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REQUEST: What is VEDANTA AND ...





Suman <UDSD065@DSIBM.OKLADOT.STATE.OK.US> wrote:

>Can somebody tell me what is Vedanta?

>Also,
     >What is the purpose of "Veda" why are there 16(?) types of Veda
     >What is the purpose of "Upanishad" and its types?
     >What is our holy book like "Bible for christians?"
     >(AFAIK it is Bhagavad Gita but why is not "Veda" or "Ramayana")
     >What is "Puran"?
>I know they all belong to Hindu scriptures but what is confusing me is the
>purpose of each of them. I would appreciate if somebody would answer my
>queries.

Namaste Suman ji

I will answer your question about Vedanta last.

1. 	There are four Vedas, Rg Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.
The Vedas are Sruti, i.e., the original revealed scriptures. They are the
records of the experiences of Rishis (sages). Orthodox Hindus believe that
the Vedas are eternal. Their purpose is to help liberate you from the birth-
death cycle of Samsara. 
	I do not know why there are four of them.

2.	The vedas are conventionally divided into two portions: Karma Kanda
(work portion) and Jnana Kanda (Wisdom portion). The Karma Kanda (Samhitas,
Aranyakas and Brahmanas) deals with ceremonies and rituals. The Jnana Kanda
contains the wisdom of the Vedas. The Upanishads form the Jnana Kanda. The
Upanishads form the deepest core of the Vedas and are the source, inspiration
and authority of nearly all systems of philosophy in Sanatan Dharma. They
discuss the nature of Ultimate Reality, Brahman, and Its relation with
the Universe (Jagat) and the sentient Beings (Jiv-Atman). Those who do not
accept their authority like the Buddhists and Jains are called Nastikas
(heterodox). The Upanishads contain many strands of thought and have been
interpreted in a variety of ways which have given rise to most of the 
subsequent schools of thought in Sanatan Dharma.
	There are many Upanishads. The 11 classical Upanishads are those 
commented on by Sri Sankara: Katha, Kena,Isa, Mundaka, Svetaswara, Prasna, 
Mandukya, Aiterya, Brihadaranyaka, Tattiriya and Chandogya.

3. 	The Vedas (particularly the Upanishads), Bhagavad Gita and Badarayana's
Vedanta or Brahma Sutras form the irreducible set of scriptures for the vast
majority of Hindus today. I am including the Vedanta Sutras as Vedanta is the
most popular philosophical system today.  If you understand these 3 
(prasthanatraya or triple canon), then you can understand the fundamental
principles underlying Sanatan Dharma. All the Hindu scriptures are holy and
contain in some form the principles described in the triple canon. 
	It is true, however, that Bhagavad Gita has become popular for the 
following reasons:
	(a) The Upanishads contain all the ideas but they are not 
systematically presented. They are also written in very terse language and are
difficult to understand.
	(b) The Gita spells out in great details the ideas of the Upanishads.
	(c) The Gita also teaches the Jivas how to live his or her life to
achieve the Upanishadic goal of realizing God. This is achieved through the 
practice of four Yogas: Karma, Bhakti, Jnana and Raj Yoga. Thus the Gita is
a "practical" scripture.

4.	Originally there was only one Puran. The Chandogya Upanishad (3.4.1)
refers to "Itihaspurana". Unfortunately we only have access to fragments of 
that Purana. There are 18 Puranas and 18 Upapuranas. The Puranas elaborate
on the creation and dissolution of the relative universe and on "heavens" and
"hells" only briefly mentioned in the Upanishads. They also contain traditional
history and mythology. The Bhagavat Puran rivals the triple canon in popularity
for some sampradayas. The Bhagavat is certainly a classic of the Bhakti 
tradition.

VEDANTA

	Before discussing Vedanta I will digress a little as otherwise you 
will not understand the place of Vedanta in Sanatan Dharma. Based on the Vedas
six schools of thought (Darshanas=literally points of view) emerged:Nyaya, 
Vaiseshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purba Mimansha and Uttar Mimansha(Vedanta). They
all claim to systematically present the ideas tersely presented in the Vedas.

	The Nyaya School founded by Gotama has its main goal as liberation
and the complete cessation of all pain and suffering. The main focus of this
school, however, is logic and epistemology. It does not have many followers
today.

	The Vaiseshika School of Kanada is allied to the Nyaya school and is
now of little importance.

	Purba Mimansha of Jaimini lays stress upon work, which chiefly denotes
the performance of ceremonial rites. The word Purba means the earlier part of
the Vedas (Karma Kanda=work portion). The Vedas are divided into Rig Veda, 
Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. Each one of these Vedas is further
subdivided into Karma Kanda and Jnana Kanda (Wisdom portion). The Samhitas,
Aranyakas and Brahmanas comprise the Karma Kanda and govern the Hindu
ceremonial rites. The Jnana Kanda consists of the Upanishads and are the
subject matter of Vedanta. The aim of the ceremonial rites is to gradually
purify the mind. This school is also of little importance now.

	Samkhya School was founded by Kapila. Hinduism stresses that you should
first read the scriptures with the help of a Guru (sravana), subject it to 
rational analysis (manana) and finally meditate about it (nidhidhyasana). The 
philosophy of Samkhya does the second step by rational analysis of the 
scriptures.  Samkhya is a dualist philosophy with two Ultimate Principles, 
purusha (spirit) and prakriti (matter) and so there is no room for creator God
. Samkhya as philosophy declares that the cause of misery arises from 
identifying purusha with prakriti. We are really spirits but we identify with 
the body. An understanding of Samkhya philospohy is essential to the 
understanding of Vedanta.

	Patanjali, the author of the Yoga system of philosophy gathered 
together the spiritual practices known to the yogis and built them in to a 
system. All Indian religious systems, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism accept 
the discipline of Yoga. Yoga philosophy is allied to Samkhya in its 
metaphysical concept but accepts God unlike Samkhya. Patanjali accepts that 
you can get spiritual enlghtenment inspite of belief or disbelief though it is
easier if you have faith. Patanjali authored the Yoga Sutras and we have to 
include it among the scriptures.

	Vedanta the last of the six Darshanas is currently the most popular
of these schools. Vedanta (Veda+anta) literally means the end of the Vedas
where you will usually find the Upanishads. Badarayana (Vyasa) may be 
considered the founder of this school and his book Vedanta Sutra or Brahma 
Sutra is a basic text of this system. The Brahma Sutras give a synopsis and
classification of the contents of the Upanishads. Vedanta differs from Samkhya
in that it talks of One Ultimate Principle called Brahman. It is the basis of 
all current Hindu systems of religious thought, both dualistic and non-
dualistic. This is because most people feel that Vedanta correctly represents 
Vedic thought. In Vedanta the Ultimate Principle when immanent is called the 
Atman or Self and when transcendent is called Brahman. Atman and Brahman are 
identical (Dvaita School disagrees) although philosophers differ about the 
meaning of this identity. There are now several Vedantic schools of thought 
which differ on the exact interpretation of the Upanishads, Gita and the 
Vedanta Sutras. The important schools are: (1) Advaita of Sri Sankara, (2) 
Vishistadvaita of Sri Ramanuja, (3) Dvaita of Sri Madhva, (4) Dvaita-Advaita 
of Sri Nimbarka,(5) Suddha-Advaita of Sri Vallabha, (6) Acintya-Bhedabhed of 
Sri Chaitanya and (7)Sri Ramakrishna's school also known as Neo-Advaita. You 
will find description of some of these schools in the archives.


General Comments

	All scriptures subsequent to the Vedas are elaboration of basic Vedic
thought. The different Darshanas are also different points of view of the 
Vedas. There is a wide spread consensus today that the Vedanta Darshana does
capture the spirit of the Vedas. The different Vedantic schools are also
different points of view about the true spirit of the Vedanta and thus Vedas.

I hope this will be of some use to you.

Regards

Pradip