Vedantic Hinduism

WisdomManiac91 · Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:56 pm Post subject: Vedantic Hinduism

This is a very brief summary of my thoughts on the Vedantic school of Hindu philosophy:

Of the schools of Hindu thought, the Vedantic school draws heavily upon the reformist commentaries known as the Upanishads. Whereas the Samkyha and Purva Mimamsa schools conform to the conservative Vedas, the Vedantic school seems to establish itself as the culmination of the foremost constructs of the Vedas. Such a school attempts a concretization of the divine conceptualization through use of meditative cognition and spiritual connectivity. Aversive to this ideology, the orthodox Hindu schools remain undeterred from the more obstinate aspects of the Vedas, such as the yajñas, as well as the chanting of the purificatory lauds. This section is taken from the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.4):

The sun that shines up there, clearly, is a horse sacrifice; the year is its body (atman). The fire that burns down here is the ritual fire; these worlds are its body. Now, these are these two: the horse sacrifice and the ritual fire (arka). Yet these constitute in reality a single deity - they are simply death. [Whoever knows this] averts repeated death - death is unable to seize him, death becomes his very body (atman), and he becomes one of these deities.

This section ascertains to the fact that the Vedantic school adheres to the monistic view of Hindu philosophy, instead of the more prevalent henotheistic views of Vaishnavism and Shaivism. This section also alludes to both the ritualistic tendencies of the Vedas, as well as to samsara and moksha. The passage “Whoever knows this averts repeated death - death is unable to seize him, death becomes his very body, and he becomes one of these deities,” is connected to the belief in the cycle of samsara as being based upon ignorance of the atman and of brahman.

Ergo, an individual may say that any conclusions based on ignorance are negligible, for how may one conclude when one knows nothing? Denial of the self is also seen as ignorant, although basic. I will conclude with another passage from the Brhadaranyaka (4.5.6) to placate your thoughts:

You see Maitreyī - it is one’s self (atman) which one should see and hear, and on which one should reflect and concentrate. For when one has heard and seen one’s self, when one has reflected and concentrated on one’s self, one knows this whole world.

Aupmanyav · Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:53 am Post subject:

If you are a wisdom maniac, then you have to work harder to get wisdom. Just reading one or two passages from Upanishads is not likely to give you hindu wisdom. The Vedas are clearly polytheistic also, worshipping 33 Gods; 12 adityas, 11 rudras, 8 vasus, and 2 ashwins. Of the six orthodox philosophies of hinduism, it is only Nyaya which clearly accepts God. Purva Mimamsa recommends the Aryan Yajnas, and the rest; Samkhya, Vaisesika, Yoga, and Uttara Mimamsa are ambiguous about God.

The Vedas were written by many sages, and as such contain many thought streams. They is a strong undercurrent of monism, as indicated by the four Mahavakyas (great sentences); Prajnanam Brahma (Awareness is Brahman - Rig Veda, Aitareya Upanishad), Ayamatma Brahma (This self is Brahman - Atharva Veda, Mandukya Upanishad), Tat Tvam Asi (You are that - Sama Veda, Chhandogya Upanishad), and Aham Brahmasmi (I am Brahman - Yajur Veda, Brhadaranyaka Upanishad).

Polytheism survives and prospers in main-line hinduism, as do Shaivism (worship of Shiva), Shaktism (worship of Mother Goddess), and Vaishnavism (Worship of Vishnu). Hinduism does not believe in fettering personal beliefs and one finds many streams of belief. For example, I am an atheist, because I believe the whole world to be composed one thing, energy (light, electricity, heat, etc.); that does not leave any space for God.
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"Brahma Satyam Jagan-mithya" (Brahman is the truth, the observed is an illusion)
"Sarve Khalu Idam Brahma" (All this here is Brahman)

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