Vedanta

Origins and Scriptural Basis

Vedanta is one of the major schools of classical Hindu philosophy, taking its name from Veda-anta, “the end of the Veda.” The term refers both to the Upanishads, which form the concluding portions of the Vedic corpus, and to the philosophical system that interprets them. Over time, Vedanta became a comprehensive framework addressing metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and spiritual practice.

The traditional scriptural foundation of Vedanta is a threefold canon known as the Prasthānatrayī (“three points of departure”):

1. The Upanishads, regarded as śruti (revealed scripture), which present early speculations on the nature of reality, the self, and liberation.
2. The Brahma Sutra (also called the Vedanta Sutra), attributed to Bādarāyaṇa, which systematizes Upanishadic teachings into a terse aphoristic treatise.
3. The Bhagavad Gita, a section of the Mahābhārata, which synthesizes Vedic, Upanishadic, and devotional themes into a dialogic teaching on duty, knowledge, and devotion.

Vedanta emerges historically in dialogue with other Indian philosophical systems such as Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā, and Buddhist and Jain schools. Many central Vedantic positions are framed as responses to rival interpretations of the Vedas and to non-Vedic critiques of Vedic authority.

Core Concepts and Philosophical Concerns

While internally diverse, Vedanta traditions share several overarching concerns.

A central concept is Brahman, the ultimate reality. The Upanishads describe Brahman as the unchanging ground of all phenomena, variously characterized as sat (being), cit (consciousness), and ānanda (bliss). Different Vedanta schools diverge on whether Brahman is impersonal, personal, or both, and on whether attributes can ultimately be predicated of it.

Closely related is the concept of Ātman, the self. Many Upanishadic passages assert the identity of Ātman and Brahman, encapsulated in mahāvākyas (“great sayings”) such as “tat tvam asi” (“that thou art”). Vedantin thinkers debate the precise nature of this identity, the status of individual selves, and whether difference between selves and Brahman is real, conditional, or ultimately negated.

Another key issue is moksha, liberation from saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death characterized by suffering and ignorance. Vedanta treats philosophical inquiry not as an abstract exercise alone but as intrinsically soteriological: knowledge (jñāna), devotion (bhakti), and right action (karma) are cultivated to remove ignorance (avidyā) and realize or attain Brahman.

Epistemology (pramāṇa-śāstra) in Vedanta concerns the valid means of knowledge. While sense perception and inference are accepted, śabda (authoritative testimony, especially the Veda) plays a distinctive role. Vedantins argue that certain metaphysical truths—such as the nature of Brahman—are accessible only through revealed texts, though these must still be interpreted using reason and hermeneutical principles.

Ontologically, Vedanta addresses the status of the empirical world (jagat). Some schools regard it as ultimately dependent, a manifestation or mode of Brahman; others see it as an illusory appearance conditioned by ignorance; still others maintain a real and eternal distinction between God, souls, and matter. This generates sophisticated discussions of causation, identity and difference, and the relationship between the absolute and the contingent.

In comparison with many Western philosophical traditions, Vedanta tends to:

• Integrate metaphysical inquiry and spiritual practice more tightly.
• Accept scriptural revelation as a crucial epistemic source.
• Frequently treat ordinary reality as derivative or non-ultimate.
• Frame ethics, ontology, and psychology within a quest for liberation rather than as autonomous domains.

Major Schools of Vedanta

Vedanta is not a single doctrine but a family of systems distinguished largely by their commentaries on the Prasthānatrayī.

Advaita Vedanta, associated most prominently with Śaṅkara (8th c. CE), is a non-dualist tradition. It maintains that Brahman alone is ultimately real and that the world of multiplicity is mithyā—neither absolutely real nor absolutely unreal, but dependent on ignorance. The individual self is, in truth, identical with Brahman; liberation consists in the direct knowledge of this non-duality, typically cultivated through scriptural study, reasoning, and meditative insight. Advaita deploys the concept of māyā to explain how the one Brahman appears as many, and it develops a layered account of truth (empirical vs. ultimate) to reconcile scripture, experience, and non-dual metaphysics.

Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedanta, formulated by Rāmānuja (11th–12th c.), is often translated as “qualified non-dualism.” It affirms that there is one ultimate reality, Nārāyaṇa/Viṣṇu, but understands individual souls and the material world as real, eternal “modes” or “attributes” of God. On this view, difference is not illusory but integrated into a larger unity. Liberation is characterized by loving service to a personal God, and bhakti plays a central role alongside knowledge. Critics of Advaita within this school argue that denying the reality of difference undermines ethics and devotion.

Dvaita Vedanta, developed by Madhva (13th c.), is a dualist system emphasizing the real and eternal distinction between God, individual souls, and matter. God (Viṣṇu) is omnipotent and independent; souls are dependent beings who can never become God, even in liberation. Madhva elaborates a doctrine of five fundamental differences (between God and souls, God and matter, souls and matter, one soul and another, and one material entity and another). Knowledge and grace remain vital, but metaphysical non-dualism is rejected as inconsistent with scripture and experience.

Other important currents include varieties of Bhedābheda (“difference-and-non-difference”), which hold that the relation between Brahman and the world involves both unity and distinction in complex ways; Śuddhādvaita (“pure non-dualism”) of Vallabha, which sees the world as a real manifestation of a wholly good, personal Brahman; and Achintya Bhedābheda (“inconceivable difference-and-non-difference”), later associated with Caitanya and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, which emphasizes the devotional relation between the soul and Kṛṣṇa while affirming a paradoxical unity-in-difference.

Historical Influence and Contemporary Reception

Vedanta has exerted extensive influence on South Asian religion, literature, and culture. Its categories structured medieval Hindu theology, temple traditions, and devotional movements, particularly in Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva communities. Debates among Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and Dvaita authors shaped scholastic discourse over centuries, with each school producing detailed sub-commentaries, polemical works, and manuals of practice.

In the modern period, Vedanta was reinterpreted by figures such as Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and others, who often presented a universalist or neo-Vedantic outlook to global audiences. These reinterpretations sometimes downplay traditional ritual and sectarian commitments, emphasizing instead an all-encompassing spiritual monism or pluralism. Critics argue that such modern Vedanta can depart significantly from classical formulations and may be shaped by engagement with Western philosophy, science, and colonial contexts.

Contemporary scholarship examines Vedanta both historically, tracing its development in Sanskrit texts and commentarial traditions, and comparatively, exploring its relevance to issues in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, religious pluralism, and ethics. Within Hindu communities worldwide, Vedantic teachings continue to inform meditation practices, devotional communities, and educational institutions, while also being adapted in interfaith and secular spiritual contexts.

Supporters of Vedanta highlight its systematic integration of ontology, epistemology, and spiritual discipline, as well as its capacity to articulate a sophisticated non-materialist account of consciousness. Critics, both classical and modern, challenge aspects such as its reliance on scriptural authority, its handling of the problem of evil, or, in non-dualist forms, its claims about the unreality or derivative status of the world and individual persons.

Despite internal disagreements, Vedanta remains a central and enduring strand of Indian philosophical thought, offering a range of perspectives on the nature of reality, the self, and liberation that continue to be debated, reinterpreted, and applied in diverse contexts.