Vedānta — the enquiry into Brahman

वेदान्त

Also written: vedanta · uttara mimamsa · brahman atman · advaita dvaita vishishtadvaita · वेदान्त

Vedānta is the end of the Veda in both senses — its last portion, and its conclusion. Its question is single: what is the relation between Brahman, the individual self, and the world? Every school of Vedānta is one answer to that question, defended by commentary on the same three texts.

The three foundations

Prasthāna	Text	Character
Śruti-prasthāna	The Upaniṣads	The revealed source
Smṛti-prasthāna	The Bhagavad Gītā	The remembered summary, accessible to all
Nyāya-prasthāna	The Brahma Sūtra	The reasoned reconciliation

The common ground

Brahman is the cause of the world — its material and efficient cause together.
The Upaniṣads are the authority on Brahman, since perception and inference cannot reach it.
The self is not the body; suffering arises from ignorance of what one is.
Liberation comes through knowledge, however each school defines knowledge.

Where they divide

On the status of the world and of the individual soul. Is the world real, unreal, or real-but-dependent? Is the soul identical to Brahman, a part of it, or eternally distinct? These are the questions that produce Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaita and the rest — and the disagreement is technical, sustained and honest.

Vedānta — the enquiry into Brahman

The three foundations

The common ground

Where they divide

The six Darśanas — the philosophies

Nyāya — the science of right reasoning

Vaiśeṣika — atoms and the categories of being

Sāṅkhya — the enumeration of the principles

Yoga — Patañjali's system

Pūrva Mīmāṁsā — the philosophy of dharma and of language