Vedānta

The Upaniṣads are also known by another name Vedānta, as they are believed to be the last portions of the Vedas (veda-anta, end); it is by this name that the philosophy of the Upaniṣads, the Vedānta philosophy, is so familiar to us.

Emancipation or Mukti means in the Upaniṣads the state of infiniteness that a man attains when he knows his own self and thus becomes Brahman.

The ceaseless course of transmigration is only for those who are ignorant.

The wise man however who has divested himself of all passions and knows himself to be Brahman, at once becomes Brahman and no bondage of any kind can ever affect him.

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HINDUISM & VEDANTA

Vedanta

The Sanātana Dharma, or “eternal faith,” known today as Hinduism, is a family of religions that accept the authority of the Vedas. Its four principal denominations are Śaivism, Śaktism, Vaishnavism and Smārtism. They share a vast heritage of culture and belief—karma, dharma, reincarnation, Vedas.

Scriptures

Vedic Hindu sacred literature is a treasury of hymns, legends, mythology, philosophy, science and ethics. From among this vast body of writings, each lineage recognizes a select portion as its secondary scripture, called smṛiti. Śruti, each sect and lineage defines its own unique set of smṛiti.

Indian Philosophy

In the development of philosophical thought in India there are two main currents, the Vedic and the non-Vedic. The āśramas of the Ṛṣi were the centres for the development of philosophical thought in India, but only from the time of the Upaniṣads. Forests played no part in the pre-Upaniṣad Vedas.

Šrī Vaišņavism

It is the merit of the Viśiṣṭādvaita of Rāmānuja as a philosophy of love that it seeks to reconcile the extremes of monism and theism. It is called Śrī Vaiṣṇavism in its religious aspect. Viśiṣṭādvaita states that God is immanent in all beings as their inner self and at the same time transcendent.

Gaudiya - Mādhva

Gaudīya Vaishnavas are the followers of the great Bengali Saint of 16th century - Chaitanya Mahāprabhu – and Theological teachings of Mādhva Āchārya. We know them – those males, clean shaved, and girls – dancing and singing aloud Indian mantras and songs. The theology of Mādhva is Dvaita Vedanta.

Šankara Ācārya

Śankara belongs to the 8th century A.D. He describes himself as a student of Govinda, who was himself a student of Gauḍapāda. He lived for 32 years and wrote many works, the chief are his commentaries on the triple basis of the Vedānta - classical Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad-Gītā and the Brahma- sūtra.

Šaiva Dharma

Śaivism proclaims: God Śiva is Love, both immanent and transcendent, both the creator and the creation. This world is the arena of our evolution, which leads by stages to moksha, liberation from birth and death. To the Śaivite Hindu, all of life is sacred. All of life is religion. Oṁ Namaḥ Śivāya.