Vedānta-sūtra is the ultimate knowledge of the Vedas.
Vedic knowledge is very elevated, having issued forth from
Mahā-Viṣṇu, the Supreme Godhead, at the time of creation. The Vedānta-sūtras are extremely recondite and esoteric, and are
thus accessible to ordinary human intelligence only in the context of
a commentary. The natural commentary on Vedānta-sūtra is the Bhagavata-Purāṇa or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, written by
the same author, Śrīla Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsadeva, Himself
recognized as an incarnation of God in the Vedic literature. Trade paperback, 8.5 x 11", perfect bound, illustrations.
Vedānta-sūtra is the ultimate knowledge of the Vedas.
Vedic knowledge is very elevated, having issued forth from
Mahā-Viṣṇu, the Supreme Godhead, at the time of creation. The Vedānta-sūtras are extremely recondite and esoteric, and are
thus accessible to ordinary human intelligence only in the context of
a commentary. The natural commentary on Vedānta-sūtra is the Bhagavata-Purāṇa or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, written by
the same author, Śrīla Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsadeva, Himself
recognized as an incarnation of God in the Vedic literature.
The first principle of Vedānta is to inquire into Absolute
Truth. Absolute Truth, for the purpose of this discussion, is defined
as the source from which everything emanates, or Brahman. The domain of inquiry into Absolute Truth of Vedānta is
therefore, in the broadest sense, the field of ontology or the study
of origins.
Vedānta-sūtra describes five tattvas (truths): 1. īśvara (The
Supreme Personality of Godhead); 2. jīva (the individual
living entity, or spirit-soul); 3. prakṛti (matter); 4. kāla (time); and 5. karma (action). The īśvara is omniscient, but the jīva has only
limited knowledge. Still, both are eternal beings, are aware of the
spiritual reality, and have a variety of spiritual qualities. Both
are alive, have personality, and are aware of their own
identity.
Consciousness is the primary issue in human life. Indeed, without
consciousness, there are no other issues. Consciousness and
its corollaries are fundamental to every thought, word and action.
Yet how strange it is that no universally accepted, comprehensive
theory of consciousness exists in Western science. The reason for
this is clear: until recently, science intentionally restricted its
domain to empirical investigations of the manifest objective world,
while consciousness is intrinsically subjective and immanent.
The essence of Vedānta is not so much a particular
philosophical or theological interpretation of some obscure ancient
scriptures, but a fresh and living approach to solving the real
problems of life for everyone’s practical benefit. We therefore
abstract the principles of Vedāntic exegesis and apply them to
subjects of paramount concern to everyone: the problems of suffering
and death.
This outline shows the structure of the first major division of Vedānta-sutra, including the four Pādas, their Adhikaraṇas and Sūtras. There is also an experimental Dynamic Index to the First Adhyāya.
The first Adhikaraṇaor topic of Vedānta begins the
inquiry into the Absolute [Brahman or the Universal Quantum Wave
Function]. Everyone should inquire very seriously about the Absolute.
Why? Because knowledge of the Absolute—the science of
consciousness—is the only source of unconditional happiness. There
is no other means to obtain perfect, uninterrupted, endless
happiness, because consciousness is the fundamental existential
issue. Such exalted happiness is possible only through understanding
and practicing the recondite truths of Vedānta in regard to
one’s personal relationship with the Absolute. Because without
happiness life is not worth living, one should inquire extensively
about the Absolute until one reaches a conclusive practical
understanding. In other words, one should dedicate a significant
portion of one’s time and resources to inquiring about the science
of consciousness and practicing transcendental knowledge until one
attains self-realization, the source of unlimited happiness. This
will bring the greatest satisfaction obtainable in human life. Pāda 1 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
The First Pāda of this Adhyāya teaches that one should inquire about the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the creator of all universes. Certain words used in Vedic literature clearly refer to that Supreme Brahman. The Second and Third Pādas will demonstrate that certain other words, although less clearly related to Brahman, also describe Him. Pāda 2 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
In this Third Pāda will be considered some scriptural texts that may seem to describe the jīva or some other topic but in truth describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pāda 3 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
Previously the sūtras affirmed that the Supreme Brahman is He the knowledge of whom brings liberation, He who is the seed of the birth, maintenance, and destruction of the material universes, who is different from both the jīvas and dead matter, who possesses innumerable inconceivable potencies, who is all-knowing, who possesses all auspicious qualities, who is free from all inauspiciousness, who possesses unlimited opulences, and who is supremely pure. Now we will consider the theory that the pradhāna [primordial material nature] and the pum [individual living entities] together comprise all that exists [and there is no God separate from them], which is propounded in the Kapila-tantra and perhaps also seen in some branches of the Vedas. Pāda 4 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
All theories attempting to establish
a material cause, such as pradhāna,for
the creation of the universe, are incorrect; it will also show that
the conflicts between the Smṛti-śāstraand
such theories are due to the fallacious reasoning of those theories,
and that the views of the Vedāntatexts
are the only possible correct view. Pāda 1 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
The author first takes up the atheistic
Sāṅkhya philosophy and refutes it. Then He analyzes the various schools of Buddhism, Jainism and the sectarian worshipers of various demigods. Pāda 2 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
This Third Pāda will show the truth that the various
elements of the material world are manifested from the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, that they merge into Him at the end, that the
individual spirit souls always existed, there not being a point in
time when they were created, that the individual spirit souls have
spiritual bodies full of knowledge, that the individual spirit souls
are atomic in size although by their consciousness they are
all-pervading within the material body, that the individual spirit
souls are part-and-parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that
Matsya-avatāra and the other avatāras are directly
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that the variety of
situations into which the conditioned souls are placed is caused by
the previous karma. These will all be proved by refuting the
ideas of they who claim that these statements are not true. Pāda 3 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
In the Third Pāda contradictory scriptural passages describing
the elements were harmonized. In the Fourth Pāda contradictory
passages describing the prāṇas [life-force and senses] will
be harmonized. Pāda 4 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
In the first pāda, the
various defects of material existence are explained, to show
that one should renounce the world. In this connection the
description of the soul’s travels from one kind of material body to
another kind of material body are quoted from the Pañcāgni-vidyā chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad. Pāda 1 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
In order to strengthen the soul’s
love and devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord’s
glorious creation of dreams and other states of being, the Lord’s
identity with His many incarnations, His appearance as the
all-pervading Supersoul, His non-identity with His worshipers, who
are still one with Him in quality, His being attained only by
devotional service, His appearance in both spiritual and material
worlds, His transcendental blissfulness, His coming before His
devotees according to the devotees’ love for Him, His supremacy
over all, His supreme generosity, and a great host of the Lord’s
other virtues and glories will also be described here. When a person
desires to love, the beloved’s glories must be understood.
Otherwise there can be no love. Pāda 2 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
As in a vaidūrya jewel many splendid colors are always manifest, so in the Supreme
Personality of Godhead many different transcendental forms, all
perfect and without beginning, are also manifest eternally. Understanding that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, who is supremely perfect, complete, and pure, has many
different forms, a devotee becomes attracted to one of the Lord’s
forms and directs his worship to that form. If the various scriptures
describe transcendental virtues present in that form of the Lord, all
those virtues may also be ascribed to that single chosen form. Thus a
person who worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead as present in
His powers and opulences, such as the mind and the other powers of
the world, should review the scriptures’ descriptions of the
various qualities of these forms, but not of other forms of the Lord. Pāda 3 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
This Pāda will reveal the truths that transcendental
knowledge is independent of Vedic rituals; that Vedic rituals are
merely one subordinate aspect of transcendental knowledge; that
persons who have attained transcendental knowledge are divided into
three classes, and other similar truths. Pāda 4 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
Although some of the sūtras discuss
the methods by which transcendental knowledge is obtained, because
most discuss the results obtained by transcendental knowledge, this
chapter bears the title “The Results of Transcendental Knowledge.” Pāda 1 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
In the next Pāda will be described the way the soul travels to
the world of the demigods. In this Pāda will be described the way a
person enlightened with transcendental knowledge leaves his material
body. Pāda 2 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
In this Pāda will be described the nature of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and the path that leads to the realm of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pāda 3 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
In this Pāda will be described first the original
forms of the liberated souls, and then their glory, opulence, bliss,
and other features. Pāda 4 includes the following Adhikaraṇas [topics]:
