Reaching the masses, learnings from Shankaracharya - Chapter 9

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The people have found happiness due to You, who have the intellect adept in

the inquiry into Self-knowledge. Make me understand the knowledge of God

and the soul. O Preceptor Shankara, be my refuge.

Shri Shankaracharya had a purpose to revitalize Sanatana Dharma. Even his ardent critics appreciate his contribution in this regard. He traveled across India creating a unifying effect at times when people were divided amongst kingdoms, Rituals, Gods, and others. Shri Shankaracharya’s travel across the length and breadth of the country surprises many even today, Most states have the temples that celebrate the visit of Shri Shankaracharya by showing the idol he installed.??

Other than Rama & Gandhi, perhaps Shri Shankaracharya is the most widely traveled person India ever has. In fact, compared to the other two, Shri Shankaracharya has been attributed to the actual work he did in the places he visited. But all the places he visited multiplied as centers of learning & discussion around the theory of “Non-Duality” he preached.?

What Shri Shankaracharya believed in was not a product but a platform. Shri Shankaracharya never said what is not there in Upanishad but if not for him probably we may not be in a position to appreciate not just the Upanishads but even Brahma sutras & Bhagavadgeete. Even the critics of Shri Shankaracharya who came after Shri Shankaracharya had to rely only on his works ( many times just the commentary of his works) to critic him. Back in his time, Buddhism was getting the support of the greatest kings of those times who had committed all their fortunes to spread the message of Budha. While we will discuss in detail the philosophy of Shri Shankaracharya & Budha in a later chapter, the challenge was Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma was without a leader, lacked patronage, was missing clarity & was deeply divided across worshipping sects & rituals. Shri Shankaracharya?

So in this background, Shri Shankaracharya had to work on delivering the messages of Upanishads to the length & breadth of this country. Challenge when oversimplified can be compared with an unfunded startup trying to get its distribution & visibility right across the country in a market dominated by large business houses!?

Option Shri Shankaracharya chose was to travel, and establish centers in every place he traveled. Other than 4 important centers in four directions of the country, he installed temples & forums which made people gather, discuss & further spread the message of Shri Shankaracharya. His work not only included scholarly works but also devotional stotras that are popular even today.? While he was a scholar and perhaps arguably the best intellect India ever had, he also had the empathy of a saint to write stotras that help a normal human being. While he wrote so much on Moksha, he did not forget to tell people to live a good life.

It is this empathy, content & travel across the country that helped Shri Shankaracharya spread his message of Advaita.?

For Entrepreneurs Distribution is key, a distribution that helps consumers & customers find them. Entrepreneurs should do everything to ensure their offerings/ messaging is available to target customers & markets with ease. They need to establish a few channels that are exclusive & where they have a natural advantage.?

pic credits: https://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/details/Adi%20Sankara's%20Travel%20Map.jpg