VEDANTA

   one of the six classical schools of HINDU PHILOSOPHY and that which is best known in the West. The name literally means "the end of the VEDA." It is based on the UPANISHADS and interprets the RITUAL practices of the VEDAS in terms of symbolic meanings. There are three main schools of Vednta that of Advaita which promotes MONISM; Viidvaita or qualified NON-DUALISM and Dvaita which is a FORM of DUALISM. All three are similar to PLATONISM in aiming to go beyond the limits of EMPIRICAL observation to explore the NATURE of BRAHMAN. Both AKARA and RMNUJA taught forms of Vednta even though they presented sharply differing interpretations of the TRADITION. In the late nineteenth century various thinkers sought to create a synthesis between various aspects of Vednta and Western forms of IDEALISM while Vivekananda, RADHAKRISHNAN and SRI AUROBINDO adapted Vednta to the theory of EVOLUTION and Western SCIENCE.