Schools of Vedanta
अद्वैत वेदान्त
Advaita Vedanta
Advaita Vedānta
Non-dual Vedanta: the Self is Brahman, and the world of many things is appearance.
Editorial overviewTraditionally traced to Gaudapada and Shankara, whom scholars commonly place around the 6th–8th centuries CE (dates debated); developed by many later teachers.
In simple words
Advaita says there is only one real thing — pure consciousness — and that you are that. The feeling of being a separate, limited person comes from not knowing your true nature, and freedom is simply waking up to it.
Overview
Advaita ("not-two") Vedanta holds that Brahman — pure, undivided consciousness — is the only ultimate reality, and that the individual Self (atman) is identical with it. The experienced world of many distinct things and persons is maya: not simply unreal, but not ultimately real either, arising through beginningless ignorance (avidya). Bondage consists in mistaking oneself for the body and mind; liberation (moksha) is the direct recognition of what one already is, and can be attained while living (jivanmukti). Knowledge (jnana) through hearing, reflecting on and contemplating the Upanishadic teaching is held to be the direct means, with ethical discipline, detachment and devotion as preparation. Advaita distinguishes a conventional level of truth, at which God, the world and ritual are real, from the ultimate level at which only Brahman is.
Scholar’s note
Post-Shankara Advaita divides into the Bhamati school (Vachaspati Mishra) and the Vivarana school (Prakashatman), differing on the locus of avidya and the role of meditation. Key technical terms include adhyasa (superimposition), anirvachaniya (indeterminable), and the levels of reality. The authorship of several works traditionally attributed to Shankara, such as Vivekachudamani, is debated.Core questions
- ?What am I, if not the body and mind?
- ?If only Brahman is real, what is the status of the world?
- ?How can knowledge alone liberate?
- ?What does it mean to be liberated while alive?
How it sees
Editorial overview
- What problem is it trying to solve?
- Why do we experience ourselves as limited, suffering beings when, according to the Upanishads, the Self is Brahman — and how is that error removed?
- What does it consider real?
- Only Brahman, pure consciousness-existence, is ultimately real. The world is real at the conventional (vyavaharika) level but is an appearance (maya) from the ultimate (paramarthika) standpoint.
- What is valid knowledge?
- Six pramanas, largely following Kumarila's Mimamsa: perception, inference, testimony, comparison (upamana), postulation (arthapatti) and non-apprehension (anupalabdhi). Scripture is the only means for knowing Brahman.
- What is the Self?
- The Self is pure, witnessing consciousness (sakshi), never an object, identical with Brahman; the individual jiva is that consciousness as if limited by body and mind.
- What causes bondage?
- Beginningless ignorance (avidya), which superimposes the non-self onto the Self — as a rope is mistaken for a snake — and gives rise to desire, action and rebirth.
- What is liberation?
- Moksha is the removal of ignorance: direct knowledge that one is Brahman. It is not produced, since it is one's nature, and can be realised in this life.
- What is the path?
- Discernment (viveka), dispassion (vairagya), inner disciplines, and longing for freedom as preparation; then hearing (shravana), reflection (manana) and deep contemplation (nididhyasana) of the Upanishadic teaching under a teacher.
Core concepts
Conceptब्रह्मन्BrahmanThe ultimate reality, the ground from which everything arises.Conceptआत्मन्Atman — the SelfThe innermost Self — what you are beneath body, mind and personality.ConceptमायाMayaThe power of appearance — why the world seems other than it is.Conceptअविद्याAvidya — ignoranceFundamental misunderstanding of oneself and reality — the root of bondage.Conceptअद्वैत / अद्वयNon-duality (advaya / advaita)The claim that reality is ultimately 'not two' — understood very differently across schools.Conceptसाक्षीSakshi — the witnessThe Self as the silent witness of the mind's changing states.Conceptनेति नेतिNeti neti — not this, not thisThe Upanishadic method of describing the ultimate by negating every limited description.ConceptविवेकVivekaDiscernment between the real and the unreal, the Self and the not-Self.Conceptज्ञानJnana — knowledgeLiberating knowledge — seeing reality and the Self as they are.Conceptआत्मविचारAtma-vichara — self-inquiryInquiring into the nature of the 'I' until its source is recognised.Conceptमोक्षMoksha — liberationFinal freedom from bondage and the cycle of rebirth.
Primary texts
- Mandukya KarikaA verse treatise on the Mandukya Upanishad and the earliest surviving systematic work of Advaita, arguing that nothing has ever truly come into being.Source not yet ingested
- Brahma Sutra Bhashya (Shankara)Shankara's commentary on the Brahma Sutras, the foundational systematic statement of Advaita Vedanta.Source not yet ingested
- Gita Bhashya (Shankara)The oldest surviving complete commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, reading it as teaching liberation through knowledge of the Self.Source not yet ingested
- Upadesha Sahasri'A thousand teachings': a two-part manual on how to teach Advaita, in prose and in verse, and widely considered an authentic independent work of Shankara.Source not yet ingested
- VivekachudamaniA long verse dialogue between a teacher and a disciple, laying out the Advaita path from qualifications of the seeker to liberation.Source not yet ingested
- Atma BodhaA short verse work on knowledge of the Self, using everyday images to show how the Self is distinguished from body and mind.Source not yet ingested
- Tattva BodhaA short prose primer that defines the basic vocabulary of Vedanta in question-and-answer form.Source not yet ingested
- AparokshanubhutiA verse manual on 'direct realisation' of the Self, known for recasting the limbs of yoga in terms of Vedantic knowledge.Source not yet ingested
- Ashtavakra GitaA radical non-dual dialogue in which the sage Ashtavakra tells King Janaka that he is already free, and Janaka responds with verses of realisation.Source not yet ingested
- Yoga VasisthaA vast work in which the sage Vasistha teaches the young prince Rama, through many nested stories, that the world is a projection of mind and consciousness.Source not yet ingested
- Adhyatma RamayanaA Sanskrit retelling of the Rama story in which Rama is the supreme Self and the narrative becomes a vehicle for Advaitic and devotional teaching.Source not yet ingested
- Avadhuta GitaA song of the 'avadhuta', one who has shaken off all worldly and religious conventions, proclaiming the non-dual Self beyond all categories.Source not yet ingested
- Bhaja GovindamA popular devotional hymn, also called Moha Mudgara ('hammer of delusion'), urging the listener to turn from worldly preoccupations to God.Source not yet ingested
- Mandukya UpanishadTwelve short prose statements that map the syllable Om onto waking, dream, deep sleep and a fourth state (turiya) identified with the Self.Source not yet ingested
- Nirvana ShatakamA six-verse hymn, also called Atma Shatakam, in which the speaker negates identification with mind, body, senses and roles, and affirms identity with Shiva as pure consciousness and bliss.Source not yet ingested
- Upadesa SaramThirty verses by Ramana Maharshi that grade the spiritual paths, from action and worship to self-inquiry.Source not yet ingested
- Jnana YogaVivekananda's lectures presenting Advaita Vedanta to Western audiences as a rational philosophy of knowledge and freedom.Source not yet ingested
- Who Am I? (Nan Yar)Ramana Maharshi's short classic on self-inquiry: tracing the sense of "I" back to its source.Source not yet ingested
Major thinkers
ThinkerगौडपादGaudapadaScholars generally place him around the 6th–7th century CE; dates are uncertain.Thinkerआदि शङ्कराचार्यAdi ShankaracharyaTraditionally 788–820 CE; many scholars prefer an earlier 8th-century or late 7th-century date. Dates are debated.Thinkerरमण महर्षिRamana Maharshi1879–1950 CE (modern).Thinkerस्वामी विवेकानन्दSwami Vivekananda1863–1902 CE (modern).
Where it disagrees
Stated neutrally. The purpose is understanding, not a verdict.
With Vishishtadvaita Vedanta · status of the world and selves
Ramanuja rejects maya as indeterminable ignorance and holds that world and selves are real, forming Brahman's body.
With Dvaita Vedanta · identity of self and God
Madhva holds that the difference between God and souls is real and eternal, and reads the key Upanishadic statements accordingly.
With Nyaya · nature of the self
Nyaya holds the self is a substance that only acquires consciousness when joined to a mind; Advaita holds consciousness is the Self's very nature.
Related traditions
Traditionवेदान्तVedantaOne of the principal Vedanta schoolsTraditionविशिष्टाद्वैतVishishtadvaita VedantaAgrees Brahman is one, but Ramanuja holds world and selves are real attributes of BrahmanTraditionद्वैत वेदान्तDvaita VedantaMadhva's school is Advaita's most direct criticTraditionमध्यमकMadhyamakaCritics, both classical and modern, have compared Gaudapada's thought with Madhyamaka; the relation is debatedTraditionआधुनिकModern expositionsVivekananda and Ramana Maharshi presented Advaita to modern audiences