Advaita Vedanta

==Etymology and nomenclature==

===Etymology===
The word '''Advaita''' is a composite of two Sanskrit words:
* Prefix "a-" (अ), meaning "non-"
* "Dvaita" (द्वैत), which means 'duality' or 'dualism'.<ref group=web name="EB_Dvaita"/>
''Advaita'' is often translated as "non-duality," but a more apt translation is "non-secondness."{{sfn|Menon|2012}} ''Advaita'' has several meanings:
* Nonduality of subject and object{{sfn|Loy|1988}}{{sfn|Reddy Juturi|2021}}<ref group=web name="Tao"/> As Gaudapada states, when a distinction is made between subject and object, people grasp to objects, which is ''samsara''. By realizing one's true identity as ''Brahman'', there is no more grasping, and the mind comes to rest.{{sfn|Reddy Juturi|2021}}
* Nonduality of Atman and Brahman, the famous diction of Advaita Vedanta that Atman is not distinct from Brahman; the knowledge of this identity is liberating.
* Monism: there is no other reality than ''Brahman'', that "Reality is not constituted by parts," that is, ever-changing 'things' have no existence of their own, but are appearances of the one Existent, Brahman; and that there is in reality no duality between the "experiencing self" (''jiva'') and ''Brahman'', the Ground of Being.{{refn|group=note|name=Brahman}}

The word ''Vedānta'' is a composition of two Sanskrit words: The word [[Vedas|Veda]] refers to the whole corpus of vedic texts, and the word "anta" means 'end'. From this, one meaning of ''Vedānta'' is "the end of the Vedas" or "the ultimate knowledge of the Vedas". ''Veda'' can also mean "knowledge" in general, so ''Vedānta'' can be taken to mean "the end, conclusion or finality of knowledge". [[Vedanta|Vedānta]] is one of six orthodox schools of [[Hindu philosophy]].

===Advaita Vedanta===
While "a preferred terminology" for Upanisadic philosophy "in the early periods, before the time of Shankara" was ''Puruṣavāda'',{{sfn|Timalsina|2017}}{{refn|group=note|name="Puruṣavāda"|See also [[Purusha]].}} the Advaita Vedānta school has historically been referred to by various names, such as ''Advaita-vada'' (speaker of Advaita), ''Abheda-darshana'' (view of non-difference), ''Dvaita-vada-pratisedha'' (denial of dual distinctions), and ''Kevala-dvaita'' (non-dualism of the isolated).{{sfn|King|1995|p=268 with note 2}} It is also called ''māyāvāda'' by Vaishnava opponents, akin to [[Madhyamaka]] [[Buddhism]], due to their insistence that phenomena ultimately lack an inherent essence or reality,{{sfn|Hacker|1995|p=78}}{{sfn|Lorenzen|2015}}{{sfn|Baird|1986}}{{sfn|Goswami Abhay Charan Bhaktivedanta|1956}}

According to Richard King, a professor of Buddhist and Asian studies, the term ''Advaita'' first occurs in a recognizably Vedantic context in the prose of [[Mandukya Upanishad]].{{sfn|King|1995|p=268 with note 2}} 

According to [[Frits Staal]], a professor of philosophy specializing in Sanskrit and Vedic studies, the word ''Advaita'' itself is from the Vedic era, and the Vedic sage [[Yajnavalkya]] (8th or 7th-century BCE{{sfn|Scharfstein|1998|p=9–11}}{{sfn|Olivelle|1998|p=xxxvi with footnote 20}}) is credited to be the one who coined it.{{sfn|Staal|2008|p=365 note 159}} Stephen Phillips, a professor of philosophy and Asian studies, translates the ''Advaita'' containing verse excerpt in ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'', as "An ocean, a single seer without duality becomes he whose world is Brahman."{{refn|group=note|
{{Verse translation|italicsoff=y|
सलिले एकस् द्रष्टा '''अद्वैत'''स् भवति एष ब्रह्मलोकस्
सम्राट् ति ह एनम् उवाच अनुशशास याज्ञवल्क्यस्
एषा अस्य परमा गतिस् एषास्य परमा सम्पद्
|attr1=''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]] 4.3.32''<ref group=web>Sanskrit: [https://sa.wikisource.org/s/1cl Wikisource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116175559/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95_%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D_4 |date=16 January 2024 }}, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.32</ref>|
An ocean, a single seer '''without duality''' becomes he whose world is Brahman,
O King, Yajnavalkya instructed
This is his supreme way. This is his supreme achievement.
|attr2=Transl: Stephen Phillips{{sfn|Phillips|2009|p=295 note 24}}{{refn|group=note|For an alternate English translation: Robert Hume, [https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n159/mode/2up The Thirteen Principal Upanishads], BU 4.3.32, Oxford University Press, p. 138.}}}}

A reference to Non-duality is also made in the ''[[Chandogya Upanishad]]'', within a dialogue between the Vedic sage [[Aruni|Uddalaka Aruni]] and his son Svetaketu, as follows :
{{Verse translation|italicsoff=y|
सदेव सोम्येदमग्र आसीत एकमेवा '''अद्वितीय'''म्
तद्धैक आहुरसदेवेदमग्र आसीदेकमेवाद्वितीयं तस्मादसतः सज्जायत
|attr1=''[[Chandogya Upanishad]] 6.2.1''<ref group=web>Sanskrit: [https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/chandogya-upanishad-english/d/doc239260.html Wisdomlimb] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906220300/https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/chandogya-upanishad-english/d/doc239260.html |date=6 September 2022 }}, Chandogya upnishad 6.2.1</ref>|
Somya, before this world was manifest, there was only existence, one '''without duality''' 
On this subject, some maintain that before this world was manifest, there was only non-existence, one without a second. 
Out of that non-existence, existence emerged.
|attr2=[[Chandogya Upanishad]]}}}}

===Advaita tradition===
While the term "Advaita Vedanta" in a strict sense may refer to the scholastic tradition of textual exegesis established by Shankara, "advaita" in a broader sense may refer to a broad current of advaitic thought, which incorporates advaitic elements with yogic thought and practice and other strands of Indian religiosity, such as [[Kashmir Shaivism]] and the [[Nath]] tradition.{{sfn|Madaio|2017|p=5}} The first connotation has also been called "Classical Advaita"{{sfn|Madaio|2017}}{{sfn|King|1995|p=9}} and "doctrinal Advaita,"{{sfn|Sharma|1993|p=xiv}} and its presentation as such is due to mediaeval [[Doxography|doxographies]],{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p={{page needed|date=February 2022}}}} the influence of Orientalist Indologists like [[Paul Deussen]],{{sfn|Madaio|2017|pp=2, note 6}} and the Indian response to colonial influences, dubbed [[neo-Vedanta]] by Paul Hacker, who regarded it as a deviation from "traditional" Advaita Vedanta.{{sfn|Madaio|2017}} Yet, post-Shankara Advaita Vedanta incorporated yogic elements, such as the [[Yoga Vasistha]], and influenced other Indian traditions, and neo-Vedanta is based on this broader strand of Indian thought.{{sfn|Madaio|2017}} This broader current of thought and practice has also been called "greater Advaita Vedanta,"{{sfn|Allen|2017}} "vernacular advaita,"{{sfn|Madaio|2017}} and "experiential Advaita."{{sfn|Sharma|1993|p=xiv}} It is this broader advaitic tradition which is commonly presented as "Advaita Vedanta," though the term "advaitic" may be more apt.{{sfn|Madaio|2017}}{{refn|group=note|name=Madaio2017_umbrella}}

===Monism===
{{See also|Metaphysics|Ontology}}

The nondualism of Advaita Vedānta is often regarded as an idealist [[monism]].{{refn|group=note|name=Monism}} According to King, Advaita Vedānta developed "to its ultimate extreme" the monistic ideas already present in the Upanishads.{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|King|1995|p=65}}: "The prevailing monism of the Upanishads was developed by the Advaita Vedanta to its ultimate extreme."}} In contrast, states Milne, it is misleading to call Advaita Vedānta "monistic," since this confuses the "negation of difference" with "conflation into one."{{sfn|Milne|1997|p=168}} ''Advaita'' is a negative term (a-dvaita), states Milne, which denotes the "negation of a difference," between subject and object, or between perceiver and perceived. {{sfn|Milne|1997|p=168}}

According to Deutsch, Advaita Vedānta teaches monistic oneness, however without the multiplicity premise of alternate monism theories.{{sfn|Deutsch|1988|pp=3, 10, 13–14 with footnotes}} According to Jacqueline Suthren Hirst, Adi Shankara positively emphasizes "oneness" premise in his Brahma-sutra Bhasya 2.1.20, attributing it to all the Upanishads.{{sfn|Suthren Hirst|2005|p=79}}

Nicholson states Advaita Vedānta contains realistic strands of thought, both in its oldest origins and in Shankara's writings.{{sfn|Nicholson|2010|p=68}}