Author Description

About the author has delved deep into the philosophy of Vedanta Sutras. To the sacred literature of the Brahmans, in the strict sense of the term, i. e. to the Veda, there belongs a certain number of complementary works without whose assistance the student is, according to Hindu notions, unable to do more than commit the sacred texts to memory. Vedanta philosophy is based on the teachings of the Upanishads. Visishtadvaita Vedanta teaches that Atman (the individual Self) is part of the unity of Brahman (the universal Self), but that Brahman has other differentiating qualities. This viewpoint is in contrast to Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism), which teaches that Atman is the same as Brahman, and that Brahman is undifferentiated. Ramanuja says that Brahman is qualified by its attributes, which include intelligence, knowledge, and blessedness. It is the source of all reality, and is knowable by means of its attributes. Brahman is the source of the individual Self, and is qualified by Atman. Atman can attain Self-knowledge by attaining knowledge of Brahman. He maintains that Brahman is the supreme Person who is free of any imperfection, who is free of any evil, who has created the world, who governs and sustains the world, who is all-knowing, whose will is perfect, and who is the source of all truths. Thus, Brahman is the same as God. For Shankara, however, maya is real and is the plurality of attributes which are manifested by Brahman. Maya is the way in which Brahman is manifested in the phenomenal world. According to Shankara, the individual soul (jiva) or ego is only real insofar as it is an appearance of Atman. This book is in three volumes, which covers the theme of Vedanta Sutras in details. About the Frederick William Thibaut CIE (1848 – 1914) w