Vedanta

“The end of the Vedas” — the spiritual teachings of the Upanishads and the philosophical tradition built on them.

Overview

Vedanta literally means end of the Vedas — both the final section of the Vedic corpus and their highest teaching. Swami cites the classical definition: Vedanta nama upanishad pramanam — Vedanta is the teaching of the Upanishads.

The Gita is not the Upanishads, but it is repeatedly described as their essence. In the traditional image, the Upanishads are the cow, Krishna the milkman, Arjuna the thirsty calf, and the Gita the milk. So to study the Gita is to study the essence of Vedanta.

Three major philosophical frameworks read Vedanta in different ways — advaita-vedanta, vishishtadvaita, and dvaita — and all three have produced major commentaries on the Gita. Swami emphasizes that the Gita is the source of all three rather than the property of any one.

Related concepts

• Core texts: prasthanatraya — the upanishads, bhagavad-gita, brahma-sutras
• Revealed in shruti; remembered in smriti
• Interpretive frameworks: advaita-vedanta, vishishtadvaita, dvaita
• Subject matter: atman, brahman, moksha

Lecture evidence

• Ep. 1 [22:41]: Vedanta nama upanishad pramanam — Vedanta is the teachings of the Upanishads.
• Ep. 1 [23:58]: The Gita is the essence of Vedanta; if you want one book for Hinduism, it is the Gita.