The life of Shankara makes a strong impression of contraries. He is a philosopher and a poet, a sa-vant and a saint, a mystic and a religious reformer. Such diverse gifts did He possess that different images present themselves, if we try to recall His personality. One sees him in youth, on fire with intellectual ambition, a stiff and intrepid debator, another regards him as a shrewd political genius, attempting to impress on the people a sense of unity, for a third,
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan