Audiobook

Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya, Volume 1

Bādarāyaṇa

The Vedanta Sutras, or Brahma Sutras as they are also known, is a Sanskrit text attributed to the sage Badarayana (also known as Vyasa) written sometime between 500 BCE and 450 CE, with most scholars placing it in the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE. Together with the Principal Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, The Vedanta-Sutras form the trilogy of sacred texts considered most important to Vedanta philosophy. Here is presented Part 1 comprised of adhyāya 1 and adhyāya 2 (pādas 1-2), with an introduction by the translator, Sanskrit scholar and Allahabad University professor of philosophy, Dr. George Thibaut, C.I.E., Ph.D., D.Sc., as well as the highly influential and oldest surviving commentary on the text by Sri Adi Shankaracharya. This exposition, or bhashya, most likely written in the first half of the 8th century CE, is one of the foundational texts of the Hindu school of Advaita Vedanta. The first adhyāya synthesizes the meanings of several Upanishads and seeks to characterize the true nature of Brahman, while simultaneously refuting several principles of the Samkhya school. The second adhyāya establishes a Vedic basis for Vedanta philosophy by raising and refuting objections brought by many other Indian religious schools including from Sanatana Dharma, Jainism and Buddhism. (Summary by Jeffrey Stumpf)