Hinduism Which Revolves Round The Vedas, Upanishads & Vedanta

By Ayathuray Rajasingam –MARCH 29, 2021

Ayathuray Rajasingam

The Vedas are the primary texts and sacred scriptures of Hinduism. They are the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons at different times. The Vedas are without beginning and without an end. The Rishis are the discoverers of these Vedas. The Vedas teach that creation is without beginning or end. Hindus received their religion through revelation, known as Vedas. The Vedas are considered to be eternal. Scholars are of the view that the Rig Veda was composed about 1,500 B.C. and codified about 600 B.C. There are four Vedas., namely Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajir Veda, and Atharva Veda.

Upanishads are a continuation of Vedic philosophy and were written about 800 and 400 B.C. They describe on how the Soul (Atman) can be united with the Ultimate Truth (Brahman) through contemplation and meditation, as well as the doctrine of Karma (the cumulative effects of a person’s actions). Though Upanishads are considered to be one of the earliest texts on Hinduism to deal with wisdom, it is based on Rig Veda. The concept of ‘One Existence’ is already mentioned in Rig Veda (RV 1.164.49) which is mentioned as ‘ekan sat’ in the Upanishads. Even what Swami Vivekananda mentioned that ‘all human beings are children of immortality, ‘amrtasya putrah’ is also found in Rig Veda (RV 10.13.1).

Hinduism is essentially concerned with ‘Self’. The discovery of the reality about oneself and the Universe is the commitment of Vedanta. The whole fabric of thought in Hinduism revolves on God.  Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul and the harmony of religions. Vedanta says God is infinite existence, infinite consciousness and infinite bliss, i.e. Brahman. Vedanta affirms that all religions teach the same basic truths about God and the relationship with other beings.

Vedanta is the essential philosophy original to Hindus. The major idea of Vedanta is the ultimate existence. All things are ultimately reducible to one substance. Generally, there are three main issues in any philosophical system. Normally, in every philosophical system, there will be three main questions: What is the nature of man? What is the nature of God as the ultimate reality? What is the nature of nature?

Though there was no founder for the discovery that Brahman and Atman are one and the same, a renaissance was brought in Hinduism, when Sankarachariya recognized that Brahman and Atman are one. Sankarachariya was the founder of Advaita Vedanta. According to Advaita Vedanta, Atman and Brahman centres round God. According to Advainta Vedanta, Brahman means oneness or non-differentiation between the Brahm (universal spiritual entity) and the Individual (Soul). It is a relationship between Brahman and the Individual Soul. Briefly all individual Souls are part of the Almighty. 

Different religious systems and different philosophical systems have different views. Vedanta, especially non-dualistic Vedanta which is known as Advaita, says all three issues are one. Man in his ultimate nature, nature in its ultimate nature, and God in his ultimate nature are the same. This is the basic position of Vedanta.

All forms of Vedanta are basically drawn from the Upanishads, a set of philosophical and instructive Vedic scriptures. The Upanishads are commentaries on the Vedas. The basic philosophy derived out of the Upanishads was that the Absolute Reality was the main principle of Vedanta. The absolute reality is the Brahman. Sage Vyasa was one of the major founders of this philosophy and the author of Brahma Sutras, based on Upanishads. The concept of Brahman is central to most schools of Vedanta. Brahman is one without a second, beyond all forms, names and qualities. That divinity is an existence that is eternally imperishable and indivisible. Swami Vivekananda also maintained that the Ultimate Reality is One and there is no second and it is designated as Brahman. It is immutable, incorporeal, Absolute pure Consciousness, beyond all names, forms, and attributes and all pervading. This is where it is called Nirguna Brahman. In other words, Brahman is the Supreme eternal, self existent, immanent, and transcendent Supreme and ultimate reality and this is the crux of the Upanishads. It is the considered view that Bhagavad Gita is a central text of Hinduism.

However, when the Ultimate Reality is designated by various names it is called Saguna Brahman. Various names can not only be Hindu Gods like Shiva, Vishnu, Parasakthi, Ganesha, Muruga, etc., but also prophets such as Jesus, Allah, Jehova, etc. It is the Brahman that appears as Personal God and also as impersonal Absolute Truth. ‘Brahman is called the Reality of all Realities. Various concepts of Divine depend upon the various readings by the individual minds. Here is where Hinduism appears to be individualistic while other religions appear to be congregational in their characteristics. 

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