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Dear Swamiji, I would like to know something about Śrī Śaṅkarācārya: who he was, something about his life and teaching, and why we place his picture in the highest place at the altar. Śaṅkarācārya was incarnated in South India. He was a very highly developed incarnation, like a Śiva incarnation. When he was small, at five years old, his father died. He had a very great longing for spirituality. By the age of five, seven, or eight years, he knew all the śāstras by heart. At that time, he was like a preacher. He asked his mother for permission to become a sannyāsī, but she did not permit him. One day, he and his mother were going bathing and washing clothes on the bank of a river. A crocodile came and drew him away. His mother was screaming for help; she could not swim very well, and the crocodile was taking him into the water. He came a little out of the water and said, "Mother, if you promise to allow me to become a sannyāsī, then he will leave me." She said yes. Then, he said, "Just he walked on the water." A duck on the pond floated on the surface of the water, and where his footsteps were, lotuses came out. At the time he was incarnated, there was too much dualism, with many followers of Jainism and Buddhism. They damaged the Vedānta philosophy. In dualism, they believed only in the body, mind, and senses—and that is all. But Śaṅkarācārya brought again the philosophy of non-dualism. A very famous word of Patañjali is: there are different ornaments, but the reality is one, the gold. Forms are different, but the reality is the same. So there are different bodies, different colors, different creatures, but reality is one: the light of God, the Ātmā. He had many, many followers, and he established four successors in the four corners of India. Śaṅkarācārya protected the Sanātana Dharma once more, and he reformed a new sannyāsa order. Before that, only one who was above 75 years could become a sannyāsī. But it was Śaṅkarācārya who said, "If one gets vairāgya and becomes an early sannyāsī, why not? That can help the society." After 75 years old, one is not capable of traveling and preaching. Śaṅkarācārya is known as one of the highest thinkers in human incarnations. One German philosopher said that Śaṅkarācārya is one of the greatest thinkers humanity has ever seen. All sannyāsīs are following his footsteps. He made the ten orders of sannyāsa, designating who should preach in the mountains, on islands, and many other places. These are ten different names. We are now in Puri; Puri means the city. So there are Sarasvatīs, Purīs, Girīs, and many, many names. All these Hindu monks whose highest initiation is sannyāsinization follow his order. He was very great and knew everything. He knew what we think, and he was a very learned person. There are many books written by him. There is a very small book called Āprokṣaṇa Bodhi, on which I have been giving a lecture for three years now. It is only 40 or 50 pages, but he has many other books. One of the beautiful books is called Vivekacūḍāmaṇi. Vivekacūḍāmaṇi is very, very good to read in German. I do not know if it is in the Czech language. Is that so? Then why do they say they do not know about him? You should read this book; it is very wise. There are many, many books of Śaṅkarācārya. One should read those books. He is the head of the sannyāsa order, and that is why we place him on the highest point, along with his successors. They are like what you call the Catholics; they have the Pope. Like this, Śaṅkarācārya is like that. Unfortunately, when he was very young, he was poisoned by some religious, complex people. In the Himalayas, the place is called Kedarnath. Kedarnath is his samādhi, where he left his body after they poisoned him. So get Śaṅkarācārya’s work, and you should all buy that book, Vivekacūḍāmaṇi.