There are six schools of philosophy in Sanatan Dharma. Vedanta is in the top two best knowns; Yoga being the other. Of the two, Vedanta is seemingly difficult to home in on. The philosophy and teachings are identifiable on hearing, but appears to have unclear boundaries. Nothing about it is obscure, and yet it can comes across as cryptic.
All schools of Hindu philosophy are based on the Vedas. Each of the Vedas have two kandas – Karma Kanda (sacrifices and ceremonies), and Gyana Kanda (spiritual teachings). Upanishads are from the Gyana Kanda, and it is from here that the various schools of Indian philosophy have emerged. Vedanta is the embodiment of those philosophical aspects of the Vedas that form the Gyana Kanda. And, a little bit more. And, that additional bit is the sutras of Vyasa, such as Gita.
There are three important and distinct aspects of Vedanta.
- Principles over Persons – Principles exist; they are not created. Principles are only discovered by individuals. Therefore, Vedanta is not about the teachings of a person. While the teachers are important, it is the eternal principles that are considered supreme.
- Scientific Scriptures – Vedic scriptures are a collection of universal truths. Swami Vivekanada said that the truths of Vedanta are in “harmony with modern scientific investigative results in the external world”.
- Vedanta asserts the sameness and omnipresence of the Brahman (Supreme Soul of the universe). Vedanta is an “expression of the solidarity of man and his inborn divine nature”.
Vedantis, as the followers of Vedanta are called, therefore uphold three principles:
- Brahman – The infinite soul.
- Vedas – The knowledge of the Brahman.
- Cyclicality – The unending cycles of birth and death of the ‘projection’ (maya), that we see/feel as the universe.
Given the aforementioned principles, it is therefore important to recognize that no matter which vedantic towering figure we talk about – Shankaracharya, Ramanuja, Madhavacharya, Vallabhacharya, or Chaitanya – they all have expressed a commentary on the Vedic principles and on the Vedas, just as Gita is a Krishna’s commentary on the Vedas. Vyas, Patanjali, Kapila or even Gautama have found authority in Vedanta (Upanishads).
Vedanta is a school of thought, a darshan, that is composed of the Upanishads, the Gita, and Vyasa sutras. Vedanta is also known as Rahasya or Aranyakas (आरण्यक, forest books).
Read more here.
धार्मिक छवियाँ 