Vedantasara, Essence of Vedanta, is a 15th-century Advaita vedanta text[1] written by Sadananda Yogendra Saraswati.
Its author, Sadananda Yogendra Saraswati, was the son of Anantadeva Apadeva, and probably lived in the mid-15th Century A.D. He also wrote Vedantasiddhanta-sarasangraha, Bhavaprakasa on Bhagavad Gita and Brahmasutra-tatpryaprakasa.
Sadananda, the author of Advaitabrahmasiddhi, published by Asiatic Society of Bengal, is a different author.
The Vedantasara is based on Gaudapada’s Karika, Upadesasahasri of Adi Shankara, Panchadasi of Vidyaranya who died in 1386 A.D., and the Naishkarmayasiddhi of Suresvara.[web 1]
The Vedantasara presents Sutratman (text) as Viraj,[2] the prime means to reach knowledge of Atman and Brahman. Only the liberated Self-knower realizes Brahman.[3]
Just like the Dṛg-Dṛśya-Viveka the Vedantasara adds samadhi to the triad of sravana ('hearing'), manana ('reflection') and nididhyasana ('repeated meditation').[4]
The Vedantasara is divided into six chapters and contains 227 verses.[5]
The earliest commentaries on Vedantasara of Sadananda, that incorporates pre-Sankara, Sankara and post-Sankara teachings, are Subodhini written in 1588 A.D. by Nrisimhasaraswati of Varanasi, Balabodhini by Apadeva, the renowned authority on Purva Mimamsa, and Vidvanmanoranjani by Ramatirtha.