Advaita Vedanta Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Early Vedānta=== The Upanishads form the basic texts, of which Vedānta gives an interpretation.{{sfn|Deutsch|Dalvi|2004|pp=95–96}} The Upanishads do not contain "a rigorous philosophical inquiry identifying the doctrines and formulating the supporting arguments".{{sfn|Balasubramanian|2000|p=xxx}}{{refn|group=note|Nevertheless, Balasubramanian argues that since the basic ideas of the Vedanta systems are derived from the Vedas, the Vedantic philosophy is as old as the Vedas.{{sfn|Balasubramanian|2000|p=xxix}}}} This philosophical inquiry was performed by the [[darsanas]], the various philosophical schools.{{sfn|Balasubramanian|2000|pp=xxx–xxxi}}{{refn|group=note|Deutsch and Dalvi point out that, in the Indian context, texts "are only part of a tradition which is preserved in its purest form in the oral transmission as it has been going on."{{sfn|Deutsch|Dalvi|2004|p=95}}}} The [[Brahma Sutras]] of Bādarāyana, also called the ''Vedānta Sutra'',{{sfn|Balasubramanian|2000|p=xxxii}} were compiled in its present form around 400–450 CE,{{sfn|Nakamura|1990|p=436}} but "the great part of the ''Sutra'' must have been in existence much earlier than that".{{sfn|Nakamura|1990|p=436}} Estimates of the date of Bādarāyana's lifetime differ between 200 BCE and 200 CE.{{sfn|Pandey|2000|p=4}} The Brahma Sutra is a critical study of the teachings of the Upanishads, possibly "written from a Bhedābheda Vedāntic viewpoint."<ref group="web" name="IEP_Bheda" /> Bādarāyana was not the first person to systematise the teachings of the Upanishads.{{sfn|Balasubramanian|2000|p=xxxiii}} He refers to seven Vedantic teachers before him.{{sfn|Balasubramanian|2000|p=xxxiii}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page