The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Venus S 465

universe, and the ATMAN , which is the reality that underlies human beings. The most widely known form of Vedanta is called Advaita, “nondualist.” It was developed by the great Indian thinker S ANKARA (eighth century C . E .). Advaita Vedanta maintains that there is ulti mately no distinction between the brahman and the atman. The reality that underlies the universe is the reality that underlies the human person. On the other extreme is the Dvaita or “dualist” school of Madhva (13th century C . E .). Madhva argued that brahman and atman are two distinct realities. He also taught, unlike Sankara, that each person has a separate atman. The other Vedanta schools occupy positions somewhere between these two extremes. The most important is the Visishtadvaita or “qualified nondualism” of Ramanuja (11th century C . E .). The name comes from Ramanuja’s disagreement with Sankara. Sankara says that we can know brahman apart from any qualities or characteristics. But Ramanuja insists that we know brahman only as “qualified” or having characteristics. That is, we know brahman only as G OD . Venus An ancient Roman GODDESS . The most ancient Romans did not WORSHIP Venus, but their “cousins,” the Latins, did. Some scholars say she was originally a goddess of fertile fields. In the 200s B . C . E ., the Romans identified Venus with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In later mythology, she became the goddess of the sex ual attractiveness and fertility of women. She often assumed this form in Renaissance art. At the same time, the Romans worshipped Venus as “Verticordia.” In this personification, Venus “diverts the hearts” of young women from illicit sexual activity. According to the Greek poet Homer, Aphro dite was the mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas. At Rome, the Julian family claimed that it descended from Aeneas and therefore from Venus. Julius Cae sar built a temple to Venus as his ancestress. This Venus appears in Vergil’s famous epic poem, the Aeneid.

collection of hymns in praise of the gods who were invited to attend the sacrifice. The Sama-veda is a collection of songs. The Yajur-veda is a collection of ritual formulae. The Atharva-veda is actually a collection of spells and chants used for domestic purposes, since its priests had nothing in particu lar to say at the public sacrifices. The later parts of this literature, especially the relatively late last book of the Rig-Veda, contain hymns that begin a tradition of profound speculation on the nature of the universe. The next layer of Vedic literature consists of the Brahmanas (roughly 1000–800 B . C . E .). These are commentaries on each of the Vedic samhitas. They explain the meaning of the rituals, give instruc tions on how to perform them, and relate stories that were loosely inspired by sacrificial practices. In general, they explain the effect of the sacrifice as resulting from intimate connections between the SACRIFICE and the universe at large. The Aranyakas (roughly 800–600 B . C . E .) and the U PANISHADS (600 B . C . E .–200 C . E .) continue the tradition of commen tary that the Brahmanas began. But especially in the Upanishads the sacrificial ritual has withdrawn into the background, and reflection concentrates on the nature of the self ( ATMAN ) and the world ( BRAHMAN ). SIGNIFICANCE The Veda is a splendid, full collection of ancient religious literature that includes moments of pro found insight. All Hindus respect its authority, and Hindu priests still occasionally perform large Vedic sacrifices. Vedanta A Sanskrit word meaning “the end of the Veda.” Vedanta is the most important of the six “orthodox” philosophical schools in H INDUISM . Actually, there are several different Vedantas. All of them rely upon the same sources: the U PA NISHADS , the Vedantasutras, in which an ancient author named Badarayana systematized the teach ings of the Upanishads, and the B HAGAVAD -G ITA . Vedanta thinkers concentrate on two topics: the BRAHMAN , which is the reality that underlies the