(adi Sankara) 01 The Ancient Religion Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

The great Adi Sankara was born at Kalady, Kerala, India in the year 686 AD and died in 718 AD. (Some say, he was born in 509 BC and died in 477 BC.)

At the time of Adi Shankara's life, Hinduism began to decline because of the influence of Buddhism and Jainism. Hinduism had become divided into innumerable quarrelsome sects. During his short span of 32 years of life, he extensively travelled on foot to various parts of India to restore the study of Vedas. He held discourses and debates with the leading scholars of all these sects and schools of philosophy to controvert their doctrines. In all his works, he stressed the importance of the Vedas, and his efforts helped Hinduism regain its strength and popularity.

Here goes his life story:

01 The Ancient Religion.

From the time immemorial,
If a religion survived well,
It’s the Hindu religion,
That has no date of origin.

Its most universal dharma,
Took its deep root in India,
Alongside the River Sindhu,
Eventually that became Hindu.

In the holy spiritual mode,
It laid down its own code,
With truths well known,
Like the moon, sun or ocean.

Truths in the form of Vedas
And contents of Upanishads
Speak of one God, the Supreme,
Who’s beyond our mental frame.

He’s the Unlimited One,
Who cannot be seen.
He has no name,
Or a single form.

He’s the only One,
And second to none,
The One Supernatural
And the Most Powerful.

He cannot be shown,
As an object proven,
Like “this is this
Or, that one it’s.”

His endless grace to get,
One has to pray for it,
O’er a sign, or a name,
To keep in mind, His form.

This may just be a sign
Behind the whole divine,
But it keeps the mind at rest
.For a few hours at best.

This idol will disappear
Once the thoughts appear,
“God is in one’s heart,
Elsewhere search Him not.”

It’s this hidden truth,
That’s guiding the path,
The most spiritual one,
Found in this religion.