There was one aspect of Buddhism, though, that greatly influenced Shankara. The three ‘jewels of Buddhism’, the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha—the last being the order of monks especially created by the Buddha for the preservation and propagation of his teachings. Shankara realised the immense value of the sangha, and sought to emulate this by creating his own order of monks through the mathas he set up at Sringeri, Puri, Dwaraka and Joshimatha.
