Vedanta and Yoga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Vedanta and Yoga - Essay Example Rather than a firm communal set of beliefs, the religion stays as a composite of diverse philosophical and intellectual viewpoints with no single founding pioneer. The smriti and sruti of Hindu texts encompass philosophy, temple building, theology and rituals amid other subjects of the Hindu religion. Agamas, Upanishads and Vedas constitute some of the leading scriptures of Hinduism. Hinduism stands in the third position after Christianity and Islam worldwide (Rinehart 2004, pp. 155-177). This paper seeks to outline ways in which the Vedanta and Yoga introduced a revolutionary new aspect to Hindu religion. Vedanta encompasses the theoretical foundation of classical Hinduism formed from Upanishads whereas Yoga entails the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali approaches in generic Hinduism. Attacks became launched by the Upanishads of age to increase the concentration on rituals. In this regard, the different monistic theories of the Upanishads became incorporated into a theistic context by the Bh agavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture. In the early centuries, several Hindu based philosophical schools became formally organized together with Vedanta and Yoga. Moreover, the development of Indian philosophies came along with the booming of both Buddhist and Hindu philosophies from the fifth to the ninth century. Vedanta emerged as the most solitary prevailing and influential philosophical school of thought. As a result, Sanskritic culture declined following the Gupta period. In addition, a religious convention became established among the pre-educated ethnic societies going through acculturation under the influence of the first medieval Purunas. Similarly, Dharmashastras and Brahmamic codes of Hinduism beliefs also experienced drastic transformations under the Purana authors. This resulted into the emergence of conventional Hinduism that in turn dominated over all formerly known traditions (Rinehart 2004, 179-202). Pujas based Hindu gods eventually replaced the Buddha royal spher es in the eighth century. In the same period, the Buddha royal spheres also became transformed into a Vishnu avatar. Additionally, the academic discipline of studying Indian culture on a European viewpoint came to be introduced in the nineteenth century. Certain societies endeavored to incorporate and bring together Dharmic and Abrahamic philosophies in establishing societal reforms. The same period also marked the emergence of very innovative movements founded on the teachings and personalities of individuals which remained deep-rooted in the aboriginal tradition of the religion. Moreover, prominent philosophers of Hinduism reframed, transformed and provided the religion’s introductory manuscripts for present-day audiences in new restatements in order to raise Vedanta and Yoga profiles in the West as well as attracting attention and followers (Sivananda 1999, n.p.). Vedanta indicates atman to be inarticulate from Brahman’s in the end, and that the objective of life wo uld be to recognize that an individual’s atman stays indistinguishable from that of Brahman. According to the Upanishads, an individual completely conscious of atman as the personal significance of one’s own self comprehends a personality with Brahman and in so doing reaches moksha. Hence, moksha relies on God’s grace and love towards Him whereas atman relies on God. Traditional Vedanta considered pratyaksa and anumana to be valid but inferior while shabda pramana to be the most dependable wealth of knowledge. Also, Vedantic philosophies became systemized into a single coherent discourse.