The tip of his heart shines and by that shining this soul goes out. When he goes out either through the eye, the head, or by any other part of the body, the vital function (prāṇa) follows and all the senses follow the vital function (prāṇa) in coming out. Knowledge, the deeds as well as previous experience (prājña) accompany him.

We have already seen that the universe has come out of Brahman, has its essence in Brahman, and will also return back to it. Śankara held that the Upaniṣads referred to the external world and accorded a reality to it consciously with the purpose of treating it as merely relatively real, which will eventually appear as unreal as soon as the ultimate truth, the Brahman,

They did not know what the Brahman was like, for they had only a dim and dreamy vision of it in the deep craving of their souls which could not be translated into permanent terms. But this was enough to lead them on to the goal, for they could not be satisfied with anything short of the highest. He the Ātman is not this, nor

The Upaniṣads formed the concluding portion of the revealed Vedic literature, and were thus called the Vedānta.The word Upaniṣad was used, as we have seen, in the sense of “secret doctrine or instruction”; the Upaniṣad teachings were also intended to be conveyed in strictest secrecy to earnest enquirers of high morals and superior self-restraint for the purpose of achieving emancipation.

Veda in its wider sense is not the name of any particular book, but of the literature of a particular epoch ex­tending over a long period, say two thousand years or so. If we roughly classify this huge literature, we can point out four different types, namely: the Samhitā or collection of verses (sam together, hita put), Brāhmaṇas, Āraṇyakas (“forest treatises”) and the Upaniṣads.

There are two Śaiva Siddhāṅta schools: pluralistic theism, in the lines of Aghoraśiva and Meykandar, and Tirumular’s monistic theism. While differing slightly, they share a religious heritage of belief, culture and practice. In South India, their points of agreement are summarized as guru, preceptor; Linga, holy image of Śiva; saṅga, fellowship of devotees; and valipadu, ritual worship.

At one end of Hinduism’s complex spectrum is monism, Advaita, which perceives a unity of God, soul and world, as in Śankara’s cosmic pantheism and Kashmīr Śaiva monism. At other end is dualism, dvaita—exemplified by Madhva —which teaches two or more separate realities.In between are views describing reality as one and yet not one, dvaita-advaita such as Rāmānuja’s Vaishnava Vedan­ta.

Namaḥ Śivāya is among the foremost Vedic mantras. It means “adoration to Śiva” and is called the Pañchākshara, or “five-letters.” Namaḥ Śivāya is the most holy name of God Śiva, recorded in the Vedas and elaborated in the Śaiva Āgamas. Sages declare that mantra is life, action and love, that the repetition of mantra, japa, bursts forth wisdom from within.

Smṛiti means “that which is remembered” and is known as “the tradition,” for it derives from human insight and experience and preserves the culture. While śruti comes from God and is eternal and universal, the ever-growing smṛiti canon is written by man.In addition to the epics, legends and supplements to the Vedas and Āgamas, there is a wealth of Hindu metaphysical, yogic and devotional writings.

The Vedas and Āgamas, revealed by God, are Hinduism’s sovereign scriptures, called śruti, “that which is heard.” Their timeless truths are expressed in extraordinarily profound mystical poetry known to man.Veda, from vid, “to know,” means “supreme wisdom or science.” Similarly, Āgama, which names the sacred sectarian revelations, means “descent of knowledge.In imparting religious practice, rules and doctrine, the Vedas are general and Āgamas specific.”