PHILOSOPHER

Adi Shankara

788 - 820

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Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (Sanskrit: आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, romanized: Ādi Śaṅkara, Ādi Śaṅkarācārya, lit. 'First Shankaracharya', pronounced [aːd̪i ɕɐŋkɐraːt͡ɕaːrjɐ]), was an Indian Vedic scholar, philosopher and teacher (acharya) of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scanty, and his true impact lies in his "iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture," despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Adi Shankara has received more than 6,546,425 page views. His biography is available in 78 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 72 in 2019). Adi Shankara is the 151st most popular philosopher (up from 152nd in 2019), the 30th most popular biography from India (down from 28th in 2019) and the 5th most popular Indian Philosopher.

Adi Shankara was a Hindu philosopher and theologian who founded the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. He was born in Kaladi, Kerala, India.

Memorability Metrics

  • 6.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 70.78

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 78

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.19

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.84

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Adi Shankara ranks 151 out of 1,267. Before him are Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, Christian Wolff, Hippasus, Max Stirner, György Lukács, and Louis Althusser. After him are Max Scheler, Clement of Alexandria, Herbert Marcuse, Carl Schmitt, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and John Rawls.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 788, Adi Shankara ranks 1. After him are Abd al-Rahman II, Methodios I of Constantinople, Abu Tammam, Ziyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya, and Boniface II, Margrave of Tuscany. Among people deceased in 820, Adi Shankara ranks 2. Before him is Al-Shafi‘i. After him are Leo V the Armenian, Emperor Xianzong of Tang, and Theodore Abu Qurrah.

Others Born in 788

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Others Deceased in 820

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In India

Among people born in India, Adi Shankara ranks 30 out of 1,861. Before him are Valmiki (-80), Kālidāsa (400), Aryabhata (476), Sariputta (-568), Salman Rushdie (1947), and Jahangir (1569). After him are Aishwarya Rai (1973), Aurangzeb (1618), Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888), Salman Khan (1965), Brahmagupta (598), and Kabir (1440).

Others born in India

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In India

Among philosophers born in India, Adi Shankara ranks 5. Before him are Rajneesh (1931), Ramakrishna (1836), Nagarjuna (150), and Swami Vivekananda (1863). After him are Kabir (1440), Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895), Vyasa (-390), Aśvaghoṣa (80), Padmasambhava (717), Sri Aurobindo (1872), and Paramahansa Yogananda (1893).

Indian born Philosophers

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