SXNKII , inasmuch as that system is based on the assumption of a duality of prin ciples whence the universe derives its origin.
The object-matter of the Vedanta is the proof that the universe emanates in a Sucecssiv,' de velopment from a Supreme Spirit, or All Soul, At math which is also called Brahman, nr paro mntmamm that the human soul is therefore iden tical with Brahma; that the separate existence of the human soul is the result of its igno•anee of this identity of itself and the Supreme Spirit; and that its final liberation or freedom from nctempsyehosis (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 monism. Its first beginnings are found in the early Iipani Ehads 01.v.). lint as :1 eompleted 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 explained by Sankara, is the authoritative work of the Vedan tists, although the interpretation of Ramanuja (twelfth century) differs 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 avidya, 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 efficient 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 truth, in the sense in which created be ings possess them; and at the consummation of all things the whole universe 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 horn 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 lingagarira, 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 o• inactive particles of the subtile elements, buddhi, understanding, the function of which is to arrive at a certainty or conclusion, and manes, an organ of volition and imagination. Lastly,
there arc the five organs of action, the voice, the hands, the feet, the organ 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 are pro duced from the mingled active particles of the satile elements, the air breathed forth, which has its place in the fore part of the nose; the air breathed downward, whieh has its place in the lower intestines; the air which circulates through the whole body: the ascending air, which its place in the throat ; and the descending air in the middle of the body, which cau>•ses as similation and digestion of fond, produces semen, exerements, etc. Later Vedantists postulate ten such vital airs, assuming in addition to those already mentioned, the airs NvIlieh severally cause retching, winking, hunger. yawning, and fatten ing. The five gross elements are the live subtile elements, When they have become so divided and combined that each of them retains a ating portion of itself, and consequently of the quality of which it is the substratum, and also contains smaller portions of the other subtile ele ments, and the qualities of which they are the substrata. From these gross elements Olen arises the world. The soul, when existing in the body, is incased in a succession of 'sheaths.' The first or interior sheath consists of buddhi, associated with the organs of perception; the second, of mantis, associated with the organs of action; and the third, of the vital airs, together with the organs of action. These three sheaths constitute the subtile body of the soul, which attends the soul in its transmigrations. The collective to tality of such subtile bodies is the supreme soul, as regarded in its relation to the world. The fourth and exterior sheath of the soul is com posed of the gross elements; and the collective aggregate of such gross bodies is the gross body of the deity. This whole development being the result of ignorance, the soul frees itself from its error by understanding that the different stages in which this development appears do not repre sent real or absolute truth; and when its error has completely vanished it ceases to he re-born, and becomes reunited with Brahma, whence it emanated. The difference between esoteric and exoteric Vedanta consists in the ability or non-ability to recognize that Brahma is im personal, without attributes, and that every soul is all Brahma. This knowledge alone is liberat ing; but the empiricist, who cannot understand this, may be put in the way of attaining en lightenment by moral and religious practices, such as are enjoined by the Parvaminnthset, as explained above. The doctrine of bhakti, or faith, does not belong to the older Vedanta; it is, however, an interesting feature of the later periods of this philosophy (see VAISIINAVAS) ; and the same observation applies to the doctrine of Maya (q.v.), or illusion, according to which the world has no reality whatever, but is merely the product of imagination; for the older Vedanta merely teaches that the world is not the truth, but does not deny its material reality.