Brahmavidya
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Brahmavidya (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मविद्या, romanized: Brahmavidyā, lit. 'knowledge of the Ultimate Reality')[1] is a branch of Hindu scriptural knowledge derived primarily through a study of the Upanishads,[2] the Brahma Sūtras, and the Bhagavad Gita.[3]
In the Puranas, this is divided into two branches, the first one dealing with the Vedic mantras and is called para-vidya or 'former knowledge', and the latter dealing with the study of the Upanishads and is called the apara-vidya or 'latter knowledge'. Both para- and apara-vidya constitute brahma-vidya. The Mundaka Upanishad says that "Brahma-vidya sarva-vidya pratistha", which means "The Knowledge of Brahman is the foundation of all knowledge."
The term brahmavidya is a compound derived from the Sanskrit terms brahman and vidya.
Brahman is the Ultimate Reality in Hinduism.
The word vidyā means "knowledge,"[4] and is derived from the Sanskrit verbal root -vid- ("to know"), also seen in the word Veda. Its cognates in other Indo-European languages are the Greek εἶδον for ἐϝιδον ("I saw"), οἶδα for ϝοιδα ("I know"), Latin vidēre ("to see"), Slavic věděti, Gothic ("witan, wait"), Germanic wizzan, wissen ("to know"), and the English ("wisdom, wit").