as expounded by Ṡaṃkara

vedấnta


N. of the second andﾠ most important part of the Mīmāṇsā orﾠ third of the three great divisions of Hindū philosophy (called Vedânta either as teaching the ultimate scope of the Veda orﾠ simply as explained in the Upanishads which come at the end of the Veda;
this system, although belonging to the Mīmāṇsā
<q.v.> andﾠ sometimes called Uttara-mīmāṇsā,
« examination of the later portion orﾠ jñāna-kāṇḍa
<q.v.> of the Veda», is really the one sole orthodox exponent of the pantheistic creed of the Hindūs of the present day - a creed which underlies all the polytheism andﾠ multiform mythology of the people;
its chief doctrine < as expounded by Ṡaṃkara> is that of Advaita
i.e. that nothing really exists but the One Self orﾠ Soul of the Universe called Brahman <neut.> orﾠ Paramâtman,
andﾠ that the Jīvâtman orﾠ individual human soul andﾠ indeed all the phenomena of nature are really identical with the Paramâtman, andﾠ that their existence is only the result of Ajñāna < otherwise called Avidyā>
orﾠ an assumed ignorance on the part of that one universal Soul which is described as both Creator andﾠ Creation;
Actor andﾠ Act;
Existence, Knowledge andﾠ Joy, andﾠ as devoid of the three qualities < seeﾠ guṇa>;
the liberation of the human soul, its deliverance from transmigrations, andﾠ re-union with the Paramâtman, with which it is really identified, is only to be effected by a removal of that ignorance through a proper understanding of the Vedânta;
this system is alsoﾠ called Brahma-mīmāṇsā andﾠ Ṡārīrakamīmāṇsā, « inquiring into Spirit. orﾠ embodied Spirit. » ;
the founder of the school is said to have been Vyāsa, alsoﾠ called Bādarāyaṇa, andﾠ its most eminent teacher was Ṡaṃkarâcārya) Up. MBh. etc.;
(ās) m. pl. the Upanishads orﾠ works on the Vedânta philosophy Kull. on Mn. VI, 83.