Journey
Shankara directional mathas
Four āmnāya maṭhas at the quarters of the country, each assigned one Veda, one mahāvākya and a body of territory — Shringeri in the south, Dvārakā west, Purī east, Jyotirmath north. The digvijaya accounts make Shankara found all four in thirty-two years. Whatever their date, the scheme maps a philosophy onto a subcontinent.
Stops (4)
- Shringeri Śāradā Pīṭham · Śringerī — the Yajur Veda, the southern quarter
On the Tunga in the Western Ghats, where tradition says Shankara stopped because he saw a cobra shading a frog in labour. It holds the Yajur Veda and the mahāvākya aham brahmāsmi, and is the only one of the four with an unbroken documented succession — its Vijayanagara endowments make it the best-recorded maṭha in India.
- Dvārakā / Dvārāvatī · Dvārakā — the Sāma Veda, the western quarter
The Śāradā Pīṭha at Krishna's coastal city, assigned the Sāma Veda and the mahāvākya tattvamasi. Placing a maṭha here puts Advaita inside a Vaishnava pilgrimage town that is also one of the four Chār Dhām, so a renunciant order and a devotional circuit are pinned to the same point.
- Purī / Jagannātha Purī · Purī — the Rig Veda, the eastern quarter
The Govardhana Maṭha beside the Jagannātha temple, holding the Rig Veda and the mahāvākya prajñānam brahma. Its Śankarāchārya has a formal role in the Purī temple's calendar, which is unusual — elsewhere the maṭhas sit beside the great temples rather than inside their administration.
- Jyotirmath / Joshimath · Jyotirmath — the Atharva Veda, the northern quarter
At Joshimath below Badrīnāth, holding the Atharva Veda and ayam ātmā brahma. It is the one seat that was vacant for about a hundred and sixty-five years until 1941, and the succession since has been litigated. The town is also where the Badrīnāth deity winters when the pass closes.