Originally posted by: Bhaskar.T
What is Vedanta?
i will answer your question about Vedanta last.
What is the purpose of "Veda" why are there so many types of Veda There are four Vedas, Rg Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas are Sruti, i.e., the original revealed scriptures. Thy are the records of the experiences of Rishis (sages). Orthodox Hindus believe that the Vedas are eternal. Their purpose is to help liberate you from the birth- death cycle of Samsara.
i dont know exactly why there are four of them.
What is the purpose of "Upanishad" and its types?
The vedas are conventionally divided into 2 portions: Karma Kanda (work portion) and Jnana Kanda (Wisdom portion). The Karma Kanda (Samhitas, Aranyakas and Brahmanas) deals with ceremonies and rituals. the Jnana Kanda contains the wisdom of the Vedas. The Upanishads form the Jnana Kanda. The Upanishads form the deepest core of the Vedas and are the source, inspiration and authority of nearly all systems of philosophy in Sanatan Dharma. they discuss the nature of Ultimate Reality, Brahman, and Its relation with the Universe (Jagat) and the sentient Beings (Jiv-Atman). Those who do not accept their authority like the Buddhists and Jains are called Nastikas (heterodox). the Upanishads contain many strands of thought and have been interpreted in a variety of ways which have given rise to most of the subsequent schools of thought in Sanatan Dharma.
There are many Upanishads. The 11 classical Upanishads are those commented on by Sri Sankara: Katha, Kena,Isa, Mundaka, Svetas
What is our holy book like "Bible for christians?" it is Bhagavad Gita but why is not "Veda" or "Ramayana")
The Vedas (particularly the Upanishads), Bhagavad Gita and Badarayana's Vedanta or Brahma Sutras form the irreducible set of scriptures for the vast majority of Hindus today. I am including the Vedanta Sutras as Vedanta is the most popular philosophical system today. If you understand these 3 (prasthanatraya or triple canon), then you can understand the fundamental principles underlying Sanatan Dharma. All the Hindu scriptures are holy and contain in some form the principles described in the triple canon.
It is true, however, that Bhagavad Gita has become popular for the following reasons:
(a) The Upanishads contain all the ideas but they are not systematically presented. They are also written in very terse language and are difficult to understand.
(b) The Gita spells out in great details the ideas of the Upanishads.
(c) The Gita also teaches the Jivas how to live his or her life to achieve the Upanishadic goal of realizing God. This is achieved through the practice of four Yogas: Karma, Bhakti, Jnana and Raj Yoga. Thus the Gita is a "practical" scripture.
What is "Puran"?
Originally there was only one Puran. The Chandogya Upanishad (3.4.1) refers to "Itihaspurana". Unfortunately we only have access to fragments of that Purana. There are 18 Puranas and 18 Upapuranas. The Puranas elaborate on the creation and dissolution of the relative universe and on "heavens" and "hells" only briefly mentioned in the Upanishads. They also contain traditional history and mythology. The Bhagavat Puran rivals the triple canon in popularity for some sampradayas. The Bhagavat is certainly a classic of the Bhakti tradition
now VEDANTA
Before discussing Vedanta I will digress a little as otherwise you will not understand the place of Vedanta in Sanatan Dharma. Based on the Vedas six schools of thought (Darshanas=literally points of view) emerged:Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purba Mimansha and Uttar Mimansha(Vedanta). They all claim to systematically present the ideas tersely presented in the Vedas.
The Nyaya School founded by Gotama has its main goal as liberation and the complete cessation of all pain and suffering. The main focus of this school, however, is logic and epistemology. It does not have many followers today.
The Vaiseshika School of Kanada is allied to the Nyaya school and is now of little importance.
Purba Mimansha of Jaimini lays stress upon work, which chiefly denotes the performance of ceremonial rites. The word Purba means the earlier part of the Vedas (Karma Kanda=work portion). The Vedas are divided into Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. Each one of these Vedas is further subdivided into Karma Kanda and Jnana Kanda (Wisdom portion). The Samhitas, Aranyakas and Brahmanas comprise the Karma Kanda and govern the Hindu ceremonial rites. The Jnana Kanda consists of the Upanishads and are the subject matter of Vedanta. The aim of the ceremonial rites is to gradually purify the mind. This school is also of little importance now.
Samkhya School was founded by Kapila. Hinduism stresses that you should first read the scriptures with the help of a Guru (sravana), subject it to rational analysis (manana) and finally meditate about it (nidhidhyasana). The philosophy of Samkhya does the second step by rational analysis of the scriptures. Samkhya is a dualist philosophy with two Ultimate Principles, purusha (spirit) and prakriti (matter) and so there is no room for creator God. Samkhya as philosophy declares that the cause of misery arises from identifying purusha with prakriti. We are really spirits but we identify with the body. An understanding of Samkhya philospohy is essential to the understanding of Vedanta.
Patanjali, the author of the Yoga system of philosophy gathered together the spiritual practices known to the yogis and built them in to a system. All Indian religious systems, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism accept the discipline of Yoga. Yoga philosophy is allied to Samkhya in its metaphysical concept but accepts God unlike Samkhya. Patanjali accepts that you can get spiritual enlghtenment inspite of belief or disbelief though it is easier if you have faith. Patanjali authored the Yoga Sutras and we have to include it among the scriptures.
Vedanta the last of the six Darshanas is currently the most popular of these schools. Vedanta (Veda+anta) literally means the end of the Vedas where you will usually find the Upanishads. Badarayana (Vyasa) may be considered the founder of this school and his book Vedanta Sutra or Brahma Sutra is a basic text of this system. The Brahma Sutras give a synopsis and classification of the contents of the Upanishads. Vedanta differs from Samkhya in that it talks of One Ultimate Principle called Brahman. It is the basis of all current Hindu systems of religious thought, both dualistic and non- dualistic. This is because most people feel that Vedanta correctly represents Vedic thought. In Vedanta the Ultimate Principle when immanent is called the Atman or Self and when transcendent is called Brahman. Atman and Brahman are identical (Dvaita School disagrees) although philosophers differ about the meaning of this identity. There are now several Vedantic schools of thought which differ on the exact interpretation of the Upanishads, Gita and the Vedanta Sutras. The important schools are: (1) Advaita of Sri Sankara, (2) Vishistadvaita of Sri Ramanuja, (3) Dvaita of Sri Madhva, (4) Dvaita-Advaita of Sri Nimbarka,(5) Suddha-Advaita of Sri Vallabha, (6) Acintya-Bhedabhed of Sri Chaitanya and (7)Sri Ramakrishna's school also known as Neo-Advaita. You will find description of some of these schools in the archives.
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