VEDANTA:
one of the six classical schools of HINDU PHILOSOPHY and that which is best
known in the West. The name literally means "the end of the VEDA." It is based
on the UPANISHADS and interprets the RITUAL practices of the VEDAS in terms of
symbolic meanings. There are three main schools of Vednta that of Advaita which promotes
MONISM; Viidvaita or qualified NON-DUALISM and Dvaita which is a FORM of DUALISM. All
three are similar to PLATONISM in aiming to go beyond the limits of EMPIRICAL observation
to explore the NATURE of BRAHMAN. Both AKARA and RMNUJA taught forms of Vednta even though
they presented sharply differing interpretations of the TRADITION. In the late nineteenth
century various thinkers sought to create a synthesis between various aspects of Vednta
and Western forms of IDEALISM while Vivekananda, RADHAKRISHNAN and SRI AUROBINDO adapted
Vednta to the theory of EVOLUTION and Western SCIENCE.
