The Jnanakanda is called Vedanta or the end of the Vedas, the Goal, the Finale. The Jnanakanda is enshrined in the Upanishads. The adherents of the Dwaitha, Visisht-adwaitha and Adwaitha schools of philosophical thought, the worshippers of Siva, Vishnu, Sakti, Surya and Ganapathi - all accept the supreme authority of the Vedas. They may interpret the Upanishads and other texts according to their own predilections and intellectual calibre, but no one dare question the authority of the Veda or the Vedanta. So, it is possible to use the words Hindu, Bharathiya or Vedantin, to the same person. The various schools of philosophical thought current at the present time may appear difficult to comprehend or as derived from unripe understanding; but, when the matter is thought over in quiet, or the texts are studied in silence, or investigated without prejudice it will become clear that they have all relied on the points raised and the conclusions arrived at in the Upanishads. The Upanishads are being symbolised and worshipped in image form in temples and in private shrines, as a tribute to this universal appeal. They have entwined themselves, inseparably, in our lives.

The Vedas are 'endless': Anantho vai vedaah. But, they are reduced into four collations and their essence was preserved in those forms. For promoting peace and prosperity in the world, the four were then taught and propagated. They are the Rg, Sama, Yajur and Atharvana Vedas. They uphold Dharma (Righteousness), proclaim the Reality, and promote peace and harmony by developing among men the attitudes of worship, music, and adoration and also by the cultivation of skill in weaponry and war. They present the ideal before mankind, and exhort them to follow.

Whether the Bharathiya is aware of it or not, invariably, every right act of his, will have some Vedic injunction or prohibition behind it as the regulator or the illuminator. From marriage rites until funeral rites and even the rites for the propitiation of the manes, the Vedas are the guides. A true Bharathiya should never forget the Vedas or be ungrateful to them. The dualists, the special-monists, the monists - all direct their lives according to lines laid down in the past by the sages. But they do not now know the origin and the purpose of these guide-lines. If only they do, the fruit will be much more plentiful and permanent.