Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara (pronounced [aːd̪ i ʃəŋkəɾə]; early 8th century CE[2][note 1]) was a philosopher and
theologian[5] from India who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.[1] He is credited with
unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism.[6][7][8]

His works in Sanskrit discuss the unity of the ātman and Nirguna Brahman "brahman without
attributes".[9] He wrote copious commentaries on the Vedic canon (Brahma Sutras, Principal
Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita) in support of his thesis. His works elaborate on ideas found in
the Upanishads. Shankara's publications criticised the ritually-oriented Mīmāṃsā school of
Hinduism.[10] He also explained the key difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, stating that
Hinduism asserts "Atman (Soul, Self) exists", while Buddhism asserts that there is "no Soul, no
Self".[11][12][13]

Shankara travelled across the Indian subcontinent to propagate his philosophy through discourses
and debates with other thinkers. He established the importance of monastic life as sanctioned in
the Upanishads and Brahma Sutra, in a time when the Mīmāṃsā school established strict
ritualism and ridiculed monasticism. He is reputed to have founded four mathas ("monasteries"),
which helped in the historical development, revival and spread of Advaita Vedanta of which he
is known as the greatest revivalist.[14] Adi Shankara is believed to be the organiser of the
Dashanami monastic order and unified the Shanmata tradition of worship. He is also known as
Adi Shankaracharya, Shankara Bhagavatpada, sometimes spelled as Sankaracharya, (Ādi)
Śaṅkarācārya, Śaṅkara Bhagavatpāda and Śaṅkara Bhagavatpādācārya.

Ramanuja
Ramanuja (traditionally, 1017–1137 CE) was a Hindu theologian, philosopher, and one of the
most important exponent of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.[1][2] He was born in a
Tamil family in the village of Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.[3] His philosophical foundations for
devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.[1][4][5]

Ramanuja's guru was Yadava Prakasha, a scholar who was part of the more ancient Advaita
Vedanta monastic tradition.[6] Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his
guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedanta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Indian
Alvars tradition, the scholars Nathamuni and Yamunacharya.[1] Ramanuja is famous as the chief
proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedanta,[7][8] and his disciples were likely authors of
texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad.[6] Ramanujan himself wrote influential texts, such as
bhasya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.[9]

His Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism) philosophy has competed with the Dvaita (theistic
dualism) philosophy of Madhvacharya, and Advaita (monism) philosophy of Adi Shankara,
together the three most influential Vedantic philosophies of the 2nd millennium.[10][11] Ramanuja
presented the epistemic and soteriological importance of bhakti, or the devotion to a personal
God (Vishnu in Ramanuja's case) as a means to spiritual liberation.
Madhva Acharya

Madhva Acharya (Sanskrit pronunciation: [məd̪ ʱʋɑːˈtʃɑːrjə]; AD 1238–1317), also known as Purna
Prajña and Ananda Tīrtha, was a Hindu philosopher and the chief proponent of the Dvaita
(dualism) school of Vedanta.[1][5] Madhva called his philosophy as "Tattvavada" meaning "the
realist viewpoint".[5]

Madhvācārya was born on the west coast of Karnataka state in 13th-century India.[6] As a
teenager, he became a Sanyasin (monk) joining Brahma-sampradaya guru Achyutapreksha, of
the Ekadandi order.[1][3] Madhva studied the classics of Hindu philosophy, particularly the
Principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras (Prasthanatrayi).[1] He
commented on these, and is credited with thirty seven works in Sanskrit.[7] His writing style was
of extreme brevity and condensed expression. His greatest work is considered to be the
Anuvyakhyana, a philosophical supplement to his bhasya on the Brahma Sutras composed with a
poetic structure.[6] In some of his works, he proclaimed himself to be an avatar of Vayu, the son
of god Vishnu.[8][9]

He was a critic of Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta
teachings.[5][6] He toured India several times, visiting places such as Bengal, Varanasi, Dwarka,
Goa and Kanyakumari, engaging in philosophical debates and visiting Hindu centers of learning.
[7]
Madhva established the Krishna Mutt at Udupi with a murti secured from Dwarka Gujarat in
AD 1285.[6]

Basava

Basava was a 12th-century Indian philosopher, statesman, Kannada poet in the Shiva-focussed
Bhakti movement and a social reformer during the reign of the Kalachuri-dynasty king Bijjala I
in Karnataka, India.[2] The Basavarajadevara ragale (13 out of 25 sections are available) by the
Kannada poet Harihara (c.1180) is the earliest available account on the life of the social reformer
and is considered important because the author was a near contemporary of his protagonist.[3] A
full account of Basava's life and ideas are narrated in a 13th-century sacred Telugu text of the
south Indian Hindu Lingayat community, the Basava purana by Palkuriki Somanatha.[4]

Basava spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas. Basava
rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals such as the wearing of sacred
thread,[1] but introduced Ishtalinga necklace, with an image of the Shiva Liṅga,[5] to every person
regardless of his or her birth, to be a constant reminder of one's bhakti (devotion) to Shiva. As
the chief minister of his kingdom, he introduced new public institutions such as the Anubhava
Mantapa (or, the "hall of spiritual experience"),[6] which welcomed men and women from all
socio-economic backgrounds to discuss spiritual and mundane questions of life, in open.[7]

The traditional legends and hagiographic texts state Basava to be the founder of the Lingayats.
However, modern scholarship relying on historical evidence such as the Kalachuri inscriptions
state that Basava was the poet philosopher who revived, refined and energized an already
existing tradition.