Shankaracharya


Shankaracharya is a commonly used title of heads of monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition. The title derives from Adi Shankara, teachers from the successive line of teachers dating back to him are known as Shankaracharyas.

Establishment of the tradition

set up four monasteries knows Mathas, in the North, South, East and West of India, to be held by realised men who would be known as Shankaracharyas. They would take on the role of teacher and could be consulted by anyone with of a spiritual nature.
The table below gives an overview of the four Amnaya Mathas founded by Adi Shankara, and their details.
Shishya
DirectionMatha|Veda
EastRig VedaBhogavala
SouthYajur Veda
WestSama VedaKitavala
NorthAtharva VedaNandavala

Etymology

The word Shankaracharya, is composed of two parts, Shankara and Acharya. Acharya is a Sanskrit word meaning "teacher", so Shankaracharya means "teacher of the way of Shankara".