The Brahma Sutras

THE BRAHMA SUTRAS (attributed to Badarayana or Vyasa, Indian, c. 450 CE)

The Sanskrit text called the Brahma Sutras (also known as the Vedanta Sutra) may have been composed between 500 and 200 BCE, but was finalized about 400-450 CE. It systematizes and summarizes the ideas in the Upanishads, and is foundational to the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. Its four chapters are made up of 555 aphoristic verses about the nature of human existence and universe, and about the Ultimate Reality called Brahman.

• The four chapters of the Brahma Sutras contain:
• Chap. 1: the metaphysics of Absolute Reality
• Chap. 2: objections raised by competing schools of Indian philosophy including Buddhism and Jainism
• Chap. 3: epistemology and the path to gaining liberating knowledge
• Chap. 4: why such a knowledge is important

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