The word Vedanta combines Veda and Anta. Veda means knowledge. Anta means culmination or final conclusion.
The Vedas contain ritual, liturgical, and philosophical material. Vedanta names the culminating portion where the inquiry turns from action toward reality, consciousness, and the Self.
These culminating teachings are also known as the Upanishads, a form of close instruction in which knowledge is transmitted with precision rather than spectacle.
Most knowledge systems study objects, forces, and events in the observed world. Vedanta studies the observer itself.
Its subject matter is the sense of "I" that stands behind thought, memory, perception, and every experience. This makes Vedanta an inner science of consciousness rather than a belief system built only on devotion or ritual identity.
It distinguishes consciousness from cognition and sentience, and frames the question of reality from the standpoint of the witnessing subject.
The Upanishadic conclusion is often expressed through four maha vakyas.
Prajnanam Brahma - consciousness is Brahman.
Ayam Atma Brahma - this Self is Brahman.
Tat Tvam Asi - that thou art.
Aham Brahmasmi - I am Brahman.
Vedanta is not content with partial consolation. It attempts a coherent account of the Self, the world, experience, multiplicity, and liberation.
Its promise is that clarity about the nature of the subject resolves the deepest confusion about life, death, separateness, and the search for fullness.