Vedanta

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Vedanta (Skt. Vedānta), also known as "Uttara Mīmāṃsā" ("later Mīmāṃsā"), is one of the six orthodox Hindu schools of ancient India. The word "Vedanta" means "conclusion of the Vedas", and encompasses the ideas that emerged from, or aligned and reinterpreted, the speculations and enumerations contained in the Upanishads, focusing on either devotion or knowledge and liberation. Vedanta developed into many traditions, all of which give their specific interpretations of a common group of texts called the Prasthānatrayī, translated as "the three sources": the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.[1]

All Vedanta traditions are exegetical in nature, but also contain extensive discussions on ontology, soteriology, and epistemology, even as there is much disagreement among the various traditions.[2] Independently considered, they may seem completely disparate due to the pronounced differences in thoughts and reasoning.[3]

The main traditions of Vedanta are: Bhedabheda (difference and non-difference); Advaita (non-dualism); and the Vaishnavite traditions of Dvaitadvaita (dualistic non-dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism), Tattvavada (Dvaita) (dualism), Suddhadvaita (pure non-dualism), and Achintya-Bheda-Abheda (inconceivable difference and non-difference).[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) to God, understood as 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 the 14th century Advaitin Vidyaranya and modern Hindus like Swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharshi, most Vedanta traditions focus on Vaishnava theology.[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 239.
  2. ↑ Flood 1996, pp. 133, 239.
  3. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 133.
  4. ↑ Dandekar 1987.
  5. ↑ King 1999, p. 135.
  6. ↑ Flood 1996, p. 258.
  7. ↑ King 2002, p. 93.
  8. ↑ Williams 2018, pp. 82-91.
  9. ↑ Sharma 2008, p. 2–10.
  10. ↑ Cornille 2019.
  11. ↑ Flood 1996, pp. 238, 246.

Sources

  • Cornille, Catherine (2019). "Is all Hindu theology comparative theology?". Harvard Theological Review. 112 (1): 126–132. doi:10.1017/S0017816018000378. ISSN 0017-8160. 
  • Dandekar, R. (1987), "Vedanta", MacMillan Encyclopedia of religion 
  • Flood, Gavin Dennis (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. 
  • King, Richard (1995). Early Advaita Vedānta and Buddhism: The Mahāyāna Context of the Gauḍapādīya-kārikā. SUNY Press. 
  • King, Richard (1999). Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India and "The Mystic East". Routledge. 
  • King, Richard (2002). Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory, India and "The Mystic East". Taylor & Francis e-Library. 
  • Sharma, Arvind (2008). Philosophy of religion and Advaita Vedanta: a comparative study in religion and reason. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-02832-3. OCLC 759574543. 
  • Williams, Raymond Brady (2018), Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism, Cambridge University Press 

Further reading

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