluities, the surface glitter merely, but it is the heart that is the seat of all power. It is not in the brain but in the heart that the Atman, possessed of knowledge, power, and activity, has its seat.
-Swami Vivekananda