Everything about Vedanta totally explained
Vedanta (
Devanagari:, ) is a spiritual tradition within Hinduism that's elucidated and explained in the
Upanishads and is, like those manuscripts, concerned with the
self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality (
Brahman). Vedanta which implies "the end of all knowledge" - by definition isn't restricted or confined to one book and there's no sole source for Vedantic philosophy. Vedanta is based on immutable spritual laws that are common to religions and spiritual traditions worldwide. Vedanta as the end of knowledge refers to a state of self-realisation, attainment, or cosmic consciousness. Historically and currently Vedanta is understood as a state of transcendence and not as a concept that can be grasped by the intellect alone.
The word
Vedanta is a
Sanskrit compound word which can be treated as:
- veda = "knowledge" + anta = "end, conclusion": "the culmination of knowledge" or "appendix to the Veda"
- veda = "knowledge" + anta = "essence", "core", or "inside": "the essence of the Vedas".
Vedānta is also called Uttara Mimamsa, or the 'latter' or 'higher enquiry', and is often paired with Purva Mimamsa, the 'former enquiry'. Pūrva Mimamsa, usually simply called Mimamsa, deals with explanations of the fire-sacrifices of the Vedic mantras (in the Samhita portion of the Vedas) and Brahmanas, while Vedanta explicates the esoteric teachings of the [[Aranyaka|]]s (the "forest scriptures"), and the Upanishads, composed from ca. the 9th century BC until modern times.
History
While the traditional Vedic
Karma kānda, or ritualistic components of religion, continued to be practiced through the
Brahmins as meditative and propitiatory rites to guide society to self-knowledge, more
jnana (gnosis)- or knowledge-centered understandings began to emerge. These are
mystical streams of Vedic religion that focused on meditation, self-discipline and spiritual connectivity rather than on rituals.
Etymologically,
veda means "knowledge" and
anta means "end", so the literal meaning of the term "Vedānta" is "the end of knowledge" or "the ultimate knowledge" or "matter appended to the
Veda". In earlier writings,
Sanskrit 'Vedānta' simply referred to the
Upanishads, the most speculative and philosophical of the Vedic texts. However, in the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads. Traditional Vedanta considers scriptural evidence, or
shabda pramana, as the most authentic means of knowledge, while perception, or
pratyakssa, and logical inference, or
anumana, are considered to be subordinate (but valid).
Formalization
The systematization of Vedantic ideas into one coherent treatise was undertaken by
Badarayana in the
Vedanta Sutra(200 B.C.) Scholars know the Vedānta-sūtra by a variety of names, including (1) Brahma-sūtra, (2) Śārīraka, (3) Vyāsa-sūtra, (4) Bādarāyaṇa-sūtra, (5) Uttara-mīmāṁsā and (6) Vedānta-darśana. The cryptic aphorisms of the Vedanta Sutras are open to a variety of interpretations, resulting in the formation of numerous Vedanta schools, each interpreting the texts in its own way and producing its own sub-commentaries claiming to be faithful to the original. Consistent throughout Vedanta, however, is the exhortation that ritual be eschewed in favor of the individual's quest for truth through meditation governed by a loving morality, secure in the knowledge that infinite bliss awaits the seeker. Nearly all existing sects of Hinduism are directly or indirectly influenced by the thought systems developed by Vedantic thinkers. Hinduism to a great extent owes its survival to the formation of the coherent and logically advanced systems of Vedanta.
Source texts
All forms of Vedanta are drawn primarily from the
Upanishads, a set of philosophical and instructive
Vedic scriptures, which deal mainly with forms of
meditation. "The Upanishads are commentaries on the Vedas, their putative end and essence, and thus known as Vedānta or "End of the Veda". They are considered the fundamental essence of all the Vedas and although they form the backbone of Vedanta, portions of Vedantic thought are also derived from some of the earlier
Aranyakas.
The primary philosophy captured in the Upanishads, that of one absolute reality termed as
Brahman is the main principle of Vedanta. The sage
Vyasa was one of the major proponents of this philosophy and author of the
Brahma Sūtras based on the Upanishads. The concept of
Brahman – the Supreme Spirit or the eternal, self existent, immanent and transcedent Supreme and Ultimate Reality which is the divine ground of all Being - is central to most schools of Vedānta. The concept of
God or
Ishvara is also there, and the Vedantic sub-schools differ mainly in how they identify God with Brahman.
The contents of the Upanishads are often couched in enigmatic language, which has left them open to various interpretetions. Over a period of time, several scholars have interpreted the writings in
Upanishads and other scriptures like
Brahma Sutras according to their own understanding and the need of their time. There are a total of six important interpretations of these source texts, out of which, three (Advaita Vedanta, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita) are prominent, both in India and abroad. These Vedantic schools of thought were founded by
Shri Adi Shankara,
Shri Ramanuja and
Shri Madhvacharya, respectively. It should be noted, however, that the Indian pre-Shankara Buddhist writer Bhavya in the Madhyamakahrdaya Karika describes the Vedanta philosophy as "
Bhedabheda". Proponents of other Vedantic schools continue to write and develop their ideas as well, although their works are not widely known outside of smaller circles of followers in
India.
While it isn't typically thought of as a purely Vedantic text, the
Bhagavad Gita has played a strong role in Vedantic thought, what with its representative syncretism of
Samkhya,
Yoga, and
Upanishadic thought. Indeed, it's itself called an "upanishad" and thus, all major Vedantic teachers (like Shankara, Ramanuja, and Madhvacharya) have taken it upon themselves to compose often extensive commentaries not only on the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras, but also on the Gita. In such a manner, Vedantists both old and new have implicitly attested to the Gita's importance to the development of Vedantic thought and practice.
Sub-schools of Vedanta
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedānta was propounded by
Adi Sankara and his grand-guru
Gaudapada, who described
Ajativada. According to this school of Vedānta, Brahman is the only reality, and the world, as it appears, is illusory. As Brahman is the sole reality, it can't be said to possess any attributes whatsoever. An illusionary power of Brahman called
Māyā causes the world to arise. Ignorance of this reality is the cause of all suffering in the world and only upon true knowledge of Brahman can liberation be attained. When a person tries to know Brahman through his mind, due to the influence of Māyā, Brahman appears as God (
Ishvara), separate from the world and from the individual. In reality, there's no difference between the individual soul
jīvātman (see
Atman) and Brahman. Liberation lies in knowing the reality of this non-difference (for example a-dvaita, "non-duality"). Thus, the path to liberation is finally only through knowledge (
jñāna).
Vishishtadvaita
Vishishtadvaita was propounded by
Ramanuja and says that the
jīvātman is a part of
Brahman, and hence is similar, but not identical. The main difference from Advaita is that in Visishtadvaita, the
Brahman is asserted to have attributes, including the individual conscious souls and matter.
Brahman, matter and the individual souls are distinct but mutually inseparable entities. This school propounds
Bhakti or devotion to God visualized as
Vishnu to be the path to liberation.
Māyā is seen as the creative power of God.
Dvaita
Dvaita was propounded by
Madhva. It identifies God with
Brahman completely, and in turn with
Vishnu or his incarnation
Krishna. It regards
Brahman, all individual souls (
jīvātmans) and matter as eternal and mutually separate entities. This school also advocated
Bhakti as the route to liberation. There is no concept of Māyā as an illusionary power behind the world.
Dvaitādvaita
Dvaitādvaita was propounded by
Nimbārka, based upon an earlier school called
Bhedābheda, which was taught by Bhāskara. According to this school, the
jīvātman is at once the same as yet different from Brahman. - jiva relation may be regarded as dvaita from one point of view and advaita from another. In this school, God is visualized as
Krishna.
Shuddhadvaita
Shuddhadvaita propounded by
Vallabha. This system also encouraged Bhakti as the only means of liberation to go to
Goloka (lit., the world of cows; the Sankrit word 'go', 'cow', also means 'star'). The world is said to be the sport (Leela) of
Krishna, who is
Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Achintya Bhedābheda
Achintya Bhedābheda propounded by
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Bengal, 1486-1534). This doctrine of inconceivable and simultaneous one-ness and difference this is actually an ancient system of knowledge and devotion to Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. However he's indicated that this sublime gift has been brought to mankind through the kind effort and dedication of an unbroken chain of teachers beginning with the Supreme Lord Himself. In the modern age of science and technology, the pure teachings were broadcast all over the world in the 19th century. Some intitutions follow the path of Mahaprabhu, such as
ISKCON, Gaudiya math, Sri
radharaman achrayas, Srila Atul Krishna goswami ji maharaj, Sri Sribhuti Krishna Goswami Ji maharaj, Sri Pundrik Goswami Ji Maharaj etc.
While
Adi Shankara propounded the
Smārta denomination, all the other above-mentioned acharyas were strongly
Vaishnavite in orientation. The Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Mimamsa (ie, purva-) have their epistemology in common.]
Purnadvaita or Integral Advaita
Sri Aurobindo, in his
The Life Divine, has synthesized all the exant schools of Vedanta and given a comprehensive resolution integrating cues from the Western
metaphysics and modern
science. He is said to have restored the umbilical cord of the Vedantic exegesis with the
Vedas.
Modern Vedanta
The term "modern Vedanta" is sometimes used to describe the interpretation of
Advaita Vedanta given by
Swami Vivekananda of the
Ramakrishna order of monks.
(External Link
) He stressed that:
Although God is the absolute reality, the world has a relative reality. It should therefore not be completely ignored.
Conditions of abject poverty should be removed; only then will people be able to turn their minds toward God.
All religions are striving in their way to reach the ultimate truth. Narrow sectarian bickering should therefore be abandoned, and religious tolerance should be practised — between different Hindu denominations, as well as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.
Vivekananda traveled to the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893, and became an influential figure in synthesising Eastern and Western thought. He played a major role in the spread of Vedanta to Western nations. His travel to the West was criticised by some orthodox Hindus. His proponents claim that he made Vedanta living, by understanding how it could be applied to the modern world, and by investing it with his own spirit.(External Link)For Vivekananda, Vedanta wasn't something dry or esoteric, but a living approach to the quest for self-knowledge.
In his interpretation of Advaita (as in Shankara's), there's still a place for Bhakti (devotion). Monks of the Ramakrishna order suggest that it's easier to begin meditation on a personal God with form and qualities, rather than the formless Absolute. Saguna Brahman and Nirguna Brahman are viewed as obverse and reverse of the same coin.(External Link)
List of teachers
There have been many teachers of Vedanta in India and other countries over the centuries.
Hari Prasad Shastri, D. Krishna Ayyar, Ramana Maharshi, Narayana Guru, Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, Sri Ranjit Maharaj, Swami Rama Tirtha, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, Swami Krishnananda, Swami Paramananda, Swami Chinmayananda, Shri Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Sri Aurobindo, Shri Swami Tapovan Maharaj, Sengalipuram Muthannaval, Mannarguri periyaval, Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri, Anantarama Dikshitar, Kanchi Mahaswamigal, were great Vedanta scholars. Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Baba Ramdev, Nithyananda Swamigal, Muralidara swamigal, Shri Sathya Sai Baba, are distinguished, traditional teacher of Vedanta of the present day.
Influence in the West
The influential philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel refers to Indian thought reminiscent of Advaita-Vedanta in his introduction to his The Phenomenology of Spirit and in his Science of Logic. Arthur Schopenhauer was influenced by the Vedas and Upanishads; in his own words: "If the reader has also received the benefit of the Vedas, the access to which by means of the Upanishads is in my eyes the greatest privilege which this still young century (1818) may claim before all previous centuries, if then the reader, I say, has received his initiation in primeval Indian wisdom, and received it with an open heart, he'll be prepared in the very best way for hearing what I've to tell him." (The World as Will and Representation) Among western figures who have been influenced by or have commented on Vedanta are Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Müller, Aldous Huxley, J.B. Priestley, Christopher Isherwood, Romain Rolland, Alan Watts, Eugene Wigner, Arnold Toynbee, Joseph Campbell, Hermann Hesse, Will Durant, Nikola Tesla, Erwin Schrodinger and John Dobson.
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