Q: What is the reason for the disagreement regarding the date of Sankaracharya?

A: Sri Sankaracharya appeared in 509 B.C. Hundreds of Acharyas have arisen since then in the march of time. The line of world teachers started from the Adi Acharya has not become extinct, it is living even now. So there is nothing wrong in holding that many Acharyas appeared in 44 B.C. or 800 A.D.; there were Sankaracharyas during all these periods.

The error is in the vehement assertion that there is only one Sankaracharya and that His period is only what they say; It sounds like the faith of the Semetics who hold that there is only one Prophet in the world and He is theirs.

It is this Semetic Attitude and ignorance of Indian National Traditions on the part of modern scholars that has given rise to unnecessary disputes over the Date of Bhashyakara Sankaracharya.”

– Sakhyananda