Page 38 - Hinduism

The most popular of the darśanas is the Uttaramīmāṁsā or Vedānta as it is also called. Although the others are as much darśanas or schools of thought as this, still they are now only of academic interest and there is no class of people who specifically follow any of those views in their daily life. It can therefore be called the living philosophy of the day and when we hear of Indian philosophy nowadays, our mind generally comprehends only the varieties of Vedānta and nothing more. As its name Vedānta implies, its teaching is based mainly on the Upaniṣads which form the concluding portion of the Veda. While the Pūrvamīmāṁsa, which stresses on dharma, is based on the former portion of the Veda called the Brāhmana, the Vedānta is based on the latter portion. Hence the names Pūrva and Uttara- Mīmāṁsā. There is the school of philosophy which affirms that the two darśanas are supplementary to each other and really form one darśana. There is no wonder then if the Uttaramīmāṁsā also adopts the view that the Veda is eternal and impersonal and that the dharma taught in it should be followed in practice. The Bhagavadgitā in the Mahabharata contains in a nut-shell the teachings of the Upaniṣads in very simple language without their illustrative stories and esoteric methods. For this reason, it has become the most popular handbook of our religion in recent times, especially with the laymen who cannot drink deep in the Upaniṣadic
springs. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the light of the world, teaches 38