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Adi Sankara lived from 788 to 820, a mere 32 years, yet he gave Hinduism a popular new liberal sect—Smārtism. Wearing a monk’s holy marks, he holds his writings, surrounded by six Deities: Sūrya the Sun, Śiva, Śakti, Vishṇu, Murugan and Gaṇeśa.§
