---
type: Reference
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.2"
id: brahmasutras
title: "Brahma Sūtras (Vedānta Sūtras)"
description: "Badarayana's aphoristic systematization of Upanishadic teaching; the root text of Vedanta."
timestamp: "2026-07-01T00:00:00Z"
iast: "Brahma Sūtras"
devanagari: "ब्रह्मसूत्र"
text: "Brahma Sūtras (Vedānta Sūtras / Śārīraka Mīmāṃsā Sūtras)"
text_division: "4 Adhyāyas, 16 Pādas, 555 Sūtras"
language: "Classical Sanskrit (aphoristic)"
approximate_date: "c. 200 BCE -- 200 CE (Bādarāyaṇa / Vyāsa)"
tags: [vedanta, brahmasutras, vedanta-sutras, brahman, srishti, lila, atman, cosmology]
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Brahma Sūtras (Vedānta Sūtras)

## Text Overview

The Brahma Sūtras (also called Vedānta Sūtras or Śārīraka Mīmāṃsā Sūtras) by Bādarāyaṇa are the foundational systematic text of Vedānta philosophy, organizing and reconciling the teachings of the Upaniṣads in 555 aphoristic sūtras across 4 adhyāyas. The text is deliberately terse -- almost every sūtra requires commentary to be understood -- which is why the major Vedāntic commentators (Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Madhva, Vallabha, Nimbārka) wrote elaborate bhāṣyas that established their respective schools. The text opens with the foundational inquiry: *athāto brahma-jijñāsā* -- "Now, therefore, the inquiry into Brahman."

## Critical Clarification: Brahma Sūtras ≠ Brahmā's Sūtras

**This is the inquiry into Brahman (ब्रह्मन्, neuter, the absolute) -- not a text about or by Brahmā (ब्रह्मा, masculine, the creator deity).** This distinction is critical and is the same Brahmā ≠ Brahman conflation addressed in brahma-the-creator.md. The Brahma Sūtras inquire into the nature of the impersonal absolute (Brahman) and its relationship to the individual self (ātman) and the cosmos -- not into the cosmological activities of the creator god Brahmā.

## Key Passages for Cosmology-Creation Bundle

**Adhyāya 1, Pāda 1 (Sūtras 1-11: Foundation):**
- BS 1.1.1: *athāto brahma-jijñāsā* -- "Now, therefore, the inquiry into Brahman"; the text frames all cosmological discussion as subordinate to the inquiry into Brahman's nature
- BS 1.1.2: *janmādyasya yataḥ* -- "Brahman is that from which the origin, sustenance, and dissolution of this [universe] arise"; the foundational cosmological statement that all three functions (Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, Saṃhāra) originate in Brahman

**Adhyāya 2, Pāda 1 (Sūtras 18-36: Cosmological Objections and Replies):**
- BS 2.1.33: *lokavat tu līlā kaivalyam* -- **"But like [activity] in the world, [Brahman's] creation is mere sport/play alone."** The foundational philosophical statement of Līlā as the answer to "why does Brahman create?" Śaṅkara's commentary: just as a powerful king engages in sport without need or purpose external to the sport, Brahman creates without need or external purpose.
- BS 2.1.34-36: Supporting the Līlā doctrine against objections; establishing that creation without purpose does not impute cruelty or injustice to Brahman

**Adhyāya 2, Pāda 3 (Sūtras 1-53: The Nature of the Cosmos):**
- Discussion of Ākāśa as Brahman's creative expression; the derivation of the elements; the relationship between cosmic and individual consciousness

## The Three Great Commentaries

The same sūtras are interpreted very differently by the three major schools, and their cosmological implications diverge accordingly:

- **Śaṅkara (Advaita)**: Brahman alone is real; Sṛṣṭi is Brahman's Māyā-Śakti; the cosmos is neither simply real nor simply unreal (anirvacanīya)
- **Rāmānuja (Viśiṣṭādvaita)**: Brahman is real; selves and world are real but dependent on Brahman; Sṛṣṭi is Brahman's genuinely real self-expression; Brahman is the inner controller (antaryāmin) of all
- **Madhva (Dvaita)**: Brahman (Viṣṇu) is independently real; selves and world are real but entirely distinct from and dependent on Brahman; Sṛṣṭi is a real act of creation by Viṣṇu

## Primary Concepts Using This Reference

- lila-cosmological.md (primary -- BS 2.1.33 and commentary)
- srishti.md (BS 1.1.2; the cosmological definition of Brahman)
- ishvara-cosmological.md (the three school interpretations of Īśvara's creative role)
- maya-cosmological.md (Śaṅkara's commentary on Māyā as Brahman's creative power)
- brahma-the-creator.md (critical note: text is about Brahman not Brahmā)
