Question

What were the reforms made by Shankaracharya?

Answer 1

Organized Hinduism

Until the arrival of Adi Shankara in the 8th century, Hinduism was a looser connection of different faiths. Although the Vedas provided the common foundation, Hinduism didn't have religious organizations or spiritual authorities. Buddhism, on the other hand, was strongly organized under the concept of Sangha. The Buddhist innovation of Sangha might have inspired other religious in their missionary concepts. Hinduism found it tough to compete without any organization. 

Shankara would change that. In the short time that Shankara lived, he established his Mutts (spiritual capitals) on the four sides of India. They were quite strategically placed - to make sure the religion can be managed in parts of the Bharat. This was sheer brilliance.

Each of these Mutts had a spiritual guru (called the Shankaracharya) and each of those gurus was responsible for making sure there is a lineage. Thus, 1400 years of unbroken lineage was achieved in all these 4+1 [4 corners + Kanchipuram] Mutts. 

Shankara sought to make a strong case for these Gurus (spritual authorities) with the following Shloka.

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Deva Maheshwara. Guru Sakshath Parambrahma, Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha.


“Guru is the creator Brahma, Guru is the preserver Vishnu, Guru is the destroyer Shiva. Guru is directly the supreme spirit — I offer my salutations to this Guru.”

This was a distributed system with no central authority. The Shankaracharyas enabled the continuation of the faith and helped people in their locale understand their faith. For instance, in my family we always sought the advice of Kanchi Sankaracharya in various major events of our life. 

Shankara's blueprint was followed by the other Hindu reformers - Madhvacharya, Ramanuja and later Ramakrishna paramahamsa. Each of these scholars established their missions and helped organize their faith.

Uniting Bhakti (Prayer) concepts with ritualsAround the time of Shankaracharya, southern India had started a Bhakti movement (centered on prayer and devotion). These were however at the fringes of Hinduism. Until that time, Hinduism had more emphasis on the ritualistic and yogistic elements. 

Shankara saw that the masses could not be kept interested in the religion without the power of the prayer. The different yogas and upanishads were way too complex for the common man. 

Shankara enabled the integration of the fledgling Bhakti movement with the Vedic part of traditional Hinduism. He talked like they were two sides of the same coin. He had the Vedic authority that the other Bhakti movement propagators didn't have. He had a zeal that the other sanyasis and pundits didn't have. Thus, Hinduism quickly brought back the masses to the fold.

Unlike the other Vedic scholars before him - who mostly stressed on dhyana, mukti, yoga and sanyasa, Shankara had a coup in saying that these were same as worshipping Krishna directly. 


The legendary Sharada Peeth - now in ruins in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Uniting Buddhism with HinduismShankara saw that Buddha's concepts had its merits and it was too bad that people had to choose either that or traditional Hindu schools of thought. Shankara sought to unite the ideas of both. The Advaita school of philosophy is thus a combination of both of these. 

He took so many Buddhist ideals that other Hindu scholars called him - prachanna buddha (the Buddhist in disguise). Shankara however didn't stop and made sure Buddhism didn't have anything unique apart from what he took to build his fortified Hindu faith. 

He also sought to unify the different groups of Hindus fighting over the gods of Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesh, Surya and Shakti. Shankara made legendary shlokas for each group and brought all these groups into the common fold.

Shankara was a reformist at heart and here is a beautiful scene from the Sanskrit movie. Here he was confronted by someone from India's lowest rungs and the guru falls on his feet realising the scholarilness of the confronter - the idea that there is God in everyone. The mythology goes that the confronter was Lord Shiva Himself trying to educate on the follies of the caste system.


here you also like


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewta7YJCmyw

short biopic on ADI SHANKARACHARYA



hey
don't forget to hit this answer as the brainliest

Answer 2

Shankaracharya made some significant reforms.

• Shankaracharya founded mutts, which are also called spiritual capitals.
• He built them on the four sides of India. He wanted to balance religion adequately in the different parts of Bharat.
• Each of these mutts had gurus. He helped people to understand their faith.
• He realised that it was difficult to keep the interest in religion.
• So, he amalgamated the bhakti movement with that of the Vedic traditions.
• He emphasised on dhyana, mukti, yoga, and sannyasa.

Learn more about The reforms made by Shankaracharya?

What were reforms made by shankaracharya?

https://brainly.in/question/8738032

What did Shankaracharya do to Reform The Hindu society​

https://brainly.in/question/8822664