a brief survey of vedāntic oneirology

The upaniṣads, as one of the trilogy of principal vedāntic texts, the oldest and the most fundamental of them, have exposed a more or less detailed discussion on dreaming, taking it whether as the factual object of their discourse or as a symbol. however, there has been a debate between different schools of vedāntic philosophy about oneirology, science of dreams and their interpretation, discussion of nature of the dream state, its reality and unreality. this paper, after a short study of oneirology in the vedas and upaniṣads, examines argumentations of four great philosophers of different vedāntic schools, gauḍapāda, śaṅkara, rāmānuja, and madhva, pertaining to dreams.