 Śaṅkara was a systematizer of Advaita Vedānta, not a founder. He viewed himself as part of a long lineage of teachers. Śaṅkara’s teacher was named Govinda; and according to tradition, Govinda’s teacher was Gauḍapāda (sixth century CE), who composed the Gauḍapādakārikās (Verses of Gauḍapāda) on the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. The historical record of Advaita Vedānta is obscure prior to Gauḍapāda (see Nakamura 2004 for his extensive work on pre-Śaṅkara Vedāntins). Advaita Vedāntins trace their lineage back through Bādarāyaṇa (ca. first century BCE), who authored the Brahmasūtras (The Aphorisms on Brahman), to the individuals in Upaniṣadic narratives, and ultimately to īśvara (roughly “God”) as Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa or the teaching form of Śiva known as Dakṣināmūrti. By this lineage they claim the authority of Upaniṣadic teachers, Kṛṣṇa, and Bādarāyana as their own. The corresponding texts of the Upaniṣads, Bhagavadgītā, and Brahmasūtras constitute Advaita Vedānta’s triple canon (prasthānatrayī).