Shankaradigvijaya

(“Shankara’s victory tour”) A written
account of the life of the philosopher
Shankaracharya traditionally attributed to the fourteenth-century writer
Madhavacharya, although evidence
within the work points to composition
several centuries later. The story is clearly
hagiographical, for it is filled with fantastic legends intended to highlight
Shankaracharya’s achievements and his
ultimate identity with the god Shiva
himself. According to this story, after
gaining full wisdom, Shankaracharya
embarks on a “victory tour” (digvijaya)
of India. During this tour he travels
throughout the country, debates all
opponents, and defeats them all convincingly, thus establishing the
supremacy of his Advaita Vedanta
philosophical school. The motif of the
digvijaya (literally, “conquest of [all]
directions”) was a common theme in
works about political and military leaders, and here it has been adapted to tell
a religious story.