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Incarnations: India in 50 Lives

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The history of India told through the lives of 50 phenomenal people.

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Incarnations: India in 50 Lives: Shankaracharya: A God Without Qualities

Shankaracharya: A God Without Qualities

20/05/2015

BBC Radio 4 - Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, Shankaracharya: A God Without Qualities

Sunil Khilnani on the life of Adi Shankaracharya, revered Hindu philosopher and theologian

A portrait of Adi Shankaracharya, a revered philosopher and theologian, who aimed to provide a coherent, single reading of Hindu scriptures.

Is that a snake or a coiled rope? Intriguingly, that is the question which starts Professor Sunil Khilnani's look at the life and legacy of Adi Shankaracharya, the philosopher and theologian who set Hinduism - the third largest religion in the world - on a new course. Shankaracharya's ambition was to provide a unified, coherent, single reading of the Hindu scriptures. His teachings were not universally embraced but they were revived by Indian nationalists looking for a muscular response to the monotheistic religions of Christianity and Islam. His efforts to capture the oneness of the universe produced beautiful, sometimes enigmatic sentences - as elusive as the man himself. "I am neither earth nor water nor fire nor air nor sense-organ nor the aggregate of all these," wrote Shankaracharya, "for all these are transient, variable by nature."

Produced by Mark Savage
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