Swami Ramakrishna Ananda Signed Book Karma Yoga Vivekananda Softback Inscribed

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US, Item: 176301208482 SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA ANANDA SIGNED BOOK KARMA YOGA VIVEKANANDA SOFTBACK INSCRIBED.

Karma Yoga: the Yoga of Action

ISBN-10: 8185301891

Authors: Swami Vivekananda; Swami, Vivekananda

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Vedanta Press - Advaita Ashrama

Published: 1999-06-14

SIGNED BY SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA ANANDA

Ramakrishna Ananda - Yoga Center Founder

In yoga circles today, the term “Yoga Master” means many things. Maybe a Hatha Yoga Master or someone who has been teaching for a long time. Here at Yoga Center when we say our founder is a Yoga Master, we mean much, much more than that. We mean someone who is recognized by spiritual leaders as having experienced Higher Consciousness and living in that state. Take a look at his credentials:

Ramakrishna Ananda (Graham Ledgerwood) began practicing meditation, yoga and mysticism as a youth in Canada in 1958. Subsequently, over many years, he studied and practiced numerous forms of Mysticism — The Eight Main Yogas, Sufism, Jewish Mysticism, Christian Mysticism, Zen, Egyptian Mysticism, The Tao, Theosophy, and many more mystical paths.



Ramakrishna Ananda - Yoga Center Founder In yoga circles today, the term “Yoga Master” means many things. Maybe a Hatha Yoga Master or someone who has been teaching for a long time. Here at Yoga Center when we say our founder is a Yoga Master, we mean much, much more than that. We mean someone who is recognized by spiritual leaders as having experienced Higher Consciousness and living in that state. Take a look at his credentials: Ramakrishna Ananda (Graham Ledgerwood) began practicing meditation, yoga and mysticism as a youth in Canada in 1958. Subsequently, over many years, he studied and practiced numerous forms of Mysticism — The Eight Main Yogas, Sufism, Jewish Mysticism, Christian Mysticism, Zen, Egyptian Mysticism, The Tao, Theosophy, and many more mystical paths. In 1966 Ramakrishna Ananda also experienced a mystical initiation, an expansion of consciousness, which changed him. This experience, called cosmic consciousness, was a major event in his life. It stayed with him for three months. Desperate for a spiritual reawakening, he entered a five-month period of solitude and silence in the Sierra Nevada foothills, outside Nevada City, California. There, during that summer, mystical awareness returned and indwelled Ramakrishna Ananda. As a consequence of this development, Ramakrishna Ananda became a teacher, minister, and director of the Yoga Fellowship ashram in Sacramento, California. Called to serve in Southern California, Ramakrishna Ananda founded the Yoga Center of California and the Spiritual World Society in Costa Mesa, California where he taught Yoga, Mysticism, Metaphysics, Meditation, and world religions from 1970 through 1995. A number of honors and recognitions have been bestowed on Ramakrishna Ananda. In 1971 the great Yoga Master, Baba Hari Dass, found and declared that Ramakrishna Ananda was a Sat Guru (a spiritual "dispeller of darkness") and that Ramakrishna Ananda should share spiritual truth with humanity through teaching and writing. In 1974, Sri Surath of Calcutta, India further initiated Ramakrishna Ananda as a Guru and teacher of many spiritual paths. Sri Surath also conveyed the high honor of spirituality, naming him Ramakrishna Ananda, after the great Avatar and Eastern mystic of the 19th century, Sri Ramakrishna. Then, in 1976 and 1977, Sri Paramananda Nath and Sri Surath found that Ramakrishna Ananda had become a Master and, in recognition, initiated Ramakrishna Ananda as an Avadhut, which signifies a spiritual Master, literally "one who lives in Spirit." Ramakrishna Ananda has also received a number of other titles and honors, including illuminatus and maharaj, indicating a realized mystic. He has also written, Keys to Higher Consciousness, an inspiriting book about spiritual awakening. Vedanta (/veɪˈdɑːntə/; Sanskrit: वेदान्त, IAST: Vedānta), also known as Uttara Mīmāṃsā, is one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. The word "Vedanta" means "conclusion of the Vedas", and encompasses the ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, the speculations and enumerations contained in the Upanishads, with a focus on knowledge and liberation. Vedanta developed into many schools, all of which base their ideas on the authority of a common group of texts called the Prasthānatrayī, translated as "the three sources": the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.[1] All Vedanta schools contain extensive discussions on ontology, soteriology, and epistemology, even as there is much disagreement among the various schools.[2] Independently considered, they may seem completely disparate due to the pronounced differences in thoughts and reasoning.[3] The main schools of Vedanta are: Bhedabheda or Dvaitadvaita (difference and non-difference), Advaita (non-dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism), Tattvavada (Dvaita) (dualism), Suddhadvaita (pure non-dualism), and Achintya-Bheda-Abheda (inconceivable difference and non-difference).[4] Modern developments in Vedanta include Neo-Vedanta,[5][6][7] and the philosophy of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya.[8] Most major Vedanta schools, except Advaita Vedanta and Neo-Vedanta, are related to Vaishnavism and emphasize devotion (Bhakti) to God, understood as Vishnu or a related manifestation.[9][10] Advaita Vedanta, on the other hand, emphasizes Jñana (knowledge) and Jñana Yoga over theistic devotion. While the monism of Advaita has attracted considerable attention in the West due to the influence of modern Hindus like Swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharshi, most of the other Vedanta traditions focus on Vaishnava theology.[11] Etymology and nomenclature The word Vedanta is made of two words : Veda (वेद) — refers to the four sacred vedic texts. Anta (अंत) — this word means "End". The word Vedanta literally means the end of the Vedas and originally referred to the Upanishads.[12][13] Vedanta is concerned with the jñānakāṇḍa or knowledge section of the vedas which is called the Upanishads.[14][15] The meaning of Vedanta expanded later to encompass the different philosophical traditions that are based on the Prasthanatrayi.[12][16] The Upanishads may be regarded as the end of Vedas in different senses:[17] They were the last literary products of the Vedic period. They represent the pinnacle of Vedic philosophy. They were taught and debated last, in the Brahmacharya (student) stage.[12][18] Vedanta is one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Indian philosophy.[13] It is also called Uttara Mīmāṃsā, which means the "latter enquiry" or "higher enquiry"; and is often contrasted with Pūrva Mīmāṃsā, the "former enquiry" or "primary enquiry". Pūrva Mīmāṃsā deals with the karmakāṇḍa or ritualistic section (the Samhita and Brahmanas) in the Vedas while Uttara Mīmāṃsā concerns itself with the deeper questions of existence and meaning.[19][20][a] Vedanta philosophy Common features Despite their differences, all schools of Vedanta share some common features: Vedanta is the pursuit of knowledge into the Brahman and the Ātman.[22] The Upaniṣads, the Bhagavadgītā, and the Brahma Sūtras constitute the basis of Vedanta (known as the three canonical sources).[23] Scripture (Sruti Śabda) is the main reliable source of knowledge (pramana).[23] Brahman - Īśvara (God), exists as the unchanging material cause and instrumental cause of the world. The exception is that Dvaita Vedanta does not hold Brahman to be the material cause, but only the efficient cause.[24] The self (Ātman or Jīva) is the agent of its own acts (karma) and the recipient of the consequences of these actions.[25] Belief in rebirth (samsara) and the desirability of release from the cycle of rebirths (moksha).[25] Rejection of Buddhism and Jainism and conclusions of the other Vedic schools (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, and, to some extent, the Purva Mimamsa).[25] Scripture The main Upanishads, the Bhagavadgītā and the Brahma Sūtras are the foundational scriptures in Vedanta. All schools of Vedanta propound their philosophy by interpreting these texts, collectively called the Prasthānatrayī, literally, three sources.[14][26] The Upanishads,[b] or Śruti prasthāna; considered the Sruti, the "heard" (and repeated) foundation of Vedanta. The Brahma Sūtras, or Nyaya prasthana / Yukti prasthana; considered the reason-based foundation of Vedanta. The Bhagavadgītā, or Smriti prasthāna; considered the Smriti (remembered tradition) foundation of Vedanta. All prominent Vedantic teachers, including Shankara, Bhaskara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, and Vallabha wrote commentaries on these three sources. The Brahma Sūtras of Badarayana serve as a synthesis of the teachings found in the diverse Upanishads, and while there may have been other similar syntheses in the past, only the Brahma Sūtras have survived to the present day.[14] The Bhagavadgītā, with its syncretism of Samkhya, Yoga, and Upanishadic thought, has also been a significant influence on Vedantic thought.[28] All Vedāntins agree that scripture (śruti) is the only means of knowing (pramāṇa) regarding spiritual matters (which are beyond perception and inference).[29] This is explained by Rāmānuja as follows: A theory that rests exclusively on human concepts may at some other time or place be refuted by arguments devised by cleverer people.... The conclusion is that with regard to supernatural matters, Scripture alone is the epistemic authority and that reasoning is to be used only in support of Scripture’ [Śrī Bhāṣya 2.1.12].[29] For specific sub-schools of Vedanta, other texts may be equally important. For example, for Advaita Vedanta, the works of Adi Shankara are central. For the Theistic Vaishnava schools of Vedanta, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is particularly important. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the most widely commented upon works in Vedanta.[30] This text is so central to the Krishna-centered Vedanta schools that the Vedantin theologian Vallabha added the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as a fourth text to the Prasthānatrayī (three classic scriptures of Vedanta).[31] Metaphysics Vedanta philosophies discuss three fundamental metaphysical categories and the relations between the three.[14][32] Brahman or Īśvara: the ultimate reality[33] Ātman or Jivātman: the individual soul, self[34] Prakriti or Jagat: the empirical world, ever-changing physical universe, body and matter[35] Brahman / Īśvara – Conceptions of the Supreme Reality Shankara, in formulating Advaita, talks of two conceptions of Brahman: The higher Brahman as undifferentiated Being, and a lower Brahman endowed with qualities as the creator of the universe:[36] Parā or Higher Brahman: The undifferentiated, absolute, infinite, transcendental, supra-relational Brahman beyond all thought and speech is defined as parā Brahman, nirviśeṣa Brahman, or nirguṇa Brahman and is the Absolute of metaphysics. Aparā or Lower Brahman: The Brahman with qualities defined as aparā Brahman or saguṇa Brahman. The saguṇa Brahman is endowed with attributes and represents the personal God of religion. Ramanuja, in formulating Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, rejects Nirguṇa – that the undifferentiated Absolute is inconceivable – and adopts a theistic interpretation of the Upanishads, accepting Brahman as Īśvara, the personal God who is the seat of all auspicious attributes, as the One reality. The God of Vishishtadvaita is accessible to the devotee, yet remains the Absolute, with differentiated attributes.[37] Madhva, in expounding Dvaita philosophy, maintains that Vishnu is the supreme God, thus identifying the Brahman, or absolute reality, of the Upanishads with a personal god, as Ramanuja had done before him.[38][39] Nimbarka, in his Dvaitadvata philosophy, accepted the Brahman both as nirguṇa and as saguṇa. Vallabha, in his Shuddhadvaita philosophy, not only accepts the triple ontological essence of the Brahman, but also His manifestation as personal God (Īśvara), as matter, and as individual souls.[40] Relation between Brahman and Jīva / Atman The schools of Vedanta differ in their conception of the relation they see between Ātman / Jīvātman and Brahman / Īśvara:[41] According to Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism), Ātman is identical with Brahman and there is no difference.[42] According to Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism), Jīvātman is different from Īśvara, though eternally connected with Him as His mode.[43] The oneness of the Supreme Reality is understood in the sense of an organic unity (vishistaikya). Brahman/Īśvara alone, as organically related to all Jīvātman and the material universe is the one Ultimate Reality.[44] According to Dvaita (dualism), the Jīvātman is totally and always different from Brahman / Īśvara.[45] According to Shuddhadvaita (pure non-dualism), the Jīvātman and Brahman are identical; both, along with the changing empirically observed universe being Krishna.[46] Epistemology in Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta. Advaita and some other Vedanta schools recognize six epistemic means. Epistemology Main article: Pramana Pramana Pramāṇa (Sanskrit: प्रमाण) literally means "proof", "that which is the means of valid knowledge".[47] It refers to epistemology in Indian philosophies, and encompasses the study of reliable and valid means by which human beings gain accurate, true knowledge.[48] The focus of Pramana is the manner in which correct knowledge can be acquired, how one knows or does not know, and to what extent knowledge pertinent about someone or something can be acquired.[49] Ancient and medieval Indian texts identify six[c] pramanas as correct means of accurate knowledge and truths:[50] Pratyakṣa (perception) Anumāṇa (inference) Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy) Arthāpatti (postulation, derivation from circumstances) Anupalabdi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof) Śabda (scriptural testimony/ verbal testimony of past or present reliable experts). The different schools of Vedanta have historically disagreed as to which of the six are epistemologically valid. For example, while Advaita Vedanta accepts all six pramanas,[51] Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita accept only three pramanas (perception, inference and testimony).[52] Advaita considers Pratyakṣa (perception) as the most reliable source of knowledge, and Śabda, the scriptural evidence, is considered secondary except for matters related to Brahman, where it is the only evidence.[53][d] In Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita, Śabda, the scriptural testimony, is considered the most authentic means of knowledge instead.[54] Theories of cause and effect All schools of Vedanta subscribe to the theory of Satkāryavāda,[55] which means that the effect is pre-existent in the cause. But there are two different views on the status of the "effect", that is, the world. Most schools of Vedanta, as well as Samkhya, support Parinamavada, the idea that the world is a real transformation (parinama) of Brahman.[56] According to Nicholson (2010, p. 27), "the Brahma Sutras espouse the realist Parinamavada position, which appears to have been the view most common among early Vedantins". In contrast to Badarayana, Adi Shankara and Advaita Vedantists hold a different view, Vivartavada, which says that the effect, the world, is merely an unreal (vivarta) transformation of its cause, Brahman.[e] Overview of the main schools of Vedanta The Upanishads present an associative philosophical inquiry in the form of identifying various doctrines and then presenting arguments for or against them. They form the basic texts and Vedanta interprets them through rigorous philosophical exegesis to defend the point of view of their specific sampradaya.[57][58] Varying interpretations of the Upanishads and their synthesis, the Brahma Sutras, led to the development of different schools of Vedanta over time. Vinayak Sakaram Ghate of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of the Brahma Sutra commentaries by Nimbarka, Ramanuja, Vallabha, Shankara and Madhva. In his conclusion, Ghate determined that Nimbarka's and Ramanuja's commentaries provide the most accurate interpretation of the Brahma Sutras, considering both the passages that emphasize unity and those that emphasize diversity.[59] Gavin Flood suggests that although Advaita Vedanta is the most well-known school of Vedanta and is sometimes wrongly perceived as the sole representation of Vedantic thought,[1] with Shankara being a follower of Saivism,[60] the true essence of Vedanta lies within the Vaisnava tradition and can be considered a discourse within the broad framework of Vaisnavism.[60] Four Vaishnava sampradays are considered to be of special significance based on the teachings of Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha, and Nimbarka.[3] The number of prominent Vedanta schools varies among scholars, with some classifying them as three to six.[12][41][61][4][f][g] Bhedabheda, as early as the 7th century CE,[55] or even the 4th century CE.[63] Dvaitādvaita or Svabhavikabhedabheda (Vaishnava), founded by Nimbarka in the 7th century CE[64][65] Advaita (monistic), many scholars of which most prominent are Gaudapada (~500 CE)[66] and Adi Shankaracharya (8th century CE)[67] Vishishtadvaita (Vaishnava), prominent scholars are Nathamuni, Yāmuna and Ramanuja (1017–1137 CE) Akshar-Purushottam Darshan, based on the teachings of Swaminarayan (1781-1830 CE) and rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita;[h] propagated most notably by BAPS[68][69][70][71] Tattvavada (Dvaita) (Vaishnava), founded by Madhvacharya (1199–1278 CE). The prominent scholars are Jayatirtha (1345-1388 CE), and Vyasatirtha (1460–1539 CE) Suddhadvaita (Vaishnava), founded by Vallabha (1479–1531 CE) Achintya Bheda Abheda (Vaishnava), founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534 CE),[72] propagated by Gaudiya Vaishnava Bhedabheda Vedanta (difference and non-difference) Main article: Bhedabheda Bhedābheda means "difference and non-difference" and is more a tradition than a school of Vedanta. The schools of this tradition emphasize that the individual self (Jīvatman) is both different and not different from Brahman.[55] Notable figures in this school are Bhartriprapancha, Nimbārka (7th century)[64][65] who founded the Dvaitadvaita school, Bhāskara (8th–9th century), Ramanuja's teacher Yādavaprakāśa,[73] Chaitanya (1486–1534) who founded the Achintya Bheda Abheda school, and Vijñānabhikṣu (16th century).[74][i] Dvaitādvaita Nimbarkacharya's icon at Ukhra, West Bengal Main article: Dvaitadvaita Nimbārka (7th century)[64][65] sometimes identified with Bhāskara,[75] propounded Dvaitādvaita.[76] Brahman (God), souls (chit) and matter or the universe (achit) are considered as three equally real and co-eternal realities. Brahman is the controller (niyanta), the soul is the enjoyer (bhokta), and the material universe is the object enjoyed (bhogya). The Brahman is Krishna, the ultimate cause who is omniscient, omnipotent, all-pervading Being. He is the efficient cause of the universe because, as Lord of Karma and internal ruler of souls, He brings about creation so that the individual souls can reap the consequences of their karma. God is considered to be the material cause of the universe because creation was a manifestation of His powers of soul (chit) and matter (achit); creation is a transformation (parinama) of God's powers. He can be realized only through a constant effort to merge oneself with His nature through meditation and devotion. [76] Advaita Vedanta Shankaracharya Main article: Advaita Vedanta Advaita Vedanta (IAST Advaita Vedānta; Sanskrit: अद्वैत वेदान्त), propounded by Gaudapada (7th century) and Adi Shankara (8th century), espouses non-dualism and monism. Brahman is held to be the sole unchanging metaphysical reality and identical to the individual Atman.[39] The physical world, on the other hand, is always-changing empirical Maya.[77][j] The absolute and infinite Atman-Brahman is realized by a process of negating everything relative, finite, empirical and changing.[78] The school accepts no duality, no limited individual souls (Atman / Jīvatman), and no separate unlimited cosmic soul. All souls and their existence across space and time are considered to be the same oneness. [79] Spiritual liberation in Advaita is the full comprehension and realization of oneness, that one's unchanging Atman (soul) is the same as the Atman in everyone else, as well as being identical to Brahman.[80] Vishishtadvaita Vedanta Ramanujacharya depicted with Vaishnava Tilaka and Vishnu statue. Main article: Vishishtadvaita Vishishtadvaita, propounded by Ramanuja (11–12th century), asserts that Jīvatman (human souls) and Brahman (as Vishnu) are different, a difference that is never transcended.[81][82] With this qualification, Ramanuja also affirmed monism by saying that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman.[83] Vishishtadvaita is a qualified non-dualistic school of Vedanta and like Advaita, begins by assuming that all souls can hope for and achieve the state of blissful liberation.[84] On the relation between the Brahman and the world of matter (Prakriti), Vishishtadvaita states both are two different absolutes, both metaphysically true and real, neither is false or illusive, and that saguna Brahman with attributes is also real.[85] Ramanuja states that God, like man, has both soul and body, and the world of matter is the glory of God's body.[86] The path to Brahman (Vishnu), according to Ramanuja, is devotion to godliness and constant remembrance of the beauty and love of the personal god (bhakti of saguna Brahman).[87] Akshar-Purushottam Darshan Swaminarayan Main article: Akshar-Purushottam Darshan The Swaminarayan Darshana, also called Akshar-Purushottam Darshan by the BAPS, was propounded by Swaminarayan (1781-1830 CE) and is rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita.[h] It asserts that Parabrahman (Purushottam, Narayana) and Aksharbrahman are two distinct eternal realities. Adherents believe that they can achieve moksha (liberation) by becoming aksharrup (or brahmarup), that is, by attaining qualities similar to Akshar (or Aksharbrahman) and worshipping Purushottam (or Parabrahman; the supreme living entity; God).[88][89] Dvaita Madhvacharya in Jnana mudra. Main article: Dvaita Tattvavada, propounded by Madhvacharya (13th century), is based on the premise of realism or realistic point of view. The term Dvaita, which means dualism, was later applied to Madhvacharya's philosophy. Atman (soul) and Brahman (as Vishnu) are understood as two completely different entities.[90] Brahman is the creator of the universe, perfect in knowledge, perfect in knowing, perfect in its power, and distinct from souls, distinct from matter.[91] [k] In Dvaita Vedanta, an individual soul must feel attraction, love, attachment and complete devotional surrender to Vishnu for salvation, and it is only His grace that leads to redemption and salvation.[94] Madhva believed that some souls are eternally doomed and damned, a view not found in Advaita and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.[95] While the Vishishtadvaita Vedanta asserted "qualitative monism and quantitative pluralism of souls", Madhva asserted both "qualitative and quantitative pluralism of souls".[96] Shuddhādvaita Vallabhacharya Main articles: Shuddhadvaita and Pushtimarg Shuddhadvaita (pure non-dualism), propounded by Vallabhacharya (1479–1531 CE), states that the entire universe is real and is subtly Brahman only in the form of Krishna.[46] Vallabhacharya agreed with Advaita Vedanta's ontology, but emphasized that prakriti (empirical world, body) is not separate from the Brahman, but just another manifestation of the latter.[46] Everything, everyone, everywhere – soul and body, living and non-living, jīva and matter – is the eternal Krishna.[46] The way to Krishna, in this school, is bhakti. Vallabha opposed renunciation of monistic sannyasa as ineffective and advocates the path of devotion (bhakti) rather than knowledge (jnana). The goal of bhakti is to turn away from ego, self-centered-ness and deception, and to turn towards the eternal Krishna in everything continually offering freedom from samsara.[46] Achintya-Bheda-Abheda Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Main article: Achintya Bhedabheda Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486 – 1533) was the prime exponent of Achintya-Bheda-Abheda.[97] In Sanskrit achintya means 'inconceivable'.[98] Achintya-Bheda-Abheda represents the philosophy of "inconceivable difference in non-difference",[99] in relation to the non-dual reality of Brahman-Atman which it calls (Krishna), svayam bhagavan.[100] The notion of "inconceivability" (acintyatva) is used to reconcile apparently contradictory notions in Upanishadic teachings. This school asserts that Krishna is Bhagavan of the bhakti yogins, the Brahman of the jnana yogins, and has a divine potency that is inconceivable. He is all-pervading and thus in all parts of the universe (non-difference), yet he is inconceivably more (difference). This school is at the foundation of the Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition.[99] The ISKCON or the Hare Krishnas also affiliate to this school of Vedanta Philosophy. History The history of Vedanta can be divided into two periods: one prior to the composition of the Brahma Sutras and the other encompassing the schools that developed after the Brahma Sutras were written. Until the 11th century, Vedanta was a peripheral school of thought.[101] Before the Brahma Sutras (before the 5th century) Little is known[102] of schools of Vedanta existing before the composition of the Brahma Sutras (400–450 CE).[103][63][l] It is clear that Badarayana, the writer of Brahma Sutras, was not the first person to systematize the teachings of the Upanishads, as he quotes six Vedantic teachers before him – Ashmarathya, Badari, Audulomi, Kashakrtsna, Karsnajini and Atreya.[105][106] References to other early Vedanta teachers – Brahmadatta, Sundara, Pandaya, Tanka and Dravidacharya – are found in secondary literature of later periods.[107] The works of these ancient teachers have not survived, but based on the quotes attributed to them in later literature, Sharma postulates that Ashmarathya and Audulomi were Bhedabheda scholars, Kashakrtsna and Brahmadatta were Advaita scholars, while Tanka and Dravidacharya were either Advaita or Viśiṣṭādvaita scholars.[106] Brahma Sutras (completed in the 5th century) Main article: Brahma Sutras Badarayana summarized and interpreted teachings of the Upanishads in the Brahma Sutras, also called the Vedanta Sutra,[108][m] possibly "written from a Bhedābheda Vedāntic viewpoint."[55] Badarayana summarized the teachings of the classical Upanishads[109][110][n] and refuted the rival philosophical schools in ancient India.[63] The Brahma Sutras laid the basis for the development of Vedanta philosophy.[111] Though attributed to Badarayana, the Brahma Sutras were likely composed by multiple authors over the course of hundreds of years.[63] The estimates on when the Brahma Sutras were complete vary,[112][113] with Nakamura in 1989 and Nicholson in his 2013 review stating, that they were most likely compiled in the present form around 400–450 CE.[103][o] Isaeva suggests they were complete and in current form by 200 CE,[114] while Nakamura states that "the great part of the Sutra must have been in existence much earlier than that" (800 - 500 BCE).[113] The book is composed of four chapters, each divided into four-quarters or sections.[14] These sutras attempt to synthesize the diverse teachings of the Upanishads. However, the cryptic nature of aphorisms of the Brahma Sutras have required exegetical commentaries.[115] These commentaries have resulted in the formation of numerous Vedanta schools, each interpreting the texts in its own way and producing its own commentary.[116] Between the Brahma Sutras and Adi Shankara (5th–8th centuries) See also: Vedas, Upanishads, and Darsanas Little with specificity is known of the period between the Brahma Sutras (5th century CE) and Adi Shankara (8th century CE).[102][67] Only two writings of this period have survived: the Vākyapadīya, written by Bhartṛhari (second half 5th century,[117]) and the Kārikā written by Gaudapada (early 6th[67] or 7th century[102] CE). Shankara mentions 99 different predecessors of his school in his commentaries.[118] A number of important early Vedanta thinkers have been listed in the Siddhitraya by Yamunācārya (c. 1050), the Vedārthasamgraha by Rāmānuja (c. 1050–1157), and the Yatīndramatadīpikā by Śrīnivāsa Dāsa.[102] At least fourteen thinkers are known to have existed between the composition of the Brahma Sutras and Shankara's lifetime.[p] A noted scholar of this period was Bhartriprapancha. Bhartriprapancha maintained that the Brahman is one and there is unity, but that this unity has varieties. Scholars see Bhartriprapancha as an early philosopher in the line who teach the tenet of Bhedabheda.[14] Bhedābheda means "difference and non-difference" and is more a tradition than a school of Vedanta. The schools of this tradition emphasize that the individual self (Jīvatman) is both different and not different from Brahman.[119] Notable figures in this tradition are Nimbārka (7th century)[64][65] who founded the Dvaitadvaita school, Bhāskara (8th–9th century), Ramanuja's teacher Yādavaprakāśa,[73] Chaitanya (1486–1534) who founded the Achintya Bheda Abheda school, and Vijñānabhikṣu (16th century).[120][q] Gaudapada, Adi Shankara (Advaita Vedanta) (6th–9th centuries) Main articles: Advaita Vedanta and Gaudapada Influenced by Buddhism, Advaita vedanta departs from the bhedabheda-philosophy, instead postulating the identity of Atman with the Whole (Brahman), Gaudapada Gaudapada (c. 6th century CE),[121] was the teacher or a more distant predecessor of Govindapada,[122] the teacher of Adi Shankara. Shankara is widely considered as the apostle of Advaita Vedanta.[41] Gaudapada's treatise, the Kārikā – also known as the Māṇḍukya Kārikā or the Āgama Śāstra[123] – is the earliest surviving complete text on Advaita Vedanta.[r] Gaudapada's Kārikā relied on the Mandukya, Brihadaranyaka and Chhandogya Upanishads.[127] In the Kārikā, Advaita (non-dualism) is established on rational grounds (upapatti) independent of scriptural revelation; its arguments are devoid of all religious, mystical or scholastic elements. Scholars are divided on a possible influence of Buddhism on Gaudapada's philosophy.[s] The fact that Shankara, in addition to the Brahma Sutras, the principal Upanishads and the Bhagvad Gita, wrote an independent commentary on the Kārikā proves its importance in Vedāntic literature.[128] Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (788–820), elaborated on Gaudapada's work and more ancient scholarship to write detailed commentaries on the Prasthanatrayi and the Kārikā. The Mandukya Upanishad and the Kārikā have been described by Shankara as containing "the epitome of the substance of the import of Vedanta".[128] It was Shankara who integrated Gaudapada work with the ancient Brahma Sutras, "and give it a locus classicus" alongside the realistic strain of the Brahma Sutras.[129][t] A noted contemporary of Shankara was Maṇḍana Miśra, who regarded Mimamsa and Vedanta as forming a single system and advocated their combination known as Karma-jnana-samuchchaya-vada.[130][u] The treatise on the differences between the Vedanta school and the Mimamsa school was a contribution of Adi Shankara. Advaita Vedanta rejects rituals in favor of renunciation, for example.[131] Early Vaishnavism Vedanta (7th–9th centuries) Early Vaishnava Vedanta retains the tradition of bhedabheda, equating Brahman with Vishnu or Krishna. Nimbārka and Dvaitādvaita Main article: Dvaitadvaita Nimbārka (7th century)[64][65] sometimes identified with Bhāskara,[75] propounded Dvaitādvaita or Bhedābheda.[76] Bhāskara and Upadhika Bhāskara (8th–9th century) also taught Bhedabheda. In postulating Upadhika, he considers both identity and difference to be equally real. As the causal principle, Brahman is considered non-dual and formless pure being and intelligence.[132] The same Brahman, manifest as events, becomes the world of plurality. Jīva is Brahman limited by the mind. Matter and its limitations are considered real, not a manifestation of ignorance. Bhaskara advocated bhakti as dhyana (meditation) directed toward the transcendental Brahman. He refuted the idea of Maya and denied the possibility of liberation in bodily existence.[133] Vaishnavism Bhakti Vedanta (11th–16th centuries) Main articles: Vaishnavism and Bhakti See also: Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement of late medieval Hinduism started in the 7th century, but rapidly expanded after the 12th century.[134] It was supported by the Puranic literature such as the Bhagavata Purana, poetic works, as well as many scholarly bhasyas and samhitas.[135][136][137] This period saw the growth of Vashnavism Sampradayas (denominations or communities) under the influence of scholars such as Ramanujacharya, Vedanta Desika, Madhvacharya and Vallabhacharya.[138] Bhakti poets or teachers such as Manavala Mamunigal, Namdev, Ramananda, Surdas, Tulsidas, Eknath, Tyagaraja, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and many others influenced the expansion of Vaishnavism.[139] These Vaishnavism sampradaya founders challenged the then dominant Shankara's doctrines of Advaita Vedanta, particularly Ramanuja in the 12th century, Vedanta Desika and Madhva in the 13th, building their theology on the devotional tradition of the Alvars (Shri Vaishnavas),[140] and Vallabhacharya in the 16th century. In North and Eastern India, Vaishnavism gave rise to various late Medieval movements: Ramananda in the 14th century, Sankaradeva in the 15th and Vallabha and Chaitanya in the 16th century. Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) (11th–12th centuries) Rāmānuja (1017–1137 CE) was the most influential philosopher in the Viśiṣṭādvaita tradition. As the philosophical architect of Vishishtadvaita, he taught qualified non-dualism.[141] Ramanuja's teacher, Yadava Prakasha, followed the Advaita monastic tradition. Tradition has it that Ramanuja disagreed with Yadava and Advaita Vedanta, and instead followed Nathamuni and Yāmuna. Ramanuja reconciled the Prasthanatrayi with the theism and philosophy of the Vaishnava Alvars poet-saints.[142] Ramanuja wrote a number of influential texts, such as a bhasya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.[143] Ramanuja presented the epistemological and soteriological importance of bhakti, or the devotion to a personal God (Vishnu in Ramanuja's case) as a means to spiritual liberation. His theories assert that there exists a plurality and distinction between Atman (souls) and Brahman (metaphysical, ultimate reality), while he also affirmed that there is unity of all souls and that the individual soul has the potential to realize identity with the Brahman.[83] Vishishtadvaiata provides the philosophical basis of Sri Vaishnavism.[144] Ramanuja was influential in integrating Bhakti, the devotional worship, into Vedanta premises.[145] Madhva (Tattvavada or Dvaita Vedanta)(13th–14th centuries) Tattvavada[v] or Dvaita Vedanta was propounded by Madhvacharya (1238–1317 CE).[w] He presented the opposite interpretation of Shankara in his Dvaita, or dualistic system.[148] In contrast to Shankara's non-dualism and Ramanuja's qualified non-dualism, he championed unqualified dualism. Madhva wrote commentaries on the chief Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra.[149] Madhva started his Vedic studies at age seven, joined an Advaita Vedanta monastery in Dwarka (Gujarat),[150] studied under guru Achyutrapreksha,[151] frequently disagreed with him, left the Advaita monastery, and founded Dvaita.[152] Madhva and his followers Jayatirtha and Vyasatirtha, were critical of all competing Hindu philosophies, Jainism and Buddhism,[153] but particularly intense in their criticism of Advaita Vedanta and Adi Shankara.[154] Dvaita Vedanta is theistic and it identifies Brahman with Narayana, or more specifically Vishnu, in a manner similar to Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta. But it is more explicitly pluralistic.[155] Madhva's emphasis for difference between soul and Brahman was so pronounced that he taught there were differences (1) between material things; (2) between material things and souls; (3) between material things and God; (4) between souls; and (5) between souls and God.[156] He also advocated for a difference in degrees in the possession of knowledge. He also advocated for differences in the enjoyment of bliss even in the case of liberated souls, a doctrine found in no other system of Indian philosophy.[155] Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Achintya Bheda Abheda) (16th century) [icon] This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2020) Achintya Bheda Abheda (Vaishnava), founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534 CE),[72] was propagated by Gaudiya Vaishnava. Historically, it was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who founded congregational chanting of holy names of Krishna in the early 16th century after becoming a sannyasi.[157] Modern times (19th century – present) Swaminarayan and Akshar-Purushottam Darshan (19th century) The Swaminarayan Darshana, which is rooted in Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita,[158][71][159][h] was founded in 1801 by Swaminarayan (1781-1830 CE), and is contemporarily most notably propagated by BAPS.[160] Due to the commentarial work of Bhadreshdas Swami, the Akshar-Purushottam teachings were recognized as a distinct school of Vedanta by the Shri Kashi Vidvat Parishad in 2017[68][69] and by members of the 17th World Sanskrit Conference in 2018.[68][x][70] Swami Paramtattvadas describes the Akshar-Purushottam teachings as "a distinct school of thought within the larger expanse of classical Vedanta,"[161] presenting the Akshar-Purushottam teachings as a seventh school of Vedanta.[162] Neo-Vedanta (19th century) Main articles: Neo-Vedanta, Hindu nationalism, and Hindu reform movements Neo-Vedanta, variously called as "Hindu modernism", "neo-Hinduism", and "neo-Advaita", is a term that denotes some novel interpretations of Hinduism that developed in the 19th century,[163] presumably as a reaction to the colonial British rule.[164] King (2002, pp. 129–135) writes that these notions accorded the Hindu nationalists an opportunity to attempt the construction of a nationalist ideology to help unite the Hindus to fight colonial oppression. Western orientalists, in their search for its "essence", attempted to formulate a notion of "Hinduism" based on a single interpretation of Vedanta as a unified body of religious praxis.[165] This was contra-factual as, historically, Hinduism and Vedanta had always accepted a diversity of traditions. King (1999, pp. 133–136) asserts that the neo-Vedantic theory of "overarching tolerance and acceptance" was used by the Hindu reformers, together with the ideas of Universalism and Perennialism, to challenge the polemic dogmatism of Judaeo-Christian-Islamic missionaries against the Hindus. The neo-Vedantins argued that the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy were perspectives on a single truth, all valid and complementary to each other.[166] Halbfass (2007, p. 307) sees these interpretations as incorporating western ideas[167] into traditional systems, especially Advaita Vedanta.[168] It is the modern form of Advaita Vedanta, states King (1999, p. 135), the neo-Vedantists subsumed the Buddhist philosophies as part of the Vedanta tradition[y] and then argued that all the world religions are same "non-dualistic position as the philosophia perennis", ignoring the differences within and outside of Hinduism.[170] According to Gier (2000, p. 140), neo-Vedanta is Advaita Vedanta which accepts universal realism: Ramakrishna, Vivekananda and Aurobindo have been labeled neo-Vedantists (the latter called it realistic Advaita), a view of Vedanta that rejects the Advaitins' idea that the world is illusory. As Aurobindo phrased it, philosophers need to move from 'universal illusionism' to 'universal realism', in the strict philosophical sense of assuming the world to be fully real. A major proponent in the popularization of this Universalist and Perennialist interpretation of Advaita Vedanta was Vivekananda,[171] who played a major role in the revival of Hinduism.[172] He was also instrumental in the spread of Advaita Vedanta to the West via the Vedanta Society, the international arm of the Ramakrishna Order.[173][page needed] Criticism of Neo-Vedanta label Nicholson (2010, p. 2) writes that the attempts at integration which came to be known as neo-Vedanta were evident as early as between the 12th and the 16th century− ... certain thinkers began to treat as a single whole the diverse philosophical teachings of the Upanishads, epics, Puranas, and the schools known retrospectively as the "six systems" (saddarsana) of mainstream Hindu philosophy.[z] Matilal criticizes Neo-Hinduism as an oddity developed by West-inspired Western Indologists and attributes it to the flawed Western perception of Hinduism in modern India. In his scathing criticism of this school of reasoning, Matilal (2002, pp. 403–404) says: The so-called 'traditional' outlook is in fact a construction. Indian history shows that the tradition itself was self-conscious and critical of itself, sometimes overtly and sometimes covertly. It was never free from internal tensions due to the inequalities that persisted in a hierarchical society, nor was it without confrontation and challenge throughout its history. Hence Gandhi, Vivekananda and Tagore were not simply 'transplants from Western culture, products arising solely from confrontation with the west. ...It is rather odd that, although the early Indologists' romantic dream of discovering a pure (and probably primitive, according to some) form of Hinduism (or Buddhism as the case may be) now stands discredited in many quarters; concepts like neo-Hinduism are still bandied about as substantial ideas or faultless explanation tools by the Western 'analytic' historians as well as the West-inspired historians of India. Influence According to Nakamura (2004, p. 3), the Vedanta school has had a historic and central influence on Hinduism: The prevalence of Vedanta thought is found not only in philosophical writings but also in various forms of (Hindu) literature, such as the epics, lyric poetry, drama and so forth. ... the Hindu religious sects, the common faith of the Indian populace, looked to Vedanta philosophy for the theoretical foundations for their theology. The influence of Vedanta is prominent in the sacred literatures of Hinduism, such as the various Puranas, Samhitas, Agamas and Tantras ... [102] Frithjof Schuon summarizes the influence of Vedanta on Hinduism as follows: The Vedanta contained in the Upanishads, then formulated in the Brahma Sutra, and finally commented and explained by Shankara, is an invaluable key for discovering the deepest meaning of all the religious doctrines and for realizing that the Sanatana Dharma secretly penetrates all the forms of traditional spirituality.[178] Gavin Flood states, ... the most influential school of theology in India has been Vedanta, exerting enormous influence on all religious traditions and becoming the central ideology of the Hindu renaissance in the nineteenth century. It has become the philosophical paradigm of Hinduism "par excellence".[13] Hindu traditions Vedanta, adopting ideas from other orthodox (āstika) schools, became the most prominent school of Hinduism.[14][179] Vedanta traditions led to the development of many traditions in Hinduism.[13][180] Sri Vaishnavism of south and southeastern India is based on Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.[181] Ramananda led to the Vaishnav Bhakti Movement in north, east, central and west India. This movement draws its philosophical and theistic basis from Vishishtadvaita. A large number of devotional Vaishnavism traditions of east India, north India (particularly the Braj region), west and central India are based on various sub-schools of Bhedabheda Vedanta.[55] Advaita Vedanta influenced Krishna Vaishnavism in the northeastern state of Assam.[182] The Madhva school of Vaishnavism found in coastal Karnataka is based on Dvaita Vedanta.[154] Āgamas, the classical literature of Shaivism, though independent in origin, show Vedanta association and premises.[183] Of the 92 Āgamas, ten are (dvaita) texts, eighteen (bhedabheda), and sixty-four (advaita) texts.[184] While the Bhairava Shastras are monistic, Shiva Shastras are dualistic.[185] Isaeva (1995, pp. 134–135) finds the link between Gaudapada's Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism evident and natural. Tirumular, the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta scholar, credited with creating "Vedanta–Siddhanta" (Advaita Vedanta and Shaiva Siddhanta synthesis), stated, "becoming Shiva is the goal of Vedanta and Siddhanta; all other goals are secondary to it and are vain."[186] Shaktism, or traditions where a goddess is considered identical to Brahman, has similarly flowered from a syncretism of the monist premises of Advaita Vedanta and dualism premises of Samkhya–Yoga school of Hindu philosophy, sometimes referred to as Shaktadavaitavada (literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti).[187] Influence on Western thinkers An exchange of ideas has been taking place between the western world and Asia since the late 18th century as a result of colonization of parts of Asia by Western powers. This also influenced western religiosity. The first translation of Upanishads, published in two parts in 1801 and 1802, significantly influenced Arthur Schopenhauer, who called them the consolation of his life.[188] He drew explicit parallels between his philosophy, as set out in The World as Will and Representation,[189] and that of the Vedanta philosophy as described in the work of Sir William Jones.[190] Early translations also appeared in other European languages.[191] Influenced by Śaṅkara's concepts of Brahman (God) and māyā (illusion), Lucian Blaga often used the concepts marele anonim (the Great Anonymous) and cenzura transcendentă (the transcendental censorship) in his philosophy.[192] Similarities with Spinoza's philosophy German Sanskritist Theodore Goldstücker was among the early scholars to notice similarities between the religious conceptions of the Vedanta and those of the Dutch Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza, writing that Spinoza's thought was ... so exact a representation of the ideas of the Vedanta, that we might have suspected its founder to have borrowed the fundamental principles of his system from the Hindus, did his biography not satisfy us that he was wholly unacquainted with their doctrines [...] comparing the fundamental ideas of both we should have no difficulty in proving that, had Spinoza been a Hindu, his system would in all probability mark a last phase of the Vedanta philosophy.[193] Max Müller noted the striking similarities between Vedanta and the system of Spinoza, saying, The Brahman, as conceived in the Upanishads and defined by Sankara, is clearly the same as Spinoza's 'Substantia'."[194] Helena Blavatsky, a founder of the Theosophical Society, also compared Spinoza's religious thought to Vedanta, writing in an unfinished essay, As to Spinoza's Deity – natura naturans – conceived in his attributes simply and alone; and the same Deity – as natura naturata or as conceived in the endless series of modifications or correlations, the direct outflowing results from the properties of these attributes, it is the Vedantic Deity pure and simple.[195] The Vedas (/ˈveɪdəz/[4] or /ˈviːdəz/,[5] IAST: veda, Sanskrit: वेदः, lit. 'knowledge') are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism.[6][7][8] There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.[9][10] Each Veda has four subdivisions – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Brahmanas (commentaries on and explanation of rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices - Yajnas), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).[9][11][12] Some scholars add a fifth category – the Upasanas (worship).[13][14] The texts of the Upanishads discuss ideas akin to the heterodox sramana traditions.[15] The Samhitas and Brahmanas describe about daily rituals and are generally meant for Brahmacharya and Grihastha stages of the Chaturasrama system, while the Aranyakas and Upanishads are meant for the Vānaprastha and Sannyasa stages, respectively. Vedas are śruti ("what is heard"),[16] distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti ("what is remembered"). Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeya, which means "not of a man, superhuman"[17] and "impersonal, authorless",[18][19][20] revelations of sacred sounds and texts heard by ancient sages after intense meditation.[21][22] The Vedas have been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques.[23][24][25] The mantras, the oldest part of the Vedas, are recited in the modern age for their phonology rather than the semantics, and are considered to be "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they refer.[26] By reciting them the cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base."[26] The various Indian philosophies and Hindu sects have taken differing positions on the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy that acknowledge the importance or primal authority of the Vedas comprise Hindu philosophy specifically and are together classified as the six "orthodox" (āstika) schools.[note 2] However, śramaṇa traditions, such as Charvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism, and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authoritative, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nāstika) schools.[15][27] Etymology and usage The Sanskrit word véda "knowledge, wisdom" is derived from the root vid- "to know". This is reconstructed as being derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *weyd-, meaning "see" or "know."[28][29] The noun is from Proto-Indo-European *weydos, cognate to Greek (ϝ)εἶδος "aspect", "form" . This is not to be confused with the homonymous 1st and 3rd person singular perfect tense véda, cognate to Greek (ϝ)οἶδα ((w)oida) "I know". Root cognates are Greek ἰδέα, English wit, Latin videō "I see", Russian ве́дать (védat') "to know", etc.[30] The Sanskrit term veda as a common noun means "knowledge".[28] The term in some contexts, such as hymn 10.93.11 of the Rigveda, means "obtaining or finding wealth, property",[31] while in some others it means "a bunch of grass together" as in a broom or for ritual fire.[32] Vedic texts Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari Vedic Sanskrit corpus The term "Vedic texts" is used in two distinct meanings: Texts composed in Vedic Sanskrit during the Vedic period (Iron Age India) Any text considered as "connected to the Vedas" or a "corollary of the Vedas"[33] The corpus of Vedic Sanskrit texts includes: The Samhitas (Sanskrit saṃhitā, "collection"), are collections of metric texts ("mantras"). There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda, most of which are available in several recensions (śākhā). In some contexts, the term Veda is used to refer only to these Samhitas, the collection of mantras. This is the oldest layer of Vedic texts, which were composed between circa 1500–1200 BCE (Rig Veda book 2–9),[note 1] and 1200–900 BCE for the other Samhitas. The Samhitas contain invocations to deities like Indra and Agni, "to secure their benediction for success in battles or for welfare of the clan."[34] The complete corpus of Vedic mantras as collected in Bloomfield's Vedic Concordance (1907) consists of some 89,000 padas (metrical feet), of which 72,000 occur in the four Samhitas.[35] The Brahmanas are prose texts that comment and explain the solemn rituals as well as expound on their meaning and many connected themes. Each of the Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas or its recensions.[36][37] The oldest dated to about 900 BCE, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BCE.[38][39] The Brahmanas may either form separate texts or can be partly integrated into the text of the Samhitas. They may also include the Aranyakas and Upanishads. The Aranyakas, "wilderness texts" or "forest treaties", were composed by people who meditated in the woods as recluses and are the third part of the Vedas. The texts contain discussions and interpretations of ceremonies, from ritualistic to symbolic meta-ritualistic points of view.[40] It is frequently read in secondary literature. Older Principal Upanishads (Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Chandogya, Kaṭha, Kena, Aitareya, and others),[1][41] composed between 800 BCE and the end of the Vedic period.[42] The Upanishads are largely philosophical works, some in dialogue form. They are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions.[43][44] Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are still influential in Hinduism.[43][45] The texts considered "Vedic" in the sense of "corollaries of the Vedas" are less clearly defined, and may include numerous post-Vedic texts such as the later Upanishads and the Sutra literature, such as Shrauta Sutras and Gryha Sutras, which are smriti texts. Together, the Vedas and these Sutras form part of the Vedic Sanskrit corpus.[1][note 3][note 4] While production of Brahmanas and Aranyakas ceased with the end of the Vedic period, additional Upanishads were composed after the end of the Vedic period.[46] The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, among other things, interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self (Atman), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism. In other parts, they show evolution of ideas, such as from actual sacrifice to symbolic sacrifice, and of spirituality in the Upanishads. This has inspired later Hindu scholars such as Adi Shankara to classify each Veda into karma-kanda (कर्म खण्ड, action/sacrificial ritual-related sections, the Samhitas and Brahmanas); and jnana-kanda (ज्ञान खण्ड, knowledge/spirituality-related sections, mainly the Upanishads').[47][48][49][50][51][note 5] Śruti and smriti Vedas are śruti ("what is heard"),[16] distinguishing them from other religious texts, which are called smṛti ("what is remembered"). This indigenous system of categorization was adopted by Max Müller and, while it is subject to some debate, it is still widely used. As Axel Michaels explains: These classifications are often not tenable for linguistic and formal reasons: There is not only one collection at any one time, but rather several handed down in separate Vedic schools; Upanişads [...] are sometimes not to be distinguished from Āraṇyakas [...]; Brāhmaṇas contain older strata of language attributed to the Saṃhitās; there are various dialects and locally prominent traditions of the Vedic schools. Nevertheless, it is advisable to stick to the division adopted by Max Müller because it follows the Indian tradition, conveys the historical sequence fairly accurately, and underlies the current editions, translations, and monographs on Vedic literature."[41] Among the widely known śrutis include the Vedas and their embedded texts—the Samhitas, the Upanishads, the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas. The well-known smṛtis include Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavata Purana and the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, amongst others. Authorship Hindus consider the Vedas to be apauruṣeyā, which means "not of a man, superhuman"[17] and "impersonal, authorless."[18][19][20] The Vedas, for orthodox Indian theologians, are considered revelations seen by ancient sages after intense meditation, and texts that have been more carefully preserved since ancient times.[21][22] In the Hindu Epic Mahabharata, the creation of Vedas is credited to Brahma.[52] The Vedic hymns themselves assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot.[22][note 6] The oldest part of the Rig Veda Samhita was orally composed in north-western India (Punjab) between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE,[note 1] while book 10 of the Rig Veda, and the other Samhitas were composed between 1200 and 900 BCE more eastward, between the Yamuna and the Ganges rivers, the heartland of Aryavarta and the Kuru Kingdom (c. 1200 – c. 900 BCE).[2][54][55][56][57] The "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE. According to tradition, Vyasa is the compiler of the Vedas, who arranged the four kinds of mantras into four Samhitas (Collections).[58][59] Chronology, transmission, and interpretation See also: Vedic period Chronology The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts.[60] The bulk of the Rigveda Samhita was composed in the northwestern region (Punjab) of the Indian subcontinent, most likely between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE,[2][54][61] although a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BCE has also been given.[62][63][note 1] The other three Samhitas are considered to date from the time of the Kuru Kingdom, approximately c. 1200–900 BCE.[1] The "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000–500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age.[note 7] The Vedic period reaches its peak only after the composition of the mantra texts, with the establishment of the various shakhas all over Northern India which annotated the mantra samhitas with Brahmana discussions of their meaning, and reaches its end in the age of Buddha and Panini and the rise of the Mahajanapadas (archaeologically, Northern Black Polished Ware). Michael Witzel gives a time span of c. 1500 to c. 500–400 BCE. Witzel makes special reference to the Near Eastern Mitanni material of the 14th century BCE, the only epigraphic record of Indo-Aryan contemporary to the Rigvedic period. He gives 150 BCE (Patañjali) as a terminus ante quem for all Vedic Sanskrit literature, and 1200 BCE (the early Iron Age) as terminus post quem for the Atharvaveda.[64] Transmission The Vedas were orally transmitted since their composition in the Vedic period for several millennia.[23][65][66] The authoritative transmission[67] of the Vedas is by an oral tradition in a sampradaya from father to son or from teacher (guru) to student (shishya),[23][24][66][68][69] believed to be initiated by the Vedic rishis who heard the primordial sounds.[70] Only this tradition, embodied by a living teacher, can teach the correct pronunciation of the sounds and explain hidden meanings, in a way the "dead and entombed manuscript" cannot do.[68][note 8] As Leela Prasad states, "According to Shankara, the "correct tradition" (sampradaya) has as much authority as the written Shastra," explaining that the tradition "bears the authority to clarify and provide direction in the application of knowledge."[71] The emphasis in this transmission[note 9] is on the "proper articulation and pronunciation of the Vedic sounds", as prescribed in the Shiksha,[73] the Vedanga (Vedic study) of sound as uttered in a Vedic recitation,[74][75] mastering the texts "literally forward and backward in fully acoustic fashion."[67] Houben and Rath note that the Vedic textual tradition cannot simply be characterized as oral, "since it also depends significantly on a memory culture."[76] The Vedas were preserved with precision with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques,[23][24][25] such as memorizing the texts in eleven different modes of recitation (pathas),[67] using the alphabet as a mnemotechnical device,[77][78][note 10] "matching physical movements (such as nodding the head) with particular sounds and chanting in a group"[79] and visualizing sounds by using mudras (hand signs).[80] This provided an additional visual confirmation, and also an alternate means to check the reading integrity by the audience, in addition to the audible means.[80] Houben and Rath note that a strong "memory culture" existed in ancient India when texts were transmitted orally, before the advent of writing in the early first millennium CE.[78] According to Staal, criticising the Goody-Watt hypothesis "according to which literacy is more reliable than orality,"[81] this tradition of oral transmission "is closely related to Indian forms of science," and "by far the more remarkable" than the relatively recent tradition of written transmission.[note 11] While according to Mookerji understanding the meaning (vedarthajnana[84] or artha-bodha[85][note 12]) of the words of the Vedas was part of the Vedic learning,[85] Holdrege and other Indologists[86] have noted that in the transmission of the Samhitas the emphasis is on the phonology of the sounds (śabda) and not on the meaning (artha) of the mantras.[86][87][68] Already at the end of the Vedic period their original meaning had become obscure for "ordinary people,"[87][note 13] and niruktas, etymological compendia, were developed to preserve and clarify the original meaning of many Sanskrit words.[87][89] According to Staal, as referenced by Holdrege, though the mantras may have a discursive meaning, when the mantras are recited in the Vedic rituals "they are disengaged from their original context and are employed in ways that have little or nothing to do with their meaning."[86][note 14] The words of the mantras are "themselves sacred,"[90] and "do not constitute linguistic utterances."[26] Instead, as Klostermaier notes, in their application in Vedic rituals they become magical sounds, "means to an end."[note 15] Holdrege notes that there are scarce commentaries on the meaning of the mantras, in contrast to the number of commentaries on the Brahmanas and Upanishads, but states that the lack of emphasis on the "discursive meaning does not necessarily imply that they are meaningless."[91] In the Brahmanical perspective, the sounds have their own meaning, mantras are considered as "primordial rhythms of creation", preceding the forms to which they refer.[26] By reciting them the cosmos is regenerated, "by enlivening and nourishing the forms of creation at their base. As long as the purity of the sounds is preserved, the recitation of the mantras will be efficacious, irrespective of whether their discursive meaning is understood by human beings."[26][note 16] Frazier further notes that "later Vedic texts sought deeper understanding of the reasons the rituals worked," which indicates that the Brahmin communities considered study to be a "process of understanding."[92] A literary tradition is traceable in post-Vedic times, after the rise of Buddhism in the Maurya period,[note 17] perhaps earliest in the Kanva recension of the Yajurveda about the 1st century BCE; however oral tradition of transmission remained active.[65] Jack Goody has argued for an earlier literary tradition, concluding that the Vedas bear hallmarks of a literate culture along with oral transmission,[94][95] but Goody's views have been strongly criticised by Falk, Lopez Jr,. and Staal, though they have also found some support.[96][97] The Vedas were written down only after 500 BCE,[23][65][98] but only the orally transmitted texts are regarded as authoritative, given the emphasis on the exact pronunciation of the sounds.[67] Witzel suggests that attempts to write down the Vedic texts towards the end of 1st millennium BCE were unsuccessful, resulting in smriti rules explicitly forbidding the writing down of the Vedas.[65] Due to the ephemeral nature of the manuscript material (birch bark or palm leaves), surviving manuscripts rarely surpass an age of a few hundred years.[99] The Sampurnanand Sanskrit University has a Rigveda manuscript from the 14th century;[100] however, there are a number of older Veda manuscripts in Nepal that are dated from the 11th century onwards.[101] Vedic learning Main article: Svādhyāya The Vedas, Vedic rituals and its ancillary sciences called the Vedangas, were part of the curriculum at ancient universities such as at Taxila, Nalanda and Vikramashila.[102][103][104][105] According to Deshpande, "the tradition of the Sanskrit grammarians also contributed significantly to the preservation and interpretation of Vedic texts."[106] Yāska (4th c. BCE[107]) wrote the Nirukta, which reflects the concerns about the loss of meaning of the mantras,[note 13] while Pāṇinis (4th c. BCE) Aṣṭādhyāyī is the most important surviving text of the Vyākaraṇa traditions. Mimamsa scholar Sayanas (14th c. CE) major Vedartha Prakasha[note 18] is a rare[108] commentary on the Vedas, which is also referred to by contemporary scholars.[109] Yaska and Sayana, reflecting an ancient understanding, state that the Veda can be interpreted in three ways, giving "the truth about gods, dharma and parabrahman."[110][111][note 19] The pūrva-kāņda (or karma-kanda), the part of the Veda dealing with ritual, gives knowledge of dharma, "which brings us satisfaction." The uttara-kanda (or jnana-kanda),[note 20] the part of the Veda dealing with the knowledge of the absolute, gives knowledge of Parabrahma, "which fulfills all of our desires."[112] According to Holdrege, for the exponents of karma-kandha the Veda is to be "inscribed in the minds and hearts of men" by memorization and recitation, while for the exponents of the jnana-kanda and meditation the Vedas express a transcendental reality which can be approached with mystical means.[113] Holdrege notes that in Vedic learning "priority has been given to recitation over interpretation" of the Samhitas.[108] Galewicz states that Sayana, a Mimamsa scholar,[114][115][116] "thinks of the Veda as something to be trained and mastered to be put into practical ritual use," noticing that "it is not the meaning of the mantras that is most essential [...] but rather the perfect mastering of their sound form."[117] According to Galewicz, Sayana saw the purpose (artha) of the Veda as the "artha of carrying out sacrifice," giving precedence to the Yajurveda.[114] For Sayana, whether the mantras had meaning depended on the context of their practical usage.[117] This conception of the Veda, as a repertoire to be mastered and performed, takes precedence over the internal meaning or "autonomous message of the hymns."[118] Most Śrauta rituals are not performed in the modern era, and those that are, are rare.[119] Mukherjee notes that the Rigveda, and Sayana's commentary, contain passages criticizing as fruitless mere recitation of the Ŗik (words) without understanding their inner meaning or essence, the knowledge of dharma and Parabrahman.[120] Mukherjee concludes that in the Rigvedic education of the mantras "the contemplation and comprehension of their meaning was considered as more important and vital to education than their mere mechanical repetition and correct pronunciation."[121] Mookei refers to Sayana as stating that "the mastery of texts, akshara-praptī, is followed by artha-bodha, perception of their meaning."[85][note 12] Mukherjee explains that the Vedic knowledge was first perceived by the rishis and munis. Only the perfect language of the Vedas, as in contrast to ordinary speech, can reveal these truths, which were preserved by committing them to memory.[123] According to Mukherjee, while these truths are imparted to the student by the memorized texts,[124] "the realization of Truth" and the knowledge of paramatman as revealed to the rishis is the real aim of Vedic learning, and not the mere recitation of texts.[125] The supreme knowledge of the Absolute, para Brahman-jnana, the knowledge of rta and satya, can be obtained by taking vows of silence and obedience[126] sense-restraint, dhyana, the practice of tapas (austerities),[111] and discussing the Vedanta.[126][note 21] Vedic schools or recensions Main article: Shakha The four Vedas were transmitted in various śākhās (branches, schools).[128][129] Each school likely represented an ancient community of a particular area, or kingdom.[129] Each school followed its own canon. Multiple recensions (revisions) are known for each of the Vedas.[128] Thus, states Witzel as well as Renou, in the 2nd millennium BCE, there was likely no canon of one broadly accepted Vedic texts, no Vedic “Scripture”, but only a canon of various texts accepted by each school. Some of these texts have survived, most lost or yet to be found. Rigveda that survives in modern times, for example, is in only one extremely well preserved school of Śåkalya, from a region called Videha, in modern north Bihar, south of Nepal.[130] The Vedic canon in its entirety consists of texts from all the various Vedic schools taken together.[129] There were Vedic schools that believed in polytheism in which numerous gods had different natural functions, henotheistic beliefs where only one god was worshipped but others were thought to exist, monotheistic beliefs in a single god, agnosticism, and monistic beliefs where "there is an absolute reality that goes beyond the gods and that includes or transcends everything that exists."[131] Indra, Agni, and Yama were popular subjects of worship by polytheist organizations.[131] Each of the four Vedas were shared by the numerous schools, but revised, interpolated and adapted locally, in and after the Vedic period, giving rise to various recensions of the text. Some texts were revised into the modern era, raising significant debate on parts of the text which are believed to have been corrupted at a later date.[132][133] The Vedas each have an Index or Anukramani, the principal work of this kind being the general Index or Sarvānukramaṇī.[134][135] Prodigious energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity.[136] For example, memorization of the sacred Vedas included up to eleven forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were subsequently "proof-read" by comparing the different recited versions. Forms of recitation included the jaṭā-pāṭha (literally "mesh recitation") in which every two adjacent words in the text were first recited in their original order, then repeated in the reverse order, and finally repeated in the original order.[137] That these methods have been effective, is attested to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Rigveda, as redacted into a single text during the Brahmana period, without any variant readings within that school.[137] The Vedas were orally transmitted by memorization, and were written down only after 500 BCE,[23][65][98] All printed editions of the Vedas that survive in the modern times are likely the version existing in about the 16th century CE.[138] Four Vedas Part of a series on Hindu scriptures Vedas and their Shakhas Om Rigveda Samaveda Krishna Yajurveda Shukla Yajurveda Atharvaveda Hinduism portal vte The canonical division of the Vedas is fourfold (turīya) viz.,[139] Rigveda (RV) Yajurveda (YV, with the main division TS vs. VS) Samaveda (SV) Atharvaveda (AV) Of these, the first three were the principal original division, also called "trayī vidyā"; that is, "the triple science" of reciting hymns (Rigveda), performing sacrifices (Yajurveda), and chanting songs (Samaveda).[140][141] The Rig Veda most likely was composed between c. 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE.[note 1] Witzel notes that it is the Vedic period itself, where incipient lists divide the Vedic texts into three (trayī) or four branches: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva.[129] Each Veda has been subclassified into four major text types – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies such as newborn baby's rites of passage, coming of age, marriages, retirement and cremation, sacrifices and symbolic sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (text discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).[9][11][12] The Upasanas (short ritual worship-related sections) are considered by some scholars[13][14] as the fifth part. Witzel notes that the rituals, rites and ceremonies described in these ancient texts reconstruct to a large degree the Indo-European marriage rituals observed in a region spanning the Indian subcontinent, Persia and the European area, and some greater details are found in the Vedic era texts such as the Grhya Sūtras.[142] Only one version of the Rigveda is known to have survived into the modern era.[130] Several different versions of the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda are known, and many different versions of the Yajur Veda have been found in different parts of South Asia.[143] The texts of the Upanishads discuss ideas akin to the heterodox sramana-traditions.[15] Rigveda Main article: Rigveda Nasadiya Sukta (Hymn of non-Eternity): Who really knows? Who can here proclaim it? Whence, whence this creation sprang? Gods came later, after the creation of this universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen? Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute; Only He who is its overseer in highest heaven knows, He only knows, or perhaps He does not know. —Rig Veda 10.129.6–7[144] The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest extant Indic text.[145] It is a collection of 1,028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns and 10,600 verses in all, organized into ten books (Sanskrit: mandalas).[146] The hymns are dedicated to Rigvedic deities.[147] The books were composed by poets from different priestly groups over a period of several centuries between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE,[note 1] (the early Vedic period) in the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the northwest Indian subcontinent. According to Michael Witzel, the initial codification of the Rigveda took place at the end of the Rigvedic period at c. 1200 BCE, in the early Kuru kingdom.[148] The Rigveda is structured based on clear principles. The Veda begins with a small book addressed to Agni, Indra, Soma and other gods, all arranged according to decreasing total number of hymns in each deity collection; for each deity series, the hymns progress from longer to shorter ones, but the number of hymns per book increases. Finally, the meter too is systematically arranged from jagati and tristubh to anustubh and gayatri as the text progresses.[129] The rituals became increasingly complex over time, and the king's association with them strengthened both the position of the Brahmans and the kings.[149] The Rajasuya rituals, performed with the coronation of a king, "set in motion [...] cyclical regenerations of the universe."[150] In terms of substance, the nature of hymns shift from praise of deities in early books to Nasadiya Sukta with questions such as, "what is the origin of the universe?, do even gods know the answer?",[144] the virtue of Dāna (charity) in society,[151] and other metaphysical issues in its hymns.[note 22] There are similarities between the mythology, rituals and linguistics in Rigveda and those found in ancient central Asia, Iranian and Hindukush (Afghanistan) regions.[152] Samaveda Main article: Samaveda The Samaveda Samhita[153] consists of 1549 stanzas, taken almost entirely (except for 75 mantras) from the Rigveda.[41][154] While its earliest parts are believed to date from as early as the Rigvedic period, the existing compilation dates from the post-Rigvedic Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit, between c. 1200 and 1000 BCE or "slightly later," roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda and the Yajurveda.[154] The Samaveda samhita has two major parts. The first part includes four melody collections (gāna, गान) and the second part three verse “books” (ārcika, आर्चिक).[154] A melody in the song books corresponds to a verse in the arcika books. Just as in the Rigveda, the early sections of Samaveda typically begin with hymns to Agni and Indra but shift to the abstract. Their meters shift also in a descending order. The songs in the later sections of the Samaveda have the least deviation from the hymns derived from the Rigveda.[154] In the Samaveda, some of the Rigvedic verses are repeated.[155] Including repetitions, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Samaveda recension translated by Griffith.[156] Two major recensions have survived, the Kauthuma/Ranayaniya and the Jaiminiya. Its purpose was liturgical, and they were the repertoire of the udgātṛ or "singer" priests.[157] Yajurveda Main article: Yajurveda The Yajurveda Samhita consists of prose mantras.[158] It is a compilation of ritual offering formulas that were said by a priest while an individual performed ritual actions such as those before the yajna fire.[158] The core text of the Yajurveda falls within the classical Mantra period of Vedic Sanskrit at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE – younger than the Rigveda, and roughly contemporary with the Atharvaveda, the Rigvedic Khilani, and the Sāmaveda.[159] Witzel dates the Yajurveda hymns to the early Indian Iron Age, after c. 1200 and before 800 BCE.[160] corresponding to the early Kuru Kingdom.[161] A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda The earliest and most ancient layer of Yajurveda samhita includes about 1,875 verses, that are distinct yet borrow and build upon the foundation of verses in Rigveda.[162] Unlike the Samaveda which is almost entirely based on Rigveda mantras and structured as songs, the Yajurveda samhitas are in prose, and they are different from earlier Vedic texts linguistically.[163] The Yajur Veda has been the primary source of information about sacrifices during Vedic times and associated rituals.[164] There are two major groups of texts in this Veda: the "Black" (Krishna) and the "White" (Shukla). The term "black" implies "the un-arranged, motley collection" of verses in Yajurveda, in contrast to the "white" (well arranged) Yajurveda.[165] The White Yajurveda separates the Samhita from its Brahmana (the Shatapatha Brahmana), the Black Yajurveda intersperses the Samhita with Brahmana commentary. Of the Black Yajurveda, texts from four major schools have survived (Maitrayani, Katha, Kapisthala-Katha, Taittiriya), while of the White Yajurveda, two (Kanva and Madhyandina).[166][167] The youngest layer of Yajurveda text is not related to rituals nor sacrifice, it includes the largest collection of primary Upanishads, influential to various schools of Hindu philosophy.[168][169] Atharvaveda Main article: Atharvaveda The Artharvaveda Samhita is the text 'belonging to the Atharvan and Angirasa poets. It has about 760 hymns, and about 160 of the hymns are in common with the Rigveda.[170] Most of the verses are metrical, but some sections are in prose.[170] Two different versions of the text – the Paippalāda and the Śaunakīya – have survived into the modern times.[170][171] The Atharvaveda was not considered as a Veda in the Vedic era, and was accepted as a Veda in late 1st millennium BCE.[172][173] It was compiled last,[174] probably around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rigveda,[2] or earlier.[170] The Atharvaveda is sometimes called the "Veda of magical formulas",[175] an epithet declared to be incorrect by other scholars.[176] The Samhita layer of the text likely represents a developing 2nd millennium BCE tradition of magico-religious rites to address superstitious anxiety, spells to remove maladies believed to be caused by demons, and herbs- and nature-derived potions as medicine.[177][178] The text, states Kenneth Zysk, is one of oldest surviving record of the evolutionary practices in religious medicine and reveals the "earliest forms of folk healing of Indo-European antiquity".[179] Many books of the Atharvaveda Samhita are dedicated to rituals without magic, such as to philosophical speculations and to theosophy.[176] The Atharva veda has been a primary source for information about Vedic culture, the customs and beliefs, the aspirations and frustrations of everyday Vedic life, as well as those associated with kings and governance. The text also includes hymns dealing with the two major rituals of passage – marriage and cremation. The Atharva Veda also dedicates significant portion of the text asking the meaning of a ritual.[180] Embedded Vedic texts Manuscripts of the Vedas are in the Sanskrit language, but in many regional scripts in addition to the Devanagari. Top: Grantha script (Tamil Nadu), Below: Malayalam script (Kerala). Brahmanas Further information: Brahmana The Brahmanas are commentaries, explanation of proper methods and meaning of Vedic Samhita rituals in the four Vedas.[36] They also incorporate myths, legends and in some cases philosophy.[36][37] Each regional Vedic shakha (school) has its own operating manual-like Brahmana text, most of which have been lost.[181] A total of 19 Brahmana texts have survived into modern times: two associated with the Rigveda, six with the Yajurveda, ten with the Samaveda and one with the Atharvaveda. The oldest dated to about 900 BCE, while the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BCE.[38][39] According to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the Brahmanas took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE).[182] The substance of the Brahmana text varies with each Veda. For example, the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana, one of the oldest Brahmanas, includes eight ritual suktas (hymns) for the ceremony of marriage and rituals at the birth of a child.[183][184] The first hymn is a recitation that accompanies offering a Yajna oblation to Agni (fire) on the occasion of a marriage, and the hymn prays for prosperity of the couple getting married.[183][185] The second hymn wishes for their long life, kind relatives, and a numerous progeny.[183] The third hymn is a mutual marriage pledge, between the bride and groom, by which the two bind themselves to each other. The sixth through last hymns of the first chapter in Chandogya Brahmana are ritual celebrations on the birth of a child and wishes for health, wealth, and prosperity with a profusion of cows and artha.[183] However, these verses are incomplete expositions, and their complete context emerges only with the Samhita layer of text.[186] Aranyakas and Upanishads Further information: Vedanta, Upanishads, and Aranyaka The Aranyakas layer of the Vedas include rituals, discussion of symbolic meta-rituals, as well as philosophical speculations.[14][40] Aranyakas, however, neither are homogeneous in content nor in structure.[40] They are a medley of instructions and ideas, and some include chapters of Upanishads within them. Two theories have been proposed on the origin of the word Aranyakas. One theory holds that these texts were meant to be studied in a forest, while the other holds that the name came from these being the manuals of allegorical interpretation of sacrifices, for those in Vanaprastha (retired, forest-dwelling) stage of their life, according to the historic age-based Ashrama system of human life.[187] The Upanishads reflect the last composed layer of texts in the Vedas. They are commonly referred to as Vedānta, variously interpreted to mean either the "last chapters, parts of the Vedas" or "the object, the highest purpose of the Veda".[188] The central concern of the Upanishads are the connections "between parts of the human organism and cosmic realities."[189] The Upanishads intend to create a hierarchy of connected and dependent realities, evoking a sense of unity of "the separate elements of the world and of human experience [compressing] them into a single form."[190] The concepts of Brahman, the Ultimate Reality from which everything arises, and Ātman, the essence of the individual, are central ideas in the Upanishads,[191][192] and knowing the correspondence between Ātman and Brahman as "the fundamental principle which shapes the world" permits the creation of an integrative vision of the whole.[190][192] The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions,[43][193] and of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads have influenced the diverse traditions of Hinduism.[43][194] Aranyakas are sometimes identified as karma-kanda (ritualistic section), while the Upanishads are identified as jnana-kanda (spirituality section).[48][49][50][note 5] In an alternate classification, the early part of Vedas are called Samhitas and the commentary are called the Brahmanas which together are identified as the ceremonial karma-kanda, while Aranyakas and Upanishads are referred to as the jnana-kanda.[51] Post-Vedic literature Vedanga Main article: Vedanga The Vedangas developed towards the end of the vedic period, around or after the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. These auxiliary fields of Vedic studies emerged because the language of the Vedas,[195] composed centuries earlier, became too archaic to the people of that time.[196] The Vedangas were sciences that focused on helping understand and interpret the Vedas that had been composed many centuries earlier.[196] The six subjects of Vedanga are phonetics (Śikṣā), poetic meter (Chandas), grammar (Vyākaraṇa), etymology and linguistics (Nirukta), rituals and rites of passage (Kalpa), time keeping and astronomy (Jyotiṣa).[197][198][199] Vedangas developed as ancillary studies for the Vedas, but its insights into meters, structure of sound and language, grammar, linguistic analysis and other subjects influenced post-Vedic studies, arts, culture and various schools of Hindu philosophy.[200][201][202] The Kalpa Vedanga studies, for example, gave rise to the Dharma-sutras, which later expanded into Dharma-shastras.[196][203] Parisista Main article: Pariśiṣṭa Pariśiṣṭa "supplement, appendix" is the term applied to various ancillary works of Vedic literature, dealing mainly with details of ritual and elaborations of the texts logically and chronologically prior to them: the Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Sutras. Naturally classified with the Veda to which each pertains, Parisista works exist for each of the four Vedas. However, only the literature associated with the Atharvaveda is extensive. The Āśvalāyana Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a very late text associated with the Rigveda canon. The Gobhila Gṛhya Pariśiṣṭa is a short metrical text of two chapters, with 113 and 95 verses respectively. The Kātiya Pariśiṣṭas, ascribed to Kātyāyana, consist of 18 works enumerated self-referentially in the fifth of the series (the Caraṇavyūha) and the Kātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa. The Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda has 3 parisistas The Āpastamba Hautra Pariśiṣṭa, which is also found as the second praśna of the Satyasāḍha Śrauta Sūtra', the Vārāha Śrauta Sūtra Pariśiṣṭa For the Atharvaveda, there are 79 works, collected as 72 distinctly named parisistas.[204] Upaveda The term upaveda ("applied knowledge") is used in traditional literature to designate the subjects of certain technical works.[205][206] Lists of what subjects are included in this class differ among sources. The Charanavyuha mentions four Upavedas:[207] Archery (Dhanurveda), associated with the Yajurveda Architecture (Sthapatyaveda), associated with the Rigveda. Music and sacred dance (Gāndharvaveda), associated with the Samaveda Medicine (Āyurveda), associated with the Atharvaveda.[208][209] "Fifth" and other Vedas Some post-Vedic texts, including the Mahabharata, the Natyasastra[210] and certain Puranas, refer to themselves as the "fifth Veda".[211] The earliest reference to such a "fifth Veda" is found in the Chandogya Upanishad in hymn 7.1.2.[212] Let drama and dance (Nātya, नाट्य) be the fifth vedic scripture. Combined with an epic story, tending to virtue, wealth, joy and spiritual freedom, it must contain the significance of every scripture, and forward every art. Thus, from all the Vedas, Brahma framed the Nātya Veda. From the Rig Veda he drew forth the words, from the Sama Veda the melody, from the Yajur Veda gesture, and from the Atharva Veda the sentiment. — First chapter of Nātyaśāstra, Abhinaya Darpana [213][214] "Divya Prabandha", for example Tiruvaymoli, is a term for canonical Tamil texts considered as Vernacular Veda by some South Indian Hindus.[215][216] Other texts such as the Bhagavad Gita or the Vedanta Sutras are considered shruti or "Vedic" by some Hindu denominations but not universally within Hinduism. The Bhakti movement, and Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular extended the term veda to include the Sanskrit Epics and Vaishnavite devotional texts such as the Pancharatra.[217] Puranas Main article: Puranas The Puranas is a vast genre of encyclopedic Indian literature about a wide range of topics particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore.[218] Several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.[219][220] There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses.[218] The Puranas have been influential in the Hindu culture.[221][222] They are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature).[223] The Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated and popular text in the Puranic genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor.[224][225] The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedanta themes in the Maha Puranas.[226] Vedas in Sangam literature Vedas finds its earliest literary mention in the Sangam literature dated to the 5th century BCE. The Vedas were read by almost every caste in ancient Tamil Nadu. An Indian historian, archaeologist and epigraphist named Ramachandran Nagaswamy mentions that Tamil Nadu was a land of Vedas and a place where everyone knew the Vedas.[227] The Vedas are also considered as a text filled with deep meaning which can be understood only by scholars.[228] The Purananuru mentions that the ancestors of Velir kings where born from the Sacred fire of a Northern sage[229] and the Paṭṭiṉappālai mentions that the four Vedas were chanted by the priests of Ancient Tamilakam,[230] this shows chanting of Vedas and growing sacred fires are part of the Tamil culture. Vedas are called Maṛai or Vaymoli in parts of South India. Marai literally means "hidden, a secret, mystery". Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai mentions a yupa post (a form of Vedic altar) in the Brahmin village.[231] Vedas are recited by these Brahmins, and even their parrots are mentioned in the poem as those who sing the Vedic hymns. People in these Vedic villages did not eat meat, nor raise fowls. They ate rice, salad leaves boiled in ghee, pickles and vegetables.[232][233] Apart from the Sanskrit Vedas there are other texts like Naalayira Divya Prabandham and Tevaram called as Tamil Veda and Dravida Veda.[234][215] Authority of the Vedas The various Hindu sects and Indian philosophies have taken differing positions on the authority of the Vedas. Schools of Indian philosophy which acknowledge the authority of the Vedas are classified as "orthodox" (āstika).[note 23] Other śramaṇa traditions, such as Charvaka, Ajivika, Buddhism and Jainism, which did not regard the Vedas as authorities, are referred to as "heterodox" or "non-orthodox" (nāstika) schools.[15][27] Certain traditions which are often seen as being part of Hinduism also rejected the Vedas. For example, authors of the tantric Vaishnava Sahajiya tradition, like Siddha Mukundadeva, rejected the Vedas' authority.[236] Likewise, some tantric Shaiva Agamas reject the Vedas. The Anandabhairava-tantra for example, states that "the wise man should not elect as his authority the word of the Vedas, which is full of impurity, produces but scanty and transitory fruits and is limited."[237] Though many religious Hindus implicitly acknowledge the authority of the Vedas, this acknowledgment is often "no more than a declaration that someone considers himself [or herself] a Hindu,"[238][note 24] and "most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text."[239] Some Hindus challenge the authority of the Vedas, thereby implicitly acknowledging its importance to the history of Hinduism, states Lipner.[240] Hindu reform movement such as Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj accepted the authority of Vedas,[241] while the authority of the Vedas has been rejected by Hindu modernists like Debendranath Tagore and Keshub Chandra Sen;[242] and also by social reformers like B. R. Ambedkar.[243] Western Indology Further information: Sanskrit studies The study of Sanskrit in the West began in the 17th century. In the early 19th century, Arthur Schopenhauer drew attention to Vedic texts, specifically the Upanishads. The importance of Vedic Sanskrit for Indo-European studies was also recognized in the early 19th century. English translations of the Samhitas were published in the later 19th century, in the Sacred Books of the East series edited by Müller between 1879 and 1910.[244] Ralph T. H. Griffith also presented English translations of the four Samhitas, published 1889 to 1899. Rigveda manuscripts were selected for inscription in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.[245] The Upanishads (/ʊˈpʌnɪʃədz/;[1] Sanskrit: उपनिषद्, IAST: Upaniṣad, pronounced [ˈʊpɐnɪʂɐd]) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions"[2] and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hinduism.[2][note 1] They are the most recent addition to the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, and deal with meditation, philosophy, consciousness, and ontological knowledge. Earlier parts of the Vedas dealt with mantras, benedictions, rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices.[3][4][5] While among the most important literature in the history of Indian religions and culture, the Upanishads document a wide variety of "rites, incantations, and esoteric knowledge"[6] departing from Vedic ritualism and interpreted in various ways in the later commentarial traditions. The Upanishads are widely known, and their diverse ideas, interpreted in various ways, informed later traditions of Hinduism.[note 1] The central concern of all Upanishads is to discover the relations between ritual, cosmic realities (including gods), and the human body/person,[7] postulating Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe,"[8][9][10] but various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found.[10][note 2] Around 108 Upanishads are known, of which the first dozen or so are the oldest and most important and are referred to as the principal or main (mukhya) Upanishads.[11][12] The mukhya Upanishads are found mostly in the concluding part of the Brahmanas and Aranyakas[13] and were, for centuries, memorized by each generation and passed down orally. The mukhya Upanishads predate the Common Era, but there is no scholarly consensus on their date, or even on which ones are pre- or post-Buddhist. The Brhadaranyaka is seen as particularly ancient by modern scholars.[14][15][16] Of the remainder, 95 Upanishads are part of the Muktikā canon, composed from about the last centuries of 1st-millennium BCE through about 15th-century CE.[17][18] New Upanishads, beyond the 108 in the Muktika canon, continued to be composed through the early modern and modern era,[19] though often dealing with subjects that are unconnected to the Vedas.[20] The mukhya Upanishads, along with the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutra (known collectively as the Prasthanatrayi),[21] are interpreted in divergent ways in the several later schools of Vedanta.[10][note 3][22] With the translation of the Upanishads in the early 19th century they started to attract attention from a Western audience. German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was deeply impressed by the Upanishads and called them "the most profitable and elevating reading which ... is possible in the world."[23] Modern era Indologists have discussed the similarities between the fundamental concepts in the Upanishads and the works of major Western philosophers.[24][25][26] Etymology The Sanskrit term Upaniṣad originally meant “connection” or “equivalence",[27] but came to be understood as "sitting near a teacher,"[27] from upa "by" and ni-ṣad "sit down",[28] "sitting down near", referring to the student sitting down near the teacher while receiving spiritual knowledge (Gurumukh).[29] Other dictionary meanings include "esoteric doctrine" and "secret doctrine". Monier-Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary notes – "According to native authorities, Upanishad means setting to rest ignorance by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit."[30] Adi Shankaracharya explains in his commentary on the Kaṭha and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that the word means Ātmavidyā, that is, "knowledge of the self", or Brahmavidyā "knowledge of Brahman". The word appears in the verses of many Upanishads, such as the fourth verse of the 13th volume in the first chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad. Max Müller as well as Paul Deussen translate the word Upanishad in these verses as "secret doctrine",[31][32] Robert Hume translates it as "mystic meaning",[33] while Patrick Olivelle translates it as "hidden connections".[34] Development Authorship The authorship of most Upanishads is unknown. Radhakrishnan states, "almost all the early literature of India was anonymous, we do not know the names of the authors of the Upanishads".[35] The ancient Upanishads are embedded in the Vedas, the oldest of Hinduism's religious scriptures, which some traditionally consider to be apauruṣeya, which means "not of a man, superhuman"[36] and "impersonal, authorless".[37][38][39] The Vedic texts assert that they were skillfully created by Rishis (sages), after inspired creativity, just as a carpenter builds a chariot.[40] The various philosophical theories in the early Upanishads have been attributed to famous sages such as Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka Aruni, Shvetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Balaki, Pippalada, and Sanatkumara.[35][41] Women, such as Maitreyi and Gargi, participate in the dialogues and are also credited in the early Upanishads.[42] There are some exceptions to the anonymous tradition of the Upanishads. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad, for example, includes closing credits to sage Shvetashvatara, and he is considered the author of the Upanishad.[43] Many scholars believe that early Upanishads were interpolated[44] and expanded over time. There are differences within manuscripts of the same Upanishad discovered in different parts of South Asia, differences in non-Sanskrit version of the texts that have survived, and differences within each text in terms of meter,[45] style, grammar and structure.[46][47] The existing texts are believed to be the work of many authors.[48] Chronology Scholars are uncertain about when the Upanishads were composed.[49] The chronology of the early Upanishads is difficult to resolve, states philosopher and Sanskritist Stephen Phillips,[11] because all opinions rest on scanty evidence and analysis of archaism, style and repetitions across texts, and are driven by assumptions about likely evolution of ideas, and presumptions about which philosophy might have influenced which other Indian philosophies. Indologist Patrick Olivelle says that "in spite of claims made by some, in reality, any dating of these documents [early Upanishads] that attempts a precision closer than a few centuries is as stable as a house of cards".[14] Some scholars have tried to analyse similarities between Hindu Upanishads and Buddhist literature to establish chronology for the Upanishads.[15] Precise dates are impossible, and most scholars give only broad ranges encompassing various centuries. Gavin Flood states that "the Upanisads are not a homogeneous group of texts. Even the older texts were composed over a wide expanse of time from about 600 to 300 BCE."[50] Stephen Phillips places the early or "principal" Upanishads in the 800 to 300 BCE range.[11] Patrick Olivelle, a Sanskrit Philologist and Indologist, gives the following chronology for the early Upanishads, also called the Principal Upanishads:[49][14] The Brhadaranyaka and the Chandogya are the two earliest Upanishads. They are edited texts, some of whose sources are much older than others. The two texts are pre-Buddhist; they may be placed in the 7th to 6th centuries BCE, give or take a century or so.[51][15] The three other early prose Upanisads—Taittiriya, Aitareya, and Kausitaki come next; all are probably pre-Buddhist and can be assigned to the 6th to 5th centuries BCE.[52] The Kena is the oldest of the verse Upanisads followed by probably the Katha, Isa, Svetasvatara, and Mundaka. All these Upanisads were composed probably in the last few centuries BCE.[53] According to Olivelle, "All exhibit strong theistic tendencies and are probably the earliest literary products of the theistic tradition, whose later literature includes the Bhagavad Gita and the Puranas."[54] The two late prose Upanisads, the Prasna and the Mandukya, cannot be much older than the beginning of the common era.[49][14] Meanwhile, the Indologist Johannes Bronkhorst argues for a later date for the Upanishads than has generally been accepted. Bronkhorst places even the oldest of the Upanishads, such as the Brhadaranyaka as possibly still being composed at "a date close to Katyayana and Patañjali [the grammarian]" (i.e., c. 2nd century BCE).[16] The later Upanishads, numbering about 95, also called minor Upanishads, are dated from the late 1st-millennium BCE to mid 2nd-millennium CE.[17] Gavin Flood dates many of the twenty Yoga Upanishads to be probably from the 100 BCE to 300 CE period.[18] Patrick Olivelle and other scholars date seven of the twenty Sannyasa Upanishads to likely have been complete sometime between the last centuries of the 1st-millennium BCE to 300 CE.[17] About half of the Sannyasa Upanishads were likely composed in 14th- to 15th-century CE.[17] Geography Geography of the Late Vedic Period The general area of the composition of the early Upanishads is considered as northern India. The region is bounded on the west by the upper Indus valley, on the east by lower Ganges region, on the north by the Himalayan foothills, and on the south by the Vindhya mountain range.[14] Scholars are reasonably sure that the early Upanishads were produced at the geographical center of ancient Brahmanism, Kuru-Panchala, and Kosala-Videha, a "frontier region" of Brahmanism, together with the areas immediately to the south and west of these.[55] This region covers modern Bihar, Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, eastern Rajasthan, and northern Madhya Pradesh.[14] While significant attempts have been made recently to identify the exact locations of the individual Upanishads, the results are tentative. Witzel identifies the center of activity in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as the area of Videha, whose king, Janaka, features prominently in the Upanishad.[56] The Chandogya Upanishad was probably composed in a more western than eastern location in the Indian subcontinent, possibly somewhere in the western region of the Kuru-Panchala country.[57] Compared to the Principal Upanishads, the new Upanishads recorded in the Muktikā belong to an entirely different region, probably southern India, and are considerably relatively recent.[58] In the fourth chapter of the Kaushitaki Upanishad, a location named Kashi (modern Varanasi) is mentioned.[14] Classification Muktika canon: major and minor Upanishads There are more than 200 known Upanishads, one of which, the Muktikā Upanishad, predates 1656 CE[59] and contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads,[60] including itself as the last. These are further divided into Upanishads associated with Shaktism (goddess Shakti), Sannyasa (renunciation, monastic life), Shaivism (god Shiva), Vaishnavism (god Vishnu), Yoga, and Sāmānya (general, sometimes referred to as Samanya-Vedanta).[61][62] Some of the Upanishads are categorized as "sectarian" since they present their ideas through a particular god or goddess of a specific Hindu tradition such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, or a combination of these such as the Skanda Upanishad. These traditions sought to link their texts as Vedic, by asserting their texts to be an Upanishad, thereby a Śruti.[63] Most of these sectarian Upanishads, for example the Rudrahridaya Upanishad and the Mahanarayana Upanishad, assert that all the Hindu gods and goddesses are the same, all an aspect and manifestation of Brahman, the Vedic concept for metaphysical ultimate reality before and after the creation of the Universe.[64][65] Principal Upanishads Main article: Principal Upanishads The Principal Upanishads, also known as the Mukhya Upanishads, can be grouped into periods. Of the early periods are the Brihadaranyaka and the Chandogya, the oldest.[66][note 4] A page of Isha Upanishad manuscript The Aitareya, Kauṣītaki and Taittirīya Upanishads may date to as early as the mid-1st millennium BCE, while the remnant date from between roughly the 4th to 1st centuries BCE, roughly contemporary with the earliest portions of the Sanskrit epics. One chronology assumes that the Aitareya, Taittiriya, Kausitaki, Mundaka, Prasna, and Katha Upanishads has Buddha's influence, and is consequently placed after the 5th century BCE, while another proposal questions this assumption and dates it independent of Buddha's date of birth. The Kena, Mandukya, and Isa Upanishads are typically placed after these Principal Upanishads, but other scholars date these differently. [15] Not much is known about the authors except for those, like Yajnavalkayva and Uddalaka, mentioned in the texts.[13] A few women discussants, such as Gargi and Maitreyi, the wife of Yajnavalkayva,[68] also feature occasionally. Each of the principal Upanishads can be associated with one of the schools of exegesis of the four Vedas (shakhas).[69] Many Shakhas are said to have existed, of which only a few remain. The new Upanishads often have little relation to the Vedic corpus and have not been cited or commented upon by any great Vedanta philosopher: their language differs from that of the classic Upanishads, being less subtle and more formalized. As a result, they are not difficult to comprehend for the modern reader.[70] Veda-Shakha-Upanishad association Veda Recension Shakha Principal Upanishad Rig Veda Only one recension Shakala Aitareya Sama Veda Only one recension Kauthuma Chāndogya Jaiminiya Kena Ranayaniya Yajur Veda Krishna Yajur Veda Katha Kaṭha Taittiriya Taittirīya Maitrayani Hiranyakeshi (Kapishthala) Kathaka Shukla Yajur Veda Vajasaneyi Madhyandina Isha and Bṛhadāraṇyaka Kanva Shakha Atharva Veda Two recensions Shaunaka Māṇḍūkya and Muṇḍaka Paippalada Prashna Upanishad New Upanishads There is no fixed list of the Upanishads as newer ones, beyond the Muktika anthology of 108 Upanishads, have continued to be discovered and composed.[71] In 1908, for example, four previously unknown Upanishads were discovered in newly found manuscripts, and these were named Bashkala, Chhagaleya, Arsheya, and Saunaka, by Friedrich Schrader,[72] who attributed them to the first prose period of the Upanishads.[73] The text of three of them, namely the Chhagaleya, Arsheya, and Saunaka, were incomplete and inconsistent, likely poorly maintained or corrupted.[73] Ancient Upanishads have long enjoyed a revered position in Hindu traditions, and authors of numerous sectarian texts have tried to benefit from this reputation by naming their texts as Upanishads.[74] These "new Upanishads" number in the hundreds, cover diverse range of topics from physiology[75] to renunciation[76] to sectarian theories.[74] They were composed between the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the early modern era (~1600 CE).[74][76] While over two dozen of the minor Upanishads are dated to pre-3rd century CE,[17][18] many of these new texts under the title of "Upanishads" originated in the first half of the 2nd millennium CE,[74] they are not Vedic texts, and some do not deal with themes found in the Vedic Upanishads.[20] The main Shakta Upanishads, for example, mostly discuss doctrinal and interpretative differences between the two principal sects of a major Tantric form of Shaktism called Shri Vidya upasana. The many extant lists of authentic Shakta Upaniṣads vary, reflecting the sect of their compilers, so that they yield no evidence of their "location" in Tantric tradition, impeding correct interpretation. The Tantra content of these texts also weaken its identity as an Upaniṣad for non-Tantrikas. Sectarian texts such as these do not enjoy status as shruti and thus the authority of the new Upanishads as scripture is not accepted in Hinduism.[77] Association with Vedas All Upanishads are associated with one of the four Vedas—Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda (there are two primary versions or Samhitas of the Yajurveda: Shukla Yajurveda, Krishna Yajurveda), and Atharvaveda.[78] During the modern era, the ancient Upanishads that were embedded texts in the Vedas, were detached from the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic text, compiled into separate texts and these were then gathered into anthologies of the Upanishads.[74] These lists associated each Upanishad with one of the four Vedas, many such lists exist, and these lists are inconsistent across India in terms of which Upanishads are included and how the newer Upanishads are assigned to the ancient Vedas. In south India, the collected list based on Muktika Upanishad,[note 5] and published in Telugu language, became the most common by the 19th-century and this is a list of 108 Upanishads.[74][79] In north India, a list of 52 Upanishads has been most common.[74] The Muktikā Upanishad's list of 108 Upanishads groups the first 13 as mukhya,[80][note 6] 21 as Sāmānya Vedānta, 20 as Sannyāsa,[84] 14 as Vaishnava, 12 as Shaiva, 8 as Shakta, and 20 as Yoga.[85] The 108 Upanishads as recorded in the Muktikā are shown in the table below.[78] The mukhya Upanishads are the most important and highlighted.[82] Veda-Upanishad association Veda Number[78] Mukhya[80] Sāmānya Sannyāsa[84] Śākta[86] Vaiṣṇava[87] Śaiva[88] Yoga[85] Ṛigveda 10 Aitareya, Kauśītāki Ātmabodha, Mudgala Nirvāṇa Tripura, Saubhāgya-lakshmi, Bahvṛca - Akṣamālika Nādabindu Sāmaveda 16 Chāndogya, Kena Vajrasūchi, Maha, Sāvitrī Āruṇi, Maitreya, Brhat-Sannyāsa, Kuṇḍika (Laghu-Sannyāsa) - Vāsudeva, Avyakta Rudrākṣa, Jābāli Yogachūḍāmaṇi, Darśana Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda 32 Taittiriya, Katha, Śvetāśvatara, Maitrāyaṇi[note 7] Sarvasāra, Śukarahasya, Skanda, Garbha, Śārīraka, Ekākṣara, Akṣi Brahma, (Laghu, Brhad) Avadhūta, Kaṭhasruti Sarasvatī-rahasya Nārāyaṇa, Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa, Mahānārāyaṇa (Tripād vibhuti), Kaivalya, Kālāgnirudra, Dakṣiṇāmūrti, Rudrahṛdaya, Pañcabrahma Amṛtabindu, Tejobindu, Amṛtanāda, Kṣurika, Dhyānabindu, Brahmavidyā, Yogatattva, Yogaśikhā, Yogakuṇḍalini, Varāha Śukla Yajurveda 19 Bṛhadāraṇyaka, Īśa Subala, Mantrika, Niralamba, Paingala, Adhyatma, Muktikā Jābāla, Bhikṣuka, Turīyātītavadhuta, Yājñavalkya, Śāṭyāyaniya - Tārasāra - Advayatāraka, Haṃsa, Triśikhi, Maṇḍalabrāhmaṇa Atharvaveda 31 Muṇḍaka, Māṇḍūkya, Praśna Ātmā, Sūrya, Prāṇāgnihotra[90] Āśrama, Nārada-parivrājaka, Paramahamsa, Paramahaṃsa parivrājaka, Parabrahma Sītā, Devī, Tripurātapini, Bhāvana Nṛsiṃhatāpanī, Rāmarahasya, Rāmatāpaṇi, Gopālatāpani, Kṛṣṇa, Hayagrīva, Dattātreya, Gāruḍa Atharvasiras,[91] Atharvaśikha, Bṛhajjābāla, Śarabha, Bhasma, Gaṇapati Śāṇḍilya, Pāśupata, Mahāvākya Total Upaniṣads 108 13[note 6] 21 18 8 14 14 20 Philosophy See also: Vedanta Impact of a drop of water, a common analogy for Brahman and the Ātman The central concern of all Upanishads is to discover the relations between ritual, cosmic realities (including gods), and the human body/person,[7] postulating Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe,"[8][9][10] but various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found.[10][note 2] The Upanishadic reflect a pluralism of worldviews. While some Upanishads have been deemed 'monistic', others, including the Katha Upanishad, are dualistic.[92] The Maitri is one of the Upanishads that inclines more toward dualism, thus grounding classical Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hinduism, in contrast to the non-dualistic Upanishads at the foundation of its Vedanta school.[93] They contain a plurality of ideas.[94][note 2] The Upanishads include sections on philosophical theories that have been at the foundation of Indian traditions. For example, the Chandogya Upanishad includes one of the earliest known declarations of Ahimsa (non-violence) as an ethical precept.[95][96] Discussion of other ethical premises such as Damah (temperance, self-restraint), Satya (truthfulness), Dāna (charity), Ārjava (non-hypocrisy), Daya (compassion), and others are found in the oldest Upanishads and many later Upanishads.[97][98] Similarly, the Karma doctrine is presented in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which is the oldest Upanishad.[99] Development of thought Part of a series on Hindu philosophy Orthodox SamkhyaYogaNyayaVaisheshikaMimamsaVedanta Heterodox CharvakaĀjīvikaBuddhismJainismAjñana Sub-schools Teachers (Acharyas) Major texts Hinduism Other Indian philosophies vte While the hymns of the Vedas emphasize rituals and the Brahmanas serve as a liturgical manual for those Vedic rituals, the spirit of the Upanishads is inherently opposed to ritual.[100] The older Upanishads launch attacks of increasing intensity on the ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than the self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Chāndogya Upanishad parodies those who indulge in the acts of sacrifice by comparing them with a procession of dogs chanting Om! Let's eat. Om! Let's drink.[100] The Kaushitaki Upanishad asserts that "external rituals such as Agnihotram offered in the morning and in the evening, must be replaced with inner Agnihotram, the ritual of introspection", and that "not rituals, but knowledge should be one's pursuit".[101] The Mundaka Upanishad declares how man has been called upon, promised benefits for, scared unto and misled into performing sacrifices, oblations and pious works.[102] Mundaka thereafter asserts this is foolish and frail, by those who encourage it and those who follow it, because it makes no difference to man's current life and after-life, it is like blind men leading the blind, it is a mark of conceit and vain knowledge, ignorant inertia like that of children, a futile useless practice.[102][103] The Maitri Upanishad states,[104] The performance of all the sacrifices, described in the Maitrayana-Brahmana, is to lead up in the end to a knowledge of Brahman, to prepare a man for meditation. Therefore, let such man, after he has laid those fires,[105] meditate on the Self, to become complete and perfect. But who is to be meditated on? — Maitri Upanishad[106][107] The opposition to the ritual is not explicit in the oldest Upanishads. On occasions, the Upanishads extend the task of the Aranyakas by making the ritual allegorical and giving it a philosophical meaning. For example, the Brihadaranyaka interprets the practice of horse-sacrifice or ashvamedha allegorically. It states that the over-lordship of the earth may be acquired by sacrificing a horse. It then goes on to say that spiritual autonomy can only be achieved by renouncing the universe which is conceived in the image of a horse.[100] In similar fashion, Vedic gods such as the Agni, Aditya, Indra, Rudra, Visnu, Brahma, and others become equated in the Upanishads to the supreme, immortal, and incorporeal Brahman-Atman of the Upanishads, god becomes synonymous with self, and is declared to be everywhere, inmost being of each human being and within every living creature.[108][109][110] The one reality or ekam sat of the Vedas becomes the ekam eva advitiyam or "the one and only and sans a second" in the Upanishads.[100] Brahman-Atman and self-realization develops, in the Upanishad, as the means to moksha (liberation; freedom in this life or after-life).[110][111][112] According to Jayatilleke, the thinkers of Upanishadic texts can be grouped into two categories.[113] One group, which includes early Upanishads along with some middle and late Upanishads, were composed by metaphysicians who used rational arguments and empirical experience to formulate their speculations and philosophical premises. The second group includes many middle and later Upanishads, where their authors professed theories based on yoga and personal experiences.[113] Yoga philosophy and practice, adds Jayatilleke, is "not entirely absent in the Early Upanishads".[113] The development of thought in these Upanishadic theories contrasted with Buddhism, since the Upanishadic inquiry fails to find an empirical correlate of the assumed Atman, but nevertheless assumes its existence,[114] "[reifying] consciousness as an eternal self."[115] The Buddhist inquiry "is satisfied with the empirical investigation which shows that no such Atman exists because there is no evidence," states Jayatilleke.[114] Atman and Brahman Main articles: Ātman (Hinduism) and Brahman The Upanishads postulate Ātman and Brahman as the "summit of the hierarchically arranged and interconnected universe."[8][9][10] Both have multiple meanings,[116] and various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found.[10][note 2] Atman has "a wide range of lexical meanings, including ‘breath’, ‘spirit’, and ‘body’."[117] In the Upanishads it refers to the body, but also to the essence of the concrete physical human body,[8] "an essence, a life-force, consciousness, or ultimate reality."[117] The Chāndogya Upaniṣhad (6.1-16) "offers an organic understanding of ātman, characterizing the self in terms of the life force that animates all living beings," while the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣhad "characterizes ātman more in terms of consciousness than as a life-giving essence."[117] Brahman may refer to a "formulation of truth," but also to "the ultimate and basic essence of the cosmos," standing at the "summit of the hierarchical scheme, or at the bottom as the ultimate foundation of all things."[116] Brahman is "beyond the reach of human perception and thought."[118] Atman likewise has multiple meanings, one of them being 'self', the inner essence of a human body/person.[119][120][note 8] Various ideas about the relation between Atman and Brahman can be found.[10][note 2] Two distinct, somewhat divergent themes stand out. Older upanishads state that Atman is part of Brahman but not identical, while younger Upanishads state that Brahman (Highest Reality, Universal Principle, Being-Consciousness-Bliss) is identical with Atman.[121][122] The Brahmasutra by Badarayana (c. 100 BCE) synthesized and unified these somewhat conflicting theories. According to Nakamura, the Brahmasutras see Atman and Brahman as both different and not-different, a point of view which came to be called bhedabheda in later times.[123] According to Koller, the Brahmasutras state that Atman and Brahman are different in some respects particularly during the state of ignorance, but at the deepest level and in the state of self-realization, Atman and Brahman are identical, non-different.[121] This ancient debate flowered into various dual, non-dual theories in Hinduism. Reality and Maya Main article: Maya (illusion) Two different types of the non-dual Brahman-Atman are presented in the Upanishads, according to Mahadevan. The one in which the non-dual Brahman-Atman is the all-inclusive ground of the universe and another in which empirical, changing reality is an appearance (Maya).[124] The Upanishads describe the universe, and the human experience, as an interplay of Purusha (the eternal, unchanging principles, consciousness) and Prakṛti (the temporary, changing material world, nature).[125] The former manifests itself as Ātman (soul, self), and the latter as Māyā. The Upanishads refer to the knowledge of Atman as "true knowledge" (Vidya), and the knowledge of Maya as "not true knowledge" (Avidya, Nescience, lack of awareness, lack of true knowledge).[126] Hendrick Vroom explains, "the term Maya [in the Upanishads] has been translated as 'illusion,' but then it does not concern normal illusion. Here 'illusion' does not mean that the world is not real and simply a figment of the human imagination. Maya means that the world is not as it seems; the world that one experiences is misleading as far as its true nature is concerned."[127] According to Wendy Doniger, "to say that the universe is an illusion (māyā) is not to say that it is unreal; it is to say, instead, that it is not what it seems to be, that it is something constantly being made. Māyā not only deceives people about the things they think they know; more basically, it limits their knowledge."[128] In the Upanishads, Māyā is the perceived changing reality and it co-exists with Brahman which is the hidden true reality.[129][130] Maya, or "illusion", is an important idea in the Upanishads, because the texts assert that in the human pursuit of blissful and liberating self-knowledge, it is Maya which obscures, confuses and distracts an individual.[131][132] Schools of Vedanta Main article: Vedanta Adi Shankara, expounder of Advaita Vedanta and commentator (bhashya) on the Upanishads The Upanishads form one of the three main sources for all schools of Vedanta, together with the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutras.[133] Due to the wide variety of philosophical teachings contained in the Upanishads, various interpretations could be grounded on the Upanishads.[note 2][note 9] The schools of Vedānta seek to answer questions about the relation between atman and Brahman, and the relation between Brahman and the world.[134] The schools of Vedanta are named after the relation they see between atman and Brahman:[135] According to Advaita Vedanta, there is no difference.[135] According to Vishishtadvaita the jīvātman is a part of Brahman, and hence is similar, but not identical. According to Dvaita, all individual souls (jīvātmans) and matter as eternal and mutually separate entities. Other schools of Vedanta include Nimbarka's Dvaitadvaita, Vallabha's Suddhadvaita, and Chaitanya's Acintya Bhedabheda.[136] The philosopher Adi Shankara has provided commentaries on 11 mukhya Upanishads.[137] Advaita Vedanta Advaita literally means non-duality, and it is a monistic system of thought.[138] It deals with the non-dual nature of Brahman and Atman. Advaita is considered the most influential sub-school of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.[138] Gaudapada was the first person to expound the basic principles of the Advaita philosophy in a commentary on the conflicting statements of the Upanishads.[139] Gaudapada's Advaita ideas were further developed by Shankara (8th century CE).[140][141] King states that Gaudapada's main work, Māṇḍukya Kārikā, is infused with philosophical terminology of Buddhism, and uses Buddhist arguments and analogies.[142] King also suggests that there are clear differences between Shankara's writings and the Brahmasutra,[140][141] and many ideas of Shankara are at odds with those in the Upanishads.[143] Radhakrishnan, on the other hand, suggests that Shankara's views of Advaita were straightforward developments of the Upanishads and the Brahmasutra,[144] and many ideas of Shankara derive from the Upanishads.[145] Shankara in his discussions of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy referred to the early Upanishads to explain the key difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, stating that Hinduism asserts that Atman (soul, self) exists, whereas Buddhism asserts that there is no soul, no self.[146][147][148] The Upanishads contain four sentences, the Mahāvākyas (Great Sayings), which were used by Shankara to establish the identity of Atman and Brahman as scriptural truth: "Prajñānam brahma" - "Consciousness is Brahman" (Aitareya Upanishad)[149] "Aham brahmāsmi" - "I am Brahman" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)[150] "Tat tvam asi" - "That Thou art" (Chandogya Upanishad)[151] "Ayamātmā brahma" - "This Atman is Brahman" (Mandukya Upanishad)[152] Vishishtadvaita The second school of Vedanta is the Vishishtadvaita, which was founded by Ramanuja (1017–1137 CE). Ramanuja disagreed with Adi Shankara and the Advaita school.[153] Visistadvaita is a synthetic philosophy bridging the monistic Advaita and theistic Dvaita systems of Vedanta.[154] Ramanuja frequently cited the Upanishads, and stated that Vishishtadvaita is grounded in the Upanishads.[155][156] Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita interpretation of the Upanishads is that of qualified monism.[157][158] Ramanuja interprets the Upanishadic literature to be teaching a body-soul theory, states Jeaneane Fowler – a professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, where the Brahman is the dweller in all things, yet also distinct and beyond all things, as the soul, the inner controller, the immortal.[156] The Upanishads, according to the Vishishtadvaita school, teach individual souls to be of the same quality as the Brahman, but quantitatively distinct.[159][160][161] In the Vishishtadvaita school, the Upanishads are interpreted to be teaching about Ishvara (Vishnu), who is the seat of all auspicious qualities, with all of the empirically perceived world as the body of God who dwells in everything.[156] The school recommends a devotion to godliness and constant remembrance of the beauty and love of a personal god. This ultimately leads one to the oneness with abstract Brahman.[162][163][164] The Brahman in the Upanishads is a living reality, states Fowler, and "the Atman of all things and all beings" in Ramanuja's interpretation.[156] Dvaita The third school of Vedanta called the Dvaita school was founded by Madhvacharya (1199–1278 CE).[165] It is regarded as a strongly theistic philosophic exposition of the Upanishads.[154] Madhvacharya, much like Adi Shankara claims for Advaita, and Ramanuja claims for Vishishtadvaita, states that his theistic Dvaita Vedanta is grounded in the Upanishads.[155] According to the Dvaita school, states Fowler, the "Upanishads that speak of the soul as Brahman, speak of resemblance and not identity".[166] Madhvacharya interprets the Upanishadic teachings of the self becoming one with Brahman, as "entering into Brahman", just like a drop enters an ocean. This to the Dvaita school implies duality and dependence, where Brahman and Atman are different realities. Brahman is a separate, independent and supreme reality in the Upanishads, Atman only resembles the Brahman in limited, inferior, dependent manner according to Madhvacharya.[166][167][168] Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita school and Shankara's Advaita school are both nondualism Vedanta schools,[162] both are premised on the assumption that all souls can hope for and achieve the state of blissful liberation; in contrast, Madhvacharya believed that some souls are eternally doomed and damned.[169][170] Similarities with Platonic thought See also: Proto-Indo-European religion and Ṛta Several scholars have recognised parallels between the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato and that of the Upanishads, including their ideas on sources of knowledge, concept of justice and path to salvation, and Plato's allegory of the cave. Platonic psychology with its divisions of reason, spirit and appetite, also bears resemblance to the three Guṇas in the Indian philosophy of Samkhya.[171][172][note 10] Various mechanisms for such a transmission of knowledge have been conjectured including Pythagoras traveling as far as India; Indian philosophers visiting Athens and meeting Socrates; Plato encountering the ideas when in exile in Syracuse; or, intermediated through Persia.[171][174] However, other scholars, such as Arthur Berriedale Keith, J. Burnet and A. R. Wadia, believe that the two systems developed independently. They note that there is no historical evidence of the philosophers of the two schools meeting, and point out significant differences in the stage of development, orientation and goals of the two philosophical systems. Wadia writes that Plato's metaphysics were rooted in this life and his primary aim was to develop an ideal state.[172] In contrast, Upanishadic focus was the individual, the self (atman, soul), self-knowledge, and the means of an individual's moksha (freedom, liberation in this life or after-life).[175][176] Translations The Upanishads have been translated into various languages including Persian, Italian, Urdu, French, Latin, German, English, Dutch, Polish, Japanese, Spanish and Russian.[177] The Mughal Emperor Akbar's reign (1556–1586) saw the first translations of the Upanishads into Persian.[178][179] His great-grandson, Dara Shukoh, produced a collection called Sirr-i-Akbar in 1656, wherein 50 Upanishads were translated from Sanskrit into Persian.[180] Anquetil-Duperron, a French Orientalist, received a manuscript of the Oupanekhat and translated the Persian version into French and Latin, publishing the Latin translation in two volumes in 1801–1802 as Oupneck'hat.[180][178] The French translation was never published.[181] More recently, several translations in French of some Upanishads or the whole of 108 have been published : by indianists Louis Renou , Kausitaki, Svetasvatra, Prasna, Taittiriya Upanisads, 1948;[182] Jean Varenne, Mahâ-Nârâyana Upanisad, 1960,[183] and Sept Upanishads, 1981;[184] Alyette Degrâces-Fadh, Samnyâsa-Upanisad (Upanisad du renoncement) , 1989;[185] Martine Buttex, Les 108 Upanishads (full translation), 2012.[186] The Latin version was the initial introduction of the Upanishadic thought to Western scholars.[187] However, according to Deussen, the Persian translators took great liberties in translating the text and at times changed the meaning.[188] The first Sanskrit-to-English translation of the Aitareya Upanishad was made by Colebrooke[189] in 1805, and the first English translation of the Kena Upanishad was made by Rammohun Roy in 1816.[190][191] The first German translation appeared in 1832 and Roer's English version appeared in 1853. However, Max Mueller's 1879 and 1884 editions were the first systematic English treatment to include the 12 Principal Upanishads.[177] Other major translations of the Upanishads have been by Robert Ernest Hume (13 Principal Upanishads),[192] Paul Deussen (60 Upanishads),[193] Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (18 Upanishads),[194] Patrick Olivelle (32 Upanishads in two books)[195][196] and Bhānu Swami (13 Upanishads with commentaries of Vaiṣṇava ācāryas). Olivelle's translation won the 1998 A.K. Ramanujan Book Prize for Translation.[197] Throughout the 1930s, Irish poet W. B. Yeats worked with the Indian-born mendicant-teacher Shri Purohit Swami on their own translation of the Upanishads, eventually titled The Ten Principal Upanishads and published in 1938. This translation was the final piece of work published by Yeats before his death less than a year later.[198] Reception in the West German 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, impressed by the Upanishads, called the texts "the production of the highest human wisdom". The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer read the Latin translation and praised the Upanishads in his main work, The World as Will and Representation (1819), as well as in his Parerga and Paralipomena (1851).[199] He found his own philosophy was in accord with the Upanishads, which taught that the individual is a manifestation of the one basis of reality. For Schopenhauer, that fundamentally real underlying unity is what we know in ourselves as "will". Schopenhauer used to keep a copy of the Latin Oupnekhet by his side and commented, In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death.[200] Schopenhauer's philosophy influenced many famous people and introduced them to the Upanishads. One of them was the Austrian Physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who once wrote: “There is obviously only one alternative,” he wrote, “namely the unification of minds or consciousnesses. Their multiplicity is only apparent, in truth there is only one mind. This is the doctrine of the Upanishads.”[201] Another German philosopher, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, praised the ideas in the Upanishads,[202] as did others.[203] In the United States, the group known as the Transcendentalists were influenced by the German idealists. Americans, such as Emerson and Thoreau embraced Schelling's interpretation of Kant's Transcendental idealism, as well as his celebration of the romantic, exotic, mystical aspect of the Upanishads. As a result of the influence of these writers, the Upanishads gained renown in Western countries.[204] The poet T. S. Eliot, inspired by his reading of the Upanishads, based the final portion of his famous poem The Waste Land (1922) upon one of its verses.[205] According to Eknath Easwaran, the Upanishads are snapshots of towering peaks of consciousness.[206] Juan Mascaró, a professor at the University of Barcelona and a translator of the Upanishads, states that the Upanishads represents for the Hindu approximately what the New Testament represents for the Christian, and that the message of the Upanishads can be summarized in the words, "the kingdom of God is within you".[207] Paul Deussen in his review of the Upanishads, states that the texts emphasize Brahman-Atman as something that can be experienced, but not defined.[208] This view of the soul and self are similar, states Deussen, to those found in the dialogues of Plato and elsewhere. The Upanishads insisted on oneness of soul, excluded all plurality, and therefore, all proximity in space, all succession in time, all interdependence as cause and effect, and all opposition as subject and object.[208] Max Müller, in his review of the Upanishads, summarizes the lack of systematic philosophy and the central theme in the Upanishads as follows, There is not what could be called a philosophical system in these Upanishads. They are, in the true sense of the word, guesses at truth, frequently contradicting each other, yet all tending in one direction. The key-note of the old Upanishads is "know thyself," but with a much deeper meaning than that of the γνῶθι σεαυτόν of the Delphic Oracle. The "know thyself" of the Upanishads means, know thy true self, that which underlines thine Ego, and find it and know it in the highest, the eternal Self, the One without a second, which underlies the whole world. — Max Müller

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