Brahma Sutras

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The Brahma Sūtras (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मसूत्राणि), also known as the Vedanta Sūtra (Sanskrit: वेदान्त सूत्र), or as Shariraka Sūtra, and Bhikshu-sūtra (latter two in monastic traditions), are a Sanskrit text which criticizes the metaphysical dualism of the influential Samkhya philosophy, and instead synthesizes and harmonizes divergent Upanishadic ideas and practices about the essence of existence, postulating Brahman as the only origin and essence of everything. The text is attributed to the sage Badarayana, who is also called Vyāsa (arranger), but is probably an accumulation of incremental additions and changes by various authors to an earlier work, completed in its surviving form in approximately 400–450 CE. The oldest version may have been composed between 500 BCE and 200 BCE, with 200 BCE being the most likely date. The Brahma Sūtras consist of 555 aphoristic verses (sutras) in four chapters, dealing with attaining knowledge of Brahman. Rejecting the smriti as a base of knowledge, the...

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