Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/54

* VEDA. 34 VEDANTA. old Dharma Sutras by Buliler and Jolly (vols, ii.. vii.. and xiv. ) ; and the Law-Book of ilanu by Biililer (vol. xxv.). VEDANGA, va-diing'4 (Skt. member of tlio Veda). The name of six Sanskrit works, the object of which is to teach how to read and understand correctly Vedic texts, and how to apply them correctly to sacrificial purposes. The first four of the six Vedangas are philological in character and the other two deal with the sacrifice and its season. The names and scope of the six are as follows: (1) Sik-fa, or phonetics. It is represented by a short treatise of 35, or, in- another recension, of 59 verses, which explains the nature of letters, accent, and pronunciation, and is ascribed to Panini (q.v.). (2) Chandas, or metre, which is ascribed to Pingala. (3) Vydkaraiia, or giammar, by which native author- ities understand the celebrated work of Panini (q.v.). (4) Xinikta (q.v.), or etymology. (5) Jyolisa. or astronomy, as employed in fixing the days and hours of the Vedic sacrifices. (6) Kalpa, or works on the Vedic ceremonial, which sys- tematize the ritual taught by the Brahmana portion of the Veda, omitting, however, all legendary or mystical detail. They are com- posed in the Sutra style. (See Sutra.) The Vedanga was edited in Bombay, 1902. Consult: Miiller, Ancient (Sanskrit Literature (London, 1859) ; Weber, History of Indian Literature (Eng. trans.. Boston, 1878) ; Macdonell, San- skrit Literature (New York, 1900). VEDANTA,. va-diln'ta (Skt., conclusion of the Veda, later interpreted as ultimate aim of the Veda ) . The second great division of the Mimdmsu (q.v.) school of Hindu philosophy. It is chiefly concerned in the investigation of Brah- ma, or the Supreme Spirit, and the relation in ■which the universe, and especially the human soul, stands to it; and in contradistinction from the Purvamimamsa, or the investigation of the former part of the Vedas, especially the Bruhnianas (see Ved.), it is also called Uttara- mlmafnsn. or the investigation of the latter part of the Vedas, the Arani/akas and Upanishads, which treat of Brahma, the Supreme Spirit, Sometimes the name given to it is f^t'irlraka- mlmarhsa. or the investigation of embodied Brah- ma. In its method the Vedanta differs from the Nyaya (.see Ntaya; Vaise.shika) by en- deavoring to explain the universe as a successive development from one ultimate source or prin- ciple, and it is distinct from the fliinkhya (see SXNKiiy. ; Yoga), inasmuch as that system is based on the assumption of a duality of prin- ciples whence the universe derives its origin. Tlio object-matter of the Vedanta is the proof tliat the universe emanates in a successive de- vel(i|)ni('n( from a Supreme Spirit, or All Soul, Atman. which is also called Brahman, or para- mat man : that the human sou! is therefore iden- tical with Brahma; that the separate existence of the human soul is the result of its ignorance of this identity of itself and the Supreme Spirit: and that its final liberation or freedom from metempsychosis (q.v.) is attained by a removal of this ignorance, that is, by a proper understanding of the truth of the Vedanta doctrine. In essence, therefore, Vedanta is an idealistic monism. Its first beginnings are found in the early Upani- shads (q.v.), but as a completed system it dates from about the time of our era, being later than the Yoga. It is referred to Badarayana (eighth century), whose Brahma-Sutra, as expiaineil by Sankara, is the authoritative work of the Vedan- tists, although the interpretation of Ramanuja (twelfth century) dill'ers in some important par- ticulars from that of Sankara. The former teaches that the individual soul is ever distinct from the Supreme Soul, whereas Sankara holds that when avidyd, or ignorance, is removed, the individual soul becomes one with the Supreme, according to the doctrine of 'non-duality.' According to the Vedanta. as thus interpreted by Sankara, Brahma is both the eflieient and material cause of the world, creator and creation, doer and deed. It is one, self-existent, supreme, as truth, wisdom, intelligence, and happiness; devoid of the three qualities of darkness, pas- sion, and trutli. in the sense in which created be- ings possess them; and at the consummation of all things the whole imiverse is resolved or ab- sorbed into it. From Brahma individual souls emanate, as innumerable sparks issue from a blazing fire. The soul, therefore, is neither born nor does it die; it is of divine substance, and as such infinite, immortal, intelligent, sentient, true. Its separate existence, as distinct from Brahma, is the cause of its ignorance; and this ignorance, which consists in regarding the world as a reality capable of subsisting without Brah- ma, has the double power of enveloping and projecting. By means of the former it makes the soul liable to mundane vicissitudes, such as the sensations of pleasure and pain. The projective power of ignorance, when encompassing the soul in its condition of pure intellect, produces out of the darkness which then prevails the five sub- tile elements: ether, which is the substratum of the quality sound; air, which arises from ether, the substratum of touch; from air, fire or light, the substratum of color; from light, water, the substratum of savor; and from water, earth, the substratum of smell. From these subtile ele- ments are then produced seventeen subtile bodies and the five gross elements. The former, also called lingakirira, are the five organs of percep- tion, the organs of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which arise severally from the pure or inactive particles of each of the subtile ele- ments. There are, further, two intellectual or- gans, which are produced from the mingled pure or inactive particles of the subtile elements, biiddhi, rmderstanding, the function of which is to arrive at a certainty or conclusion, and manas, an organ of volition and imagination. Lastly, there are the five organs of action, the voice, the hands, the feet, the ori.'an of excretion, and that of generation, which are severally produced from the active particles of each of the subtile elements; and the five vital airs, which arc pro- duced from the mingled active particles of the subtile elements, the air breathed forth, which has its place in the fore part of the nose; the air breathed downward, which has its place in the lower intestines; the air which circulates through the whole bodv: the ascending air, which has its place in (he throat; and the descending air in the middle of the body, which causes as- similation and digestion of food, iiroduces semen, excrements, etc. Later Vednntists postulate ten such vital airs, assuming in addition to those