From what I've read before, all three of those major ācāryas were from South India. I take it Vedānta originated in South India, or at least developed there more than it did in the north?
It is not correct that VedAnta originated in the South. You can say a lot of it was
revived by the medevial AchAryas in the south. They dusted the ancient granthas and started studying them.
VedAnta does not mean advaita-vedAnta by default, although yes, the truth is One.
It means what is says.
Veda + anta (end)
The end, conclusion of Shruti viz. the heard
Veda = knowledge , to know. "ya eva vedam" => this is what we know / is known.
Shruti - the "heard" , Divine Revelations - was
compiled by VedaVyAs in four parts in
THIS era. Veda is eternal and is revealed in every chatur-
yuga (4 yuga cycles sat, treta dvapar kali).
For our context, in this Chaturyuga period of BramhA , Veda was compiled into 4
Rg Veda
SAma Veda
Yajur Veda
Atharva Veda
These included core hymns -- i.e. ruchis (Rg veda) optionally setup in chhanda -- meter, rhythm (sAma , the sing-song Veda), ritual procedures and medical remedies (Yajur veda) and economics and other topics (Atharva veda)
It also included texts called
BrAmhaNa. (not to be confused with the human varNa brAmhaNa, or the Supreme eternal Bramh'). e.g. Shatapathi brAmhaNa , many brAmhaNa texts in Yajur Veda...
Each of these 4 vedas had an Appendix, which is the anta - end, conclusion, of the Veda
These conclusions were basically the various
a)
AraNyaka - Texts of profound wisdom compiled in the forests (
araNya) and
b) Upanishada - upa = near, stay near the teacher and learn from them
(upanishads were parts of AraNyaka each of which belonged to one of the 4 veda branches)
Typically the Rushis and Munis lived very simple lives in the forests and their students came from Rushi families as well as from the urban areas - which also included children of princes, kings, statesmen, advisors and businessmen who sent them to the Rushis (the adhyAtmic universities) to prepare them for future life as responsible citizens.
So , origin of VedAnta belongs to the entire BhArat Varsh (which was much larger than modern India - all the surrounding countries were part of BhArat Varsh), and officially the major ones are attributed to Veda VyAs who was perpetually in the northern Himalayan foothills.
--Not just BAdrAyaNa VedaVyAs composing profound texts in VyAs gufA at the north tip -- Mangaon, Badrinath
--Not just Rushis in the South. In the later medevial times the Acharyas of the South revived these texts. That is why the modern traditions of the 3 acharyas of the south focuses on them.
In fact they (Rushi Munis) were not stationary. For jagat kalyAN (welfare of mankind) they traveled , by AdnyA - divine order
e.g. Agasthya Muni traveled from Kailash and Kedarnath to South - Tamil Nadu and stayed there for a while, uplifting the people there. His presence can be felt in the extreme South.
but so also in the north - If I tell you Agasthya muni gave darshan in the Keradnath mountains, you cannot pin him to the South for instance.
Rushi Atri and his wife AnasUya lived in central Maharashtra and Bramha VishNu Mahesh the trimuri tested AnasUya and she passed with flying colors - they came as 3 babies to be her children. Datta = VishNu , Chandra = BramhA , DurvAs = Shankar
Datta = donated. The Donated One, The One Who donated Himself to AnasUyA and Atri because of their pure tapascharyA and piety, and taintless - an + asUya. She had no traces of asUyA (jealousy or envy of others).
DattAtreya = datta + atreya (Son of Atri)
Shwetashvatara Muni wrote Shwetashvatara Upanishad, and Taittareya was written by VaishampAyan (disciple of VedVyAs) of Taittareya school of Yajur, , Aitareya of Aittareya AraNyaka of Rg by the main Guru there.
Several other Rushis and Munis authored the numerous upanishads, but they did not write their name -- to relinquish the ego - they said this does not belong to me, it is all about the Divine and came from the Divine source. None of it is mine.
(Later, people from other parts of the world came to India and learned from the ancient Indian Vedopanishadic Bramhins - including philosophy, soul, geometry and mathematics, dasham - decimal system, trigonometry and theorems.)
The Rushis were all over the place. However, many performed austerities in the Himalayas.
Same with some upa-puranas
e.g. Markandeya Tirtha, where the sage Markandeya wrote the Markandeya Purana is situated on a trekking route to Yamunotri in the Uttar-Kashi district, Uttarakhand. (north)
and it is true that most of the puraNas were written by Vyas and his disciples in the North.
Another aspect is the actual writing. Scribing.
(2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 3)
