What is Vedanta?
Vedanta is a spiritual philosophy that has been around for thousands of years. Vedanta comprises two words, “Veda” and “anta.” The word “Veda” comes from the Sanskrit word “Vid,” which means “to know” and implies “divine knowledge,” and the word “anta,” which means end. Due to this, many thinkers interpret the word “Vedanta” as the highest culmination or highest conclusion of knowledge of Vedas. But as Professor Arindam Chakraborty describes, Vedanta is not the end but the cutting edge, the ultimate level of knowledge derived from the Vedas.
Upanishads are considered the concluding portions of the Vedas and are commonly called Vedanta, but there is more to Vedanta. Vedanta texts also include the “Brahma-sutras” and the “Shrimad Bhagavadgita.” Brahma-sutras further explain the meaning of Upanishads and have been commented on by Adi Guru Shankaracharya, Bhaskara, Ydavaprakasa, Ramanuja, Kesava, Madhva, Nilkantha, Baladeva, Vallabha and Vijnabhikshu.
The difference in viewpoints of these commentators created different schools of Vedanta philosophy, including “Advaita Vedanta,” “Vishishtadvaita,” “Dvaita,” “Shuddadvaita,” and “Achintya-Bheda-Abheda.” Except for the “Advaita Vedanta,” other schools are based on Vaishnavism.
Vedanta philosophy concerns questions such as ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What is this Universe?’ ‘How am I related to the Universe?’ It broadly deals with the following metaphysical concepts and the relationship between them: -
- Brahman – The Ultimate Reality
- Ataman – The individual Souls
- Jiva – The embodied Ataman
- Jagat (World/Universe) – The Physical world.
Before we can go ahead and try finding answers to these questions, let’s understand the concepts above from the perspective of “Advaita Vedanta” (non-dualism).
Brahman
ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः।
अनेन वेद्यं सच्छास्त्रमिति वेदान्तडिण्डिमः॥ (ब्रह्मज्ञानावलीमाला)
As Shri Adi Guru Shankaracharya, the great teacher of Advaita Vedanta, explains in “Brahmagyanavalimala,” Brahman is real, and the world is illusionary. There is no difference between Jiva and Brahman.
Brahman is eternal, supreme consciousness, without qualities “Nirguna,” without form “Nirakara,” without modification “Nirvikara,” omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. The existence of Brahman is beyond space and time. Knowledge is the essence of Brahman. It is the source and cause of creation, sustenance, and dissolution. Brahman is the source of the Vedas. Brahman may be known by reading scriptures, but the senses cannot perceive it. It is beginningless and endless.
Vishishtadvaita Vedanta describes brahman as the supreme reality, but it is qualified by chit (soul) and act (matter). Soul and matter are entirely different yet connected to Brahman through what is known as “AprithakSiddhi.” They are inseparable from Brahman.
Brahman is independent of both Soul and Matter, yet it controls them just like a soul is present everywhere in the body, acts as an inner controller but still is independent of the body.
Atman
Atman is identical to Brahman. Atman reflects the micro reality, whereas Brahman reflects the macro reality. Shri Adi Guru Shankaracharya explains that Atman is the Self of all individual beings. Atman is uncreated and eternal, which means it is never born and never dies. All living beings have an atman, the life force or “Prana.” It may dwell within a body, but it does not depend on the existence of a body. It gives the capacity to the sense-organs to perceive, the mind to feel, and the intellect to think. It underlies all physical and intellectual activities, just as Brahman underlies the universe’s workings.
तत् त्वम् असि |
The verse is found in the sixth chapter of Chandogya Upanishad, which is embedded within the Sama Veda and explains the concept of Atman as “Thou Art That.” This saying means that the Atman - in its original, pure, primordial state - is wholly or partially identifiable or identical to the Brahman.
Jiva
Atma, limited by body, mind, senses, etc., is called Jiva. The embodiedness of the atman is an illusion. The Atman is not changed by any physical transformations, even when embodied, but it is bound to the body for as long as it survives. The Atman continues to exist even after the body ceases to exist. Embodied Atman gets trapped, and Jiva has to suffer the wheel of samsara.
To further understand the relationship between Atman and Brahman, let’s consider an example from a Hindu perspective.
Let us assume that you go to Haridwar, the city of temples and immense religious importance. You would surely like to go and take a dip in the holy waters of the river Ganges known to people in India as “Ganga.”
After taking a dip and finishing the holy bath, as an essential custom, people like to fill in some water from the river in a bottle or canister. Assuming you have filled up a bottle, you collect your items, pack your bag, and start walking.
As you walk away from the banks of the holy river, you see one of your friends who ask you, “Hey! What are you carrying in that bottle?”
Your answer would be, “Oh! I thought to fill in some Ganga Jal (the holy water) from the river Ganga”. Why did you not say that you have filled Ganga in the bottle? And why Ganga Jal? Because essentially, the water filled in your bottle and the one flowing in the river are the same, then why do we see and call it different?
The answer to the question is because of the difference in characteristics or attributes of the two. The obvious one is the quantity you cannot fill in the entire Ganga River in a bottle, but if we consider a deeper level, the water in the bottle is now trapped in the bottle, and it doesn’t exist in its free proper form.
It will go where the bottle goes and perhaps remain in the same place for months or years to come (somewhere in your home). At the same time, the water flowing in the river is free and is not bound by the limitations of the bottle and hence has different attributes. It is free to stream anywhere during the monsoon. The river might change its course if it rains more, and the water can flow into fields and villages.
Can the water trapped in your bottle do that? The answer is No. Now, if the water from your bottle is poured back into the Ganga, it will attain its true nature by becoming part of the Ganga. It would lose all its attributes as bottled water and become one with Ganga.
Similarly, Atman, when embodied, is called Jiva because it has limitations of body, mind, and senses. The goal of every Atman is to realize its true nature through self-realization.
Moksha
Every Atman seeks liberation from this illusionary bondage by recognizing its true nature and relationship with the Brahman. The release is called Moksha, which is impossible without proper knowledge or “Gyana.”
Jagat
The physical world around us is called Jagat. As per Shri Adi Guru Shankaracharya, the physical world around us that we see or experience through our senses is “Mithya” or fake. Everything we see around us, living or nonliving everything, all objects are temporary and perishable.
The ultimate truth is the one that is beyond time and space. Everything else had a beginning and will have an end, therefore “anitya” or “mithya.” The entire Universe and its objects exist on a worldly level; only Brahman exists on a transcendental level.
A common question here is why the “mithya” world appears so real? Why are we so plugged in?
The answer is simple. It is because of “Maya.” Maya is the misrepresentation of appearance as reality. The tendency to perceive the physical world around as it appears as the world of ultimate reality provides an illusory form of knowledge. Maya is also called “avidya,” or wrong knowledge.
For example, you can mistakenly assume a rope to be a snake in darkness, for a moment your mind can make you feel that there is a snake which is a misapprehension due to the darkness of ignorance.
The darkness of Maya can be cut from the light of true knowledge.
ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Citations
- Chandogya Upanisad. N.p.: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2022.
- Kena Upanishad. N.p.: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2022.
- Gawde S. (2020) Vedānta, Overview. In: Jain P., Sherma R., Khanna M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht
- Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Jiva. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/jiva
- Chand, U. (2014, November 9). Self realization through yoga and spiritual life – part 5. Speakingtree.in. Retrieved November 26, 2022, from https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/self-realization-through-yoga-and-spiritual-life-part-5
- Rosset, Loly., Torwesten, Hans. Vedanta: Heart of Hinduism. United States: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated, 1994.
- N.p.: Sri Bagavath Mission, (n.d.).
