Vedārtha Saṅgrahaḥ — Summary of the Meaning of the Vedas
Vedārtha Saṅgrahaḥ (Sanskrit: Veda — the Vedas; artha — meaning/purpose; saṅgraha — summary/collection) is the first major philosophical treatise of Rāmānuja, composed before his celebrated Śrī Bhāṣyam (commentary on the Brahma Sūtras). The title announces its scope and ambition: to establish definitively what the Vedas as a whole are actually saying — as opposed to what various misreading schools claim they are saying.
The work proceeds through a systematic engagement with the positions of rival schools — primarily Advaitam (Śaṅkara's non-dualism) and the Bhedābheda (difference-in-identity) schools — refuting each in turn with rigorous logical and scriptural argument. Having cleared this ground, Rāmānuja sets out the framework of Viśiṣṭādvaitam with great precision: the identity of Brahman as the supreme personal God (Īśvara) who possesses cit and acit as his real, inseparable body; the nature of the soul's bondage and liberation; and the means to liberation.
The Vedārtha Saṅgrahaḥ is considered one of the seminal texts of Indian philosophical literature. It demonstrates Rāmānuja's extraordinary command of the Vedic, Upaniṣadic, and Purāṇic textual corpus, his logical precision, and his theological vision. For students of the Śrī Vaiṣṇava tradition, it is a foundational philosophical text alongside the Śrī Bhāṣyam and the Gītā Bhāṣyam.