His greatest contribution, however, is his unambiguous  declaration that one must perform one's duty for duty's sake and contribute to the social well being. His continuously active life itself is a glorious demonstration of his philosophy.  The third reform movement was initiated by Mahavira and Buddha who banished dry and useless logic from the field of religion and substituted it with simple, but life giving moral and ethical principles which can give peace and joy here and now.  However, when in course of time, their teachings were misunderstood and misapplied, resulting in the desertion of. Vedic religion by large numbers, Sankaracharya appeared on the scene to resuscitate and re-establish it.

His was the fourth reform movement. Then came a series of  invasions by savage tribes, the impact of which was felt both at the  social and at the religious levels. It was at this most critical period of our history that a series of great religious and spiritual leaders like Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha, Chaitanya, Sankaradeva, Basava, Ramananda, Kabir, Tulasidas, Mira, Tukaram, Purandaradasa and scors of others descended on our soil and protected our religion, culture and society from the onslaughts of these alien hordes. But for these great and noble souls who initiated the Bhakti movements, Hinduism  might have all but disappeared from its own land. This was the fifth reform movement. 

 When we lost our freedom to the British during the nineteenth century, a different kind of problem was created by the planned import of cultural and religious ideas from the West. As a reaction to this came the sixth  reform movement aiming at Hindu renaissance. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, Mahadeva Govinda Ranade, Annie Besant, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda were the important leaders of this movement. As a  result of their ceaseless, and even  aggressive efforts, Sanatana Dharma, not only recovered its balance but made inroads into the bastions of Western culture and civilization. The movement has  gained further strength through the lives and work of Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo and a series of spirituo cultural organizations. 

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