Knowra Advaita Vedanta Advaita Vedanta Advaita Vedanta is a Hindu philosophical tradition teaching that the individual self and Brahman are ultimately nondual. It explains perceived multiplicity through ignorance and liberation through knowledge of this identity.
Brahman : In Indian philosophy, Brahman is ultimate reality, the ground of existence and the source of the universe. Advaita identifies Brahman as the sole ultimate reality, beyond apparent divisions.
Avidya : Avidya is ignorance or misapprehension that obscures knowledge of reality in Indian philosophical traditions. Advaita uses avidya to explain why nondual Brahman appears as a world of separate things.
Adi Shankara : Adi Shankara was an Indian philosopher and theologian, traditionally dated to the eighth century, who systematized Advaita Vedanta. His commentaries became the tradition's most influential classical exposition.
Vishishtadvaita : Vishishtadvaita is a Vedanta school teaching qualified nonduality, with souls and the world real as modes of Brahman. It preserves real distinctions within Brahman where Advaita regards distinction as ultimately sublatable.
Brahma Sutras : The Brahma Sutras are aphorisms systematizing Vedanta and interpreting the Upanishads' teachings on Brahman. Shankara's commentary on this text established a durable, systematic Advaita interpretation.
Atman : Atman is the innermost self or enduring principle of a person in Indian philosophical traditions. Advaita holds that Atman is not ultimately distinct from Brahman.
Adhyasa : Adhyasa is superimposition: mistaking one thing for another by attributing properties of one to the other. Shankara uses it to describe how bodily and mental traits are falsely attributed to the self.
Gaudapada : Gaudapada was an early Vedanta philosopher, author of a commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad. His analysis of consciousness and non-origination informed Shankara's Advaita.
Dvaita Vedanta : Dvaita Vedanta is a Hindu philosophical school teaching an enduring distinction between God, individual souls, and matter. Its permanent difference between God and soul directly opposes Advaita's ultimate identity.
Sringeri Sharada Peetham : Sringeri Sharada Peetham is a Hindu monastic institution in Karnataka traditionally associated with Adi Shankara. The monastery became a prominent center for preserving and teaching Advaita.
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