who expounded and taught the Vedanta system, the most influential of the six recognized systems of Hindu thought. He was born in a Brahmin family in Kerala, south India, but renounced the world to travel all over India as a sannyasi (ascetic), having discussions with philosophers of various schools. His foundation of monasteries throughout India helped to spread his ideas, and he has remained one of the most influential teachers in the Hindu world. Within the Vedanta philosophy his teaching that Brahman (the supreme soul) and Atman (the human soul) are one, and that the visible world is maya (illusory), are the chief distinquishing marks of his school.