Ved Vyas : Origin and other facts - Page 2

Originally posted by: rasyafan

It is believed that Saint Ved Vyas was born on the day of Ashaadh Purnima. Saint Ved Vyas was the one who established Vedant Darshan and Advaitvad. He was born as a son to Saint Parashar. His wife was named Aruni, who gave birth to his son, Shukdev. The day of Guru Purnima is also celebrated as Ved Vyas jayanti.
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Originally posted by: rasyafan

It is believed that Saint Ved Vyas was born on the day of Ashaadh Purnima. Saint Ved Vyas was the one who established Vedant Darshan and Advaitvad. He was born as a son to Saint Parashar. His wife was named Aruni, who gave birth to his son, Shukdev. The day of Guru Purnima is also celebrated as Ved Vyas jayanti.

Originally posted by: varaali

There's more to his life story.

In recognition of his magnificent achievement, he was given the title of "Badarayana Veda Vyasa"

Originally posted by: varaali

Which 'other story' are you referring to?

Originally posted by: shripadk

I don't think thats correct either. He was called Badarayana because he was born on the island that was covered by the Badara trees. I don't know about the other story though and cannot comment without researching more about it. Is there any authentic source for this story or is this part of some sthala purana?

Originally posted by: shripadk

The story of Vyasa going to Jabali and learning under him. This is new to me. So was wondering if you had this story from an authentic source or was this from a sthala purana?

Originally posted by: varaali

@bold: That's the usual explanation. But the word 'badarika'- also refers to the one of the sources of the Ganga i. e the place of Badari (badari + ika) .

So Badaraayana can also be interpreted to mean 'from whom the Vedas emanate like the Ganga'. That was my intention here.

P.S- I usually don't write without checking up on my facts.

Originally posted by: varaali

Not a sthala purana definitely- but neither an authentic source either. A bit of putting bits and pieces together.

I have to log off now. I will reply in detail tomorrow.

Originally posted by: shripadk

This is incorrect. Advaitvad was never established by Ved Vyas. Adi Shankaracharya was the promulgator of Advaitvad. Make sure you read from authentic sources... there are plenty of sites on the internet that are filled with garbage/lies :)

Just for information:

All the following branches of Vedanta use Upanishads, the Bhagwad Gita and Brahma Sutras as the basis for philosophical interpretation and elucidation.

Advaitism:

Concept propagated by Adi Shankaracharya. Lord Shiva is considered Supreme soul in this branch of Vedanta. Advaita vedanta espouses non-dualism. This branch of Vedanta promotes the concept of "Aham Brahmasmi" which states that all souls are ansh of the Supreme Being, and can with knowledge and understanding in-turn become the Supreme Being. In this branch of Vedanta, all souls are the same. None of the souls are unique in nature as they belong to the same Supreme Soul. This branch of Vedanta also espouses that everything in this creation is not real (Mayavad) and that the only reality is the Supreme Being. When the soul attains Moksha, the soul becomes the Supreme Soul.

Vishishtadvaitism:

Concept propagated by Sri Ramanujacharya. Vishishtadvaitism espouses qualified non-dualism. The only difference between this and Advaitism is that the branch considers Vishnu as Supreme soul and that all creation as real (opposing Mayavad). When the soul attains Moksha, the soul merges back into the Supreme Soul.

Dvaitism (also called Brahma Sampradaya):

Concept propagated by Sri Madhwacharya. Lord Vishnu is the Supreme Being in this branch of Vedanta. Dvaita vedanta espouses dualism. Dvaita stresses a strict distinction between God (the Supreme Being - Paramatma) and individual souls (Jivaatma). According to him, the individual souls of beings are not 'created' by God but do, nonetheless, depend on Him for their existence. In this branch, all souls (including the Supreme Soul) are eternal and have no beginning or end (Ananta). However, the sentinent beings (JIvatma) depend on the Supreme Soul for existence. Similar to Vishishtadvaitism, this branch considers the creation to be real (opposing Mayavad). The Supreme soul creates the Universe for Jivatma's sustenance. Moksha is of varying types... depending on the qualities, knowledge and punya gained by Jivatma it can attain Moksha in various ways:

1. If the soul has surpassed all qualities of other jivaatma's then it will merge into the Supreme soul (Mukti).. The current Brahma will be the one to get Mukti (Mukti-yoga). This is similar to Advaitism.

2. If the soul has pleased the Supreme Soul via bhakti then it gets Moksha, where the soul is liberated from the cycle of births and deaths and joins the Supreme (but doesn't merge into the Supreme).

3. If the soul has only done bad karma, the soul attains Naraka (Tamo-yoga)

This is the only branch of Vedanta that espouses hierarchy among demi-gods and also stresses on the uniqueness of both animate (souls) and inanimate (non-living things) and provides for five fundamental, eternal and real differences (Taratamya):

1. Between the sentinent (Jivatma) and God (Vishnu):

Both sentinent and God are different and unique. The sentinent beings can never be equal to God (opposing concept of Aham Brahmasmi)

2. Between matter (inanimate, insentient) and God.

God is not equal to inanimate objects.

3. Among individual souls (jivatama)

No two souls are the same. All souls are unique with their own characters, behaviors and specialities.

4. Between matter and jiva.

Living and non-living beings are not the same.

5. Among various types of matter.

No two non-living things in this creation are the same.

There are many other branches of Vedanta that were propagated in the later years (from 15th century to 19th century) with most of them being offshoots of Dvaitism or Advaitism. Example: Shuddadvaita (Rudra Sampradaya) was an offshoot of Advaita, while Acintya-bheda-bheda was an offshoot of Dvaita. Dvaitaadvaita was a combination of certain concepts of both Dvaitism and Advaitism propagated by Nimbaraka.

Except of Advaitism which states Lord Shiva as Supreme, all other branches of Vedanta state that Lord Vishnu is the Supreme being.

The take away from this information is that Vedanta is by itself a big field, evolving over time, with different Jagadguru's interpreting the various scriptures (Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita and the Brahma Sutras) and trying to understand the existence of this Cosmos.