Brahman and Related Topics

Adi Shankara, the most prominent exponent of Advaita Vedānta tradition.

Advaita Vedanta

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Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta.

A drop merging in the Ocean, an analogy for the Jivatman merging into Brahman

The swan is an important motif in Advaita. The swan symbolises the ability to discern Satya (Real, Eternal) from Mithya (Unreal, Changing), just like the mythical swan Paramahamsa discerns milk from water.

Ramana Maharshi, the Indian sage who was widely regarded as a Jivanmukta

(Vidyashankara temple) at Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Shringeri

Gaudapada, one of the most important pre-Śaṅkara philosophers in Advaita tradition

Mahatma Gandhi stated "I am an advaitist".

The term Advaita (literally "non-secondness", but usually rendered as "nondualism", and often equated with monism) refers to the idea that Brahman alone is ultimately real, while the transient phenomenal world is an illusory appearance (maya) of Brahman.

Vedas

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The Vedas (,, वेदः) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India.

The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the Atharvaveda.

A page from the Taittiriya Samhita, a layer of text within the Yajurveda

The Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads, among other things, interpret and discuss the Samhitas in philosophical and metaphorical ways to explore abstract concepts such as the Absolute (Brahman), and the soul or the self (Atman), introducing Vedanta philosophy, one of the major trends of later Hinduism.

Hindu philosophy

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Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems (shad-darśana) – Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.

These included metaphysical concepts such as ātman and Brahman, and an emphasis on meditation, self-discipline, self-knowledge and abstract spirituality, rather than ritualism.

Vaishnavism

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One of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism.

Vāsudeva on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria, circa 190–180 BCE. This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the deity.

The inscription of the Heliodorus pillar that was made by Indo-Greek envoy Heliodorus in 110 BCE, in what is modern Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh). The inscription states Heliodorus is a Bhagavata devoted to the "God of gods" Vāsudeva.

Vishnu in three incarnations (Vaikuntha Chaturmurti): Vishnu himself or Krishna in human form, Varaha as a boar, Narasimha as a lion. Gupta art, Mathura, mid-5th century CE. Boston Museum.

Relationship between different forms of Krishna as Paripurna avatara of Vishnu and as Svayam Bhagavan in Chaitanya school of Vaishnavism.

The Krishna stories have inspired numerous dramatic and dance arts in Indian culture.

Jiva Gosvami's Bhajan Kutir at Radha-kunda. Jiva Goswamis Sandarbhas summarize Vedic sources of Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition's accretion of the concept Krishna to be the supreme Lord.

A 6th century sculpture of Narasimha at the Badami cave temple, constructed by the Chalukyas

In the late-Vedic texts (~1000 to 500 BCE), the concept of a metaphysical Brahman grows in prominence, and the Vaishnavism tradition considered Vishnu to be identical to Brahman, just like Shaivism and Shaktism consider Shiva and Devi to be Brahman respectively.

Bhagavad Gita

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700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic Mahabharata (chapters 23–40 of book 6 of the Mahabharata called the Bhishma Parva), dated to the second half of the first millennium BCE and is typical of the Hindu synthesis.

Bhagavad Gita revelation: Krishna tells the Gita to Arjuna

The Bhagavata Gita is attributed to the sage Vyasa.

A manuscript illustration of the battle of Kurukshetra, fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, recorded in the Mahabharata.

Krishna recounts Gita to Arjuna during Kurukshetra War, in Mahabharata; c.1820 painting.

A didactic print from the 1960s that uses the Gita scene as a focal point for general religious instruction

A 19th-century Sanskrit manuscript of the Bhagavad Gita, Devanagari script

The thematic story of Arjuna and Krishna at the Kurukshetra War became popular in southeast Asia as Hinduism spread there in the 1st-millennium CE. Above, an Arjuna-Krishna chariot scene in Jakarta center, Indonesia.

A frieze in the early 8th-century Virupaksha temple (Pattadakal) depicting Mahabharata scenes involving Arjuna-Krishna chariot. Pattadakal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Adi Shankara with Disciples, by Raja Ravi Varma (1904); Shankara published 700 verses of the Gita (800 CE), now the standard version.

Vāsudeva-Krishna, on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria, c.180BCE. This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the deity.

The Trinity test of the Manhattan Project was the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, which led Oppenheimer to recall verses from the Bhagavad Gita, notably being: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".

Vedanta commentators read varying relationships between Self and Brahman in the text: Advaita Vedanta sees the non-dualism of Atman (Self) and Brahman (universal Self) as its essence'; Bhedabheda and Vishishtadvaita see Atman and Brahman as both different and not different; while Dvaita Vedanta sees the dualism of Atman (Self) and Brahman as its essence.

Vishnu

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One of the principal deities of Hinduism.

The Trimurti at Ellora, with Vishnu in the middle.

Vishnu and his avatars (Vaikuntha Chaturmurti): Vishnu himself or Krishna in human form, Narasimha as a lion, Varaha as a boar. Art of Mathura, mid-5th century CE. Boston Museum.

Hindu god Vishnu (centre) surrounded by his avatars namely (counter-clockwise, from left-top) Matsya; Kurma; Varaha; Narasimha; Vamana; Parashurama; Rama; Krishna; Buddha and Kalki, Raja Ravi Varma oleograph

Vishnu with Lakshmi (Laxminarayan) on Garuda.

Hindu Gods praying to the supreme lord Vishnu.

Uthpalawarna Vishnu Devalaya in Devinuwara, Matara, Sri Lanka.

The Angkor Wat Temple was built as a dedication to Vishnu.

The front-view of Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

11th-century Vishnu sculpture the goddesses Lakshmi and Sarasvati. The edges show reliefs of Vishnu avatars Varaha, Narasimha, Balarama, Rama, and others. Also shown is Brahma. (Brooklyn Museum)<ref>Stele with Vishnu, His Consorts, His Avatars, and Other Dieties, Brooklyn Museum, Item 1991.244, Gift of David Nalin</ref>

A statue in Bangkok depicting Vishnu on his vahana Garuda, the eagle. One of the oldest discovered Hindu-style statues of Vishnu in Thailand is from Wat Sala Tung in Surat Thani Province and has been dated to ~400 CE.

Venkatesvara, one of the forms of Perumal (Vishnu)

Statue of Vishnu riding Garuda in Garuda Wisnu Kencana, Bali, Indonesia

According to the Vaishnavism sect, the highest form of Ishvar is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form but is limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman, and the primal Atman (Self) of the universe.

Upanishads

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The Upanishads (उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts of Hindu philosophy which supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.

Impact of a drop of water, a common analogy for Brahman and the Ātman

Adi Shankara, expounder of Advaita Vedanta and commentator (bhashya) on the Upanishads

German 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, impressed by the Upanishads, called the texts "the production of the highest human wisdom".

Most of these sectarian Upanishads, for example the Rudrahridaya Upanishad and the Mahanarayana Upanishad, assert that all the Hindu gods and goddesses are the same, all an aspect and manifestation of Brahman, the Vedic concept for metaphysical ultimate reality before and after the creation of the Universe.

Vishishtadvaita

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One of the most popular schools of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.

Vedanta Desika defines Vishishtadvaita using the statement, Asesha Chit-Achit Prakaaram Brahmaikameva Tatvam: Brahman, as qualified by the sentient and insentient modes (or attributes), is the only reality.

Moksha

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Term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release.

Gajendra Moksha (pictured) is a symbolic tale in Vaishnavism. The elephant Gajendra enters a lake where a crocodile (Huhu) clutches his leg and becomes his suffering. Despite his pain, Gajendra constantly remembers Vishnu, who then liberates him. Gajendra symbolically represents human beings, Huhu represents sins, and the lake is saṃsāra.

Mokṣha is a key concept in Yoga, where it is a state of “awakening”, liberation and freedom in this life.

Moksha has been defined not merely as absence of suffering and release from bondage to saṃsāra. Various schools of Hinduism also explain the concept as presence of the state of paripurna-brahmanubhava (the experience of oneness with Brahman, the One Supreme Self), a state of knowledge, peace and bliss.

Adi Shankara