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The Brahma Sūtras (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मसूत्राणि), also known as the Vedanta Sūtra (Sanskrit: वेदान्त सूत्र),[1][note 1] Shariraka Sūtra,[note 2] and Bhikshu-sūtra,[note 3] are a Sanskrit text which criticizes the metaphysical dualism of the influential Samkhya philosophy,[5] and instead synthesizes and harmonizes divergent Upanishadic ideas and practices about the essence of existence, postulating God-like Brahman as the only origin and essence of everything. It is attributed to the sages Bādarāyaṇa, who is also called Vyāsa (arranger), but probably an accumulation of incremental additions and changes by various authors to an earlier work, completed in its surviving form in approx. 400–450 CE.[6][note 4] The oldest version may be composed between 500 BCE and 200 BCE,[7][8] with 200 BCE being the most likely date.[9]
The Brahma Sūtras consist of 555 aphoristic verses (sutras) in four chapters,[10] dealing with attaining knowledge of Brahman.[1][11] Rejecting the smriti as a base of knowledge, it declares that the Vedic Upanishads are the only acceptable source of truth, unfallible revelations describing the same metaphysical Reality, Brahman, which cannot be different for different people. The text attempts to synthesize and harmonize diverse and sometimes apparently conflicting vidyas ("knowledges") of, and upasanas (meditation, worship) of the essence of existence, stating they are actually synonyms for Brahman. It does so from a bhedabheda-perspective,[1] arguing, as John Koller states: "that Brahman and Atman are, in some respects, different, but, at the deepest level, non-different (advaita), being identical."[12]
The first chapter rejects Samkhya's view on pradhana, stating that an inert first principle cannot account for a universe which reflects purpose and intelligence. It harmonizes different views of Absolute Reality found in the Upanishads, subsuming them under the concept of Brahman. The second chapter reviews and addresses the objections raised by samkhya and other competing orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, Nyaya, Yoga, Vaisheshika and Mimamsa, as well as heterodox schools such as Buddhism and Jainism.[13] The third chapter compares the vidyas and upasanas found in the Upanishads, deciding which are similar and can be combined, and which are different.[14] The last chapter states why such a knowledge is an important human need.[7]
The Brahma Sūtras is one of three most important texts in Vedanta along with the Principal Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.[1][4][web 1] It has been influential to various schools of Indian philosophies, but interpreted differently by the non-dualistic Advaita Vedanta sub-school, and the Vaishna theistic Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita Vedanta sub-schools, as well as others.[web 1] Several commentaries on the Brahma Sūtras are lost to history or yet to be found; of the surviving ones, the most well studied commentaries on the Brahma Sūtras include the bhashya by Adi Shankara,[1] and the Vaishna-exegetes Ramanuja, Madhvacharya, Bhaskara, Baladeva Vidyabhushan, Ramanandacharya.[15]
- ^ a b c d e Lochtefeld (2002), p. 124.
- ^ Deussen (2015), pp. 3–4.
- ^ Radhakrishna (1960), p. 22 with footnote 2.
- ^ a b c Isaeva (1992), p. 35, with footnote 30.
- ^ Mayeda 1992, p. 12.
- ^ a b Nakamura (1989), p. 436.
- ^ a b Lochtefeld (2002), p. 746.
- ^ Klostermaier (2010), p. 501.
- ^ Collinson & Wilkinson (1994), p. 48.
- ^ Radhakrishna (1960), pp. 23–24.
- ^ Radhakrishna (1960), p. 21.
- ^ Koller (2013), p. 99.
- ^ Darling (2007), pp. 161–164.
- ^ Sivananda (1977), pp. 465–467.
- ^ Radhakrishna (1960), pp. 26–27.
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