Life
Traditional accounts of Adi Shankara's life can be found in the Śankara Vijaya, which are poetic works that contain a mix of biographical and legendary material, written in the epic style. The most important among these biographies are the Mādhavīya Śaṅkara Vijayaṃ (of Mādhava, c. 14th century), the Cidvilāsīya Śaṅkara Vijayaṃ (of Cidvilāsa, c. between 15th century and 17th century), and the Keraļīya Śaṅkara Vijayaṃ (of the Kerala region, extant from c. 17th century).
Adi Sankara was born to Vishwakarma and Nambudiri parents. Shankara's gotram (lineage) and sutram (recension - familial vedic trend) are known as being of Atreya lineage and of Aswalayana recension. These details are available in ancient hagiographies as well as contemporary write ups on the same.
Sankaracharya was a contemporary of the great Tamil saint Kulashekhara Alwar who was also a Chera king.
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