How Shankracharya United India:The great scholar, philosopher, theologist of ancient India is our Lord Adi Shankaracharya who restored the Hinduism..
Unity in India
The great scholar, philosopher, theologist of ancient India is our Lord Adi Shankaracharya who restored the Hinduism in distorted times to maintain the unity & harmony across the India by travelling across South to North India, and West to East India. To unify the people, he established the most important four pillars – The Four Matth (Monastry) and The Four Abodes of Pilgrimage (Char Dhaam Yatra) to attain spiritual liberation.
The Four Matth (Monastry)
Adi Shankracharya established monastic order within Hinduism. To preserve the Vedic tradition, he established four prominent matth (monastic centers) across India. The four mattha’s served as the learning centers & strong pillars of spiritual guidance, and hubs for the dissemination of Adi Shankracharya’s philosophical principles.
These four Mattha’s are:
- Sringeri Matth in Karnataka
- Dwaraka Matth in Gujarat
- Puri Matth in Odisha
- Badrinath Matth in Uttarakhand
The Four Abodes of Pilgrimage (Char Dhaam Yatra)
Adi Shankracharya established four adobes of Pilgrimage to unite the people across India. The vision behind four abodes of pilgrimage was to unite the Hindu’s of across longitude & latitude of India. A person living in north India will have an opportunity to visit South India, East India, West India and hence will get a best chance to understand the culture & people of South India, East India, & West India. Similarly, a person living in South India or East India or West India will get an option to visit & understand the culture & people among rest of India. This pattern will ultimately remove the discrimination & cultural differences amongst people.
The Four abodes of Pilgrimage (Char Dham Yatra) are:
- Badrinath Temple (Badrinath, Uttarakhand, North India)
- Rameshwaram Temple (Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, South India)
- Dwarkadheesh Temple (Dwarka, Gujarat, West India)
- Jagannath Temple (Puri, Orrisa, East India)
In those ancient days, India was almost sinking in superstitions & religious misinterpretations. Lots of unwanted rituals were rising at its peak. The root essence of Sanatan Dharma was almost lost everywhere. So, it was our Lord Adi Shankaracharya who challenged the disputed with scholars of diverse religion to protect Hinduism without hurting the beliefs of other religions. His restoration efforts uplifted Hinduism without any fights with other religion. He maintained harmony without disturbing or disrespecting other religion. It’s all with due efforts of Adi Shankaracharya that Hinduism is still dynamic.
In today’s world, the uplifting work of Adi Shankaracharya regarding the Four Abodes of Pilgrimage helped in Sustainability Development Goals as well. The Pilgrimage has generated huge positive impact on our economy. It has generated numerous local jobs, reduced unemployment, increased travel economy etc. which is helping millions of people (of all religions) to earn money & maintain their livelihood. We must appreciate the positive outcome of the Four Abodes of Pilgrimage. No doubts, Pilgrimage is essential for liberation & salvation.
