--- title: "History of the Advaita Tradition — Timeline — Advaita & Upanishads Codex" slug: "history" type: "guide" category: "advaita-vedanta" url: "https://thecodex.expert/advaita/history/" url_json: "https://thecodex.expert/advaita/api/v1/entries/history" source_citation: "" confidence: "high" author: "LUDIFU" last_updated: "2026-04-27" word_count: 4919 cite_as: "History of the Advaita Tradition — Timeline — Advaita & Upanishads Codex, Advaita & Upanishads Codex, https://thecodex.expert/advaita/history/, last updated 2026-04-27." --- # History of the Advaita Tradition **Source:** Advaita & Upanishads Codex **URL:** https://thecodex.expert/advaita/history/ **Type:** guide **Category:** advaita-vedanta **Confidence:** High — sourced from Tier 1/2 academic translations **Last updated:** 2026-04-27 ## Summary A timeline of the Advaita Vedanta tradition: from the Upanishads through Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkarācārya, and the major schools. Scholarly dates and sources. ## Content ## The Vedic Foundation: Before the Upanishads ## The Brāhmaṇas and Āraṇyakas: The Bridge ## The Early Upanishads: 800–400 BCE ## Gauḍapāda: The First Systematic Advaita ## Śaṅkarācārya: The Tradition's Foundation ## The Post-Śaṅkara Tradition: Vivaraṇa and Bhāmatī ## The Vijayanagara Period: Vidyāraṇya and Madhusūdana ## Modern Advaita: Ramana Maharshi and Beyond ## The Upanishads and the World's Philosophical Traditions ## The Competing Schools: Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita ## The Question of Dates ## The Transmission of Advaita: The Lineage History of the Advaita Tradition — Timeline — Advaita & Upanishads Codex Home › History History of the Advaita Tradition From the early Upanishads through Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkarācārya, and the major Vedanta schools — a scholarly timeline. Dates are approximate and contested; this page uses the consensus of the principal academic sources. Sources: Nakamura (1983), Mayeda (1992), Hacker (1995), Dasgupta (1922) A note on dates. Dating ancient Indian texts and figures is genuinely difficult. Most dates given here carry uncertainty ranges of decades or centuries. Where scholars disagree substantially, the range is noted. The traditional dates given by the Advaita tradition for Śaṅkara (788–820 CE or 509–477 BCE in some traditions) differ from the scholarly consensus. This Codex follows the scholarly consensus as represented in the sources listed above. The Early Upanishads c. 800–300 BCE ▼ c. 800–600 BCE Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Chāndogya Upanishads The two oldest and longest Upanishads. Contain Yājñavalkya's teaching (Bṛhadāraṇyaka) and the Tat Tvam Asi dialogues (Chāndogya). First systematic formulations of Brahman-Ātman identity. → Bṛhadāraṇyaka · Chāndogya c. 600–400 BCE Taittirīya, Aitareya, Kaṭha, Kena, Muṇḍaka Upanishads The second wave of principal Upanishads. Kaṭha establishes the Nachiketa narrative and śreyas / preyas distinction. Muṇḍaka introduces the parā/aparā vidyā distinction and the two-birds image. Kena poses the witness-ground paradox. → Kaṭha · Kena · Muṇḍaka c. 400–300 BCE Māṇḍūkya, Praśna, Māṇḍūkya-related texts The Māṇḍūkya — shortest of the principal Upanishads — establishes the four-state analysis (waking, dream, deep sleep, Turīya) and the Oṃ contemplation. Later becomes the basis of Gauḍapāda's Kārikā. → Māṇḍūkya c. 500–200 BCE Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad Theistic and Sāṃkhya elements combined with Upanishadic non-dualism. Contains the two-birds verse (4.6). Significant for later Śaiva Vedanta and for the tradition's engagement with devotional theism. c. 200 BCE – 200 CE Brahmasūtras (Vedāntasūtras) Attributed to Bādarāyaṇa. 555 aphoristic sūtras systematising the teaching of the Upanishads. Together with the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gītā, constitutes the prasthānatrayī — the three canonical bases of all Vedanta schools. All three schools wrote bhāṣyas on these sūtras. Pre-Śaṅkara Non-Dual Tradition c. 200 BCE – 700 CE ▼ c. 100 BCE – 100 CE Bhagavad Gītā Embedded in the Mahābhārata. Not an Upaniṣad but accepted as smṛti authority for all Vedanta schools. Śaṅkara's commentary on the Gītā is one of his most important works. The Gītā synthesises karma, bhakti, and jñāna within a broadly Vedantic framework. c. 500 CE (approx.) Gauḍapāda — Māṇḍūkya Kārikā The first systematic philosophical commentary on an Upanishad from the non-dual perspective. Four chapters: Āgama (the Upanishad's teaching), Vaitathya (the unreality of the waking and dream worlds), Advaita (non-dualism), and Alātaśānti (quenching of the firebrand). Establishes ajātivāda — the doctrine of non-origination. Śaṅkara's paramaguru (teacher's teacher). → Māṇḍūkya fl. c. 700 CE Govindapāda Gauḍapāda's disciple and Śaṅkara's teacher. Almost nothing of his own writing survives, but his transmission of the non-dual tradition to Śaṅkara is documented in the tradition. Ādi Śaṅkarācārya — The Systematic Architecture c. 788–820 CE ▼ c. 788–820 CE Ādi Śaṅkarācārya Born in Kalady, Kerala. Systematised Advaita Vedanta through bhāṣyas on the ten principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gītā, and the Brahmasūtras — the three canonical texts. Wrote the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi (authenticated by Hacker and Mayeda) and the Upadeśasāhasrī. Established four major monasteries ( maṭhas ): Śṛṅgeri (south), Dvārakā (west), Badrī (north), Purī (east). Scholarly consensus dates his life to c. 788–820 CE. → Śaṅkarācārya c. 820–900 CE Direct disciples — Sureśvara, Padmapāda, Hastāmalaka, Toṭakācārya Each established or presided over one of the four maṭhas. Sureśvara wrote the Naiṣkarmyasiddhi (defending liberation-by-knowledge alone) and Vārttika commentaries on the Upanishads. Padmapāda wrote the Pañcapādikā (commentary on Śaṅkara's Brahmasūtra introduction). The Other Vedanta Schools c. 1000–1300 CE ▼ c. 1017–1137 CE Rāmānuja — Viśiṣṭādvaita Founded the Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism) school. Wrote the Śrī Bhāṣya (commentary on the Brahmasūtras, opposing Śaṅkara's reading) and the Vedārthasaṃgraha. Holds that Brahman, souls, and the world are real but non-separate — souls and the world are the body of Brahman. Liberation is eternal proximity to Viṣṇu, not identity with Brahman. → Three schools compared c. 1238–1317 CE Madhvācārya — Dvaita Founded the Dvaita (dualist) school. Holds five eternal distinctions (pañcabheda): between God and souls, God and matter, souls, souls and matter, and different forms of matter. Liberation is eternal beatific enjoyment of God's presence, not merger. Brahman/Viṣṇu is absolutely independent; all else is dependent. → Three schools compared Later Advaita — Vivaraṇa, Bhāmatī, and Sub-schools c. 900–1600 CE ▼ c. 900–1000 CE Vācaspati Miśra — Bhāmatī School Named for his commentary on Śaṅkara's Brahmasūtra Bhāṣya. Founded the Bhāmatī sub-school of Advaita, which locates avidyā (ignorance) in the individual jīva. Distinguished from the Vivaraṇa school on the locus and nature of māyā. c. 1200 CE Prakāśātman — Vivaraṇa School The Vivaraṇa school (named for his commentary on Padmapāda's Pañcapādikā) locates avidyā in Brahman/Īśvara. The two sub-schools debated the locus of māyā and the precise nature of the adhyāsa (superimposition) mechanism for over four centuries. c. 1500–1600 CE Sadānanda — Vedāntasāra; Madhusūdana Sarasvatī — Advaitasiddhi The Vedāntasāra is the most widely used introductory manual to Advaita. The Advaitasiddhi is the major systematic defence of Advaita against Madhva's Dvaita critiques — still in use in traditional study. Modern Period c. 1800–present ▼ 1863–1902 Swami Vivekananda Disciple of Ramakrishna Paramaha --- *Cite as: "History of the Advaita Tradition — Timeline — Advaita & Upanishads Codex", Advaita & Upanishads Codex, https://thecodex.expert/advaita/history/, last updated 2026-04-27.* *Part of [Advaita & Upanishads Codex](https://thecodex.expert/advaita) — a LUDIFU knowledge project.*