Shankaras philosophy is great not because he was young..It was sublime for its intrinsic worth.

We need not be afraid of having some knowledge of philosophy even at the young age.. But we have to really be apprehensive if our mindset tends to use the philosophy and ancient lore as a roadblock to the wholesome progress of the individual.. 

It will a nice thing to understand that if we go by the chronology of things in Bharatham, the age of Arjuna and Krishna the blessed lord should be anywhere near sixty years when gita was discussed.. 

In gita itself it is said... Sarvadharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharanam vraja... after giving up all the ordinary rules, you come to me and take refuge in me, said the Lord in Gita.. this giving up essentially implies that one should have understood and practiced the usual laws before turning to spirituality.. 

We are always instructed that vanaprastam and sannyasam comes after brahmacharyam and grihasta ashramas.. and the students of the scriptures and especially gita tend to be influenced by some catchy slokams in chapter 2 .. Vasaamsi jeernaani.., naayam hanthi na hanyate, etc..

These are only thoughts at a higher plane.. 

If one thinks that a man just gives up his old body like old clothes and takes up a new life just like wearing a new set of clothes.. he must also understand that a person who is too young cannot afford to give up the body.. the suit is too fresh the tailor. and too expensive to give up when it is so new...and the statement of the Lord that one who thinks that one is the killer and the victim as being killed does not understand that neither he is the killer nor the person is the one who is killed, is not a licence to kill.. quoting Geetha one cannot take a gun and shoot another..if he does so he will find himself either with a rope around his neck or in lunatic asylum.. 

As far as "philosophy" is concerned, the maxim that old is gold is very significant (of course it does not logically follow that every old man is a philosopher or a mature soul...see the oldies like me in FB to prove the point). Take the life of the blessed Lord Himself.. it was mostly fun and frolic for him in His youth, and administration of a country in his productive years..He did not sit all along doing penance and yoga or meditation..

And to understand Gita in its proper dimensions, even a full lifetime of contemplation and practicce with discipline should be inadequate.. so if a youth is preaching too much, he is either showing off, or he is not mature enough..

See, even the ordinary rules of the land prescribes certain age limits for key posts.. The president of India should be of the age of 35 in the least.And it is not just a coincidence that we find most of the learned persons having grey hair.

I do not say it is wrong to study Gita and Scriptures at young ages, but I feel in all honesty that the real impact of such great thoughts requires a gestation period of at least half a century to become really effective.

With due respects to the youth, I have to confess that many of the posts by youngsters in these social fora about what they delude themselves as spirituality pass the muster mainly because such posts are seen and liked by only their peers and persons like me who are immature for their age or pretend to themselves that they are young. We rarely get any mature posts around here.

And Shankara.. the story of Shankara consists partly of facts and partly of fiction.. Shankaras philosophy is great not because he was young..It was sublime for its intrinsic worth..