VEDĀNTA. The word vedānta literally means "end [anta] of the Veda," that is to say, the concluding part of the apauruṣeya, or revealed Vedic literature, which is traditionally believed to comprise the Saṃhitās, the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas, and the Upaniṣads. Vedānta thus primarily denotes the Upaniṣads and their teachings. Metaphorically, Vedānta is also understood to represent the consummation or culmination (anta) of the entire Vedic speculation, or indeed of all knowledge (veda). The Hindu philosophical tradition, however, generally recognizes three foundations (prasthānas, literally, "points of departure") of Vedānta, namely, the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavadgītā, and the Brahma Sūtra. Of these three, the Bhagavadgītā, which primarily deals with the problems of social ethics, and which attempts a kind of religio-philosophical synthesis, can hardly be characterized as a...