Despite the existence of several legendary biographies of Sankara from medieval times, no critical historical biography of the Master has been available so far. The present work attempts to fill the lacuna. It is based on a critical study of all the available sources in the original and attempts a historical reconstruction of Snakara's life and work.

The ideas of Sankara have been generally interpreted in the light of later Advaitic and monastic tradition. The present work, following the lead of recent critical scholarship, seeks to discover the original ideas of Sankara on the basis of his genuine works and discusses them in the light of his relationship to his predecessors, the social and cultural ethos of his times and his own mission, presuppositions and methodology.

The present work, thus, seeks to understand the ideas and achievements of Snakara in the context of perennial spiritual seeking and philosophical enquiry. It seeks to bring out the role of Sankara in the evolution of Indian culture and philosophy and to highlight the logical and spiritual, traditional and original components of his philosophical, religious and social ideas.