Our whole life is about actions and their purposes. It is the same for one to commit to vedānta learning. One must be very clear of what one wants to get out of it. For one to become a student of vedānta, one came to know that knowledge of Brahman will free oneself from sorrow. This total cessation of sorrow is called moksa - freedom from the life of becoming. Every person starting point in this life for moksa pursuit is different. Some have strong enquiry for moksa pursuit, some might not directly search for moksa, but through dharmic-life fulfilling one's own duty, one ends up in the vedānta class, and comes to know that moksa is what I am looking for. And the subject matter of vedānta is knowledge of Brahman.
In the tradition, an author of a vedānta text writes down the four pre-requisites essential regarding the text for potential learner to proceed into the text or not, which is called anubandha-catustaya. We are seeing these essential points in general vedānta study.
Prayojanam - purpose > moksa (total cessation from sorrow/total fulfilment).
Visaya - subject matter > knowledge of Brahman.
Sambandha - relationship between 1 and 2 > revealer-revealed relationship.
Adhikāri - the eligible person > fou-fold qualification: - discrimination between the eternal and non-eternal. - detachment from the enjoyment of fruits of action in this world and world after. - having sama, dama, śraddha, titiksa, uparati, samādhāna. - desire for moksa. (please refer to tatvabodha class archive 18 Nov 2018 to 16 Dec 2018 for details ).
Brahman being aupanisadam (only revealed by upanisad) can't be stumbled upon by us. We can only know Brahman through upanisad, and the same upanisad tells us that I am that Brahman which is the jagad-kāranam (the creator of the universe). After hearing this, naturally there are so much doubt. How one who experiences all the limitations is equated to limitless Brahman? The only reason make us continue the vedānta study is śraddha. Even though the understanding is not there yet, we keep listening to the explanation of śruti, how the equation of Brahman and me can be done. Just like how we equate water to vapour, ice, fog etc, they are nothing but H2O alone. We stay put till the understanding take place. But this understanding doesn't come in one time and out of sudden. It is in the form of growing clarity, where one slowly sees how one's life is slowly aligned with the teaching of vedānta.
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