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Vedanta

May 05, 2023

For other uses, see Vedanta (disambiguation).

Vedanta (/veɪˈdɑːntə/; Sanskrit: वेदान्त, IAST: Vedānta), also known as Uttara Mīmāṃsā, is a Hindu philosophical tradition that is one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. The word "Vedanta" means "end of the Vedas", and encompasses the ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, the speculations and enumerations contained in the Upanishads, with a focus on knowledge and liberation. Vedanta developed into many sub-traditions, all of which base their ideas on the authority of a common group of texts called the Prasthānatrayī , translated as "the three sources": the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

All Vedanta traditions contain extensive discussions on ontology, soteriology, and epistemology, even as there is much disagreement among the various schools.[1] Independently considered, they may seem completely disparate due to the pronounced differences in thoughts and reasoning.[2]

The main traditions of Vedanta are: Bhedabheda (difference and non-difference), Advaita (non-dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism), Tattvavada (Dvaita) (dualism), and Suddhadvaita (pure non-dualism).[3][4] Modern developments in Vedanta include Neo-Vedanta,[5][6][7] and the philosophy of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya.[8]

Most major Vedanta schools, except Advaita Vedanta and Neo-Vedanta, are related to Vaishnavism and emphasize devotion (Bhakti Yoga) to God, understood as being Vishnu or a related manifestation.[9][10] Advaita Vedanta, on the other hand, emphasizes Jñana (knowledge) and Jñana Yoga over theistic devotion. While the monism of Advaita has attracted considerable attention in the West due to the influence of modern Hindus like Swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharshi, most of the other Vedanta traditions focus on Vaishnava theology.[11]

Etymology and nomenclature

The word Vedanta is made of two words :

  • Veda (वेद) — refers to the four sacred vedic texts.
  • Anta (अंत) — this word means "End".

The word Vedanta literally means the end of the Vedas and originally referred to the Upanishads.[12][13] Vedanta is concerned with the jñānakāṇḍa or knowledge section of the vedas which is called the Upanishads.[14][15] The meaning of Vedanta expanded later to encompass the different philosophical traditions that are based on the Prasthanatrayi.[12][16]

The Upanishads may be regarded as the end of Vedas in different senses:[17]

  1. They were the last literary products of the Vedic period.
  2. They represent the pinnacle of Vedic philosophy.
  3. They were taught and debated last, in the Brahmacharya (student) stage.[12][18]

Vedanta is one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Indian philosophy.[13] It is also called Uttara Mīmāṃsā, which means the "latter enquiry" or "higher enquiry"; and is often contrasted with Pūrva Mīmāṃsā, the "former enquiry" or "primary enquiry". Pūrva Mīmāṃsā deals with the karmakāṇḍa or ritualistic section (the Samhita and Brahmanas) in the Vedas while Uttara Mīmāṃsā concerns itself with the deeper questions of existence and meaning.[19][20][a]

Vedanta philosophy

Common features

Despite their differences, all schools of Vedanta share some common features:

Scripture

The main Upanishads, the Bhagavadgītā and the Brahma Sūtras are the foundational scriptures in Vedanta. All schools of Vedanta propound their philosophy by interpreting these texts, collectively called the Prasthānatrayī, literally, three sources.[14][26]

  1. The Upanishads,[b] or Śruti prasthāna; considered the Sruti, the "heard" (and repeated) foundation of Vedanta.
  2. The Brahma Sūtras, or Nyaya prasthana / Yukti prasthana; considered the reason-based foundation of Vedanta.
  3. The Bhagavadgītā, or Smriti prasthāna; considered the Smriti (remembered tradition) foundation of Vedanta.

All prominent Vedantic teachers, including Shankara, Bhaskara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, and Vallabha wrote commentaries on these three sources. The Brahma Sūtras of Badarayana serve as a synthesis of the teachings found in the diverse Upanishads, and while there may have been other similar syntheses in the past, only the Brahma Sūtras have survived to the present day.[14] The Bhagavadgītā, with its syncretism of Samkhya, Yoga, and Upanishadic thought, has also been a significant influence on Vedantic thought.[28]

All Vedāntins agree that scripture (śruti) is the only means of knowing (pramāṇa) regarding spiritual matters (which are beyond perception and inference).[29] This is explained by Rāmānuja as follows:

A theory that rests exclusively on human concepts may at some other time or place be refuted by arguments devised by cleverer people.... The conclusion is that with regard to supernatural matters, Scripture alone is the epistemic authority and that reasoning is to be used only in support of Scripture’ [Śrī Bhāṣya 2.1.12].[29]

For specific sub-schools of Vedanta, other texts may be equally important. For example, for Advaita Vedanta, the works of Adi Shankara are central. For the Theistic Vaishnava schools of Vedanta, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is particularly important. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the most widely commented upon works in Vedanta.[30] This text is so central to the Krishna-centered Vedanta schools that the Vedantin theologian Vallabha added the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as a fourth text to the praṣṭhāna traya (three classic scriptures of Vedanta).[31]

Metaphysics

Vedanta philosophies discuss three fundamental metaphysical categories and the relations between the three.[14][32]

  1. Brahman or Ishvara: the ultimate reality[33]
  2. Ātman or Jivātman: the individual soul, self[34]
  3. Prakriti/Jagat:[4] the empirical world, ever-changing physical universe, body and matter[35]

Brahman / Ishvara – Conceptions of the Supreme Reality

Shankara, in formulating Advaita, talks of two conceptions of Brahman: The higher Brahman as undifferentiated Being, and a lower Brahman endowed with qualities as the creator of the universe:[36]

  • Parā or Higher Brahman: The undifferentiated, absolute, infinite, transcendental, supra-relational Brahman beyond all thought and speech is defined as parā Brahman, nirviśeṣa Brahman, or nirguṇa Brahman and is the Absolute of metaphysics.
  • Aparā or Lower Brahman: The Brahman with qualities defined as aparā Brahman or saguṇa Brahman. The saguṇa Brahman is endowed with attributes and represents the personal God of religion.

Ramanuja, in formulating Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, rejects Nirguṇa – that the undifferentiated Absolute is inconceivable – and adopts a theistic interpretation of the Upanishads, accepting Brahman as Ishvara, the personal God who is the seat of all auspicious attributes, as the One reality. The God of Vishishtadvaita is accessible to the devotee, yet remains the Absolute, with differentiated attributes.[37]

Madhva, in expounding Dvaita philosophy, maintains that Vishnu is the supreme God, thus identifying the Brahman, or absolute reality, of the Upanishads with a personal god, as Ramanuja had done before him.[38][39] Nimbarka, in his dvaitadvata philosophy, accepted the Brahman both as nirguṇa and as saguṇa. Vallabha, in his shuddhadvaita philosophy, not only accepts the triple ontological essence of the Brahman, but also His manifestation as personal God (Ishvara), as matter, and as individual souls.[40]

Relation between Brahman and Jiva / Atman

The schools of Vedanta differ in their conception of the relation they see between Ātman / Jivātman and Brahman / Ishvara:[41]

  • According to Advaita Vedanta, Ātman is identical with Brahman and there is no difference.[42]
  • According to Vishishtadvaita, Jīvātman is different from Ishvara, though eternally connected with Him as His mode.[43] The oneness of the Supreme Reality is understood in the sense of an organic unity (vishistaikya). Brahman/Ishvara alone, as organically related to all Jīvātman and the material universe is the one Ultimate Reality.[44]
  • According to Dvaita, the Jīvātman is totally and always different from Brahman / Ishvara.[45]
  • According to Shuddhadvaita (pure monism), the Jīvātman and Brahman are identical; both, along with the changing empirically observed universe being Krishna.[46]
 
Epistemology in Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta. Advaita and some other Vedanta schools recognize six epistemic means.

Epistemology

Main article: Pramana

Pramana

Pramāṇa (Sanskrit: प्रमाण) literally means "proof", "that which is the means of valid knowledge".[47] It refers to epistemology in Indian philosophies, and encompasses the study of reliable and valid means by which human beings gain accurate, true knowledge.[48] The focus of Pramana is the manner in which correct knowledge can be acquired, how one knows or does not know, and to what extent knowledge pertinent about someone or something can be acquired.[49] Ancient and medieval Indian texts identify six[c] pramanas as correct means of accurate knowledge and truths:[50]

  1. Pratyakṣa (perception)
  2. Anumāṇa (inference)
  3. Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy)
  4. Arthāpatti (postulation, derivation from circumstances)
  5. Anupalabdi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof)
  6. Śabda (scriptural testimony/ verbal testimony of past or present reliable experts).

The different schools of Vedanta have historically disagreed as to which of the six are epistemologically valid. For example, while Advaita Vedanta accepts all six pramanas,[51] Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita accept only three pramanas (perception, inference and testimony).[52]

Advaita considers Pratyakṣa (perception) as the most reliable source of knowledge, and Śabda, the scriptural evidence, is considered secondary except for matters related to Brahman, where it is the only evidence.[53][d] In Vishistadvaita and Dvaita, Śabda, the scriptural testimony, is considered the most authentic means of knowledge instead.[54]

Theories of cause and effect

All schools of Vedanta subscribe to the theory of Satkāryavāda,[55] which means that the effect is pre-existent in the cause. But there are two different views on the status of the "effect", that is, the world. Most schools of Vedanta, as well as Samkhya, support Parinamavada, the idea that the world is a real transformation (parinama) of Brahman.[56] According to Nicholson (2010, p. 27), "the Brahma Sutras espouse the realist Parinamavada position, which appears to have been the view most common among early Vedantins". In contrast to Badarayana, Adi Shankara and Advaita Vedantists hold a different view, Vivartavada, which says that the effect, the world, is merely an unreal (vivarta) transformation of its cause, Brahman.[e]

Overview of the main schools of Vedanta

The Upanishads present an associative philosophical inquiry in the form of identifying various doctrines and then presenting arguments for or against them. They form the basic texts and Vedanta interprets them through rigorous philosophical exegesis to defend the point of view of their specific sampradaya.[57][58] Varying interpretations of the Upanishads and their synthesis, the Brahma Sutras, led to the development of different schools of Vedanta over time.

Vinayak Sakaram Ghate of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of the Brahma Sutra commentaries by Nimbarka, Ramanuja, Vallabha, Shankara and Madhva. In his conclusion, Ghate determined that Nimbarka's and Ramanuja's commentaries provide the most accurate interpretation of the Brahma Sutras, considering both the passages that emphasize unity and those that emphasize diversity.[59] Gavin Flood suggests that although Advaita Vedanta is the most well-known school of Vedanta and is sometimes wrongly perceived as the sole representation of Vedantic thought,[60] with Shankara being a follower of Saivism,[61] the true essence of Vedanta lies within the Vaisnava tradition and can be considered a discourse within the broad framework of Vaisnavism.[61]

In the Vaishnava traditions, four sampradays are considered to be of special significance,[2] while the number of prominent Vedanta schools varies among scholars, with some classifying them as three to six.[12][41][4][62][3][f][g]

  1. Bhedabheda, as early as the 7th century CE,[55] or even the 4th century CE.[64]
  2. Advaita (monistic), many scholars of which most prominent are Gaudapada (~500 CE)[68] and Adi Shankaracharya (8th century CE)[69]
  3. Vishishtadvaita (Vaishnava), prominent scholars are Nathamuni, Yāmuna and Ramanuja (1017–1137 CE)
  4. Tattvavada (Dvaita) (Vaishnava), founded by Madhvacharya (1199–1278 CE). The prominent scholars are Jayatirtha (1345-1388 CE), and Vyasatirtha (1460–1539 CE)
  5. Suddhadvaita (Vaishnava), founded by Vallabha[4] (1479–1531 CE)

Bhedabheda Vedanta (difference and non-difference)

Main article: Bhedabheda

Bhedābheda means "difference and non-difference" and is more a tradition than a school of Vedanta. The schools of this tradition emphasize that the individual self (Jīvatman) is both different and not different from Brahman.[55] Notable figures in this school are Bhartriprapancha, Nimbārka (7th century)[65][66] who founded the Dvaitadvaita school, Bhāskara (8th–9th century), Ramanuja's teacher Yādavaprakāśa,[74] Chaitanya (1486–1534) who founded the Achintya Bheda Abheda school, and Vijñānabhikṣu (16th century).[75][i]

Dvaitādvaita Vedanta

 
Nimbarkacharya's icon at Ukhra, West Bengal
Main article: Dvaitadvaita

Nimbārka (7th century)[65][66] sometimes identified with Bhāskara,[76] propounded Dvaitādvaita.[77] Brahman (God), souls (chit) and matter or the universe (achit) are considered as three equally real and co-eternal realities. Brahman is the controller (niyanta), the soul is the enjoyer (bhokta), and the material universe is the object enjoyed (bhogya). The Brahman is Krishna, the ultimate cause who is omniscient, omnipotent, all-pervading Being. He is the efficient cause of the universe because, as Lord of Karma and internal ruler of souls, He brings about creation so that the souls can reap the consequences of their karma. God is considered to be the material cause of the universe because creation was a manifestation of His powers of soul (chit) and matter (achit); creation is a transformation (parinama) of God's powers. He can be realized only through a constant effort to merge oneself with His nature through meditation and devotion. [77]

Achintya-Bheda-Abheda Vedanta

 
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Main article: Achintya Bhedabheda

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486 – 1533) was the prime exponent of Achintya-Bheda-Abheda.[78] In Sanskrit achintya means 'inconceivable'.[79] Achintya-Bheda-Abheda represents the philosophy of "inconceivable difference in non-difference",[80] in relation to the non-dual reality of Brahman-Atman which it calls (Krishna), svayam bhagavan.[81] The notion of "inconceivability" (acintyatva) is used to reconcile apparently contradictory notions in Upanishadic teachings. This school asserts that Krishna is Bhagavan of the bhakti yogins, the Brahman of the jnana yogins, and has a divine potency that is inconceivable. He is all-pervading and thus in all parts of the universe (non-difference), yet he is inconceivably more (difference). This school is at the foundation of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition.[80] The ISKCON or the Hare Krishnas also affiliate to this school of Vedanta Philosophy.

Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism)

 
Shankaracharya
Main article: Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta (IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त), propounded by Gaudapada (7th century) and Adi Shankara (8th century), espouses non-dualism and monism. Brahman is held to be the sole unchanging metaphysical reality and identical to the individual Atman.[39] The physical world, on the other hand, is always-changing empirical Maya.[82][j] The absolute and infinite Atman-Brahman is realized by a process of negating everything relative, finite, empirical and changing.[83]

The school accepts no duality, no limited individual souls (Atman / Jivatman), and no separate unlimited cosmic soul. All souls and their existence across space and time are considered to be the same oneness. [84] Spiritual liberation in Advaita is the full comprehension and realization of oneness, that one's unchanging Atman (soul) is the same as the Atman in everyone else, as well as being identical to Brahman.[85]

Vishishtadvaita Vedanta (qualified non-dualism)

 
Ramanujacharya depicted with Vaishnava Tilaka and Vishnu statue.
Main article: Vishishtadvaita

Vishishtadvaita, propounded by Ramanuja (11–12th century), asserts that Jivatman (human souls) and Brahman (as Vishnu) are different, a difference that is never transcended.[86][87] With this qualification, Ramanuja also affirmed monism by saying that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman.[88] Vishishtadvaita, like Advaita, is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta in a qualified way, and both begin by assuming that all souls can hope for and achieve the state of blissful liberation.[89] On the relation between the Brahman and the world of matter (Prakriti), Vishishtadvaita states both are two different absolutes, both metaphysically true and real, neither is false or illusive, and that saguna Brahman with attributes is also real.[90] Ramanuja states that God, like man, has both soul and body, and the world of matter is the glory of God's body.[91] The path to Brahman (Vishnu), according to Ramanuja, is devotion to godliness and constant remembrance of the beauty and love of the personal god (bhakti of saguna Brahman).[92]

Swaminarayan Darshana

 
Swaminarayan
Main articles: Swaminarayan Darshana and Akshar-Purushottam Darshan

The Swaminarayan Darshana, also called Akshar Purushottam Darshan by the BAPS, was propounded by Swaminarayan (1781-1830 CE) and is rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita.[h] It asserts that Parabrahman (Purushottam, Narayana) and Aksharbrahman are two distinct eternal realities. Adherents believe that they can achieve moksha, or freedom from the cycle of birth and death, by becoming aksharrup (or brahmarup), that is, by attaining qualities similar to Akshar (or Aksharbrahman) and worshipping Purushottam (or Parabrahman; the supreme living entity; God).[93][94]

Tattvavada Vedanta (Dvaita)(dualism)

 
Madhvacharya in Jnana mudra.
Main article: Dvaita

Tattvavada, propounded by Madhvacharya (13th century), is based on the premise of realism or realistic point of view. The term Dvaita which means dualism was later applied to Madhvacharya's philosophy. Atman (soul) and Brahman (as Vishnu) are understood as two completely different entities.[95] Brahman is the creator of the universe, perfect in knowledge, perfect in knowing, perfect in its power, and distinct from souls, distinct from matter.[96] [k] In Dvaita Vedanta, an individual soul must feel attraction, love, attachment and complete devotional surrender to Vishnu for salvation, and it is only His grace that leads to redemption and salvation.[99] Madhva believed that some souls are eternally doomed and damned, a view not found in Advaita and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.[100] While the Vishishtadvaita Vedanta asserted "qualitative monism and quantitative pluralism of souls", Madhva asserted both "qualitative and quantitative pluralism of souls".[101]

Shuddhādvaita Vedanta (pure nondualism)

 
Vallabhacharya
Main articles: Shuddhadvaita and Pushtimarg

Shuddhadvaita (pure non-dualism), propounded by Vallabhacharya (1479–1531 CE), states that the entire universe is real and is subtly Brahman only in the form of Krishna.[46] Vallabhacharya agreed with Advaita Vedanta's ontology, but emphasized that prakriti (empirical world, body) is not separate from the Brahman, but just another manifestation of the latter.[46] Everything, everyone, everywhere – soul and body, living and non-living, jiva and matter – is the eternal Krishna.[46] The way to Krishna, in this school, is bhakti. Vallabha opposed renunciation of monistic sannyasa as ineffective and advocates the path of devotion (bhakti) rather than knowledge (jnana). The goal of bhakti is to turn away from ego, self-centered-ness and deception, and to turn towards the eternal Krishna in everything continually offering freedom from samsara.[46]

History

The history of Vedanta can be divided into two periods: one prior to the composition of the Brahma Sutras and the other encompassing the schools that developed after the Brahma Sutras were written. Until the 11th century, Vedanta was a peripheral school of thought.[102]

Before the Brahma Sutras (before the 5th century)

Little is known[103] of schools of Vedanta existing before the composition of the Brahma Sutras (400–450 CE).[104][64][l] It is clear that Badarayana, the writer of Brahma Sutras, was not the first person to systematize the teachings of the Upanishads, as he quotes six Vedantic teachers before him – Ashmarathya, Badari, Audulomi, Kashakrtsna, Karsnajini and Atreya.[106][107] References to other early Vedanta teachers – Brahmadatta, Sundara, Pandaya, Tanka and Dravidacharya – are found in secondary literature of later periods.[108] The works of these ancient teachers have not survived, but based on the quotes attributed to them in later literature, Sharma postulates that Ashmarathya and Audulomi were Bhedabheda scholars, Kashakrtsna and Brahmadatta were Advaita scholars, while Tanka and Dravidacharya were either Advaita or Vishistadvaita scholars.[107]

Brahma Sutras (completed in the 5th century)

Main article: Brahma Sutras

Badarayana summarized and interpreted teachings of the Upanishads in the Brahma Sutras, also called the Vedanta Sutra,[109][m] possibly "written from a Bhedābheda Vedāntic viewpoint."[55] Badarayana summarized the teachings of the classical Upanishads[110][111][n] and refuted the rival philosophical schools in ancient India.Nicholson 2010, p. 26 The Brahma Sutras laid the basis for the development of Vedanta philosophy.[112]

Though attributed to Badarayana, the Brahma Sutras were likely composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years.[64] The estimates on when the Brahma Sutras were complete vary,[113][114] with Nakamura in 1989 and Nicholson in his 2013 review stating, that they were most likely compiled in the present form around 400–450 CE.[104][o] Isaeva suggests they were complete and in current form by 200 CE,[115] while Nakamura states that "the great part of the Sutra must have been in existence much earlier than that" (800 - 500 BCE).[114]

The book is composed of four chapters, each divided into four-quarters or sections.[14] These sutras attempt to synthesize the diverse teachings of the Upanishads. However, the cryptic nature of aphorisms of the Brahma Sutras have required exegetical commentaries.[116] These commentaries have resulted in the formation of numerous Vedanta schools, each interpreting the texts in its own way and producing its own commentary.[117]

Between the Brahma Sutras and Adi Shankara (5th–8th centuries)

See also: Vedas, Upanishads, and Darsanas

Little with specificity is known of the period between the Brahma Sutras (5th century CE) and Adi Shankara (8th century CE).[103][69] Only two writings of this period have survived: the Vākyapadīya, written by Bhartṛhari (second half 5th century,[118]) and the Kārikā written by Gaudapada (early 6th[69] or 7th century[103] CE).

Shankara mentions 99 different predecessors of his school in his commentaries.[119] A number of important early Vedanta thinkers have been listed in the Siddhitraya by Yamunācārya (c. 1050), the Vedārthasamgraha by Rāmānuja (c. 1050–1157), and the Yatīndramatadīpikā by Śrīnivāsa Dāsa.[103] At least fourteen thinkers are known to have existed between the composition of the Brahma Sutras and Shankara's lifetime.[p]

A noted scholar of this period was Bhartriprapancha. Bhartriprapancha maintained that the Brahman is one and there is unity, but that this unity has varieties. Scholars see Bhartriprapancha as an early philosopher in the line who teach the tenet of Bhedabheda.[14]

Gaudapada, Adi Shankara (Advaita Vedanta) (6th–9th centuries)

Main articles: Advaita Vedanta and Gaudapada

Influenced by Buddhism, Advaita vedanta departs from the bhedabheda-philosophy, instead postulating the identity of Atman with the Whole (Brahman),

Gaudapada

Gaudapada (c. 6th century CE),[120] was the teacher or a more distant predecessor of Govindapada,[121] the teacher of Adi Shankara. Shankara is widely considered as the apostle of Advaita Vedanta.[41] Gaudapada's treatise, the Kārikā – also known as the Māṇḍukya Kārikā or the Āgama Śāstra[122] – is the earliest surviving complete text on Advaita Vedanta.[q]

Gaudapada's Kārikā relied on the Mandukya, Brihadaranyaka and Chhandogya Upanishads.[126] In the Kārikā, Advaita (non-dualism) is established on rational grounds (upapatti) independent of scriptural revelation; its arguments are devoid of all religious, mystical or scholastic elements. Scholars are divided on a possible influence of Buddhism on Gaudapada's philosophy.[r] The fact that Shankara, in addition to the Brahma Sutras, the principal Upanishads and the Bhagvad Gita, wrote an independent commentary on the Kārikā proves its importance in Vedāntic literature.[127]

Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara (788–820), elaborated on Gaudapada's work and more ancient scholarship to write detailed commentaries on the Prasthanatrayi and the Kārikā. The Mandukya Upanishad and the Kārikā have been described by Shankara as containing "the epitome of the substance of the import of Vedanta".[127] It was Shankara who integrated Gaudapada work with the ancient Brahma Sutras, "and give it a locus classicus" alongside the realistic strain of the Brahma Sutras.[128][s]

A noted contemporary of Shankara was Maṇḍana Miśra, who regarded Mimamsa and Vedanta as forming a single system and advocated their combination known as Karma-jnana-samuchchaya-vada.[129][t] The treatise on the differences between the Vedanta school and the Mimamsa school was a contribution of Adi Shankara. Advaita Vedanta rejects rituals in favor of renunciation, for example.[130]

Early Vaishnavism Vedanta (7th–9th centuries)

Early Vaishnava Vedanta retains the tradition of bhedabheda, equating Brahman with Vishnu or Krishna.

Nimbārka and Dvaitādvaita

Main article: Dvaitadvaita

Nimbārka (7th century)[65][66] sometimes identified with Bhāskara,[76] propounded Dvaitādvaita or Bhedābheda.[77]

Bhāskara and Upadhika

Bhāskara (8th–9th century) also taught Bhedabheda. In postulating Upadhika, he considers both identity and difference to be equally real. As the causal principle, Brahman is considered non-dual and formless pure being and intelligence.[131] The same Brahman, manifest as events, becomes the world of plurality. Jīva is Brahman limited by the mind. Matter and its limitations are considered real, not a manifestation of ignorance. Bhaskara advocated bhakti as dhyana (meditation) directed toward the transcendental Brahman. He refuted the idea of Maya and denied the possibility of liberation in bodily existence.[132]

Vaishnavism Bhakti Vedanta (11th–16th centuries)

Main articles: Vaishnavism and Bhakti
See also: Bhakti movement

The Bhakti movement of late medieval Hinduism started in the 7th century, but rapidly expanded after the 12th century.[133] It was supported by the Puranic literature such as the Bhagavata Purana, poetic works, as well as many scholarly bhasyas and samhitas.[134][135][136]

This period saw the growth of Vashnavism Sampradayas (denominations or communities) under the influence of scholars such as Ramanujacharya, Vedanta Desika, Madhvacharya and Vallabhacharya.[137] Bhakti poets or teachers such as Manavala Mamunigal, Namdev, Ramananda, Surdas, Tulsidas, Eknath, Tyagaraja, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and many others influenced the expansion of Vaishnavism.[138] These Vaishnavism sampradaya founders challenged the then dominant Shankara's doctrines of Advaita Vedanta, particularly Ramanuja in the 12th century, Vedanta Desika and Madhva in the 13th, building their theology on the devotional tradition of the Alvars (Shri Vaishnavas),[139] and Vallabhacharya in the 16th century.

In North and Eastern India, Vaishnavism gave rise to various late Medieval movements: Ramananda in the 14th century, Sankaradeva in the 15th and Vallabha and Chaitanya in the 16th century.

Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) (11th–12th centuries)

Rāmānuja (1017–1137 CE) was the most influential philosopher in the Vishishtadvaita tradition. As the philosophical architect of Vishishtadvaita, he taught qualified non-dualism.[140] Ramanuja's teacher, Yadava Prakasha, followed the Advaita monastic tradition. Tradition has it that Ramanuja disagreed with Yadava and Advaita Vedanta, and instead followed Nathamuni and Yāmuna. Ramanuja reconciled the Prasthanatrayi with the theism and philosophy of the Vaishnava Alvars poet-saints.[141] Ramanuja wrote a number of influential texts, such as a bhasya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.[142]

Ramanuja presented the epistemological and soteriological importance of bhakti, or the devotion to a personal God (Vishnu in Ramanuja's case) as a means to spiritual liberation. His theories assert that there exists a plurality and distinction between Atman (souls) and Brahman (metaphysical, ultimate reality), while he also affirmed that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman.[88] Vishishtadvaiata provides the philosophical basis of Sri Vaishnavism.[143]

Ramanuja was influential in integrating Bhakti, the devotional worship, into Vedanta premises.[144]

Madhva (Tattvavada or Dvaita Vedanta)(13th–14th centuries)

Tattvavada[u] or Dvaita Vedanta was propounded by Madhvacharya (1238–1317 CE).[v] He presented the opposite interpretation of Shankara in his Dvaita, or dualistic system.[147] In contrast to Shankara's non-dualism and Ramanuja's qualified non-dualism, he championed unqualified dualism. Madhva wrote commentaries on the chief Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra.[148]

Madhva started his Vedic studies at age seven, joined an Advaita Vedanta monastery in Dwarka (Gujarat),[149] studied under guru Achyutrapreksha,[150] frequently disagreed with him, left the Advaita monastery, and founded Dvaita.[151] Madhva and his followers Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha, were critical of all competing Hindu philosophies, Jainism and Buddhism,[152] but particularly intense in their criticism of Advaita Vedanta and Adi Shankara.[153]

Dvaita Vedanta is theistic and it identifies Brahman with Narayana, or more specifically Vishnu, in a manner similar to Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta. But it is more explicitly pluralistic.[154] Madhva's emphasis for difference between soul and Brahman was so pronounced that he taught there were differences (1) between material things; (2) between material things and souls; (3) between material things and God; (4) between souls; and (5) between souls and God.[155] He also advocated for a difference in degrees in the possession of knowledge. He also advocated for differences in the enjoyment of bliss even in the case of liberated souls, a doctrine found in no other system of Indian philosophy.[154]

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Achintya Bheda Abheda) (16th century)

Achintya Bheda Abheda (Vaishnava), founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534 CE),[67] was propagated by Gaudiya Vaishnava. Historically, it was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who founded congregational chanting of holy names of Krishna in the early 16th century after becoming a sannyasi.[156]

Modern times (19th century – present)

Swaminarayan and Akshar-Purushottam Darshan (19th century)

The Swaminarayan Darshana, which is rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita,[157][73][158][h] was founded in 1801 by Swaminarayan (1781-1830 CE), and is contemporarily most notably propagated by BAPS.[159] Due to the commentarial work of Bhadreshdas Swami, the Akshar-Purushottam teachings were recognized as a distinct school of Vedanta by the Shri Kashi Vidvat Parishad in 2017[70][71] and by members of the 17th World Sanskrit Conference in 2018.[70][w][72] Swami Paramtattvadas describes the Akshar-Purushottam teachings as "a distinct school of thought within the larger expanse of classical Vedanta,"[160] presenting the Akshar-Purushottam teachings as a seventh school of Vedanta.[161]

Neo-Vedanta (19th century)

Main articles: Neo-Vedanta, Hindu nationalism, and Hindu reform movements

Neo-Vedanta, variously called as "Hindu modernism", "neo-Hinduism", and "neo-Advaita", is a term that denotes some novel interpretations of Hinduism that developed in the 19th century,[162] presumably as a reaction to the colonial British rule.[163] King (2002, pp. 129–135) writes that these notions accorded the Hindu nationalists an opportunity to attempt the construction of a nationalist ideology to help unite the Hindus to fight colonial oppression. Western orientalists, in their search for its "essence", attempted to formulate a notion of "Hinduism" based on a single interpretation of Vedanta as a unified body of religious praxis.[164] This was contra-factual as, historically, Hinduism and Vedanta had always accepted a diversity of traditions. King (1999, pp. 133–136) asserts that the neo-Vedantic theory of "overarching tolerance and acceptance" was used by the Hindu reformers, together with the ideas of Universalism and Perennialism, to challenge the polemic dogmatism of Judaeo-Christian-Islamic missionaries against the Hindus.

The neo-Vedantins argued that the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy were perspectives on a single truth, all valid and complementary to each other.[165] Halbfass (2007, p. 307) sees these interpretations as incorporating western ideas[166] into traditional systems, especially Advaita Vedanta.[167] It is the modern form of Advaita Vedanta, states King (1999, p. 135), the neo-Vedantists subsumed the Buddhist philosophies as part of the Vedanta tradition[x] and then argued that all the world religions are same "non-dualistic position as the philosophia perennis", ignoring the differences within and outside of Hinduism.[169] According to Gier (2000, p. 140), neo-Vedanta is Advaita Vedanta which accepts universal realism:

Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Aurobindo have been labeled neo-Vedantists (the latter called it realistic Advaita), a view of Vedanta that rejects the Advaitins' idea that the world is illusory. As Aurobindo phrased it, philosophers need to move from 'universal illusionism' to 'universal realism', in the strict philosophical sense of assuming the world to be fully real.

A major proponent in the popularization of this Universalist and Perennialist interpretation of Advaita Vedanta was Vivekananda,[170] who played a major role in the revival of Hinduism.[171] He was also instrumental in the spread of Advaita Vedanta to the West via the Vedanta Society, the international arm of the Ramakrishna Order.[172][page needed]

Criticism of Neo-Vedanta label

Nicholson (2010, p. 2) writes that the attempts at integration which came to be known as neo-Vedanta were evident as early as between the 12th and the 16th century−

... certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the "six systems" (saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy.[y]

Matilal criticizes Neo-Hinduism as an oddity developed by West-inspired Western Indologists and attributes it to the flawed Western perception of Hinduism in modern India. In his scathing criticism of this school of reasoning, Matilal (2002, pp. 403–404) says:

The so-called 'traditional' outlook is in fact a construction. Indian history shows that the tradition itself was self-conscious and critical of itself, sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly. It was never free from internal tensions due to the inequalities that persisted in a hierarchical society, nor was it without confrontation and challenge throughout its history. Hence Gandhi, Vivekananda and Tagore were not simply 'transplants from Western culture, products arising solely from confrontation with the west. ...It is rather odd that, although the early Indologists' romantic dream of discovering a pure (and probably primitive, according to some) form of Hinduism (or Buddhism as the case may be) now stands discredited in many quarters; concepts like neo-Hinduism are still bandied about as substantial ideas or faultless explanation tools by the Western 'analytic' historians as well as the West-inspired historians of India.

Influence

According to Nakamura (2004, p. 3), the Vedanta school has had a historic and central influence on Hinduism:

The prevalence of Vedanta thought is found not only in philosophical writings but also in various forms of (Hindu) literature, such as the epics, lyric poetry, drama and so forth. ... the Hindu religious sects, the common faith of the Indian populace, looked to Vedanta philosophy for the theoretical foundations for their theology. The influence of Vedanta is prominent in the sacred literatures of Hinduism, such as the various Puranas, Samhitas, Agamas and Tantras ... [103]

Frithjof Schuon summarizes the influence of Vedanta on Hinduism as follows:

The Vedanta contained in the Upanishads, then formulated in the Brahma Sutra, and finally commented and explained by Shankara, is an invaluable key for discovering the deepest meaning of all the religious doctrines and for realizing that the Sanatana Dharma secretly penetrates all the forms of traditional spirituality.[177]

Gavin Flood states,

... the most influential school of theology in India has been Vedanta, exerting enormous influence on all religious traditions and becoming the central ideology of the Hindu renaissance in the nineteenth century. It has become the philosophical paradigm of Hinduism "par excellence".[13]

Hindu traditions

Vedanta, adopting ideas from other orthodox (āstika) schools, became the most prominent school of Hinduism.[14][178] Vedanta traditions led to the development of many traditions in Hinduism.[13][179] Sri Vaishnavism of south and southeastern India is based on Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.[180] Ramananda led to the Vaishnav Bhakti Movement in north, east, central and west India. This movement draws its philosophical and theistic basis from Vishishtadvaita. A large number of devotional Vaishnavism traditions of east India, north India (particularly the Braj region), west and central India are based on various sub-schools of Bhedabheda Vedanta.[55] Advaita Vedanta influenced Krishna Vaishnavism in the northeastern state of Assam.[181] The Madhva school of Vaishnavism found in coastal Karnataka is based on Dvaita Vedanta.[153]

Āgamas, the classical literature of Shaivism, though independent in origin, show Vedanta association and premises.[182] Of the 92 Āgamas, ten are (dvaita) texts, eighteen (bhedabheda), and sixty-four (advaita) texts.[183] While the Bhairava Shastras are monistic, Shiva Shastras are dualistic.[184] Isaeva (1995, pp. 134–135) finds the link between Gaudapada's Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism evident and natural. Tirumular, the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta scholar, credited with creating "Vedanta–Siddhanta" (Advaita Vedanta and Shaiva Siddhanta synthesis), stated, "becoming Shiva is the goal of Vedanta and Siddhanta; all other goals are secondary to it and are vain."[185]

Shaktism, or traditions where a goddess is considered identical to Brahman, has similarly flowered from a syncretism of the monist premises of Advaita Vedanta and dualism premises of Samkhya–Yoga school of Hindu philosophy, sometimes referred to as Shaktadavaitavada (literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti).[186]

Influence on Western thinkers

An exchange of ideas has been taking place between the western world and Asia since the late 18th century as a result of colonization of parts of Asia by Western powers. This also influenced western religiosity. The first translation of Upanishads, published in two parts in 1801 and 1802, significantly influenced Arthur Schopenhauer, who called them the consolation of his life.[187] He drew explicit parallels between his philosophy, as set out in The World as Will and Representation,[188] and that of the Vedanta philosophy as described in the work of Sir William Jones.[189] Early translations also appeared in other European languages.[190] Influenced by Śaṅkara's concepts of Brahman (God) and māyā (illusion), Lucian Blaga often used the concepts marele anonim (the Great Anonymous) and cenzura transcendentă (the transcendental censorship) in his philosophy.[191]

Similarities with Spinoza's philosophy

German Sanskritist Theodore Goldstücker was among the early scholars to notice similarities between the religious conceptions of the Vedanta and those of the Dutch Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza, writing that Spinoza's thought was

... so exact a representation of the ideas of the Vedanta, that we might have suspected its founder to have borrowed the fundamental principles of his system from the Hindus, did his biography not satisfy us that he was wholly unacquainted with their doctrines [...] comparing the fundamental ideas of both we should have no difficulty in proving that, had Spinoza been a Hindu, his system would in all probability mark a last phase of the Vedanta philosophy.[192]

Max Müller noted the striking similarities between Vedanta and the system of Spinoza, saying,

The Brahman, as conceived in the Upanishads and defined by Sankara, is clearly the same as Spinoza's 'Substantia'."[193]

Helena Blavatsky, a founder of the Theosophical Society, also compared Spinoza's religious thought to Vedanta, writing in an unfinished essay,

As to Spinoza's Deity – natura naturans – conceived in his attributes simply and alone; and the same Deity – as natura naturata or as conceived in the endless series of modifications or correlations, the direct outflowing results from the properties of these attributes, it is the Vedantic Deity pure and simple.[194]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Historically, Vedanta has been called by various names. The early names were the Upanishadic ones (Aupanisada), the doctrine of the end of the Vedas (Vedanta-vada), the doctrine of Brahman (Brahma-vada), and the doctrine that Brahma is the cause (Brahma-karana-vada).[21]
  2. ^ The Upanishads were many in number and developed in the different schools at different times and places, some in the Vedic period and others in the medieval or modern era (the names of up to 112 Upanishads have been recorded).[27] All major commentators have considered twelve to thirteen oldest of these texts as the Principal Upanishads and as the foundation of Vedanta.
  3. ^ A few Indian scholars such as Vedvyasa discuss ten; Krtakoti discusses eight; six is most widely accepted: see Nicholson (2010, pp. 149–150)
  4. ^ Anantanand Rambachan (1991, pp. xii–xiii) states, "According to these [widely represented contemporary] studies, Shankara only accorded a provisional validity to the knowledge gained by inquiry into the words of the Śruti (Vedas) and did not see the latter as the unique source (pramana) of Brahmajnana. The affirmations of the Śruti, it is argued, need to be verified and confirmed by the knowledge gained through direct experience (anubhava) and the authority of the Śruti, therefore, is only secondary." Sengaku Mayeda (2006, pp. 46–47) concurs, adding Shankara maintained the need for objectivity in the process of gaining knowledge (vastutantra), and considered subjective opinions (purushatantra) and injunctions in Śruti (codanatantra) as secondary. Mayeda cites Shankara's explicit statements emphasizing epistemology (pramana–janya) in section 1.18.133 of Upadesasahasri and section 1.1.4 of Brahmasutra–bhasya.
  5. ^ Nicholson (2010, p. 27) writes of Advaita Vedantin position of cause and effect - Although Brahman seems to undergo a transformation, in fact no real change takes place. The myriad of beings are essentially unreal, as the only real being is Brahman, that ultimate reality which is unborn, unchanging, and entirely without parts.
  6. ^ Sivananda also mentions Meykandar and the Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy.[63]
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b c Vishishtadvaita roots:
    * Supreme Court of India, 1966 AIR 1119, 1966 SCR (3) 242: "Philosophically, Swaminarayan was a follower of Ramanuja"[158]
    * Hanna H. Kim: "The philosophical foundation for Swaminarayan devotionalism is the viśiṣṭādvaita, or qualified non-dualism, of Rāmānuja (1017–1137 ce)."[157]
  9. ^ According to Nakamura and Dasgupta, the Brahmasutras reflect a Bhedabheda point of view,[64] the most influential tradition of Vedanta before Shankara. Numerous Indologists, including Surendranath Dasgupta, Paul hacker, Hajime Nakamura, and Mysore Hiriyanna, have described Bhedabheda as the most influential school of Vedanta before Shankara.[64]
  10. ^ O'Flaherty (1986, p. 119) says "that to say that the universe is an illusion (māyā) is not to say that it is unreal; it is to say, instead, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is something constantly being made. Maya not only deceives people about the things they think they know; more basically, it limits their knowledge."
  11. ^ The concept of Brahman in Dvaita Vedanta is so similar to the monotheistic eternal God, that some early colonial–era Indologists such as George Abraham Grierson suggested Madhva was influenced by early Christians who migrated to India, [97] but later scholarship has rejected this theory.[98]
  12. ^ Nicholson (2010, p. 26) considers the Brahma Sutras as a group of sutras composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years. The precise date is disputed.[105] Nicholson (2010, p. 26) estimates that the book was composed in its current form between 400 and 450 CE. The reference shows BCE, but it's a typo in Nicholson's book
  13. ^ The Vedanta–sūtra are known by a variety of names, including (1) Brahma–sūtra, (2) Śārīraka–sutra, (3) Bādarāyaṇa–sūtra and (4) Uttara–mīmāṁsā.
  14. ^ Estimates of the date of Bādarāyana's lifetime differ. Pandey 2000, p. 4
  15. ^ Nicholson 2013, p. 26 Quote: "From a historical perspective, the Brahmasutras are best understood as a group of sutras composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years, most likely composed in its current form between 400 and 450 BCE." This dating has a typo in Nicholson's book, it should be read "between 400 and 450 CE"
  16. ^ Bhartŗhari (c. 450–500), Upavarsa (c. 450–500), Bodhāyana (c. 500), Tanka (Brahmānandin) (c. 500–550), Dravida (c. 550), Bhartŗprapañca (c. 550), Śabarasvāmin (c. 550), Bhartŗmitra (c. 550–600), Śrivatsānka (c. 600), Sundarapāndya (c. 600), Brahmadatta (c. 600–700), Gaudapada (c. 640–690), Govinda (c. 670–720), Mandanamiśra (c. 670–750)[103]
  17. ^ There is ample evidence, however, to suggest that Advaita was a thriving tradition by the start of the common era or even before that. Shankara mentions 99 different predecessors of his Sampradaya.[119] Scholarship since 1950 suggests that almost all Sannyasa Upanishads have a strong Advaita Vedanta outlook.[123] Six Sannyasa Upanishads – Aruni, Kundika, Kathashruti, Paramahamsa, Jabala and Brahma – were composed before the 3rd Century CE, likely in the centuries before or after the start of the common era; the Asrama Upanishad is dated to the 3rd Century.[124] The strong Advaita Vedanta views in these ancient Sannyasa Upanishads may be, states Patrick Olivelle, because major Hindu monasteries of this period belonged to the Advaita Vedanta tradition.[125]
  18. ^ Scholars like Raju (1992, p. 177), following the lead of earlier scholars like Sengupta,[127] believe that Gaudapada co-opted the Buddhist doctrine that ultimate reality is pure consciousness (vijñapti-mātra). Raju (1992, pp. 177–178) states, "Gaudapada wove [both doctrines] into a philosophy of the Mandukaya Upanisad, which was further developed by Shankara." Nikhilananda (2008, pp. 203–206) states that the whole purpose of Gaudapada was to present and demonstrate the ultimate reality of Atman, an idea denied by Buddhism. According to Murti (1955, pp. 114–115), Gaudapada's doctrines are unlike Buddhism. Gaudapada's influential text consists of four chapters: Chapters One, Two, and Three are entirely Vedantin and founded on the Upanishads, with little Buddhist flavor. Chapter Four uses Buddhist terminology and incorporates Buddhist doctrines but Vedanta scholars who followed Gaudapada through the 17th century, state that both Murti and Richard King never referenced nor used Chapter Four, they only quote from the first three.[68] While there is shared terminology, the doctrines of Gaudapada and Buddhism are fundamentally different, states Murti (1955, pp. 114–115)
  19. ^ Nicholson (2010, p. 27) writes: "The Brahmasutras themselves espouse the realist Parinamavada position, which appears to have been the view most common among early Vedantins."
  20. ^ According to Mishra, the sutras, beginning with the first sutra of Jaimini and ending with the last sutra of Badarayana, form one compact shastra.[129]
  21. ^ Madhvacharya gave his philosophy the name Tattvavada (realistic point of view or realism), but later after few centuries it was popularised as Dvaita Vedanta (dualism).
  22. ^ Many sources date him to 1238–1317 period,[145] but some place him over 1199–1278 CE.[146]
  23. ^ "Professor Ashok Aklujkar said [...] Just as the Kashi Vidvat Parishad acknowledged Swaminarayan Bhagwan's Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as a distinct darshan in the Vedanta tradition, we are honored to do the same from the platform of the World Sanskrit Conference [...] Professor George Cardona [said] "This is a very important classical Sanskrit commentary that very clearly and effectively explains that Akshar is distinct from Purushottam."[70]
  24. ^ Vivekananda, clarifies Richard King, stated, "I am not a Buddhist, as you have heard, and yet I am"; but thereafter Vivekananda explained that "he cannot accept the Buddhist rejection of a self, but nevertheless honors the Buddha's compassion and attitude towards others".[168]
  25. ^ The tendency of "a blurring of philosophical distinctions" has also been noted by Mikel Burley.[173] Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus,[174] and a process of "mutual self-definition with a contrasting Muslim other",[175] which started well before 1800.[176]

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Further reading

External links

  •   Quotations related to Vedanta at Wikiquote
  •   Media related to Vedanta at Wikimedia Commons

May 05, 2023
vedanta, other, uses, disambiguation, ɑː, sanskrit, iast, vedānta, also, known, uttara, mīmāṃsā, hindu, philosophical, tradition, that, orthodox, āstika, schools, hindu, philosophy, word, means, vedas, encompasses, ideas, that, emerged, from, were, aligned, wi. For other uses see Vedanta disambiguation Vedanta v eɪ ˈ d ɑː n t e Sanskrit व द न त IAST Vedanta also known as Uttara Mimaṃsa is a Hindu philosophical tradition that is one of the six orthodox astika schools of Hindu philosophy The word Vedanta means end of the Vedas and encompasses the ideas that emerged from or were aligned with the speculations and enumerations contained in the Upanishads with a focus on knowledge and liberation Vedanta developed into many sub traditions all of which base their ideas on the authority of a common group of texts called the Prasthanatrayi translated as the three sources the Upanishads the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita All Vedanta traditions contain extensive discussions on ontology soteriology and epistemology even as there is much disagreement among the various schools 1 Independently considered they may seem completely disparate due to the pronounced differences in thoughts and reasoning 2 The main traditions of Vedanta are Bhedabheda difference and non difference Advaita non dualism Vishishtadvaita qualified non dualism Tattvavada Dvaita dualism and Suddhadvaita pure non dualism 3 4 Modern developments in Vedanta include Neo Vedanta 5 6 7 and the philosophy of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya 8 Most major Vedanta schools except Advaita Vedanta and Neo Vedanta are related to Vaishnavism and emphasize devotion Bhakti Yoga to God understood as being Vishnu or a related manifestation 9 10 Advaita Vedanta on the other hand emphasizes Jnana knowledge and Jnana Yoga over theistic devotion While the monism of Advaita has attracted considerable attention in the West due to the influence of modern Hindus like Swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharshi most of the other Vedanta traditions focus on Vaishnava theology 11 Contents 1 Etymology and nomenclature 2 Vedanta philosophy 2 1 Common features 2 2 Scripture 2 3 Metaphysics 2 3 1 Brahman Ishvara Conceptions of the Supreme Reality 2 3 2 Relation between Brahman and Jiva Atman 2 4 Epistemology 2 4 1 Pramana 2 4 2 Theories of cause and effect 3 Overview of the main schools of Vedanta 3 1 Bhedabheda Vedanta difference and non difference 3 1 1 Dvaitadvaita Vedanta 3 1 2 Achintya Bheda Abheda Vedanta 3 2 Advaita Vedanta non dualism 3 3 Vishishtadvaita Vedanta qualified non dualism 3 3 1 Swaminarayan Darshana 3 4 Tattvavada Vedanta Dvaita dualism 3 5 Shuddhadvaita Vedanta pure nondualism 4 History 4 1 Before the Brahma Sutras before the 5th century 4 2 Brahma Sutras completed in the 5th century 4 3 Between the Brahma Sutras and Adi Shankara 5th 8th centuries 4 4 Gaudapada Adi Shankara Advaita Vedanta 6th 9th centuries 4 4 1 Gaudapada 4 4 2 Adi Shankara 4 5 Early Vaishnavism Vedanta 7th 9th centuries 4 5 1 Nimbarka and Dvaitadvaita 4 5 2 Bhaskara and Upadhika 4 6 Vaishnavism Bhakti Vedanta 11th 16th centuries 4 6 1 Ramanuja Vishishtadvaita Vedanta 11th 12th centuries 4 6 2 Madhva Tattvavada or Dvaita Vedanta 13th 14th centuries 4 6 3 Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Achintya Bheda Abheda 16th century 4 7 Modern times 19th century present 4 7 1 Swaminarayan and Akshar Purushottam Darshan 19th century 4 7 2 Neo Vedanta 19th century 4 7 2 1 Criticism of Neo Vedanta label 5 Influence 5 1 Hindu traditions 5 2 Influence on Western thinkers 5 2 1 Similarities with Spinoza s philosophy 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Sources 9 1 Printed sources 9 2 Web sources 10 Further reading 11 External linksEtymology and nomenclature EditThe word Vedanta is made of two words Veda व द refers to the four sacred vedic texts Anta अ त this word means End The word Vedanta literally means the end of the Vedas and originally referred to the Upanishads 12 13 Vedanta is concerned with the jnanakaṇḍa or knowledge section of the vedas which is called the Upanishads 14 15 The meaning of Vedanta expanded later to encompass the different philosophical traditions that are based on the Prasthanatrayi 12 16 The Upanishads may be regarded as the end of Vedas in different senses 17 They were the last literary products of the Vedic period They represent the pinnacle of Vedic philosophy They were taught and debated last in the Brahmacharya student stage 12 18 Vedanta is one of the six orthodox astika schools of Indian philosophy 13 It is also called Uttara Mimaṃsa which means the latter enquiry or higher enquiry and is often contrasted with Purva Mimaṃsa the former enquiry or primary enquiry Purva Mimaṃsa deals with the karmakaṇḍa or ritualistic section the Samhita and Brahmanas in the Vedas while Uttara Mimaṃsa concerns itself with the deeper questions of existence and meaning 19 20 a Vedanta philosophy EditCommon features Edit Despite their differences all schools of Vedanta share some common features Vedanta is the pursuit of knowledge into the Brahman and the Atman 22 The Upaniṣads the Bhagavadgita and the Brahma Sutras constitute the basis of Vedanta known as the three canonical sources 23 Scripture Sruti Sabda is the main reliable source of knowledge pramana 23 Brahman Ishvara God exists as the unchanging material cause and instrumental cause of the world The exception is that Dvaita Vedanta does not hold Brahman to be the material cause but only the efficient cause 24 The self Atman or Jiva is the agent of its own acts karma and the recipient of the consequences of these actions 25 Belief in rebirth samsara and the desirability of release from the cycle of rebirths moksha 25 Rejection of Buddhism and Jainism and conclusions of the other Vedic schools Nyaya Vaisheshika Samkhya Yoga and to some extent the Purva Mimamsa 25 Scripture Edit The main Upanishads the Bhagavadgita and the Brahma Sutras are the foundational scriptures in Vedanta All schools of Vedanta propound their philosophy by interpreting these texts collectively called the Prasthanatrayi literally three sources 14 26 The Upanishads b or Sruti prasthana considered the Sruti the heard and repeated foundation of Vedanta The Brahma Sutras or Nyaya prasthana Yukti prasthana considered the reason based foundation of Vedanta The Bhagavadgita or Smriti prasthana considered the Smriti remembered tradition foundation of Vedanta All prominent Vedantic teachers including Shankara Bhaskara Ramanuja Madhva Nimbarka and Vallabha wrote commentaries on these three sources The Brahma Sutras of Badarayana serve as a synthesis of the teachings found in the diverse Upanishads and while there may have been other similar syntheses in the past only the Brahma Sutras have survived to the present day 14 The Bhagavadgita with its syncretism of Samkhya Yoga and Upanishadic thought has also been a significant influence on Vedantic thought 28 All Vedantins agree that scripture sruti is the only means of knowing pramaṇa regarding spiritual matters which are beyond perception and inference 29 This is explained by Ramanuja as follows A theory that rests exclusively on human concepts may at some other time or place be refuted by arguments devised by cleverer people The conclusion is that with regard to supernatural matters Scripture alone is the epistemic authority and that reasoning is to be used only in support of Scripture Sri Bhaṣya 2 1 12 29 For specific sub schools of Vedanta other texts may be equally important For example for Advaita Vedanta the works of Adi Shankara are central For the Theistic Vaishnava schools of Vedanta the Bhagavata Puraṇa is particularly important The Bhagavata Puraṇa is one of the most widely commented upon works in Vedanta 30 This text is so central to the Krishna centered Vedanta schools that the Vedantin theologian Vallabha added the Bhagavata Puraṇa as a fourth text to the praṣṭhana traya three classic scriptures of Vedanta 31 Metaphysics Edit Vedanta philosophies discuss three fundamental metaphysical categories and the relations between the three 14 32 Brahman or Ishvara the ultimate reality 33 Atman or Jivatman the individual soul self 34 Prakriti Jagat 4 the empirical world ever changing physical universe body and matter 35 Brahman Ishvara Conceptions of the Supreme Reality Edit Shankara in formulating Advaita talks of two conceptions of Brahman The higher Brahman as undifferentiated Being and a lower Brahman endowed with qualities as the creator of the universe 36 Para or Higher Brahman The undifferentiated absolute infinite transcendental supra relational Brahman beyond all thought and speech is defined as para Brahman nirviseṣa Brahman or nirguṇa Brahman and is the Absolute of metaphysics Apara or Lower Brahman The Brahman with qualities defined as apara Brahman or saguṇa Brahman The saguṇa Brahman is endowed with attributes and represents the personal God of religion Ramanuja in formulating Vishishtadvaita Vedanta rejects Nirguṇa that the undifferentiated Absolute is inconceivable and adopts a theistic interpretation of the Upanishads accepting Brahman as Ishvara the personal God who is the seat of all auspicious attributes as the One reality The God of Vishishtadvaita is accessible to the devotee yet remains the Absolute with differentiated attributes 37 Madhva in expounding Dvaita philosophy maintains that Vishnu is the supreme God thus identifying the Brahman or absolute reality of the Upanishads with a personal god as Ramanuja had done before him 38 39 Nimbarka in his dvaitadvata philosophy accepted the Brahman both as nirguṇa and as saguṇa Vallabha in his shuddhadvaita philosophy not only accepts the triple ontological essence of the Brahman but also His manifestation as personal God Ishvara as matter and as individual souls 40 Relation between Brahman and Jiva Atman Edit The schools of Vedanta differ in their conception of the relation they see between Atman Jivatman and Brahman Ishvara 41 According to Advaita Vedanta Atman is identical with Brahman and there is no difference 42 According to Vishishtadvaita Jivatman is different from Ishvara though eternally connected with Him as His mode 43 The oneness of the Supreme Reality is understood in the sense of an organic unity vishistaikya Brahman Ishvara alone as organically related to all Jivatman and the material universe is the one Ultimate Reality 44 According to Dvaita the Jivatman is totally and always different from Brahman Ishvara 45 According to Shuddhadvaita pure monism the Jivatman and Brahman are identical both along with the changing empirically observed universe being Krishna 46 Epistemology in Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta Advaita and some other Vedanta schools recognize six epistemic means Epistemology Edit Main article Pramana Pramana Edit Pramaṇa Sanskrit प रम ण literally means proof that which is the means of valid knowledge 47 It refers to epistemology in Indian philosophies and encompasses the study of reliable and valid means by which human beings gain accurate true knowledge 48 The focus of Pramana is the manner in which correct knowledge can be acquired how one knows or does not know and to what extent knowledge pertinent about someone or something can be acquired 49 Ancient and medieval Indian texts identify six c pramanas as correct means of accurate knowledge and truths 50 Pratyakṣa perception Anumaṇa inference Upamaṇa comparison and analogy Arthapatti postulation derivation from circumstances Anupalabdi non perception negative cognitive proof Sabda scriptural testimony verbal testimony of past or present reliable experts The different schools of Vedanta have historically disagreed as to which of the six are epistemologically valid For example while Advaita Vedanta accepts all six pramanas 51 Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita accept only three pramanas perception inference and testimony 52 Advaita considers Pratyakṣa perception as the most reliable source of knowledge and Sabda the scriptural evidence is considered secondary except for matters related to Brahman where it is the only evidence 53 d In Vishistadvaita and Dvaita Sabda the scriptural testimony is considered the most authentic means of knowledge instead 54 Theories of cause and effect Edit All schools of Vedanta subscribe to the theory of Satkaryavada 55 which means that the effect is pre existent in the cause But there are two different views on the status of the effect that is the world Most schools of Vedanta as well as Samkhya support Parinamavada the idea that the world is a real transformation parinama of Brahman 56 According to Nicholson 2010 p 27 the Brahma Sutras espouse the realist Parinamavada position which appears to have been the view most common among early Vedantins In contrast to Badarayana Adi Shankara and Advaita Vedantists hold a different view Vivartavada which says that the effect the world is merely an unreal vivarta transformation of its cause Brahman e Overview of the main schools of Vedanta EditThe Upanishads present an associative philosophical inquiry in the form of identifying various doctrines and then presenting arguments for or against them They form the basic texts and Vedanta interprets them through rigorous philosophical exegesis to defend the point of view of their specific sampradaya 57 58 Varying interpretations of the Upanishads and their synthesis the Brahma Sutras led to the development of different schools of Vedanta over time Vinayak Sakaram Ghate of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of the Brahma Sutra commentaries by Nimbarka Ramanuja Vallabha Shankara and Madhva In his conclusion Ghate determined that Nimbarka s and Ramanuja s commentaries provide the most accurate interpretation of the Brahma Sutras considering both the passages that emphasize unity and those that emphasize diversity 59 Gavin Flood suggests that although Advaita Vedanta is the most well known school of Vedanta and is sometimes wrongly perceived as the sole representation of Vedantic thought 60 with Shankara being a follower of Saivism 61 the true essence of Vedanta lies within the Vaisnava tradition and can be considered a discourse within the broad framework of Vaisnavism 61 In the Vaishnava traditions four sampradays are considered to be of special significance 2 while the number of prominent Vedanta schools varies among scholars with some classifying them as three to six 12 41 4 62 3 f g Bhedabheda as early as the 7th century CE 55 or even the 4th century CE 64 Dvaitadvaita or Svabhavikabhedabheda Vaishnava founded by Nimbarka 4 in the 7th century CE 65 66 Achintya Bheda Abheda Vaishnava founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 1486 1534 CE 67 propagated by Gaudiya Vaishnava Advaita monistic many scholars of which most prominent are Gaudapada 500 CE 68 and Adi Shankaracharya 8th century CE 69 Vishishtadvaita Vaishnava prominent scholars are Nathamuni Yamuna and Ramanuja 1017 1137 CE Akshar Purushottam Darshan based on the teachings of Swaminarayan 1781 1830 CE and rooted in Ramanuja s Vishishtadvaita h propagated most notably by BAPS 70 71 72 73 Tattvavada Dvaita Vaishnava founded by Madhvacharya 1199 1278 CE The prominent scholars are Jayatirtha 1345 1388 CE and Vyasatirtha 1460 1539 CE Suddhadvaita Vaishnava founded by Vallabha 4 1479 1531 CE Bhedabheda Vedanta difference and non difference Edit Main article Bhedabheda Bhedabheda means difference and non difference and is more a tradition than a school of Vedanta The schools of this tradition emphasize that the individual self Jivatman is both different and not different from Brahman 55 Notable figures in this school are Bhartriprapancha Nimbarka 7th century 65 66 who founded the Dvaitadvaita school Bhaskara 8th 9th century Ramanuja s teacher Yadavaprakasa 74 Chaitanya 1486 1534 who founded the Achintya Bheda Abheda school and Vijnanabhikṣu 16th century 75 i Dvaitadvaita Vedanta Edit Nimbarkacharya s icon at Ukhra West Bengal Main article Dvaitadvaita Nimbarka 7th century 65 66 sometimes identified with Bhaskara 76 propounded Dvaitadvaita 77 Brahman God souls chit and matter or the universe achit are considered as three equally real and co eternal realities Brahman is the controller niyanta the soul is the enjoyer bhokta and the material universe is the object enjoyed bhogya The Brahman is Krishna the ultimate cause who is omniscient omnipotent all pervading Being He is the efficient cause of the universe because as Lord of Karma and internal ruler of souls He brings about creation so that the souls can reap the consequences of their karma God is considered to be the material cause of the universe because creation was a manifestation of His powers of soul chit and matter achit creation is a transformation parinama of God s powers He can be realized only through a constant effort to merge oneself with His nature through meditation and devotion 77 Achintya Bheda Abheda Vedanta Edit Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Main article Achintya Bhedabheda Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 1486 1533 was the prime exponent of Achintya Bheda Abheda 78 In Sanskrit achintya means inconceivable 79 Achintya Bheda Abheda represents the philosophy of inconceivable difference in non difference 80 in relation to the non dual reality of Brahman Atman which it calls Krishna svayam bhagavan 81 The notion of inconceivability acintyatva is used to reconcile apparently contradictory notions in Upanishadic teachings This school asserts that Krishna is Bhagavan of the bhakti yogins the Brahman of the jnana yogins and has a divine potency that is inconceivable He is all pervading and thus in all parts of the universe non difference yet he is inconceivably more difference This school is at the foundation of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition 80 The ISKCON or the Hare Krishnas also affiliate to this school of Vedanta Philosophy Advaita Vedanta non dualism Edit Shankaracharya Main article Advaita Vedanta Advaita Vedanta IAST Advaita Vedanta Sanskrit अद व त व द न त propounded by Gaudapada 7th century and Adi Shankara 8th century espouses non dualism and monism Brahman is held to be the sole unchanging metaphysical reality and identical to the individual Atman 39 The physical world on the other hand is always changing empirical Maya 82 j The absolute and infinite Atman Brahman is realized by a process of negating everything relative finite empirical and changing 83 The school accepts no duality no limited individual souls Atman Jivatman and no separate unlimited cosmic soul All souls and their existence across space and time are considered to be the same oneness 84 Spiritual liberation in Advaita is the full comprehension and realization of oneness that one s unchanging Atman soul is the same as the Atman in everyone else as well as being identical to Brahman 85 Vishishtadvaita Vedanta qualified non dualism Edit Ramanujacharya depicted with Vaishnava Tilaka and Vishnu statue Main article Vishishtadvaita Vishishtadvaita propounded by Ramanuja 11 12th century asserts that Jivatman human souls and Brahman as Vishnu are different a difference that is never transcended 86 87 With this qualification Ramanuja also affirmed monism by saying that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman 88 Vishishtadvaita like Advaita is a non dualistic school of Vedanta in a qualified way and both begin by assuming that all souls can hope for and achieve the state of blissful liberation 89 On the relation between the Brahman and the world of matter Prakriti Vishishtadvaita states both are two different absolutes both metaphysically true and real neither is false or illusive and that saguna Brahman with attributes is also real 90 Ramanuja states that God like man has both soul and body and the world of matter is the glory of God s body 91 The path to Brahman Vishnu according to Ramanuja is devotion to godliness and constant remembrance of the beauty and love of the personal god bhakti of saguna Brahman 92 Swaminarayan Darshana Edit Swaminarayan Main articles Swaminarayan Darshana and Akshar Purushottam Darshan The Swaminarayan Darshana also called Akshar Purushottam Darshan by the BAPS was propounded by Swaminarayan 1781 1830 CE and is rooted in Ramanuja s Vishishtadvaita h It asserts that Parabrahman Purushottam Narayana and Aksharbrahman are two distinct eternal realities Adherents believe that they can achieve moksha or freedom from the cycle of birth and death by becoming aksharrup or brahmarup that is by attaining qualities similar to Akshar or Aksharbrahman and worshipping Purushottam or Parabrahman the supreme living entity God 93 94 Tattvavada Vedanta Dvaita dualism Edit Madhvacharya in Jnana mudra Main article Dvaita Tattvavada propounded by Madhvacharya 13th century is based on the premise of realism or realistic point of view The term Dvaita which means dualism was later applied to Madhvacharya s philosophy Atman soul and Brahman as Vishnu are understood as two completely different entities 95 Brahman is the creator of the universe perfect in knowledge perfect in knowing perfect in its power and distinct from souls distinct from matter 96 k In Dvaita Vedanta an individual soul must feel attraction love attachment and complete devotional surrender to Vishnu for salvation and it is only His grace that leads to redemption and salvation 99 Madhva believed that some souls are eternally doomed and damned a view not found in Advaita and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta 100 While the Vishishtadvaita Vedanta asserted qualitative monism and quantitative pluralism of souls Madhva asserted both qualitative and quantitative pluralism of souls 101 Shuddhadvaita Vedanta pure nondualism Edit Vallabhacharya Main articles Shuddhadvaita and Pushtimarg Shuddhadvaita pure non dualism propounded by Vallabhacharya 1479 1531 CE states that the entire universe is real and is subtly Brahman only in the form of Krishna 46 Vallabhacharya agreed with Advaita Vedanta s ontology but emphasized that prakriti empirical world body is not separate from the Brahman but just another manifestation of the latter 46 Everything everyone everywhere soul and body living and non living jiva and matter is the eternal Krishna 46 The way to Krishna in this school is bhakti Vallabha opposed renunciation of monistic sannyasa as ineffective and advocates the path of devotion bhakti rather than knowledge jnana The goal of bhakti is to turn away from ego self centered ness and deception and to turn towards the eternal Krishna in everything continually offering freedom from samsara 46 History EditThe history of Vedanta can be divided into two periods one prior to the composition of the Brahma Sutras and the other encompassing the schools that developed after the Brahma Sutras were written Until the 11th century Vedanta was a peripheral school of thought 102 Before the Brahma Sutras before the 5th century Edit Little is known 103 of schools of Vedanta existing before the composition of the Brahma Sutras 400 450 CE 104 64 l It is clear that Badarayana the writer of Brahma Sutras was not the first person to systematize the teachings of the Upanishads as he quotes six Vedantic teachers before him Ashmarathya Badari Audulomi Kashakrtsna Karsnajini and Atreya 106 107 References to other early Vedanta teachers Brahmadatta Sundara Pandaya Tanka and Dravidacharya are found in secondary literature of later periods 108 The works of these ancient teachers have not survived but based on the quotes attributed to them in later literature Sharma postulates that Ashmarathya and Audulomi were Bhedabheda scholars Kashakrtsna and Brahmadatta were Advaita scholars while Tanka and Dravidacharya were either Advaita or Vishistadvaita scholars 107 Brahma Sutras completed in the 5th century Edit Main article Brahma Sutras Badarayana summarized and interpreted teachings of the Upanishads in the Brahma Sutras also called the Vedanta Sutra 109 m possibly written from a Bhedabheda Vedantic viewpoint 55 Badarayana summarized the teachings of the classical Upanishads 110 111 n and refuted the rival philosophical schools in ancient India Nicholson 2010 p 26 The Brahma Sutras laid the basis for the development of Vedanta philosophy 112 Though attributed to Badarayana the Brahma Sutras were likely composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years 64 The estimates on when the Brahma Sutras were complete vary 113 114 with Nakamura in 1989 and Nicholson in his 2013 review stating that they were most likely compiled in the present form around 400 450 CE 104 o Isaeva suggests they were complete and in current form by 200 CE 115 while Nakamura states that the great part of the Sutra must have been in existence much earlier than that 800 500 BCE 114 The book is composed of four chapters each divided into four quarters or sections 14 These sutras attempt to synthesize the diverse teachings of the Upanishads However the cryptic nature of aphorisms of the Brahma Sutras have required exegetical commentaries 116 These commentaries have resulted in the formation of numerous Vedanta schools each interpreting the texts in its own way and producing its own commentary 117 Between the Brahma Sutras and Adi Shankara 5th 8th centuries Edit See also Vedas Upanishads and Darsanas Little with specificity is known of the period between the Brahma Sutras 5th century CE and Adi Shankara 8th century CE 103 69 Only two writings of this period have survived the Vakyapadiya written by Bhartṛhari second half 5th century 118 and the Karika written by Gaudapada early 6th 69 or 7th century 103 CE Shankara mentions 99 different predecessors of his school in his commentaries 119 A number of important early Vedanta thinkers have been listed in the Siddhitraya by Yamunacarya c 1050 the Vedarthasamgraha by Ramanuja c 1050 1157 and the Yatindramatadipika by Srinivasa Dasa 103 At least fourteen thinkers are known to have existed between the composition of the Brahma Sutras and Shankara s lifetime p A noted scholar of this period was Bhartriprapancha Bhartriprapancha maintained that the Brahman is one and there is unity but that this unity has varieties Scholars see Bhartriprapancha as an early philosopher in the line who teach the tenet of Bhedabheda 14 Gaudapada Adi Shankara Advaita Vedanta 6th 9th centuries Edit Main articles Advaita Vedanta and Gaudapada Influenced by Buddhism Advaita vedanta departs from the bhedabheda philosophy instead postulating the identity of Atman with the Whole Brahman Gaudapada Edit Gaudapada c 6th century CE 120 was the teacher or a more distant predecessor of Govindapada 121 the teacher of Adi Shankara Shankara is widely considered as the apostle of Advaita Vedanta 41 Gaudapada s treatise the Karika also known as the Maṇḍukya Karika or the Agama Sastra 122 is the earliest surviving complete text on Advaita Vedanta q Gaudapada s Karika relied on the Mandukya Brihadaranyaka and Chhandogya Upanishads 126 In the Karika Advaita non dualism is established on rational grounds upapatti independent of scriptural revelation its arguments are devoid of all religious mystical or scholastic elements Scholars are divided on a possible influence of Buddhism on Gaudapada s philosophy r The fact that Shankara in addition to the Brahma Sutras the principal Upanishads and the Bhagvad Gita wrote an independent commentary on the Karika proves its importance in Vedantic literature 127 Adi Shankara Edit Adi Shankara 788 820 elaborated on Gaudapada s work and more ancient scholarship to write detailed commentaries on the Prasthanatrayi and the Karika The Mandukya Upanishad and the Karika have been described by Shankara as containing the epitome of the substance of the import of Vedanta 127 It was Shankara who integrated Gaudapada work with the ancient Brahma Sutras and give it a locus classicus alongside the realistic strain of the Brahma Sutras 128 s A noted contemporary of Shankara was Maṇḍana Misra who regarded Mimamsa and Vedanta as forming a single system and advocated their combination known as Karma jnana samuchchaya vada 129 t The treatise on the differences between the Vedanta school and the Mimamsa school was a contribution of Adi Shankara Advaita Vedanta rejects rituals in favor of renunciation for example 130 Early Vaishnavism Vedanta 7th 9th centuries Edit Early Vaishnava Vedanta retains the tradition of bhedabheda equating Brahman with Vishnu or Krishna Nimbarka and Dvaitadvaita Edit Main article Dvaitadvaita Nimbarka 7th century 65 66 sometimes identified with Bhaskara 76 propounded Dvaitadvaita or Bhedabheda 77 Bhaskara and Upadhika Edit Bhaskara 8th 9th century also taught Bhedabheda In postulating Upadhika he considers both identity and difference to be equally real As the causal principle Brahman is considered non dual and formless pure being and intelligence 131 The same Brahman manifest as events becomes the world of plurality Jiva is Brahman limited by the mind Matter and its limitations are considered real not a manifestation of ignorance Bhaskara advocated bhakti as dhyana meditation directed toward the transcendental Brahman He refuted the idea of Maya and denied the possibility of liberation in bodily existence 132 Vaishnavism Bhakti Vedanta 11th 16th centuries Edit Main articles Vaishnavism and Bhakti See also Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement of late medieval Hinduism started in the 7th century but rapidly expanded after the 12th century 133 It was supported by the Puranic literature such as the Bhagavata Purana poetic works as well as many scholarly bhasyas and samhitas 134 135 136 This period saw the growth of Vashnavism Sampradayas denominations or communities under the influence of scholars such as Ramanujacharya Vedanta Desika Madhvacharya and Vallabhacharya 137 Bhakti poets or teachers such as Manavala Mamunigal Namdev Ramananda Surdas Tulsidas Eknath Tyagaraja Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and many others influenced the expansion of Vaishnavism 138 These Vaishnavism sampradaya founders challenged the then dominant Shankara s doctrines of Advaita Vedanta particularly Ramanuja in the 12th century Vedanta Desika and Madhva in the 13th building their theology on the devotional tradition of the Alvars Shri Vaishnavas 139 and Vallabhacharya in the 16th century In North and Eastern India Vaishnavism gave rise to various late Medieval movements Ramananda in the 14th century Sankaradeva in the 15th and Vallabha and Chaitanya in the 16th century Ramanuja Vishishtadvaita Vedanta 11th 12th centuries Edit Ramanuja 1017 1137 CE was the most influential philosopher in the Vishishtadvaita tradition As the philosophical architect of Vishishtadvaita he taught qualified non dualism 140 Ramanuja s teacher Yadava Prakasha followed the Advaita monastic tradition Tradition has it that Ramanuja disagreed with Yadava and Advaita Vedanta and instead followed Nathamuni and Yamuna Ramanuja reconciled the Prasthanatrayi with the theism and philosophy of the Vaishnava Alvars poet saints 141 Ramanuja wrote a number of influential texts such as a bhasya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita all in Sanskrit 142 Ramanuja presented the epistemological and soteriological importance of bhakti or the devotion to a personal God Vishnu in Ramanuja s case as a means to spiritual liberation His theories assert that there exists a plurality and distinction between Atman souls and Brahman metaphysical ultimate reality while he also affirmed that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman 88 Vishishtadvaiata provides the philosophical basis of Sri Vaishnavism 143 Ramanuja was influential in integrating Bhakti the devotional worship into Vedanta premises 144 Madhva Tattvavada or Dvaita Vedanta 13th 14th centuries Edit Tattvavada u or Dvaita Vedanta was propounded by Madhvacharya 1238 1317 CE v He presented the opposite interpretation of Shankara in his Dvaita or dualistic system 147 In contrast to Shankara s non dualism and Ramanuja s qualified non dualism he championed unqualified dualism Madhva wrote commentaries on the chief Upanishads the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra 148 Madhva started his Vedic studies at age seven joined an Advaita Vedanta monastery in Dwarka Gujarat 149 studied under guru Achyutrapreksha 150 frequently disagreed with him left the Advaita monastery and founded Dvaita 151 Madhva and his followers Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha were critical of all competing Hindu philosophies Jainism and Buddhism 152 but particularly intense in their criticism of Advaita Vedanta and Adi Shankara 153 Dvaita Vedanta is theistic and it identifies Brahman with Narayana or more specifically Vishnu in a manner similar to Ramanuja s Vishishtadvaita Vedanta But it is more explicitly pluralistic 154 Madhva s emphasis for difference between soul and Brahman was so pronounced that he taught there were differences 1 between material things 2 between material things and souls 3 between material things and God 4 between souls and 5 between souls and God 155 He also advocated for a difference in degrees in the possession of knowledge He also advocated for differences in the enjoyment of bliss even in the case of liberated souls a doctrine found in no other system of Indian philosophy 154 Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Achintya Bheda Abheda 16th century Edit This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it August 2020 Achintya Bheda Abheda Vaishnava founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 1486 1534 CE 67 was propagated by Gaudiya Vaishnava Historically it was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who founded congregational chanting of holy names of Krishna in the early 16th century after becoming a sannyasi 156 Modern times 19th century present Edit Swaminarayan and Akshar Purushottam Darshan 19th century Edit The Swaminarayan Darshana which is rooted in Ramanuja s Vishishtadvaita 157 73 158 h was founded in 1801 by Swaminarayan 1781 1830 CE and is contemporarily most notably propagated by BAPS 159 Due to the commentarial work of Bhadreshdas Swami the Akshar Purushottam teachings were recognized as a distinct school of Vedanta by the Shri Kashi Vidvat Parishad in 2017 70 71 and by members of the 17th World Sanskrit Conference in 2018 70 w 72 Swami Paramtattvadas describes the Akshar Purushottam teachings as a distinct school of thought within the larger expanse of classical Vedanta 160 presenting the Akshar Purushottam teachings as a seventh school of Vedanta 161 Neo Vedanta 19th century Edit Main articles Neo Vedanta Hindu nationalism and Hindu reform movements Neo Vedanta variously called as Hindu modernism neo Hinduism and neo Advaita is a term that denotes some novel interpretations of Hinduism that developed in the 19th century 162 presumably as a reaction to the colonial British rule 163 King 2002 pp 129 135 writes that these notions accorded the Hindu nationalists an opportunity to attempt the construction of a nationalist ideology to help unite the Hindus to fight colonial oppression Western orientalists in their search for its essence attempted to formulate a notion of Hinduism based on a single interpretation of Vedanta as a unified body of religious praxis 164 This was contra factual as historically Hinduism and Vedanta had always accepted a diversity of traditions King 1999 pp 133 136 asserts that the neo Vedantic theory of overarching tolerance and acceptance was used by the Hindu reformers together with the ideas of Universalism and Perennialism to challenge the polemic dogmatism of Judaeo Christian Islamic missionaries against the Hindus The neo Vedantins argued that the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy were perspectives on a single truth all valid and complementary to each other 165 Halbfass 2007 p 307 sees these interpretations as incorporating western ideas 166 into traditional systems especially Advaita Vedanta 167 It is the modern form of Advaita Vedanta states King 1999 p 135 the neo Vedantists subsumed the Buddhist philosophies as part of the Vedanta tradition x and then argued that all the world religions are same non dualistic position as the philosophia perennis ignoring the differences within and outside of Hinduism 169 According to Gier 2000 p 140 neo Vedanta is Advaita Vedanta which accepts universal realism Ramakrishna Vivekananda and Aurobindo have been labeled neo Vedantists the latter called it realistic Advaita a view of Vedanta that rejects the Advaitins idea that the world is illusory As Aurobindo phrased it philosophers need to move from universal illusionism to universal realism in the strict philosophical sense of assuming the world to be fully real A major proponent in the popularization of this Universalist and Perennialist interpretation of Advaita Vedanta was Vivekananda 170 who played a major role in the revival of Hinduism 171 He was also instrumental in the spread of Advaita Vedanta to the West via the Vedanta Society the international arm of the Ramakrishna Order 172 page needed Criticism of Neo Vedanta label Edit Nicholson 2010 p 2 writes that the attempts at integration which came to be known as neo Vedanta were evident as early as between the 12th and the 16th century certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads epics Puranas and the schools known retrospectively as the six systems saddarsana of mainstream Hindu philosophy y Matilal criticizes Neo Hinduism as an oddity developed by West inspired Western Indologists and attributes it to the flawed Western perception of Hinduism in modern India In his scathing criticism of this school of reasoning Matilal 2002 pp 403 404 says The so called traditional outlook is in fact a construction Indian history shows that the tradition itself was self conscious and critical of itself sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly It was never free from internal tensions due to the inequalities that persisted in a hierarchical society nor was it without confrontation and challenge throughout its history Hence Gandhi Vivekananda and Tagore were not simply transplants from Western culture products arising solely from confrontation with the west It is rather odd that although the early Indologists romantic dream of discovering a pure and probably primitive according to some form of Hinduism or Buddhism as the case may be now stands discredited in many quarters concepts like neo Hinduism are still bandied about as substantial ideas or faultless explanation tools by the Western analytic historians as well as the West inspired historians of India Influence EditAccording to Nakamura 2004 p 3 the Vedanta school has had a historic and central influence on Hinduism The prevalence of Vedanta thought is found not only in philosophical writings but also in various forms of Hindu literature such as the epics lyric poetry drama and so forth the Hindu religious sects the common faith of the Indian populace looked to Vedanta philosophy for the theoretical foundations for their theology The influence of Vedanta is prominent in the sacred literatures of Hinduism such as the various Puranas Samhitas Agamas and Tantras 103 Frithjof Schuon summarizes the influence of Vedanta on Hinduism as follows The Vedanta contained in the Upanishads then formulated in the Brahma Sutra and finally commented and explained by Shankara is an invaluable key for discovering the deepest meaning of all the religious doctrines and for realizing that the Sanatana Dharma secretly penetrates all the forms of traditional spirituality 177 Gavin Flood states the most influential school of theology in India has been Vedanta exerting enormous influence on all religious traditions and becoming the central ideology of the Hindu renaissance in the nineteenth century It has become the philosophical paradigm of Hinduism par excellence 13 Hindu traditions Edit Vedanta adopting ideas from other orthodox astika schools became the most prominent school of Hinduism 14 178 Vedanta traditions led to the development of many traditions in Hinduism 13 179 Sri Vaishnavism of south and southeastern India is based on Ramanuja s Vishishtadvaita Vedanta 180 Ramananda led to the Vaishnav Bhakti Movement in north east central and west India This movement draws its philosophical and theistic basis from Vishishtadvaita A large number of devotional Vaishnavism traditions of east India north India particularly the Braj region west and central India are based on various sub schools of Bhedabheda Vedanta 55 Advaita Vedanta influenced Krishna Vaishnavism in the northeastern state of Assam 181 The Madhva school of Vaishnavism found in coastal Karnataka is based on Dvaita Vedanta 153 Agamas the classical literature of Shaivism though independent in origin show Vedanta association and premises 182 Of the 92 Agamas ten are dvaita texts eighteen bhedabheda and sixty four advaita texts 183 While the Bhairava Shastras are monistic Shiva Shastras are dualistic 184 Isaeva 1995 pp 134 135 finds the link between Gaudapada s Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism evident and natural Tirumular the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta scholar credited with creating Vedanta Siddhanta Advaita Vedanta and Shaiva Siddhanta synthesis stated becoming Shiva is the goal of Vedanta and Siddhanta all other goals are secondary to it and are vain 185 Shaktism or traditions where a goddess is considered identical to Brahman has similarly flowered from a syncretism of the monist premises of Advaita Vedanta and dualism premises of Samkhya Yoga school of Hindu philosophy sometimes referred to as Shaktadavaitavada literally the path of nondualistic Shakti 186 Influence on Western thinkers Edit An exchange of ideas has been taking place between the western world and Asia since the late 18th century as a result of colonization of parts of Asia by Western powers This also influenced western religiosity The first translation of Upanishads published in two parts in 1801 and 1802 significantly influenced Arthur Schopenhauer who called them the consolation of his life 187 He drew explicit parallels between his philosophy as set out in The World as Will and Representation 188 and that of the Vedanta philosophy as described in the work of Sir William Jones 189 Early translations also appeared in other European languages 190 Influenced by Saṅkara s concepts of Brahman God and maya illusion Lucian Blaga often used the concepts marele anonim the Great Anonymous and cenzura transcendentă the transcendental censorship in his philosophy 191 Similarities with Spinoza s philosophy Edit German Sanskritist Theodore Goldstucker was among the early scholars to notice similarities between the religious conceptions of the Vedanta and those of the Dutch Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza writing that Spinoza s thought was so exact a representation of the ideas of the Vedanta that we might have suspected its founder to have borrowed the fundamental principles of his system from the Hindus did his biography not satisfy us that he was wholly unacquainted with their doctrines comparing the fundamental ideas of both we should have no difficulty in proving that had Spinoza been a Hindu his system would in all probability mark a last phase of the Vedanta philosophy 192 Max Muller noted the striking similarities between Vedanta and the system of Spinoza saying The Brahman as conceived in the Upanishads and defined by Sankara is clearly the same as Spinoza s Substantia 193 Helena Blavatsky a founder of the Theosophical Society also compared Spinoza s religious thought to Vedanta writing in an unfinished essay As to Spinoza s Deity natura naturans conceived in his attributes simply and alone and the same Deity as natura naturata or as conceived in the endless series of modifications or correlations the direct outflowing results from the properties of these attributes it is the Vedantic Deity pure and simple 194 See also EditBadarayana Monistic idealism List of teachers of Vedanta Self consciousness Vedanta Sastra pramaṇam in HinduismNotes Edit Historically Vedanta has been called by various names The early names were the Upanishadic ones Aupanisada the doctrine of the end of the Vedas Vedanta vada the doctrine of Brahman Brahma vada and the doctrine that Brahma is the cause Brahma karana vada 21 The Upanishads were many in number and developed in the different schools at different times and places some in the Vedic period and others in the medieval or modern era the names of up to 112 Upanishads have been recorded 27 All major commentators have considered twelve to thirteen oldest of these texts as the Principal Upanishads and as the foundation of Vedanta A few Indian scholars such as Vedvyasa discuss ten Krtakoti discusses eight six is most widely accepted see Nicholson 2010 pp 149 150 Anantanand Rambachan 1991 pp xii xiii states According to these widely represented contemporary studies Shankara only accorded a provisional validity to the knowledge gained by inquiry into the words of the Sruti Vedas and did not see the latter as the unique source pramana of Brahmajnana The affirmations of the Sruti it is argued need to be verified and confirmed by the knowledge gained through direct experience anubhava and the authority of the Sruti therefore is only secondary Sengaku Mayeda 2006 pp 46 47 concurs adding Shankara maintained the need for objectivity in the process of gaining knowledge vastutantra and considered subjective opinions purushatantra and injunctions in Sruti codanatantra as secondary Mayeda cites Shankara s explicit statements emphasizing epistemology pramana janya in section 1 18 133 of Upadesasahasri and section 1 1 4 of Brahmasutra bhasya Nicholson 2010 p 27 writes of Advaita Vedantin position of cause and effect Although Brahman seems to undergo a transformation in fact no real change takes place The myriad of beings are essentially unreal as the only real being is Brahman that ultimate reality which is unborn unchanging and entirely without parts Sivananda also mentions Meykandar and the Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy 63 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 a b c Vishishtadvaita roots Supreme Court of India 1966 AIR 1119 1966 SCR 3 242 Philosophically Swaminarayan was a follower of Ramanuja 158 Hanna H Kim The philosophical foundation for Swaminarayan devotionalism is the visiṣṭadvaita or qualified non dualism of Ramanuja 1017 1137 ce 157 According to Nakamura and Dasgupta the Brahmasutras reflect a Bhedabheda point of view 64 the most influential tradition of Vedanta before Shankara Numerous Indologists including Surendranath Dasgupta Paul hacker Hajime Nakamura and Mysore Hiriyanna have described Bhedabheda as the most influential school of Vedanta before Shankara 64 O Flaherty 1986 p 119 says that to say that the universe is an illusion maya is not to say that it is unreal it is to say instead that it is not what it seems to be that it is something constantly being made Maya not only deceives people about the things they think they know more basically it limits their knowledge The concept of Brahman in Dvaita Vedanta is so similar to the monotheistic eternal God that some early colonial era Indologists such as George Abraham Grierson suggested Madhva was influenced by early Christians who migrated to India 97 but later scholarship has rejected this theory 98 Nicholson 2010 p 26 considers the Brahma Sutras as a group of sutras composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years The precise date is disputed 105 Nicholson 2010 p 26 estimates that the book was composed in its current form between 400 and 450 CE The reference shows BCE but it s a typo in Nicholson s book The Vedanta sutra are known by a variety of names including 1 Brahma sutra 2 Sariraka sutra 3 Badarayaṇa sutra and 4 Uttara mimaṁsa Estimates of the date of Badarayana s lifetime differ Pandey 2000 p 4 Nicholson 2013 p 26 Quote From a historical perspective the Brahmasutras are best understood as a group of sutras composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years most likely composed in its current form between 400 and 450 BCE This dating has a typo in Nicholson s book it should be read between 400 and 450 CE Bhartŗhari c 450 500 Upavarsa c 450 500 Bodhayana c 500 Tanka Brahmanandin c 500 550 Dravida c 550 Bhartŗprapanca c 550 Sabarasvamin c 550 Bhartŗmitra c 550 600 Srivatsanka c 600 Sundarapandya c 600 Brahmadatta c 600 700 Gaudapada c 640 690 Govinda c 670 720 Mandanamisra c 670 750 103 There is ample evidence however to suggest that Advaita was a thriving tradition by the start of the common era or even before that Shankara mentions 99 different predecessors of his Sampradaya 119 Scholarship since 1950 suggests that almost all Sannyasa Upanishads have a strong Advaita Vedanta outlook 123 Six Sannyasa Upanishads Aruni Kundika Kathashruti Paramahamsa Jabala and Brahma were composed before the 3rd Century CE likely in the centuries before or after the start of the common era the Asrama Upanishad is dated to the 3rd Century 124 The strong Advaita Vedanta views in these ancient Sannyasa Upanishads may be states Patrick Olivelle because major Hindu monasteries of this period belonged to the Advaita Vedanta tradition 125 Scholars like Raju 1992 p 177 following the lead of earlier scholars like Sengupta 127 believe that Gaudapada co opted the Buddhist doctrine that ultimate reality is pure consciousness vijnapti matra Raju 1992 pp 177 178 states Gaudapada wove both doctrines into a philosophy of the Mandukaya Upanisad which was further developed by Shankara Nikhilananda 2008 pp 203 206 states that the whole purpose of Gaudapada was to present and demonstrate the ultimate reality of Atman an idea denied by Buddhism According to Murti 1955 pp 114 115 Gaudapada s doctrines are unlike Buddhism Gaudapada s influential text consists of four chapters Chapters One Two and Three are entirely Vedantin and founded on the Upanishads with little Buddhist flavor Chapter Four uses Buddhist terminology and incorporates Buddhist doctrines but Vedanta scholars who followed Gaudapada through the 17th century state that both Murti and Richard King never referenced nor used Chapter Four they only quote from the first three 68 While there is shared terminology the doctrines of Gaudapada and Buddhism are fundamentally different states Murti 1955 pp 114 115 Nicholson 2010 p 27 writes The Brahmasutras themselves espouse the realist Parinamavada position which appears to have been the view most common among early Vedantins According to Mishra the sutras beginning with the first sutra of Jaimini and ending with the last sutra of Badarayana form one compact shastra 129 Madhvacharya gave his philosophy the name Tattvavada realistic point of view or realism but later after few centuries it was popularised as Dvaita Vedanta dualism Many sources date him to 1238 1317 period 145 but some place him over 1199 1278 CE 146 Professor Ashok Aklujkar said Just as the Kashi Vidvat Parishad acknowledged Swaminarayan Bhagwan s Akshar Purushottam Darshan as a distinct darshan in the Vedanta tradition we are honored to do the same from the platform of the World Sanskrit Conference Professor George Cardona said This is a very important classical Sanskrit commentary that very clearly and effectively explains that Akshar is distinct from Purushottam 70 Vivekananda clarifies Richard King stated I am not a Buddhist as you have heard and yet I am but thereafter Vivekananda explained that he cannot accept the Buddhist rejection of a self but nevertheless honors the Buddha s compassion and attitude towards others 168 The tendency of a blurring of philosophical distinctions has also been noted by Mikel Burley 173 Lorenzen locates the origins of a distinct Hindu identity in the interaction between Muslims and Hindus 174 and a process of mutual self definition with a contrasting Muslim other 175 which started well before 1800 176 References Edit Flood 1996 pp 133 239 a b Flood 1996 p 133 a b Dandekar 1987 a b c d e Pahlajrai Prem Vedanta A Comparative Analysis of Diverse Schools PDF Asian Languages and Literature University of Washington Archived from the original PDF on 2020 03 10 Retrieved 2016 09 02 King 1999 p 135 Flood 1996 p 258 King 2002 p 93 Williams 2018 Sharma 2008 p 2 10 Cornille 2019 Flood 1996 pp 238 246 a b c d Chatterjee amp Dutta 2007 pp 317 318 a b c d Flood 1996 pp 231 232 238 a b c d e f g Hiriyanna 2008 pp 19 21 25 150 152 Koller 2013 pp 100 106 Sharma 1994 p 211 Raju 1992 pp 176 177 Isaeva 1992 p 35 with footnote 30 Raju 1992 pp 176 177 Scharfe 2002 pp 58 59 115 120 282 283 Clooney 2000 pp 147 158 Jaimini 1999 p 16 Sutra 30 King 1995 p 268 with note 2 Fowler 2002 pp 34 66 Flood 1996 pp 238 239 a b Fowler 2002 pp 34 66 Das 1952 Doniger amp Stefon 2015 Lochtefeld 2000 p 122 Sheridan 1991 p 136 a b c Doniger amp Stefon 2015 Ranganathan Grimes 1990 pp 6 7 Dasgupta 2012 pp 28 Pasricha 2008 p 95 a b Bartley Christopher 2015 An Introduction to Indian Philosophy Hindu and Buddhist Ideas from Original Sources p 176 Bloomsbury Academic Bryant Edwin Francis 2007 Krishna A Sourcebook Oxford University Press US p 112 ISBN 978 0 19 514891 6 Bryant Edwin Krishna the Beautiful Legend of God Srimad Bhagavata Purana Book X Penguin Classics Introduction pp ix lxxix Raju 1992 pp 176 177 505 506 Fowler 2002 pp 49 59 254 269 294 295 345 Das 1952 Puligandla 1997 p 222 Jones amp Ryan 2006 p 51 Johnson 2009 p see entry for Atman self Lipner 1986 pp 40 41 51 56 144 Hiriyanna 2008 pp 23 78 158 162 Chari 1988 pp 2 383 Fowler 2002 p 317 Chari 1988 pp 2 383 Dvaita Britannica Retrieved 2016 08 31 a b Stoker 2011 Vitsaxis 2009 pp 100 101 a b c Raju 1992 p 177 Raju 1992 p 177 Stoker 2011 Adidevananda 2014 pp 9 10 Betty 2010 pp 215 224 Stoker 2011 Chari 1988 pp 2 383 Craig 2000 pp 517 18 Stoker 2011 Bryant 2007 pp 361 363 a b c d e Bryant 2007 pp 479 481 Lochtefeld 2000 pp 520 521 Chari 1988 pp 73 76 Lochtefeld 2000 pp 520 521 Potter 2002 pp 25 26 Bhawuk 2011 p 172 Bhawuk 2011 p 172 Chari 1988 pp 73 76 Flood 1996 pp 225 Grimes 2006 p 238 Puligandla 1997 p 228 Clayton 2006 pp 53 54 Grimes 2006 p 238 Indich 1995 pp 65 Gupta 1995 pp 137 166 Fowler 2002 p 304 Puligandla 1997 pp 208 211 237 239 Sharma 2000 pp 147 151 a b c d e Nicholson Nicholson 2010 p 27 Balasubramanian 2000 pp xxx xxxiiii Deutsch amp Dalvi 2004 pp 95 96 1 Comparative analysis of Brahma Sutra commentaries Flood 1996 p 239 a b Flood 1996 p 246 Sivananda 1993 p 216 Sivananda 1993 p 217 a b c d e Nicholson 2010 p 26 a b c d Malkovsky 2001 p 118 a b c d Ramnarace 2014 p 180 a b Sivananda 1993 p 248 a b Jagannathan 2011 a b c Comans 2000 p 163 a b c d HH Mahant Swami Maharaj Inaugurates the Svaminarayaṇasiddhantasudha and Announces Parabrahman Svaminarayaṇa s Darsana as the Akṣara Puruṣottama Darsana BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha 17 September 2017 a b Acclamation by th Sri Kasi Vidvat Parisad BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha 31 July 2017 a b Paramtattvadas 2019 p 40 a b Williams 2018 p 38 Nicholson 2013 p 34 Nicholson Sivananda 1993 p 247 a b Nimbarka Encyclopedia Britannica a b c Sharma 1994 p 376 Sivananda 1993 p 247 Bryant 2007 p 407 Gupta 2007 pp 47 52 a b Bryant 2007 pp 378 380 Gupta 2016 pp 44 45 Das 1952 Hiriyanna 2008 pp 160 161 O Flaherty 1986 p 119 Das 1952 Sharma 2007 pp 19 40 53 58 79 86 Indich 1995 pp 1 2 97 102 Etter 2006 pp 57 60 63 65 Perrett 2013 pp 247 248 Similarity to Brahman The Hindu 6 January 2020 Retrieved 2020 01 11 via www pressreader com Betty 2010 pp 215 224 Craig 2000 pp 517 518 a b Bartley 2013 pp 1 2 9 10 76 79 87 98 Sullivan 2001 p 239 Doyle 2006 pp 59 62 Etter 2006 pp 57 60 63 65 van Buitenin 2010 Schultz 1981 pp 81 84 van Buitenin 2010 Schultz 1981 pp 81 84 van Buitenin 2010 Sydnor 2012 pp 84 87 Bhadreshdas Sadhu Aksharananddas Sadhu 1 April 2016 Swaminarayan s Brahmajnana as Aksarabrahma Parabrahma Darsanam Swaminarayan Hinduism Oxford University Press pp 172 190 doi 10 1093 acprof oso 9780199463749 003 0011 ISBN 978 0 19 946374 9 retrieved 2021 10 26 Padoux Andre 1 April 2002 Raymond Brady Williams An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism Archives de sciences sociales des religions 118 87 151 doi 10 4000 assr 1703 ISSN 0335 5985 Stoker 2011 von Dehsen 1999 p 118 Sharma 1962 pp 353 354 Kulandran amp Hendrik 2004 pp 177 179 Jones amp Ryan 2006 p 266 Sarma 2000 pp 19 21 Jones amp Ryan 2006 p 266 Sharma 1962 pp 417 424 Sharma 1994 p 373 Sharma 1994 pp 374 375 Bryant 2007 pp 361 362 Sharma 1994 p 374 Nicholson 2010 p 157 229 note 57 a b c d e f Nakamura 2004 p 3 a b Nakamura 1989 p 436 we can take it that 400 450 is the period during which the Brahma sutra was compiled in its extant form Lochtefeld 2000 p 746 Nakamura 1949 p 436 Balasubramanian 2000 p xxxiii a b Sharma 1996 pp 124 125 Nakamura 2004 p 3 Sharma 1996 pp 124 125 Hiriyanna 2008 pp 19 21 25 151 152 Sharma 1994 pp 239 241 Nicholson 2010 p 26 Chatterjee amp Dutta 2007 p 317 Sharma 2009 pp 239 241 Historical Development of Indian Philosophy Britannica Lochtefeld 2000 p 746 a b Nakamura 1949 p 436 Isaeva 1992 p 36 Hiriyanna 2008 pp 151 152 Nicholson 2010 pp 26 27 Mohanty amp Wharton 2011 Nakamura 2004 p 426 a b Roodurmum 2002 p page needed Comans 2000 p 163 Jagannathan 2011 Comans 2000 pp 2 163 Sharma 1994 p 239 Olivelle 1992 pp 17 18 Rigopoulos 1998 pp 62 63 Phillips 1995 p 332 with note 68 Olivelle 1992 pp x xi 8 18 Sprockhoff 1976 pp 277 294 319 377 Olivelle 1992 pp 17 18 Sharma 1994 p 239 Nikhilananda 2008 pp 203 206 Nakamura 2004 p 308 Sharma 1994 p 239 a b c Nikhilananda 2008 pp 203 206 Sharma 2000 p 64 a b Sharma 1994 pp 239 241 372 375 Raju 1992 p 175 176 Sharma 1994 p 340 Mohanty amp Wharton 2011 Smith 1976 pp 143 156 Schomer amp McLeod 1987 pp 1 5 Gupta amp Valpey 2013 pp 2 10 Bartley 2013 pp 1 4 52 53 79 Beck 2012 p 6 Jackson 1992 Jackson 1991 Hawley 2015 pp 304 310 Bartley 2013 p 1 4 Sullivan 2001 p 239 Schultz 1981 pp 81 84 Bartley 2013 pp 1 2 Carman 1974 p 24 Olivelle 1992 pp 10 11 17 18 Bartley 2013 pp 1 4 52 53 79 Carman 1994 pp 82 87 with footnotes Bernard 1947 pp 9 12 Sydnor 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Bhartrhari and Abhinavagupta State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0 7914 2449 0 Iţu Mircia 2007 Marele Anonim si cenzura transcendentă la Blaga Brahman si maya la Saṅkara The Great Anonymous and the transcendent censorship at Blaga Brahman and maya at Saṅkara Caiete Critice in Romanian Bucharest 6 7 236 237 75 83 ISSN 1220 6350 Jackson W J 1992 A Life Becomes a Legend Sri Tyagaraja as Exemplar Journal of the American Academy of Religion 60 4 717 736 doi 10 1093 jaarel lx 4 717 JSTOR 1465591 Jackson W J 1991 Tyagaraja Life and Lyrics Oxford University Press USA Jaimini 1999 Mimaṃsa Sutras of Jaimini Translated by Mohan Lal Sandal Reprint ed Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1129 4 Jones Constance Ryan James D 2006 Encyclopedia of Hinduism Infobase Publishing Johnson W J 2009 A Dictionary of Hinduism Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 861025 0 Jones Sir William 1801 On the Philosophy of the Asiatics Asiatic Researches Vol 4 pp 157 173 Kim Hanna H 2005 Swaminarayan movement 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231 14987 7 Nicholson Andrew J 2013 Unifying Hinduism Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0 231 14987 7 Neog Maheswar 1980 Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Assam Saṅkaradeva and His Times Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0007 6 Nikhilananda Swami 2008 The Upanishads A New Translation Vol 2 Kolkata Advaita Ashrama ISBN 978 81 7505 302 1 O Flaherty Wendy Doniger 1986 Dreams Illusion and Other Realities University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 226 61855 5 Olivelle Patrick 1992 The Samnyasa Upanisads Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 536137 7 Pandey S L 2000 Pre Sankara Advaita In Chattopadhyana ed History of Science Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization Volume II Part 2 Advaita Vedanta Delhi Centre for Studies in Civilizations Paramtattvadas Sadhu 2017 An introduction to Swaminarayan Hindu theology Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 107 15867 2 OCLC 964861190 Paramtattvadas Swami October December 2019 Akshar Purushottam School of Vedanta Hinduism Today Himalayan Academy Retrieved 2019 11 22 Pasricha Ashu 2008 The Political Thought of C Rajagopalachari Encyclopaedia of Eminent Thinkers Vol 15 New Delhi Concept Publishing Company ISBN 978 81 8069 495 0 Patel Iva 2018 Swaminarayan in Jain P Sherma R Khanna M eds Hinduism and Tribal Religions Encyclopedia of Indian Religions Encyclopedia of Indian Religions Springer Dordrecht pp 1 6 doi 10 1007 978 94 024 1036 5 541 1 ISBN 978 94 024 1036 5 Perrett Roy W 2013 Philosophy of Religion Indian Philosophy Routledge ISBN 978 1 135 70322 6 Phillips Stephen H 1995 Classical Indian Metaphysics Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0 8126 9298 3 Phillips Stephen 2000 Perrett Roy W ed Epistemology Indian Philosophy Vol 1 Routledge ISBN 978 0 8153 3609 9 Potter Karl 2002 Presuppositions of India s Philosophies Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0779 2 Puligandla Ramakrishna 1997 Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy New Delhi D K Printworld Raju P T 1992 1972 The Philosophical Traditions of India Reprint ed Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Rambachan A 1991 Accomplishing the Accomplished Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Sankara University of Hawaii Press ISBN 978 0 8248 1358 1 Ramnarace Vijay 2014 Radha Kṛṣṇa s Vedantic Debut Chronology amp Rationalisation in the Nimbarka Sampradaya PDF Renard Philip 2010 Non Dualisme De directe bevrijdingsweg Cothen Uitgeverij Juwelenschip Rigopoulos Antonio 1998 Dattatreya The Immortal Guru Yogin and Avatara State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0 7914 3696 7 Roodurmum Pulasth Soobah 2002 Bhamati and Vivaraṇa Schools of Advaita Vedanta A Critical Approach Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Sarma Deepak 2005 Epistemologies and the Limitations of Philosophical Enquiry Doctrine in Madhva Vedanta Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 30805 2 Sarma Deepak 2000 Is Jesus a Hindu S C Vasu and Multiple Madhva Misrepresentations Journal of Hindu Christian Studies 13 doi 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Critical Summary of Indian Philosophy Delhi Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0365 7 OCLC 884357528 Sharma Chandradhar 1994 1960 A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy Reprint ed Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0365 7 Sharma Chandradhar 2007 1996 The Advaita Tradition in Indian Philosophy A Study of Advaita in Buddhism Vedanta and Kashmira Shaivism Rev ed Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1312 0 OCLC 190763026 Sharma Chandradhar 1996 The Advaita Tradition in Indian Philosophy A Study of Advaita in Buddhism Vedanta and Kashmira Shaivism Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1312 0 OCLC 1041414621 Sharma B N Krishnamurti 2014 1962 Philosophy of Sri Madhvacarya Reprint ed Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0068 7 Sharma B N Krishnamurti 1962 Philosophy of Sri Madhvacarya Bombay Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan March OCLC 1075020345 Sharma B N Krishnamurti 2000 A History of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and its Literature Reprint 3rd ed Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1575 9 OCLC 53463855 Sheridan Daniel 1991 Timm Jeffrey ed Texts in Context Traditional Hermeneutics in South Asia State University of New York Press ISBN 978 0 7914 0796 7 Sivananda Swami 1993 All About Hinduism The Divine Life Society ISBN 81 7052 047 9 Smith Bardwell L 1976 Hinduism New Essays in the History of Religions Brill Archive ISBN 978 90 04 04495 1 Smith David 2003 The Dance of Siva Religion Art and Poetry in South India Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 52865 8 Sprockhoff Joachim F 1976 Samnyasa Quellenstudien zur Askese im Hinduismus in German Wiesbaden Kommissionsverlag Franz Steiner ISBN 978 3 515 01905 7 Sullivan Bruce M 2001 The A to Z of Hinduism Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 0 8108 4070 6 Sydnor Jon Paul 2012 Ramanuja and Schleiermacher Toward a Constructive Comparative Theology Casemate ISBN 978 0 227 68024 7 Vasugupta 2012 Siva Sutras Translated by Jaideva Singh Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 0407 4 Vitsaxis Vassilis 2009 Thought and Faith Comparative Philosophical and Religious Concepts in Ancient Greece India and Christianity The Concept of Divinity 2 Somerset Hall Press ISBN 978 1 935244 05 9 Williams Raymond Brady 2018 Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism Cambridge University Press Witz Klaus G 1998 The Supreme Wisdom of the Upanisads An Introduction Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 978 81 208 1573 5 Web sources Edit Mohanty Jitendra N Wharton Michael 2011 Indian philosophy Historical development of Indian philosophy Britannica Retrieved 2016 08 26 van Buitenin J A B 2010 Ramanuja Hindu theologian and philosopher Britannica Retrieved 2016 08 26 Doniger Wendy Stefon Matt 2015 Vedanta Hindu Philosophy Britannica Retrieved 2016 08 30 Jagannathan Devanathan 2011 Gaudapada Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved 2016 08 29 Stoker Valerie 2011 Madhva 1238 1317 Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved 2016 02 02 Ranganathan Shyam Hindu Philosophy Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved 2016 08 26 Nicholson Andrew J Bhedabheda Vedanta Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Retrieved 2016 08 26 Further reading EditParthasarathy Swami The Eternities Vedanta Treatise Deussen Paul 2007 1912 The System of Vedanta Reprint ed Smith Huston 1993 Forgotten Truth The Primordial Tradition HarperSanFrancisco ISBN 978 0 06 250787 7 Potter Karl Bhattacharya Sibajiban Vedanta Sutras of Narayana Guru Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Comparative analysis of commentaries on Vedanta Sutras https archive org download in ernet dli 2015 283844 2015 283844 The Vedanta pdf Aurobindo Sri 1972 The Upanishads Pondicherry Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archived from the original on 2007 01 04 Parthasarathy Swami Choice Upanishads Vrajaprana Pravrajika A Simple Introduction Vedanta VedantaHub org Resources to help with the Study and Practice of Vedanta External links Edit Quotations related to Vedanta at Wikiquote Media related to Vedanta at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vedanta amp oldid 1151785766, wikipedia, wiki, 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