What is Vedanta & Why should we learn It?

Vedanta is the world’s foremost school of thought on self-management. It finds its’ origin in the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India. It is the philosophical base of Hinduism but remains a universal knowledge and its teachings are pertinent to people from all walks of life irrespective of their nationality, culture and religious background.

The Upanishads are the backbone of vedantic philosophy and they comprise the end portion of the Vedas. Hence the word ‘Vedanta’ which is a combination of the two words Veda which means ‘knowledge’ and Anta which means ‘the end of’ or ‘the goal of’. ‘Vedanta’ literally means ‘the goal of knowledge’ which in this context is not mere accumulation of intellectual or academic knowledge but acquiring knowledge of God and rediscovering our own divine nature. The pursuit of Vedanta is then not just a search for knowledge but it is a search for meaning, a search for that divinity within.

Vedanta provides us with a blueprint for action knowing which we can gain not only material prosperity but more importantly access to our true nature, the Divine Self within. It may be a knowledge that is thousands of years old but it has remained a source of eternal wisdom for several generations and will remain so for many more to come.

The most unique feature of Vedanta is that it does not base itself on any personalities for authority. Its truth is its authority. The Vedas are apaurusheya i.e. un-authored and are eternally valid texts. They constitute Sruti or the revealed scripture. There are numerous other texts, admittedly of human authorship, which are given scriptural status. Foremost among them is the Bhagavad-Gita. They are subordinate to the Vedas in their authority and are valid where they do not conflict with Vedic precepts. These texts are called Smrti or remembered tradition. There is another collection of texts called the Brahma sutras which establish the logical principles of orthodox Vedantic interpretation of Sruti and are called Nyaya. The truth of Vedanta is thus established on the tripartite foundation of Sruti, Smrti and Nyaya.

Thus Vedanta is not a vague subject that is overtly abstract and esoteric. It is a science and must be approached as one would physics, chemistry or mathematics. The concepts must be questioned, tested and made one’s own by living the principles. Only then can you say that you are a Vedantin.