If you are implying that Shankara endorsed a hierarchy of Gods (as the Vaishnavas do), then that is incorrect. Nowhere, in his literature does he support the notion of a hierarchy of Gods nor do other scholars in his line.
Well, generally I would not post here, but since this was addressed personally to me, I guess it was important to reply.
There is a lot of evidence that shows Adi Shankara and his immediate followers were Vaishnavas. Here is a couple of them...
1) Brihadaranyaka Upanishad bhAShya, 3.7.3
Adi Shankara says "Such an Ishvara (Supreme Lord), called Narayana, who controls the deity of the earth, i.e. directs her to her particular work, from within, is the Internal Ruler about whom you have asked, your own immortal self, as also mine and that of all beings."
2) Brihadarankyaka Upanishad Bhasya, 1.4.11
Adi Shankara agrees with the Upanishad that Indra, Varuna, Chandra, Rudra, Yama etc were all created by Brahman as kshatriyas. (
http://www.upanishads.kenjaques.org.uk/Brihadaranyaka_Upanishad_Chapter_One.html)
3) Brahma Sutra Bhasya 2.2.42
Here Adi Shankara agrees with the Pancharatra (a scripture that is vehemently Vaishnava and rejects all notions that any other deity is on par with Narayana) that Vishnu is the Supreme Soul and eka bhakti is to be glorified by Vedantins like him.
4) Take a look at Bhagavad Gita verses 10.14, 10.8, 10.2, 10.3 (all of which can be found here-
http://www.sankaracharya.org/gita_bhashya_10.php) All talk about how devas like Brahma cannot understand Krishna.
5) Bhagavad Gita 9.25
Here Krishna is saying that his worshipers (and Adi Shankara specifically uses the word Vaishnavas to refer to Vishnu's devotees) get the eternal fruit of liberation whereas the devotees of other gods do not. Clearly a hierarchy is established.
6) Bhagavad Gita 7.19-20 and 7.23, as well as 6.47
Here Shankara says that the ignorant worship "inferior gods" (that is what Mahadeva Alladi Shastri translated it to) and says that people with true knowledge worship Vasudeva as the lord of all sacrifices.
Honestly the entire Bhagavad Gita bhasya can be used as evidence to show that Shankara was a Vaishnava, but I have picked a couple that I wanted to bring your attention to. There may be many more verses that I have overlooked.
7) The entire Vishnu Sahasranamam bhashya has Shankara praising Vishnu as the lord of all creatures, the supreme soul as well as the soul of all. This one needs no explanation as it will refer to Vishnu as the supreme at all points.
8) In my next post I will talk about the successors of Shankara, namely Sureshvara, Sarvajatman, Madhusudhana Sarasvati, Sridhara Swami etc. They were Vaishnavas too.
I am seeing some attempts to project Shankara as a Vaishnava
Well, you are right. Of course, the 8 points I mentioned are a very small amount of evidence that I have gathered by reading from various sources. I have not read all of Shankara's works and thus there is much more evidence to be found. This should be good enough for now. Apologies to anyone I may have offended while writing this post; I have nothing against Shaivas or Advaitins.
