Badarayana

(ca. 400–200 B.C.E.) Philosopher traditionally cited as the author of the
Vedanta Sutras. This collection of 555
brief sutras, or aphorisms, is the basis of
the philosophical school known as
Vedanta, so named because it claims to
reveal the ultimate meaning of the religious scriptures known as the Vedas.
The sutras attempt to summarize and
systematize the philosophic and religious ideas in the Upanishads, the speculative texts that form the latest stratum
in the Veda. Because the Vedanta Sutras
are particularly concerned with the
ideas about the Supreme Reality known
as Brahman, they are also called the
Brahma Sutras. The brevity of the individual sutras—many are only a few
words—presupposes commentary,
which was later provided by various
writers. Badarayana himself considered
the Upanishads the ultimate source for
his teachings, although his text was
judged equally authoritative by later
Vedanta writers.