Saptak Annual Festival 2012 (01/01-01/13/2012 + 02/12/2012) – partial list of artists…
… sharing with the community of music lovers around the globe @ Saptak FB Fanpage
(Saptak is registered in Ahmedabad as a Public Charitable Trust (No. E.4054), enjoying exemption under S.80G of the IT Act – Copyright: Saptak Trust, Ahmedabad, India)
Vedānta (English pronunciation: /vɪˈdɑːntə/, Hindustani pronunciation: [ʋeːd̪aːn̪t̪], Devanagari: वेदान्त, Vedānta) was originally a word used in Hindu philosophy as a synonym for that part of the Veda texts known also as the Upanishads. The name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = “Veda-end” = “the appendix to the Vedic hymns.” It is also speculated that “Vedānta” means “the purpose or goal [end] of the Vedas.”[1] By the 8th century CE, the word also came to be used to describe a group of philosophical traditions concerned with the self-realisation by which one understands the ultimate nature of reality (Brahman). Vedanta can also be used as a noun to describe one who has mastered all four of the original Vedas. Vedānta is also called Uttarā Mīmāṃsā, or the ‘latter enquiry’ or ‘higher enquiry’, and is often paired with Purva Mīmāṃsā, the ‘former enquiry’. Pūrva Mimamsa, usually simply called Mimamsa, deals with explanations of the fire-sacrifices of the Vedic mantras (in the Samhita portion of the Vedas) and Brahmanas, while Vedanta explicates the esoteric teachings of the Āraṇyakas (the “forest scriptures”), and the Upanishads, composed from ca. the 9th century BCE, until modern times.
Vedanta is not restricted or confined to one book and there is no sole source for Vedāntic philosophy.[2]
Swami Vivekananda স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ स्वामी विवेकानन्द
Swami Vivekananda (Bengali: স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ, Shami Bibekānondo (help·info); Hindi: स्वामी विवेकानन्द) (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Dutta (Bengali: নরেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত, Hindi: नरेन्द्रनाथ दत्त ),[2] was the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.[3] He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the “Western” World, mainly in America and Europe[3] and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the end of the 19th century C.E.[4] Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India.[5] He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech which began: “Sisters and Brothers of America,”[6][7] through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions at Chicago in 1893.[2]
Swami Vivekananda was born in an aristocratic Bengali kayastha family of Calcutta on January 12, 1863. Vivekananda’s parents influenced his thinking—his father by his rationality and his mother by her religious temperament. From his childhood, he showed an inclination towards spirituality and God realization. His guru, Ramakrishna, taught him Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism); that all religions are true and that service to man was the most effective worship of God. After the death of his Guru, Vivekananda became a wandering monk, touring the Indian subcontinent and acquiring first-hand knowledge of conditions in India. He later traveled to Chicago and represented India as a delegate in the 1893 Parliament of World Religions. He conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating Vedanta and Yoga in America, England and Europe. He also established the Vedanta societies in America and England.
3 important books of Vedanta… Prasthana-traya (triple canon of Vedanta)
The Upanishads (Sanskrit: उपनिषद्, IAST: Upaniṣad, IPA: [upəniʂəd]) are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main (mukhya) or old Upanishads. The oldest of these, the Brihadaranyaka, Jaiminiya Upanisadbrahmana and the Chandogya Upanishads, were composed during the pre-Buddhist era of India,[1][2][note 1] while the Taittiriya, Aitareya and Kausitaki, which show Buddhist influence, must have been composed after the 5th century BCE.[2] The remainder of the mukhya Upanishads are dated to the last few centuries BCE.[2] New Upanishads were still composed in the medieval and early modern period: discoveries of newer Upanishads were being reported as late as 1926.[5] One, the Muktikā Upanishad, predates 1656[6] and contains a list of 108 canonical Upanishads,[7] including itself as the last. However, several texts under the title of “Upanishads” originated right up to the first half of the 20th century, some of which did not deal with subjects of Vedic philosophy.[8] The newer Upanishads are known to be imitations of the mukhya Upanishads.
The Upanishads have been attributed to several authors: Yajnavalkya and Uddalaka Aruni feature prominently in the early Upanishads.[9] Other important writers include Shvetaketu, Shandilya, Aitareya, Pippalada and Sanatkumara. Important women discussants include Yajnavalkya’s wife Maitreyi, and Gargi. Dara Shikoh, son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, translated 50 Upanishads into Persian in 1657. The first written English translation came in 1805 from Colebrooke,[10] who was aware of 170 Upanishads. Sadhale’s catalog from 1985, the Upaniṣad-vākya-mahā-kośa lists 223 Upanishads.[11] The Upanishads are mostly the concluding part of the Brahmanas and in the Aranyakas.[12]
All Upanishads have been passed down in oral tradition. The mukhya Upanishads are regarded in Hinduism as revealed texts (shruti). With the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutra (known collectively as the Prasthanatrayi),[13] the mukhya Upanishads provide a foundation for several later schools of Indian philosophy (vedanta), among them, two influential monistic schools of Hinduism.[note 2][note 3][note 4] The Upanishads were collectively considered amongst the 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written by the British poet Martin Seymour-Smith, and have received praise from writers and scholars like Emerson, Thoreau, Kant, Schopenhauer and several others. Some criticism of the Upanishads revolves around the denial of pluralistic ideas due to the core philosophy of unity of the Upanishads.
Krishna and Arjun on the chariot, Mahabharata, 18th-19th century, India
The Bhagavad Gītā (Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, ˈbʱəɡəʋəd̪ ɡiːˈt̪aː (help·info), Song of God), also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition. It is revealed scripture in the views of Hindus, which represents the words and message of God, the book is considered among the most important texts in the history of literature and philosophy. [1] The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna, who is revered by Hindus as a manifestation of God (Parabrahman) Himself,[1] and is referred to within as Bhagavan, the Divine One.[2]
The context of the Gita is a conversation between Lord Krishna and the Pandava prince Arjuna taking place in the middle of the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra War with armies on both sides ready to battle. Responding to Arjuna’s confusion and moral dilemma about fighting his own cousins who command a tyranny imposed on a disputed empire, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince, and elaborates on different Yogic[3] and Vedantic philosophies, and explains different ways in which the soul can reach the supreme being with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu theology and also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. During the discourse, Lord Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being himself (Svayam Bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring vision of his divine universal form.
The direct audience to Lord Krishna’s discourse of the Bhagavad Gita included Arjuna (addressee), Sanjaya (using Divya Drishti (or divine vision) gifted by the sage Veda Vyasa to watch the war and narrate the events to Dhritarashtra), spirit of Lord Hanuman (perched atop Arjuna’s chariot) in his flag and Barbarika, son of Ghatotkacha, who also witnessed the complete 18 days of action at Kurukshetra.
The Bhagavad Gita is also called Gītopaniṣad, implying its having the status of an Upanishad.[4] Since the Gita is drawn from the Mahabharata, it is classified as a Smṛiti text. However, those branches of Hinduism that give it the status of an Upanishad also consider it a śruti or “revealed” text.[5][6] As it is taken to represent a summary of the Upanishadic teachings, it is also called “the Upanishad of the Upanishads”.[7] Another title is mokṣaśāstra, or “Shastra of Moksha“.[8]
The Brahma sūtras (Sanskrit: ब्रह्म सूत्र) , also known as Vedānta Sūtras (वेदान्त सूत्र), are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points. The Brahma sutras constitute the Nyāya prasthāna (न्याय प्रस्थान), or “Logic-based starting point”,[citation needed] of the above triplet (Sanskrit न्याय, Nyāya: logic, order). Thus they are also referred to as the Yukti prasthāna, since Yukti (युक्ति) also means reasoning or logic. While the Upanishads (Śruti prasthāna, the starting point of revelation) and the Bhagavad-Gītā (Smriti prasthāna, the starting point of remembered tradition) are the basic source texts of Vedānta, it is in the Brahma sūtras that the teachings of Vedānta are set forth in a systematic and logical order.
The task of reconciling the different Vedic texts, indicating their mutual relations, is assigned to a scripture called the Mimāṃsā (मीमांसा) which means investigation or inquiry. In the orthodox Hindu tradition, Mimāṃsā is divided into two systems, the Purva-Mimāṃsā by Jaimini which is concerned with the correct interpretation of the Vedic ritual and Uttara-Mimāṃsā by Badarayana which is called Brahma-Mimāṃsā or Sariraka-Mimāṃsā which deals chiefly with the nature of Brahman, the status of the world and the individual self. Since it attempts to determine the exact nature of these entities it is also called nirnāyaka-shāstra.
The Brahma sūtra is the exposition of the philosophy of the Upanishads. It is an attempt to systematise the various strands of the Upanishads which form the background of the orthodox systems of thought. It is also called Uttara-Mimāṃsā or the investigation of the later part of the Vedas, as distinguished from the Mimāṃsā of the earlier part of the Vedas and the Brahmanas which deal with ritual or karma-kānda. It is intended to be a summary of the teaching of the Upanishads. [1]
IMC - India meets Classic presents ... 
