Visishtadvaita
The Philosophy of Ramanuja
A BRIEF HISTORY OF RAMANUJA
Ramanuja was born in 1017 and lived till1137,thus
enjoying a long life. He studied under
Yaadhavaprakaasa but had to leave on disagreement with his teacher
on the interpretation of certain vedic texts. He went to see yaamunaachaarya
who died before Ramanuja could reach him. Ramanuja could see three fingers of
Yaamuna held closed and when Ramanuja promised to fulfil the three desires of the great guru, which he sensed through insight,
the fingers opened. One of the desires was to write an interpretation of the
brahmasuthras according to visihtadvaitic concepts. As a result Ramanuja wrote
his voluminous work,Sribhaashya.
Ramanuja was initiated by Mahapurna into the vedantic order.After sometime he renounced the world and came to be called
Yathiraja, the king of ascetics. Apart from Sribhaashya Ramanuja also wrote
Gitabhaashya, Vedantasara,Vedantadipa, Gadhyathraya
and Vedarthasangraha. Among the followers of Ramanuja, Sudarsanasui, wo wrote the commentary to Sri bhaashya, and Vedantadesika
are noteworthy.
The Philosophy of Ramanuja
1. The world, The individual
soul and Isvara, all the three are real.
2. The world and the individual soul, in other words thw world consisting of
the insentient(jada) and sentient(chethana) stands in
relation of sarira to its sariri(body and soul) with Isvara.
3. Isvara, that is Narayana is transcendent(all
pervading) and imminent(antharyaami) and hence everything is in Him and He is
in everything.
4.Brahman of visishtadvaita is Narayana who is not
nirguna(wiyhout attributes ) but possesses infinite auspicious qualities.
5. Satyam,truth, jnanam,knowledge and
anantham,eternality are His attributes which are inseparable from Him, being
His inherent nature,svabhaava.
6.Being the Antharyaami He is the inner self of
everything.
7.So He is the Controller,Niyantha, Master, Seshi and
support, Adhaara.
8. Bhakthi is the sole means of Liberation.
9. Nithya, Naimiththika Karma, the obligatory and occasional actions namely the
actions according to varnasrama and rituals for special occasions like
sraadhdha etc. are to be done and cannot be renounced , but should be done as
offering to Narayana, without attachment and desire.
10.'Thathvamasi' and other scriptural texts that claim unity with Brahman do
not imply identity.The merging with Brahman is like when the gross body and
subtle body are given up and the individual is identified with the soul.
11. There are ample texts substantiating this.
12.Avidya/Maya is not beginningless and independent
but the power of Narayana.
The philosophy of visishtadvaita,
expounded by Ramanuja, creates harmony between the absolute idealism
of advaita and the theistic pluralism of dvaita. Advaita is based on the
scriptural texts that affirm identity between jiva and abarahman while dvaita quotes the
texts that speak of plurality and difference. Ramanuja reconciles the discord between
the two by means of the relational texts which he calls ghataka sruti, thus
upholding the validity of the scriptural texts as a whole. In his view the
texts should be interpreted in such a manner that they do not present a contradiction.
His explanation bridges the gap between the abhedha and bhedha texts.
Brahman of
visishtadvaita is synonymous with Narayana, who is the transcendent and
imminent reality. The word Narayana
denotes the abode of all beings, naaraanam
ayanam, and
also that He is in everything, naaraah ayanam yasya Thus He is
not the mere personal God of a particular religion. V aishnavism is only apart
of visishtadvaita, serving as a means of attaining the goal.
The key concept of visishtadvaita is the sarira- sariri bhaava, the body-soul
relationship between the universe and Brahman. There are three reals, thathvathraya, namely, Isvara, the Lord, Jiva
the individual soul, and Jagath,
the world of insentient beings. They are not separate entities but together
they form one organic whole. This is explained by the concept of body and
soul relationship.
Ramanuja defines sarira as ‘that substance that a spiritual entity can
use and support entirely for his own purpose, and that, in its essence is
exclusively subordinate to that entity.’ Being the sarira of the Lord, the universe of sentient and insentient beings
stands in an inseparable relation with Him. This relationship, called aprthaksidhdha, is like that of a substance and its
attribute, where the latter cannot exist without the former as in the example
of fire and heat.
Brahman is the material
as well as the efficient cause of the universe. Ramnuja cites the sruti
text ‘yatho
va imana bhoothaani jaayanthe yena jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhi samvisanthi
thadvijijnaasava thadbrahma’ (Taitreya up.), ‘that from which everything came from, by
which everything that is born is sustained and into which everything merges
back, know that to be Brahman.’
The causality of Brahman
is also ascertained by the text ‘sadheva
soumya idhamagra aaseeth ekameva advitheeyam; thadhaikshatha
bahusyaamprajaayeya, which says that there was sat alone in the beginning , one only without a
second and it willed to become many. This according to Ramanuja confirms the
body-soul relationship between Brahman and the universe. He claims that this is
the real purport of the mahavakya thathvamasi and not the absolute identity as
professed by advaita.
Everything existed in Narayana in subtle form before creation and became
manifest in gross form after creation.
This concept of sarira-sariri bhava exposes visishtadvaita to the criticism that if the world is the sarira of Brahman,
that is, Narayana, the imperfections of the world will adhere to
Brahman. This argument is refuted by Ramanuja , who
says that just as the imperfections of the body of an individual do not affect
the soul, Brahman who is the Self of all, is not contaminated by the imperfections of the universe.
An objection that may
arise with respect to the authority of this concept of sarira-sariri bhava is met with by means of the ghataka sruti texts like the one which says ‘He who dwells in this
earth and within the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body the earth
is, who rules the earth from within, He is thy self, the ruler within and
immortal.’ There are several texts citing Brahman as the Self of everything naming the
elements and the individual soul separately as the sarira of Brahman.
Brahman of visishtadvaita is not nirguna, without attributes but possesses innumerable auspicious qualities, ananthakalyanagunavisishta, which are
not adventitious but
form His svarupa. The scriptural definition of Brahman as Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham
is explained by Ramanuja in accordance with the principle of Samanadhikaranya, coordinate
predication, according to which several terms are applicable to an entity on
different grounds. For instance, in the expression shyamo yuva Devadattah,
Devadatta is a dark young man, the adjectives shyama and yuva
denote the same entity, Devadatta. Similaraly the epithets Sathyam,
jnanam, anantham denote the same Brahman,
sathyam implying absolutely
unconditional existence, jnanam,
non-contracted knowledge and anantham
implies that Brahman is not limited
by space,time and form.
Jiva in visishtadvaita is real and so is Jagath. The jnana of jiva
is contracted due to karma, born of ajnana.
W hen the ajnana is removed by jnana as a result of bhakthi,
jiva regains its original state of
liberation when its jnana becomes
infinite.
Bhakthi is the sole means of liberation in
visishtadvaita. Bhakthi and Prapaththi are the two wings with which the jiva
ascends to the realm of
the Lord to become one with Him. Karmayoga and jnanayoga are the
natural outcome of bhakthi and prappaththi, total surrender, as the devotee
acquires the knowledge that the Lord is the inner self of whom he himself is the
sarira. The devotee realizes his own
state as sesha, dependent on, adheya,
being supporteby, and niyaamya, being led by the Lord, who is the Seshi,
Master, Adhaara, Support and niyantha, the one who leads him. As a
result the jiva leads his life as an instrument of the Lord, acquiring viveka
and vairagya, offering all his thought, word, and deed to the feet of the Lord.
He sees the Lord in everything and everything in Him. This is the unity in diversity achieved
through devotion.
The principles of the philosophy of visishtadvaita are expounded in the interpretation of the Brahmasuthra by Ramanuja. His commentary on Brahmasuthra, otherwise known as Vedanta suthra, is his monumental work, the Sribhaashya. Ramanuja establishes the tenets of visishtadvaita firmly in Sribhaashya while refuting the views of other schools of philosophy effectively.
The main tenets of visishtadvaita
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1. The meaning of the term Visishtadvaita
The term philosophy is defined
as the pursuit of knowledge of Reality. The knowledge of Reality is sought in
order to determine the cause of everything because the self realisation
requires the knowledge of what is Self and where it
came from.
All the Indian systems of philosophy have a common aim, namely,
liberation, that is freedom from bondage of karma and realising the true Self.
But the means of achieving this differs with different systems.
Vedantic
system of philosophy, as its name suggests, is based on the vedanta,
ie. the Upanishads. In vedanta, Brahman
, synonymous with Narayana of
Visishtadvaita, is the absolute reality and the ultimate cause of the Universe.
The non-vedantic schools are those which do not accept the above concepts outlined in
the Upanishads, though theu give their
own interpretations in accordance to their agamas and hence Ramanuja
classes them as vedabahyas, those that are outside the pale of the vedas. These
are Sankhya, Nyaya-vaiseshika, Yoga, Buddhism and Jainism classifies them
Ramanuja includes Pasupatha also as they cite their own agama as their
authority like the Sankhya and Yoga, apart from the Upanishads
Buddhism and Jainism are termed as atheistic schools as
they deny the authority of the vedas while the others accept the vedas but give
their own also as vedbahyas and offers criticism of their views in Sribhashya,
his commentary of Brahmasuthras.
Sribhashya is based on the Bodhayanavriththi of Brahmasuthra of Badharayana , that
is. Vyasa Sribhashya represents the edifice of the philosophy of Visishtadvaita
on which Vedantadesika
later constructed the invincible tower of dialectics. Thus Sribhashya is the
work par-excellence that has stood the test of time
The philosophy of Visishtadvaita existed from the time of Nathamunigal
and Yamunacharya but the term Visishtadvaita was applied to it only after the
time of Desika, and the philosphy advocated by Ramanuja came to be known as
Visishtadvaita. It was Sudarsanasuri who first used this term in his commentary
on Sribhashya and Vedarthasangraha of Ramanuja. It means that Isvara, Jiva
and Jagat, the three reals, tatthvathraya,form
one organic whole, 'visishtasya advaitam.' It also means 'visishtayoh
advatam,' the oneness of the cause, Brahman, and the effect, the world
of sentient and insentient beings,cit and acit.
The philosophy of visishtadvaita is one of unity in diversity. There are
two different sets of sruti texts, one set, abhedhasruti, affirming
unity and the other, bhedhasruti upholding difference between Brahman
and the universe of cit and acit.
The former are cited by advaitin to prove the identity of jiva and
Brahman while the latter
are upheld as authoritative by dvaita school which claim that
jiva is different from Brahman.
Ramanuja avoids the two extremes and resort to the third
set of vedic texts which he calls ghatakasruti which expound Brahman as the inner
ruler , antharyamin of everything. Brahman ,
Narayana of visishtadvaita, is the Sariri , Self of sentient and
insentient beings which form His Sarira.
The bhedha and the abhedha texts highlight only a certain facet of reality and
the advocates of these sruti texts expound their respective views based on
either one of the texts eclipsing the other facets by dialectical skill But
Ramanuja is of the view that the sruti texts should be interpreted in such a
manner as to reconcile the both, and this he achieves by means of the ghataka
srutis.Thus the philosophy of Ramanuja can be called a synthetic approach that
bridges the two extremities of advaita and dvaita. and
hence it is neither dogmatic nor partial, combining intellect and emotion,
unique in its harmony practical in its approach.
2. The philosophy of
visishtadvaia
Ramanuja asserts that the sole source of the knowledge of Brahman being the
scriptural texts, they should be interpreted so as not to be contradictory in their
purport. Brahman, that is Narayana, is defined in Sribhashya as the Supreme
ruler, possessing innumerable auspicious qualities, anantakalyanaguna visishta,
satyakama satyasankalpa, true- willed ,sarvajna,
omniscient, sarvasakthiman,omnipotent and full of mercy.
Narayana that is, Brahman is the creator, protector and
annihilator as per the sruti text 'yatho
va imaani bhoothaani jaayanthi yena jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhisamvisanthi
thadvijijnaasasva thadbrahma,' and contains within Himself all beings from
the four-faced Brahma to the blade of
grass. He is the dispenser of the fruits of action..
Ramanuja considers both the texts describing Brahman as nirguna as
well as saguna are equally valid. He says that the saguna texts
mention the infinitely auspicious qualities of Isvaara while the nirguna
texts negate inauspicious
qualities in Him. Ramanuja claims that the auspicious qualities being the
essence of Brahman there is no possibility in His being nirguna.
Brahman is described as savisesha by Ramanuja in Sribhashya which is
different from thr term saguna used by sankara. Savisesha
implies the relatinship between the substantive and the attribute, that is, dharmi
and dharma. For instance the fire is the dharmi and the
heat is the dharma which is inseparable from its dharmi, the
fire, without which the svarupa of fire will not exist as such.
3.Brahman
is savisesha.
Brahman is defined as 'satyam jnanam anantam'
and also aanandham in Taittiria Upanishad. Ramanuja considers the word nirguna
describing Brahman only to mean that Brahman is free from all finite qualities
or the omperfections of the finite beings. The text 'satyam jnanam anantam
brahma' defines Brahman only as visishta,
satyam denoting infinite
existence as the absolute reality, jnanam, the infinite knowledge or
omnscience and anantam refers to the fact that Brahman is not
conditioned by time, place or entity, desakalavasthu paricchinnarahitatvam.
It means that
Brahman is not limited by space being
all encompassing, sarvavyapin,
not limited by time being everlasting, anaadhyantharahitha and
not limited by entity as there is nothing but Brahman everywhere. Similarly
Brahman is anandham ,bliss.
These are according to Ramanuja, svrupanirupaka dharma,
inseparable attributes as in the example 'blue lotus.' Even though the words 'blue' and 'lotus' have
different connotations taken separately, in the word 'blue lotus' they mean the
same entity. Ramanuja calls this ekaarthavrththi, according to the
principle of samanadhikaranya, defined by Patanjali in Mahabhashya on Panini, as
'denotationof the same object through different connotations,' This principle
of samanadhikaranya along with that of sadvidya and sarira-
sariri bhava form the tripod on which the philosophy of
visishtadvaia stands firm.
The unity of Brahman with the world is that of visishtaaikya
and not svarupaaikya. The Reality is visishta in the sense of
being an organic whole where the viseshana, attribute and the viseshya,
the substantive exist in inseparable relation to each other. It is not svarupa
aikya or absolute identitiy that is meant which necessitates the denial
of the world as unreal. Ramanuja in his Sribhashya establishes Brahman as savisesha
on the basis of various sruti texts.
4. Sadvidya as interpreted
by Ramanuja
The text of the Chandogya Upanishad 'sadheva soumya
idham agra aaseeth ekameve adhvitheeyam' and its sequel 'thatvamasi' are
considered by the advatins to mean that 'sat', Barhman is the only
reality and the world of diversity is not real. Ramnuja does not agree with
this view and according to him the chandogya text and sadvidya envisaged in
it supports only the visishtadvaita
concept of Brahman He says that the text
' sadeva idham agra aaseeth, Sat alone existed in the beginning'
does not negate the world as unreal because the subsequent text which says,' thadhaikshatha bahusyaam
prajaayeya, it willed to become many,' disproves this.
The essence of
sadvidya is that by knowing 'sat ' , that is, Brahman,
the absolute reality, everything else becomes known. 'ekavijnaanena
sarvavijnaanam.' The context of the passage in Chandogya is as follows:
The son, Svethakethu
retuirns from his gurukula and the father Uddhaalaka Aaruni asks him
whether he has learnt everything Svethakethu answers in the affirmative and
seeing him conceited at his knowledge
the father asks him whether he asked his
guru for that teaching by which what is
unheard becomes heard, what is unthought becomes thought and what is unknown
becomes known, ' yena asrutham srutham
bhavathi amatham matham, avijnaatham vijnaatham.' Then the
son, knowing not what is meant by the father asked him to teach that by knowing
which everything becomes known, ekavijnaanena sarvavijnaanam.
Uddhaalaka Aaruni explains that knowledge through three
examples Just as all things made of clay
are understood by the knowledge of a
single clod of clay, just as by knowing a single ingot of gold all that is made
of gold would become known, just as by a single nail parer all that is made of
iron would become known because all are only modifications of the causal
substance, knowing that which is the cause of everything all become known. That is the teaching .
Then the father starts imparting the knowledge to the son. 'Sadheva soumya idhamagra aaseeth ekameva adhvitheeyam.' There was only 'sat ' in the
beginning, one only, without a second. Sat , Brahman
is the cause and idham the world is the effect. By knowing the cause all the
effects become known as illustrated by the examples of mud,gold
and iron. This is the content of the text.quoted, says Ramanuja.The knowledge
of the one leading to the knowledge of the many proclaimed in the sadvidya
section of the Upanishad means that the knowledge of 'one,' that is, kaarana
Brahman leads to the knowledge of 'many',that is, the kaarya Brahman,
both being real. The words 'ekameva' and 'adhvitheeyam denote
that Brahman is the material and efficient cause.
5.Brahman
as the cause of the world
Based on the sadvidya section of the Chandogya, Ramanuja
demonstrates the unity of the cause and the effect. ' Sat alone existed' before
creation in the sense that this world, differentiated into names and forms,
existed as 'one' before creation, devoid of names and forms.Brahman is the
material cause as it existed alone without a second. In the creation of a pot , the mud is the material cause and the potter is the
efficient cause . But Brahman being omnipotent needed no external aid for
creation and there was nothing except Brahman in the beginning. Therefore
Brahman is both material and efficient cause of the universe. This is what is
meant by 'ekameva adhvitheeyam.'
The causal relationship between Brahman and the world is explained by Ramanuja
in Sribhashya based upon common experience. The Chandogya text gives illustrations of mud etc. in order to
show that the effect is only a modification of the cause 'vaachaarambhanam
vikaarah naamadheyam mrthikethyeva satyam' and
hence the knowledge of the 'one' which is the cause leads to the knowledge of
the modificatons of nama and rupa, the effects. Ramanuja makes this more explicit by another example. The childhood, youth and
old age of the
same individual, say, Devadatta are only different modifications in the sarira
of Devadatta. Similarly the gross manifestations of the world of cit and acit
are only the modifications of the sarira of Brahman, the sariri. Thus the
cosmological theory of Ramanuja is based on the sarira-sariri relationship
between Brahman and the universe. Thios leads to the concept of sarira-sariri
bhava of visishtadvaita.
6.sarira-sariri
bhava
Sarira-sariri bhava is the key concept of Visishtadvaita.
The vedanta sastra is known as saarirakasastra which indicates the
sarira-sariri sambhandha
advocated by Visishtadvaita. Ramanuja defines sarira as a substance which a sentient soul
completely supports, aadhara-aadheya bhava, and controls, niyantha-niyaamya
bhava for serving its own purpose and which is subordinate to the
sentient soul, sesha--seshi bhava..
The world of cit and acit form the sarira of Brahman because
they are supported, controlled and used by Brahman. The entry of Brahman into
the cit and the acit in order to diversify them into name and form is supported
by the sruti 'tadhaikshatha bahusyaam prajaayeya'
Hence they exist in an
inseparable relation with Brahman similar to the body and soul.
Let me explain this. The body has no identity without the soul . So the soul is the supporter, aadhara and the
body is the aadheya. Without the soul the body cannot function. Hence
the soul is the controller, niyantha. The body exists for the soul and
dependent on the soul
not vice versa as we imagiine! The last point may not be
understood in the worldly sense but in spiritual aspect the soul takes the body
to exhaust its karma and as soon as the karma for that particular embodiment is
exhausted it leaves that body. So the soul is the seshi and the body is
the sesha.
Now Brahman being the antaryamin, the real self of
all beings, everything other than Brahman form the sarira
of Brahman. This concept is the pradhaanaparithanthra, the most
important doctrine of Visishtadvaita. The inseparable relation, aprthaksiddhi,
between the body and the soul is similar to that of substance and attribute
which are inseparable. in the sense that one cannot
exist without the other. So Brahman is the prakari and the world is the prakara,
mode of Brahman. Hence all words that describe any sentient or insentient being
has its connotation only with Brahman., their real and
ultimate self.
Ramanuja illusrtrates this by saying that the words cow,
horse or man denote not their physical body but the sentient soul within their
physical form. Since Brahman
is the real self of all beings all words connote only Brahman by saamaanaadhikaranya.
The concept of aprthaksiddhi emphasises both
unity and difference between Brahman and jiva. The universe of finite and
imperfect beings and the Brahman , infinite, truth and
knowledge, form one organic whole. The entities which exist in relation of aprthaksiddhi with
each other are always cognised together as in the statement 'I am a human
being.' The unity here is not absolute
but visishtaaikya.
Sadvidya
of the Chandogya is thus interpreted in terms of the sarira- sariri bhava by Ramanuja. Sadvidya states the
cause of everything to be Brahman, by knowing which everythig else becomes
known and this leads to the satkaaryavada, according to which both the
cause and the effect are real.. Sat, Brahman,
the only existence willed to become many and created the world of cit and acit,
out of itself and entered into them to be their innerself and got
differentiated into the world of names and forms. Brahman the case is real its effect the
world is also real because it arises from and ensouled by the infinite. Thus
the sadvidya section of the Upanishd , the prormissory
statement,'ekavijnaanena sarvavijnaanam' and the illustrations of
mud , gold etc. therein imply only Brahman
to be the cause of the universe.
Ramanuja sums up the cosmological and
ontological nature of Brahman in the Sribhashya thus: the terms satyam, jnanam, anantham define the svarupa
of Brahman as being distinct from everything else and the Brahman has already
been shown as the cause of creation, sustenanace and annihilation by the causal
statements of the sruti, yatho vaa imaani bhoothaani jaayanthe yene
jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhisamvisanthi thadvijinjaasava thadbrahma' Then Ramanuja proceeds to define Brahman and
to show that Brahman is synonymous with Narayana
7.Lord Narayana-Brahman of
Visishtadvaita.
The theory of causality
depends on the theory of Reality. The Reality, that is
Brahaman of Visishtadvaita is Lord Narayana. Ramanuja proves this by quoting various
passages such as those in Mahopanishad and Subalopanishad which declare that
Narayana alone existed in the beginning and everything is the sarira of Him,
the indweller of all. Ramanuja in his Sribhashya, claims that Narayana is the Paramakaarana,
the ultimate cause and says that the words 'sat', 'Brahman' and 'Aathman,'
used in various contexts in the Upanishads denote Narayana only. Narayana is
savisesha, not saguna,
as the words satyam jnanam anantham refer to
His svarupa and therefore inseparable from Him. Besides He is ananthakalyanagunavisishta,
possessing innumerable auspicious qualities
Ramanuja proceeds to define
Brahman and examines the terms satyam, jnanam and anantham
which constitute the definition of Brahaman. The term satyam
differentiates Brahman from cit and acit which are, though real , conditoned by
adjuncts like time, place, entity etc while Brahman has the nirupaadhika
satthaa, unconditioned
existence.. In contrast to the cit and acit which change their names and
forms and thus have conditioned existence, the word Satyam is used with
reference to Brahman to denote that it is immutable.
In Visishtadvaita there are
three reals, Isvara, jiva and jagat. The world is real
because it originated from Brahman and is sustained by Brahman as its eternal
self. Ramanuja calls Brahman ' satyasya satyam,' whcih means that
Brahman is the reality behind all the reals. The scriptural authority for this
happens to be none other than the text in Brhadhaaranyaka Upanishad which is
quoted by the non-dualists to negate the world as unreal. The text goes loke
this.'nethi nethi nahyethasmaath ithi nethyanyathparam asthi;atha
naamadheyam satyasyasatyam ithi.' It
negates everything as being non-brahman, which is the suprme truth and hence
Brahman is called 'satyasya satyam.'
According to Ramanuja what is negated by the declaration 'nethi nethi' is not all
specifications or qualities in Brahman but only the parimithathva or
limitedness of qualities. The
term 'satyasya satyam' to define Brhman indicates
that Brahman is the real essence of everything and does not mean that
everything except Brahman is unreal. Brahman is the absolute reality, from
which the world of cit and acit derives its existence and which,
is the indwelling Self of everything. Brahadhaaranyaka text enumerates
everything from earth to the sentient self and declares that Brahman is the athman
of all.
Berahman defined as jnanam,
saya Ramanuja, indicates its nature as that of unlimited and eternal knowledge.
Brahman is not pureconsciousness as in advaita but only svsrupanirupakadharma
like satya. Brahman is jnaasraya and jnansvarupa and this jnana is self
luminous as per the texts of Upanishads 'jyothishaam jyothih,
light of the lights,' and 'thameva bhaanthm anubhaathi sarvam thasya bhaasaa
sarvamidham vibhaathi, only through light of Brahman everything else shines, or becomes known,'ekavijnanena
sarvavijnanam.' This luminosity of Brahmanis is the infinite
jnana.Brahman and jnana are inseparable like the lamp and its luminosity. While
Brahman recals everythng through its jnana no other jnana is required to reveal
Brahman as otherwise it becomes an object of knowledge and the omniscience
would be lost.
Jnana is not only the essential
attribute of Brahman but also eternal for the very reason that Brahman is
eternal. Jnana in Visishtadvaita is not identical with Brahman as claimed by
advaita nor it is a guna of the self, as professed by Nyaya-vaiseshika, but an
essential attribute inseparable from Brahman,being its
svarupanirupakadharma.
The term anantha is also a svarupanirupaka
dharma of Brahman which diffefentiates Brahman from cit and
acit . The latter are finite , desakalaparicchinna,
limited by place, time and entity but Brahman is anantha, infinite, desa
kalaparicchinnarahitha. A pot for instance is desa paricchinna
when we say that it is here and not there. Similarly it is kalaparicchinna since it was not here yesterday but
prescent only today. Vasthu paricchinnathva ,
limitation by entity means being limited by the form as when we say that the pot
is not the cloth. Brahman is free from all the three conditioning, being ever
existent, all pervading
and advithiya, without a second.
8.Nature of soul according to
Visishtadvaita
1. Jiva is eternal and jnana is the
dharma of jiva and also its nature.
The essential nature as jnana is
called the dharmibhoothajnana while the knowledge as the essential
attribute of jiva is the dharamabhoothajnana. the
attributive knowledge. Dharmabhoothajnana is a special concept of Visishtadvaita
philosophy. It is attributive in the sense that it stands in relation of an
essential attribute to its substantive , the jiva. It
is always eternal and all- pervasive in Isvara and the liberated beings but in
the case of jivas bound by their karma it is sankuchitha, contracted and
regains its full form only when the become free of bondage.
2.Jiva as the kartha,bhoktha
and jnatha
Besides having the attributive
knowledge which makes jiva the jnatha,knower,
jiva is also defined as having the attributes of agency, karthrthva and
enjoyership bokthrthva. Ramnuja quotes the Brahmasutra 'karthaa saasthraarthavatvaath,'
to show that the scriptural texts enjoin sacrifices to attain heaven or upasana
to attain moksha the results of which is enjoyed by the doer. The idea
expressed in the Gita 'gunaa guneshu varthantha' only
explains that the gunas pertain to the body, mind and intellect, due to which jiva
is caugth in the transmigration.
But eventhough jiva is the doer the actions of the jiva is controlled by Isvara, the indwelling
Self. This does not mean that the jiva has no freedom of action. Isvara makes
the jiva act according to the efforts made by the jiva only. The initial action
is taken only by the jiva according to his own will.Isvara is the approver,
gives permission to proceed, being the antharyamin. This is illustrated
by Ramanuja in Sribhashya
thus. A man who owns a property jointly with another seeks his
permission to sell or remodel it and the latter gives permission. But the
result of the action, loss or gain belongs to the doer only while the other is
the silent witness. So the real kartha is jiva only and the Lord is the
permitting witness.
This may perhaps raise a doubt in the
mind that whether
Isvara permits even the evil actions? Being the indweller and controller why
does He prevent the jiva from doing wrong? This can be explained as follows. A
mother is concerned about the welfare of her children equally and impartially.
When a child wishes to do something through which he may come to harm the
mother tries to stop him. A good child listens to her but an obstinate child
refuses to obey. Then the mother lets him go and do it and when he comes back
crying, hurt through his action she attends on him. Similarly the Lord does
caution us before we do somrething wrong. This is what we commonly call our
conscience. All sinners will hear the voice of his conscience at the outset but
a confirmed sinner ignores it and proceeds to do what his desire propells him
to do due to his past karma. This is the force of the gunas. So the Lord
remains a silent witness till he repents his action and comes back to Him when
He takes him into his fold. This is the meaning of the statement that His
retribution is for redemption.
3.Jiva is of anuparimaana
The concept of the
jiva as anu, atomic. is a distinctive feature of the
Visishtadvaita philosophy. The authority for this is found in Svetasvathara
upanishad which describes the soul being infinitely smaller than a hundredth
part of hair which has been already divided into handred part The upanishad
also says that the real nature of the soul is infinite.. 'vaalaagrasatabhaagasya
sathadhaa kalpithasya cha bhaage jivah sa
vijneyah sa chaananthyaaya kalpathe.' Elsewhere
also the jiva is mentioned as all-pervasive and eternal. This seemingly
incongrous statements that jiva is anu and vibhu, atomic and all
pervasive is explained by Vedantadesika that the all-pervasiveness of the jiva
is to be understood with reference to its spiritual nature This is brought out
by Ramanuja in his commentary on the
Brahmasutra ' gnaadvaa aalokavat.' wherein he cites the
examples of gem,the Sun etc and says that even though the source of light
exists in one place its light encompasses all.
'yathaa manidhyumaniprabhrtheenaam
ekadesavarthinaamaalokahanekadesavyapeedhrsyathe thadvath hrdhaysthasya
aathmanah jnanam sakaladheham vyapya varthathe.'
4.The difference between jiva
and Brahman is real.
According to the Brahmasuthra 'adhikam
thu brahmanirdesaath,' the difference between Brahman and the jiva is real
because Brahman is something more than the jiva. Also the suthra 'amso
nanaavyapadesaath----'
mentions that the soul is the amsa of the Lord. The term amsa
is defined by Ramanuja as that which
forms an integral part of a whole entity and therefore is an essential
attribute of that entity.Thus the interpretation of both unity as well as
difference between jiva and Isvara is justified and hence there is no inconsistency
between the bhedha and abhedha srutis.
From the causal point of view
Brahman is the aadhaara, being the material cause and the jiva is the aadheya.
Brahman is also the inne rcontroller , niyanthaa
on account of being the indwelling self of jiva , the niyaamya. Jiva is
also the sesha who subserves Isvara, the seshin. This is the
essence of the sarira-sariri relationship between the two. As the
amsa of Brahman jiva is inseparable from Brahman but as the prakara,
the mode, it is also distinct from Brahman.
9.The nature of jagat, the world.
The sarira-sariri bhava applies also to
the relationship between jagat and Isvara. because the
prakrthi, acit also constitutes the sarira of Brahman. The
evolution of prakrthi is effected by Brahman, its material cause as affirmed by the
sruti text 'sadheve soumya idham
10.The universal philosophy.
The philosophy of Ramanuja can be
called Universal as it interprets the Brahmasuthras in such a manner as to show
the Saarirkasastra as the Brahmasuthra is called, as an integral
whole.Universe according to Ramanuja is not bhramamaya, illusory but Brahmamaya,
as there is no other reality than Brahman, the inner self of everything.
The universal or all embracing character of the Visishtadvaita
philosophy arises out of the assimilation therin of all cardinal principles of
all systems. Only their theory of reality and subsequently their theory
of causation is opposed by Ramanuja . The sarira-sariri bhava accomodates
all the commendable aspects of others since everything constitutes the sarira
of Brahman. Brahmaathmakathva, Brahman as the indwelling Self of all,
implies unity and harmony . The basic principles of
even the heterodox schools like Buddhism and Jainism like ahimsa find a place in
Visishtadvaita.Likewise the thathvas, the evolutes of prakrthi of
Sankhya,.the discipline of Yoga and dialectics of Nyaya-viseshika have a place in Visishtadvaita. Ramanuja is
opposed only to the theory of causation of these schools. That is why in
Sribhashya the criticism of Ramanuja of the non-vedantic schools of Philosophy
is levelled against their theory of causation, based on their theory of
reality.
Visishtadvaita concept of Reality is based
on Satkaaryavaadha according to which the one real becomes many which
are also real. The sat without a second willed to become many and hence
thereis no new creation but only self-differentiation of the One without a
second. Brahman with cit and acit non-differentiated in its
subtle state is the cause and the same Brahman with cit and acit
in manifested state oF differentiation is the effect. Thus, cit, acit
and Isvara are the three reals. Isvara, Brahman and Narayana are all synonyms
in Visishtadvaita and denote Brahman the Self of cit and acit
which form His sarira the relation between Brahman and the world of sentient
and insentient beings therefore is that of aprtaksiddhi, insepararable relation
as that of body and soul. This is the Visishtadvaita philosophy in a nut shell.
Fundamentals of Visishtadvaitha
Chapter I
Section1
The upnishadic statement 'brahmavidh ApnOthi param,' that one
who know Brahman reaches the ultimate, is the key thought of real revelation.
This corresponds to the central theme of Ramanuja philosphy, denoted by Thatthva, hitha and purushArTHa.
Let us see what these terms mean:.
There are three questions that
present to the mind of the one who thirsts for the knolwledge of reality,
mentioned as brahmajijnAsA in
the Brahmasuthra.They are:
1. What is reality?
2. How do I get the knowledge of it ?
3. What do I gain by it?
The answers to these three questions are expounded in the
vedantasuthras.(Bahmasuthras).Ramanuja has interpreted these suthras in
Sribhashya under the light of visishtadvaita principles and the answers given
by Ramanuja to the above three questions are in short, thatthva, hitha and purushArTHa .
1. Thatthva is the answer to the
question "What is reality?" The thatthvajnana is the knowledge that
Brahman, synonymous with Narayana of Visishtadvaita is the absolute reality,
the inner Self of all beings and the substratum of the whole universe of
sentient and nonsentient beings.This displays the transcendence and imminence
of Brahman.
2.Hitha means that which is good , namely
the moral and spiritual discipline that is necessary for acquiring the
knowledge of the Supreme Self.In other words it means the sadhana.This answers
the second question.
3. purushArTHa is the goal to
be attained , that is, the realisation of Brahman, attaining which there is
nothing more to be gained and this is the answer to the third question.
section2
The knowledge of reality
Brahman or the
absolute reality, is Narayana of visishyadvaita. But
the world of sentient and insentient beings is not unreal. In Visishtadvaita
there are three reals,
namely ,chit,
the sentient, achit,
the insentient and Isvara,
though the first two are not distinct
reals, unconnected and separate but have an inseparable realation with
Isvara..This is what is known as the sarira-sariri
bhava in visishtadvaita and the vedanta is called sArirakasasthra.
The first of the three reals, Isvara is the inner Self of all beings both
sentient and insentient, which form His sarira. The term sarirais defined by Ramanuja as the
substance which a sentient soul can support, control for its own purposes and
which stands in a subordinate relation to the sentient soul. All beings are supported and
controlled by Brahman , to whom they are subservient. As the physical body
exists for the purpose of the individual soul and not vice versa, all beings
exist for the sake of Brahman, their
inner self of whom they constitute the body.This relationship is variously described
as AdhAra-AdhEya(supporter
and the supported), niyanthA-niyAmya(controller and the
controlled) and Sesha-Seshi ( possessor and the
possessed).
Brahman is the adhara
Brahman is the adhara or the
support of all in the sense of being a substratum of everything.The idea of
support is not like a basket to the fruit where the supporter and the supported
are distinct and separate, but the two have an inseparable relationship.The space,
akasa , exists everywhere and everyting exists in it , without which they
cannot stand, yet the akasa is not affected by anything while it pervades
everything in and out.In describing the srshtikrama, upanishad says that
everything came from akasa and merges back into akasa.This is the concept of
the adhara -adheya bhava between Brahman and the world, though this is only in
form of an illustration since akasa is not Brahman being itself supported by Brahman. In Bhagavtgita Krishna says.that all beings
are supported by the SupremeSelf like the beads on a string.The same idea is
found in the upanishad
where Yajnavalkya explains
that the whole universe is
supported by Brahman who is the warp and hoof of everything.So the knowledge of
reality can arise only by knowing the nature of Brahman , by knowing which
everything becomes known.The upanishad define Brahman as 'sathyam, jnanam, anantham brahma.' That
is, Brahman is existence or truth, knowledge and infinity.
Brahman as Sathyam.
Brahman is sathyam or real which
does not mean that the other two, namely, chit, the sentient and achit , the insentient denoted by jiva and jagat, are
unreal. They are real but they are conditioned.Achit or matter, the effects of
prkrthi, the premordial nature consisting of three gunas, cotinues to change
and hence it is conditioned by its form and attributes. But it is real only as
the state of existence alone changes but not the substance.
This can be explained as follows:
The clay is made into a pot and
hence it no more exists as clay. But it is real and only the state of existence
has changed. When the pot is broken, it becomes potsherds still it is real but
the form and attributes has changed. So nothing in this world ceases to exist and hence it is real.The
insentient, achit includes everything except the soul. In the final dissolution
also the achit and chit do not cease to exist but absorbed in Brahman and exist
in unmanifest state..
The individual soul, jiva,
denoted as chit is also not uneal but conditioned real because its existence is conditioned by the body it
acquires due to karma.
Brahman is thus termed as satyasyasatyam, real of the reals. It is the inner self of all, changeless and
infinite.It is satyasya satyam as everything acquires reality only because of
Brahman.
Brahman as jnana
Brahman is knowledge, not in the
sense that it is knowledge itself but in the sense of having knowledge as its
svrupa like the heat and the fire. Heat is the svarupa of fire without which it
ceases to be fire.Similarly the jnana is the svarupa of Brahman and it is
infinite.It differs from that of the jiva in as much as the knowledge of jiva
becomes contracted due to karma and attains it infinite state only in
mukthi.the knowledge of brahman is infinite and unconditioned and is the source of all
knowledge, by knowing which everything
else becomes known.. These will be explained later when we deal with the
causation of Brahman.
Brahman as anantha
Brahman is infinite. This is a
determining quality which distinguishes Brahman from jiva and jagat. Brahman is
not conditioned by time, place or entity. Conditioning by time is when we say
that a thing exists now but not later or earlier. A pot does not exist before its creation
not after it is destroyed.. Conditioning by place means a thing exists here and
not elsewhere. A pot is here but not there. Conditiong by entity is a thing being
limited in form, as saying this is a pot ,that is a cloth etc.
Brahman on the other hand exists
everywhere as there is nothing else other than Brahman. So it is unconditioned
by space. Brahman exists always and hence not limited by time. As everything is
Brahman it is not limited by entity either.
Thus the idea of Brahman as AdhAra affirms the
reality of separate entities of chit and achit but denies their separate
reality other than Brahman.
Chapter 2
Section 1- Brahman as Niyantha
Brahman is the inner ruler and
redeemer. Brahaman explained as the support of all, adhara, denotes the transcendence,
while Brahman as niyantha,controller, shows the imminence. As the Self of all,
Brahman is the silent, but not indifferent, witness.On the other hand Brahman
is not a controller in the sense that all the actions of the individual self is
controlled by Him and the latter is nothing but a puppet on a string.
By the words of Krishna in
Bhagavatgita, 'eesvarassarvabhoothAnAm
hrddhESE arjuna thishTathi,;bhrAmayan arvabhoothAni
yanthrArooDani mAyayA,(BG-18-61) the Lord is in the heart of
all beings and makes them go round by His maya as though they are mounted on a
machine,' it would appear as though the individual soluls have no control over
their actions and only activated by the Lord. If so, it could not be explained
why do they commit sin unless it is admitted that God is partial and makes some
do good and enjoy happiness while He makes others sin and suffer.
This apparent discrepancy can be
explained by examining another sloka from the Gita,,upadhrashtA anumanthA cha bharthA bhokthA
mahEsvarah;paramAthmEthi chApyukthO dhEhE asmin purushah parah,'(BG-13.22)
This sloka is explained as
follows The Self is upadhrashtA
, the witness because it is actually not affected by the experiences of
joy and sorrow resulting from the wrong identification with the body. But since
no action or experience is possible with out the accordance of the self , it is called anumantha,
the approver. Since the body is supported by the Self it is the bhartha, supporter.Due to the
identification with the body the self seems to experience joy and sorrow and
without it no experience is possible and so the self is called bhoktha,experiencer.As
the body is subservient to the self who is the master, it is called Mahesvara, the over-lord and in
reality the self is nothing but the Supreme Self , the inner controller and
hence called as ParamAthma.
The self, Atman, is
eternal and of the nature of bliss.But the individual self which is known as jiva is the real self reflected
through the ahankara,
ego, the product of maya due to karma.Purusha , the individual soul, due
to the influence of ego, identifies himself with the prakrthi, nature,
consisting of the three gunas and acts accordingly..The war between devas and
asuras is that between the spiritual self and the empirical self, which is ego
identified with the prakrthi.Eesvara is a silent witness and approver as the
Lord allowed the devas ad asuras to fight for amrtha
but at the same time lent His hand to help the devas. He did not prevent the
war and destroy the asutras forthwith because the devas
had to undergo the result of their own actions, by disobeying His injunctions
in the first place.
Similarly, Eesvara lays down
rules of conduct which are disobeyed by the jivas due to their own karma. In
laying out the rule He is the Ruler but when it is disobeyed He is the silent
witness and allows the actions of the jiva to take its own course. In this
manner He is the upadhrashta
and anumantha. But in
as much as He decrees the proper apportionment of the results of the actions He
is the Niyantha.
Ramanuja illustrates this in his
Sribhashya by an analogy. Let us assume that two persons A and B own a land
jointly. The former tills the land and cultivates it while the latter is a
silent partner. But when A want to transfer the land
to C or sell it he has to get the sanction of B. Like wise Eesvara allows
certain freedom of action to the jiva but regarding the result of His actions Eesvara is the sole
controller.
By His entry into the jiva as its
inner self, Brahman, Narayana of Visishtadvaita, is both the sovereign and
saviour.
:
Chapter2-Section2
Brahman as the ruler and redeemer
The cause of samsara is the karma
which presupposes a free agent. Isvara is the karmaphaladhAthA, apportioning
the fruit of karma. His proclamation that He manifests Himself in every yuga in
order to protect the good and punish the wicked , and
to establish dharma ’parithrANAya
sAdhoonAm vinASAya cha dhushkrthAM dharmasamsTHApanArTHAya sambhavAmi yuge
yuge shows Him the ruler who punishes
the evildoer and rewards the good. But the judgement is based not on the deed but on the
doer. This means the same as in the worldly sense of the term. When a person
commits a crime the judge decides about the punishment based on the motive of
the person rather than on the act itself. Similarly the Lord
acts as the karmaphaladhatha.
But the role of karmaphaladhatha does not rule out
compassion because the retribution is for redemption. It is like the attitude
of a parent in punishing the child out of love in order to prevent him from
further wrong acts. It is usually thought that a person steeped in sin is not
punished and flourishes on the other hand.
In the world whereas a good person suffers even for
the smallest sin committed by him. It is true. But it only signifies the
mercy of God that He would not allow His devotees to transgress even a little
from the path of virtue. This again is not partiality. A child who strays away
from its home has many falls and mishaps till finally he decides to seek the
protection of his parents and comes home. But the one who stays close are
always watched by the parents and is not allowed to do anything wrong.
Another question often asked is
that why should the Lord allow one to stray away and accumulate karma? Isn’t it
true that everything happens according to God”s will? The answer is that an
individual soul has certain amount of freewill to act as he wants. It is he who
chooses whether to stay close to the Lord or to go away from him. Bhagavan is
the Supreme self. Inner
ruler and the witness self. That is why He is termed as upadhrshta and
anumantha, one who
supervises and gives His permission to act. But the how and what of the action is decided by the
individual self, who is possessed of an intellect which discriminates and
decides.
Chapter2-section3
The five forms of Brahman
God seeks the individual soul
more than the latter seeks God. Ascent of self is assisted by the descent of
God. As a result , the
five forms of Brahman or Narayana
prove the divine mercy of the Lord.
The five forms are,
para,
vyuha,
vibhava,
antharyamin
and archa.
1. paravAsudheva-
The Supreme absolute reality immutable that is Brahman is known as
paravasudheva for the sake of meditation.
2. vyuha- The six attributes of Bhagavan, namely the
three .jnanaaisvarya and shakthi which are transcendental and the three , bala, virya and thejas are in the plane of activity.
These six pair and form three vyuha forms, SankarshaNa (jnana
and bala), Prdhyumna, (aisvarya and virya), and Aniruddha (shakthi and thejas).
Vasudheva is the one in whom all the six attributes are present in full
manifestation while in the others only two are manifest and the others are
unmanifest. The Vyuha modes are for the purpose of creation, maintenance and d
destruction
3. Vibhava-
These are the incarnations of the Lord main of them being the ten wellknown
avataras.
4. Antharyamin- The
indwelling self within all beings who can only be intuited through yoga.
5. Archa- The
idol form consecrated with manthra for facilitating easy worship.
All the above forms are the
expressions of the infinite mercy. Of these paravasudeva is
inaccessible like the avaranajala,
cosmic waters as He is in vaikunta in that state, the vyuhas
are like the milky ocean which can be made accessible through inspired
meditation, as He has been seen by the devotees like akrura and sages like
visvamithra. The vibhavas or incarnation are like monsoon floods as they
happen once in a while whereas the archavatharas, the idols
worshipped in temples and other places are like reservoirs of water always
available. Antharyami
state of bhagavan is like water in the earth, ever existing but invisible found only
through proper digging.
Brahman who transcends the form and matter, who
is without parts and gunas ( meaning the three gunas of prakrthi) embodies
Himself as these forms out of mercy and to redeem the individual self. Brahman
of visishtadvaita is
the sath of the Upanishads, one only
without a second who transforms Himself as Vasudheva. This transition is
necessitated by the divine nature of dhaya or mercy, Brahman expresses Himself
with twofold spititual form as Narayana and Lakshmi..
The two are inseparable in principle though functionally distinct.
Chapter2-section4- Brahman as Seshin
Seshin is the one who is the
owner and the sesha is the owned. As the inner self of all, the whole universe
of sentient and in sentient beings is controlled by Him and supported by Him in
the same way as a king controls and supports his kingdom and his subjects. Only
difference is that all beings are inseparable from Him as they form His body.
Similar to the relationship between the soul and the body of an individual, the
former controlling and supporting the latter which exists for its use and
enjoyment, the relationship between the individual self and the Lord is one of
sesha and seshi.
The sesha – seshi sambandha is
one of absolute dependence on the Lord and that of service to the Lord. This
relationship arises from the fact that the whole universe forms a part of the
Supreme Reality, that too an
infinitesimal part as declared in the
Gita ‘vishtabhyAham idham krtsnam
ekAmSena sThitho jagat,’ encompassingthis
entire world the Lord stands with the whole universe forming but a infinitesimal part of Him. The same idea is
expressed the Purushasuktha it is sadi ‘pAdho asya visvA bhoothAni
thripAdhasyAmrthamdhivi.’
The question that arises in the
mind is that whether the absolute dependence rules out the free will and
freedom of action on the part of the individual soul. If so there will be no
choice between good and evil and hence the karma of the individual will not
adhere to him as he will be an automaton with no ill of his own. Thus the whole
scripture giving injunctions and prohibitions will be meaningless.
This view advance dby the
opponent is set aside by Ramanuja in his sreebhashya while explaining the
meaning of the suthra ‘parAth thu
thathSrutheh.’(SB.II -3-40) and the next Suthra-41-krthapray atnApEkshasthu
vihithaprathishiddh a avaiyarTHyAdhibhyah (SB.2-3-41 ) which means ‘Since the effort is taken by the individual soul the
injunctions and prohibitions are relevant . ‘
To the objection that if the soul is not independent
the injunctions and prohibitions will have no value it is replied in this
suthra that the effort is taken only by the individual self but it cannot act
without the sanction of the supreme self, who is the anumantha, one who gives permission
to act. If the soul does good karma the Lord bestows His grace and if indulges
in evil deeds He gives punishment.
If the Lord Himself makes one to do good and bad deeds , it goes contrary to the independent effort of the
individual self. Ramanuja replies that this does not apply to all beings but
only means that when one chooses to proceed along the path approved by the
Lord, He helps the soul to rise further and when one pursues the path that
leads away from the Lord, He makes the soul descend further so that the propensity
for evil will be exhausted. In the Gita the Lord says
'thEshAm
sathatha yukthAnAm bajathAm preethipoorvakam dhadhAmi buddhiyOgam tham yEna
mAmupayAnthi thE.'(BG.10.10)
It means that the Lord gives the wisdom to those who
worship Him with love so that they can attain Him. And He hurls those who are
evil, He says, into demonical wombs in perpetual transmigration.
Chapter2-section5-Brahman as the
whole and the individual soul as the part
This
relationship between Brahman and jiva is known as amsa-amsi bhava. Ramanuja
explains this in his Sribhshya while commenting on the Brahma suthra ,’amSo nAnA
vyapadheSAth,’ (BS.II.3.42) and the subsequent suthras.
In chandhOgya upanishad it is declared
'pAdhOasyavisvAbhoo thAni thripAdhasyAmrtham dhivi,(Chan.3-12- 6)
All beings and the world constitute one part (quarter) of the supreme
self and the rest of the three quarters are immortal in heaven.' The word
pAdha
denotes amsa.
The plural term bhoothani, is used as souls are many.
In Bhagavatgita the Lord declares
'mamaivAmsO jivalOkE
jivabhoothah sanathanah,(BG.15-7)
an eternal part of
Myself has become the individual soul.'
Also it is said ‘ vishtabhyAham idham krthsnam ekAmSena
sThitho jagath,’(BG.10.42) “I stand sustaining the
whole Universe with a fragment of mine.”
An objection is raised that if the soul is part of
Brahman all imperfections of the soul will be of Brahman too
As the light of a luminous body, the generic
character (jati) of an entity and the colour of an object, though being part of
the object they qualify are different from it so also Brahman is different from
the individual self which forms its mode. A visEshaNa, attribute and the
visEshya the object having the attribute are inseparable yet different. The
declarations of identity and difference denote the two aspects, the
inseparability of the substance and its attribute and the distinctness of the
substance and the attribute, respectively.
In VishnupurANa ParAsara states
'EkadhEsasTHithasyA gnEh jyothsnA visthAriNee yaTHA,parsyabrahmaN ah sakthih thTHEdham akhilam
jagath,(VP.1-22-56)
Just as the light of a luminous body that exists in one place
spreads around, the power of Brahman pervades the whole world. Also the
individual self is declared to be the body of the Lord.'thasyasrjyasya
sambhoothou thath sarvE vai harEsthanuh, ' all these created
are the body of Hari.
Like the fire which is from the household of a
brahmana is accepted while that from cremation ground is not, though the fire
is the same everywhere, the difference in qualification is due to the purity or
otherwise of the body the soul occupies.
Even
though all souls are part of Brahman they being atomic and different from each
other the result of the karma is different for each.
Chapter3- cosmology-Nature of Jagat
The nature of Brahman,
that is Ontology has been explained so far. Now let us examine the
Cosmology or the nature of the Universe and its relation to the indidual self
and God.
The cosmology of Ramanuja is
based on the concept of the three reals, thathvathraya,
namely cit (jiva), acit (jagat) and Isvara (Narayana) and the relation ship
between them.
Isvara is cidacit visishta and
the latter exists in the relation of modes to the substance with Isvara. Cit
the sentient souls and acit the insentient matter in subtle(unmanifest)
state exist in Brahman before creation and
in their gross( manifest ) state after creation. Thus the sookshmacidactvisishtabrahna is the
cause and sthoolacidacitvisishtbrahman
is the effect. So the universe exists in the relation of effect and the cause with
Brahman.
The cause of the universe being
Brahman is accepted by all the schools of vedanta and
by Nyayavaiseshika, or logicians. Only The school of nirisvara sankhya expounded by
Isvarakrishna does not accept Isvara as
the cause. The atheistic schools of Buddhism and Jainism who do not accept the Vedas as
authoritative are outside the scope of
discussion.
Now the school of sankhya which does not accept the causality of Brahman
professes that the prakrthi, the primordial nature is the cause of the universe
while the sentient soul, purusha is eternal. Thus there is no need of Brahman at all.
The yoga school
accepts Isvara but only as
a purushavisesha who should be meditated upon to acquire the right knowledge
that the purusha is ever free and wrongly identifies himself with the prakrthi
and suffers the samsara and this knowledge secures release.
The school of Nyayavaiseshika deems
the atoms of
the four elements, earth, water, fire and air to be the cause of the universe.
According to the Upanishad which
declares ‘sadheva soumya idhamagra aaseeth ekameva adhvu\itheeyam’, there was
only Brahman existing in the beginning ,one only
without a second. So
Brahman is both the material (like the mud in making a pot0 as
well as the efficient cause ( like the potter) of the universe.
Then the text goes on to say “it
willed to become many and created fire.’ Of course the mention of fire is due
to its being the first gross form of creation and hence the other two namely
air and akasa are understood to have preceded it. From the fire originated the
water and from water the earth came about. This is the order of creation
mentioned and in annihilation it takes the reverse order.
After creatin the gross universe
the Brahman decided
to enter into all beings to give them name and form and to be their inner self.
‘ anena jeevena Atmanaa anupravisya naamaroope
vyaakaravaaNi.’
So the universe is the effect and
Brahman is the cause and the universe is real as much as when the cause is real
the effect is also real. But this does not mean that Brahman is transformed
into the world in which case the imperfections of the world will adhere to
Brahman. It is just that Brahman being the inner self of all
, the sentient and the insentient, they form the body of Brahman. As the
imperfections of they do not adhere to the self ,
similarly those of the universe do not affect Brahman. This sarir-sariri
relationship of Brahman to the world is the pivot of the realistic philosophy
of ramanuja.
The purpose of creation
Thus it has been established that Brahman is the
material as well as the efficient cause of the world. But the question remains
to be answered is that why should He create the world at all? Brahman of
visishtadvaita is avaaptahasamastha
kaama, one whoone who
has no unfulfilled desire. Usually things are produced in the world either for
one's own use or for that of others. The first alternative is shown to be
absent because Brahman is avApthasamasthakAma and the second also can be
disproved. If Brahman creates for others it must be as an anugraha or for
showering grace in which case He would not have created this world full of
sorrow, as He is full of mercy.
Ramanuja answers this in his commentary to the brahmasuthra ‘lokavattu
leelaakaivalyam.’(Sri Bhashya 2.1.33)
The purpose of creation is nothing else but play, like a king who has
everything indulges in sport just to amuse himself.
This gives rise to the critcism that if the creation is for sport it exposes
Brahman to the charge of cruelty in creating a world full of inequalities and
making the beings suffer. But the scripture declares that Brahman takes into
consideration the karmas of the souls in creating the different conditions of
the beings in the world. So what appears to be a sport on the part of Brahman
is purposeful from the point of view of the individual soul. The word leela is
used to indicate effortlessness on the part of Brahman in creating the world of
sentient and insentient beings.
Ramanuja accepts the theory of
evolution as given out by Sankhya that the prakrti or the insentient primordial
nature constituted of three gunas evolves into the world of matter by
the combination of three gunas. He only adds that the entire process of
creation is willed and controlled by Brahman. The seven thatthvas or principles which are the effects of
prakrti are the causal substances of everything else. These are, mahat or
buddhi, ahankara, and the five subtle matter of the
elements. From these evolve the gross elements, ten indriyas and the mind.
Ramanuja opposes the theory of causation of Sankhya only in their not accepting
Brahmanas the inner self of all beings, sentient and insentient.
Chapter4- The nature of
the jiva
The jiva is the finite or individual self. It is distinct from the body,
mind and intellect etc. and eternal in nature. The jivas are many and form
the sareera of the Lord who is their inner self. To Ramanuja the individual
self is the knowing subject unlike in advaita where it is pure consciousness.
In vedartha sangraha he describes the nature of the soul thus:
The individual self is subjected to anaadi avidya, beginningless
nescience (ignorance) due to accumulation of karma, which is both good and bad , as a result of which the jiva enters into different
bodies, devatiryangmanushyaadhi, divine beings, human beings or beasts. The
embodied self gets identified with the body it occupies and suffers the pangs
of samsara. To get rid of this spiritual knowledge is sought about the nature
and attributes of the self, the nature and attributes of Brahman who is its
inner self and
the way to attain Brahman which frees
the individual self from transmigration.
Jiva as the knowing subject
Ramanuja explains in his comment on the vedantasutra (sribhashya) that
the self is of the nature of knower and not mere knowledge nor inert.(SB.2-3-19) This is proved
from the sruthi itself. In ChAndhOgya text in the section where prajApathi
describes the released and unreleased souls by saying 'aTHa yo vedha
jiGHrANeethi sa AthmA, onewho knows
"I smell" he is the self. Similarly in BrhadhAraNyakait is
said as a reply to the question 'kathama AthmA, who is the self,'
that 'yO
ayam vijnAnamayah prANEshuhrdhyanthrjyothirpurushah,(Brhd.4-3-7) he who is consisting of knowledge is the light
within the heart in the prAnas.' and 'Esha hi dhrashtA srothA GHrAtha rasayithA manthA
bOdDHA karthA vijnAnAthmA purushah ,(Pras.IV-9) this person is
the seer, hearer smeller, taster, thinker, knower, doer and the knowing self.
Knowledge ,jnana is the peculiar attribute of the jiva. This
is called attributive
consciousness, dharmabhutha jnana. It is however contracted in the
embodied state and attains its natural all encompassing status when the soul is released from
transmigration in mukti.
It may be argued that if the jiva
is the knower, its real nature being infinite and all
pervading, there will always be cognition everywhere. To this
Ramanuja replies in Sribhashya thus: (SB.
The sruthi mentions the soul going out, and coming in etc. which is not
possible if it is all pervading. In BrhadhAraNyaka upanishad
'
'Esha AthmanishkrAmathi chakshushO VA
murDHnO vAanyEbhyO VA sariradhEsebhyah,(Brhad.4- 4-2)
This self departs through the eyes or the skull or any other part of the
body,' and the return likewise 'thasmAth lokAth punarEthi asmai lOkaya karmaNE,
from those worlds, returns to this world for karma.'
The all pervasiveness only means that The self though atomic is able to
pervade the whole body like the sandalpaste that creates coolness for the whole
body though applied in one place or as
the light placed in one corner lights up the whole room so does the AtmA in the
heart spreads consciousness all over. (SB.2-3-24/26)
The individual self as an agent,karthaa
In katopanishad it is said
'hanthA cheth
manyathE hanthum hathaschEth manyathE hatham, ubou thou na vijAneethou nAyam
hanthi na hanyathE.'(Kata.I-2-19),
meaning,
one who thinks that the self kills or get killed do not know the truth because
the self neither kills nor gets killed .
It is said in the Gita also,
'prakrthEh kriyamANAni guNairkarmANi
sarvasah, ahamkAravimooDAthmA karthAham ithi manyathE,
(BG.3-27)
All actions are done by the gunas and the one who is deluded by ego
thinks that he is the doer.'
The Brhamsutra ‘karthaa SaasthraarThathvaath, the individual self is the agent
according to sastra ,’ says Ramanuja, refutes this view.
. Only the self is the kartha and not gunas. This is in accordance with
the sasthras. It is found in the sruthi texts like 'yajEtha svargakAmah,
one desirous of heaven should perform sacrifice ' and 'mumukshurbrahma
upAseetha, one aspiring for release should meditate on
Brahman,' that the agency of action is ascribed only to the individual self.
The word sasthra means scriptural injunction originated from the word sAsana,
command. Sasthras induce action by giving certain instructions and it is
possible only in the case of a sentient soul and not insentient pradhana, that
is, the gunas. That is why the purvamimamsa declares 'sAsthraphalam prayokthari,
the fruit of the injunctions is only to the agent.' (III-7-18)
Ramanuja clarifies the point by saying that the text about the self not
killing or getting killed etc. is to show that it is eternal and not to deny
the agency. Similarly the sloka quoted from Gita only means that the activity
during the state of bondage is induced by the gunas and not natural to the self
as it is mentioned there itself that 'kAraNam gunasangOasya sadhasath yOnijanmasu,’ ( BG.18-21) the cause of the embodiment in
good and evil wombs is the association of the self with the gunas.' The original nature of the jiva is one of
purity and bliss. It gets entangled with the world due to the limitations of
embodiment and becomes the doer and enjoyer.
To the objection that if the soul is the
doer, the instruments of action being always present there will be perpetual
action. Ramanuja replies
that like a carpenter who has the will to use his instruments or not, the jiva
also, being sentient, has the power to act or not to act. (
SB.2-3-39) Being provided with the instruments of action the jiva is
free to act or not to act. The jiva is free within certain limits and has the power of choice.
ham dvishadhah kroorAn
samsArEshu narAdhamAn, kshipAmi ajasram ashubAnAm aAsureeshvEva yOnishu
(BG.16-19)
The limited freedom of
the individual is explained as follows. The concept of anumantha as
outlined in Sribhashya of Ramanuja and in the Gita means that The Lord
who is the inner self of all promotes the action and aids it by granting permission. Ramnuja
explains this by the analogy referred to earlier.(see
chapter2 section1) He is the anumantha There is a text in Kousheetaki upanishad
which says
'Esha hyEva sAdhukarma kArayathi tham yamEbhyO lOkEshu unnineeshathi,
Esha Eva asAdhu karma kArayathi tham yam aDHo nineeshathi,
He makes those whom He wishes to
raise to the higher worlds to do good deeds and whom He wishes to send down
from these worlds He makes them do bad deeds. This may create doubt as to the
freewill of the jiva since it means that only the Lord Himself makes one to do
good and bad deeds and this goes contrary to the independent effort of the
individual self.
Ramanuja replies that this does
not apply to all beings but only means that when one chooses to proceed along
the path approved by the Lord, He helps the soul to rise further and when one
pursues the path that leads away from the Lord, He makes the soul descend
further so that the propensity for evil will be exhausted.(SB.2-3-41)
In the Gita the Lord says
'thEshAm sathatha
yukthAnAm bajathAm preethipoorvakam dhadhAmi buddhiyOgam tham yEna mAmupayAnthi
thE.' (BG.10-10)
It means that the Lord gives the wisdom to those who worship Him with
love so that they can attain Him. And He hurls those who are evil, He says,
into demonical wombs in perpetual transmigration,
'thAn aas no
action is possible without the will of the Lord, good or bad. As to why He
allows bad actions has been explained above.
Further Ramanuja says that
the allowance of an action on the part of one who has the power to stop it is not necessarily due to hard-heartedness.
It is said in the scriptures that
the puNya and pApa consists of the actions like worship etc which please the
Lord and the actions that displease HIm are pApa. His grace and retribution are
the fruits of action resulting in joy and sorrow.
'Paramapurusha aArAdhana rupEkarmaNee
puNyApuNyE;thadhanu grahanigrahAyatt hE cha thathphale
sukah duhkE'
Hence the Lord who has infallible
will, with no desires, omniscient omnipotent and of the nature of bliss etc. is
the dispenser of the fruits of actions and bestows on all beings the body and
other instruments to work out their karma, as effortlessly as a sport. There is
no question of cruelty or partiality in administrating justice. As the
punishment for a crime is to check the tendency of evil, so too His retribution
is for redemption, as it is said in the Bhagavatgita,
'thEshAm
sathatha yukthAnAm bajathAm preethipurvakam dhadhami buddhiyogam tham yEna mAm
upayAnthi thE;thesham EvAnukampArTHam aham ajnAnajam thamah nAsayAmyAthmabhAvas
THah jnANadheepEna bhAsvathA.' (BG.X-10-11)
The Lord says that He gives jnana
to those who resort to Him with devotion by destroying their darkness of
ignorance out of compassion by the light of wisdom. (SB.II-2-3)
This leads to the discussion of
karma and krpa and how the retribution is for redemption
Karma and krpa
Karma is the action of the
individual soul and kripa is the divine grace that guides the way to salvation.
Katopanishad declares
that the salvation can only be obtained through Divine grace. `naayam aathmaa pravachanena labhyah na meDhyaa na bahunaa
Sruthena; yamevaiSha vrnthe thena labhyaH,'(Kat.1-2-23) which means that the self cannot be realised by study, nor
through intellect, nor through much hearing. It can be known only to the one
whom the Supreme Self chooses to reveal itself.
This may be understood
in two ways. One is that there is absolutely no need for
individual action as everything rests with the Lord, who will give moksha only
to whom He chooses. Or it could also mean that He will choose only the one who
is in earnest and this could only be proved by some effort on the part of the
individual. These two views have given rise to the two segregations in
vaishnavite religion namely, the vadakalai and thenkalai. We will come to it
later. But these divisions came into being only after the time of Ramanuja, who
advocates both views in his commentaries. He upholds the former view in
explaining the nature of Brahman and of jiva but he seems to be inclined towards
the latter on explaining prapatti. This could be seen in his commentary on
Sribhashya and that on Bhagavat gita n respectively.
To Ramanuja the law of karma and
the operation of divine grace are not contradictory. This can be understood better when we examine
the nature of karma itself. There are three kinds of karma, namely, Sancitha, Prarabdha and
Agaami. Sab nchitha karma is the accumulated karma over several lives. Prarabdha is that
which has started giving result in this particular life. Agaami is the karma
one does in this life which will give fruit later. Prarabdhakarma is
unavoidable and the result of that has to be endured. The Divine grace can only
mitigate and not abolish prarabdhakarma. That is why we see that some devotees
undergo physical and mental hardships like Ghorakumbha or Meera but their
devotion acts as a shield against suffering and they are not affected by their
troubles. But once a devotee surrenders to the Lord
his sanchitha karma is wiped off and since he is living as the instrument in
the hands of the Lord he does not accumulate any karma. But the time when he
would attain salvation is the will of the Lord. Like the fruit which falls down of its own accord when it is
completely ripe the karma leading to bondage falls off when the time comes and
it is known only to the Lord as to when and how it happens.
In Mundaka Upanishad there is a text, `bhidhyathe
hrdhaygranThih chidhyanthe sarvasamSayaah; kheeyanthe asya karmaaNi thasmin
dhrShte paravare.'(Mund.2-2-8) All knots of the heart
are torn asunder, all doubts vanish and all the karma ceases to be when the
Supreme self reveals itself. All the spiritual practices are only to purify the
inner equipment , anthahkarana, and as
at the last stroke of the hammer the iron rod breaks into two after
several seemingly futile ones, the revelation comes when the last vestige of
karma is destroyed and this happens only through the krpa of the Lord.
Even to follow the spiritual path
requires divine grace. The krpa of the Lord is spontaneous and available to all
though it requires a right attitude on
the part of the individual and this is where the free will of the individual
come into action. Like a ball which is first set into motion gather s velocity
and travels far, the first step taken towards God sets His grace in
motion which takes over and effects the
culmination. The Lord demands nothing but complete self surrender,
. Hence the individual effort
wholly consists in total surrender to the Lord with complete faith and love and it becomes
the responsibility of the Lord to redeem
him even if he was a confirmed sinner erstwhile. It looks easy but not so in
reality. The Lord says in the Gita ‘ananyaaschithayantho maam ye janaah
paryupaasathe theshaam nithyaabhiyukthaanaam yogakshemam vahaamyaham,’ “ I will take care of the welfare of the one who
consistently and persistently thinks of me and of nothing else.” The divine
grace thus manifests unobtrusively supplementing the efforts of the individual
in turning towards the
Lord with intense love and devotion. The
feeble efforts of a devotee is compensated by the Lord
who takes up the responsibility to help him in his spiritual progress.
To sum up, the individual soulhas
the power of knowing, feeling and willing. Hence he is the knower, jnaathaa, the agent , karthaa
and enjoyer, bhokthaa.. The knowledge of the real nature of oneself consists
in realizing that the individual soul is the sesha, that is, belongs to the
Lord, as the body belongs to the soul. The intrinsic nature of the individual
soul is to be free from evil, distinct from the body, mind and intellect and one of absolute
bliss. The final
attainment of the real nature is called salvation.
Thus ends the enquiry into the first principle
of the ontology of visishtadvaita, namely , the
Thathva or reality, the other two being hitha and purushaarTha, the means and
the goal.
Chapter5-Hitha-How to get the
knowledge of reality
Section 1- The means to the goal
We have seen so far the nature of
three realities, Thathvathraya
, namely, Brahman, Jagath and jeeva., otherwise known as Isvara, achith and chith, God, soul and
matter. The entire philosophy of visishtadvaita comprises of thathva,
hitha and purshartha, the truth, the way and the goal. We shall now see the
second principle, namely, hitha, or
the means to attain the goal.
There are four ways which lead to
the goal. They are, jnana, karma, bhakthi and prapatthi. These are not however mutually exclusive of one another.
One leads to another and
followed simultaneously. This can be explained as follows.
Knowledge, jnana, of Brahman as the inner self of the individual self that
forms the body of Brahman dispels the ignorance that arises out of the
mistaken identification of oneself with the body. Then the sensual desires
cease to affect the individual and he develops detachment , vairagya, which is born out of viveka,
discrimination between real and unreal. This naturally leads the individual to
seek the Lord and he acquires bhakthi,
which is , according to Ramanuja is Dhruvasmrthi, uninterrupted contemplation of the Lord, like the dripping
of oil, thailaDhaaravat. Then the
devotee does all his karma as an offering to God which is karmayoga. This culminates into total surrender or prapatthi. All this are not different
stages that are achieved successively but simultaneous like the piercing of the
petals of a lotus with a needle, which, though strictly speaking, is successive
operation but due to the fineness of the texture it is simultaneous.
What could be the cause of
vairagya, which is the first requisite of a seeker, mumukshu? At first the individual
performs actions, ritualistic or others impelled by desire. After some time or
some lives there comes a stage when he sees that all the worldly joys are
fleeting and always accompanied by sorrow. Then he strives to attain eternal
happiness and turns to spirituality. He starts enquiring into the real nature
of the world and himself. Armed with the knowledge of sasthras and through
contemplation he comes to know that the one and only reality is the Supreme self , the inner self of all, the Brahman of the Upanishads
synonymous with Narayana of Visishtadvaita. This is jnana. The more and more he
thinks of the Lord, hears
His stories and repeat His name , the more and more he comes to
love the Lord who is the real self of all. This is bhakthi. With no desires of his own he starts
performing all the actions as the service to the Lord. This is karmayoga.
Bhakthi that has no expectations becomes prapatthi, total surrender.
Section2-Karmayoga
Normally karma is motivated by desire , kaamyakarma.
The desire arises out of contact of the senses with the sense objects,
when the mind is following the sense experience, resulting in action.. Every action leaves its impression on the mind which is
known as vasana, which is accumulated and continues for several births. The beginningless
avidhya , ignorance of one’s real nature as the sesha of the Lord, gives rise
to the notion of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ the root cause of attachment. This is
explained by
So what should a mumukshu, one
seeking release from bondage that causes the cycle of birth and death,
do?
The obvious answer seems to be
that we should give away action. But even then the desire and attachment may
remain. To desist from action but think about them is pseudo renunciation as
Hence as karma cannot be avoided
s long as one is in embodiment, the only answer is nishkamam karma advocated in
the Gita. This consists in abandoning not the deed but the doer-ship and. the
fruit of action. This comes out of the awareness that one is the sesha of the
Lord and does everything as His kainkarya, surrendering to Him and offering
everything done by body, mind and word, to the Lord. ‘kayena vaachaa mansaendhriyairvaa buddhyaathmanaa vaa prakrthessvabhaavaath ;
karomi yath yath sakalam parasmai
NaaraayaNaayethi samarpayaami..’ This means “ whatever
I do with my body., words and mind, intellect or by nature and habit, I offer
all that to Narayana the Supreme.” The same idea is expressed in the Gita as ‘ yathkaroshi, yadjhaSnaasi yajjuhoshi dhadhaasi yath
yaththapasyasi kountheya thath kurushva madharpaNam.’(BG-9.27) “ whatever
you do, what ever you eat, whatever you offer, whatever you give away,whatever
austerity you practice, Arjuna, do that as an offering to Me” Karmadone in
the spirit of consecrated service to the Lord is known as kainkarya in the
school of Ramanuja, compared with which there is no greater happiness.
Section 3-jnanayoga
Karmayoga means rationalized
karma and preferred because it is easy but karmayoga to be effective jnana is
necessary because karma and jnana interpenetrate each other. Both become
fruitful with Bhakthi as we shall see in the section on bhakthi yoga. Ramanuja
identifies jnana with dhyana or upasana.
What has been described in
Mundaka Upanishat as ‘seeing the Supreme self ‘ on
which all the shackles of the mind are broken, the doubts vanish and all karma
is destroyed, is accomplished by meditation that gives intuition resulting in
immediate manifestation that secures the final release.
The goal of jnanayoga is the
realization of prathyagaathman,
the inner self, and it is achieved only by rigorous moral and spiritual
discipline. The evils of raga and dhvesha which cause entry into the cycle of
births and deaths are due to abhimana or the false identification of self with
the body. They could be overcome by controlling the mind through vairagya ,
dispassion and abhyasa, constant
practice as the Lord has made out in
Gita, ‘abhyaasena thu kountheya
vairaagyena cha grhyathe.’.(BG.6-35) Vairagya consists in stripping the
self of everything that is non-self, and abhyasa is introversion.,
which is withdrawing the mind from the
interplay of gunas caused by the accumulated vasanas and focusing it on the
Self. Thoughts are not suppressed but are thought away.
Vairagya is giving up the raga for non-self and
acquire raga for the Supreme self. Abhyasa is the endeavour
which consists in self control by withdrawing the mind from the senses and
direct it towards the Supreme Self.
There are two kinds of knowledge , namely, that which comes from the study of
scriptures and the other which is higher is called Upaasanaa , the devout
meditation and consists in direct intuition of Brahman.
The Lord says in the Gita
describing the four types of seekers, aarthi,
the distressed, arThaarthi, seekers of worldly things, jijnaasu
, seekers of knowledge and jnaani,
men of knowledge, that the jnani is .most dear to Him and he is too is so to
the Lord. The most beloved
is the ‘chosen one’ mentioned in the upanishat as ‘ yamevaisha vrNuthe thena labhyathe.’
(Kata-II-23) It says the self cannot
be gained by study of Vedas, by hearing etc. but the Self reveals itself to the
one whom it chooses.
Gita starts with the moral of
nishkama karma, which is karmayoga, and then continues with the exposition of
the philosophy of Athmajnana, jananyoga and culminates with the religious discipline of bhakthiyoga as the highest state in the
philosophy of religion. It is seeking
Brahman as Bhagavan and seeing Him face to face.
Section4- Bhakthiyoga
Steady remembrance of the Lord is called
bhakthi or devotion by Ramanuja. Bhakthi is intense and single-pointed and
preceded by the true knowledge of the Lord and His glory. The supreme object of
bhakthi is to know, to see and to attain the Lord in His real nature. By
bhakthi alone He can be attained as the Lord Himself says in te Gita, ‘bakthyaa thu ananayayaa labhyaH.’ The definition of a bhkatha is also given
in the Gits as ‘mathkarma krth mathparamo madhbhakthaH
sangavarjithaH ; nirvairaH sarvabhootheshu yaH sa maamethi paandava.’ This
means , “doing work for Me, having Me as his aim, being my devotee, without
attachment and without hatred towards any one , he comes to Me.’
Ramanuja, commenting on this
sloka, enumerates the charactarestics of bhaktha.
According to visishtadvaita
philosophy the Brahman of the Upanishats, Vasudeva of the Gita, Bhagavan of
Panchrathra, the gospel of visishtadvaita, and the archa, the forms of worship in the temples , of
the azvars, connotes the same Supreme Self
and the bhakthi yoga is the direct means of knowing Brahman.
All karma of a devotee is not
nshkamakarma but a
kainkarya to the Lord. The fruit of upasana is not determined by
merit alone but by
the redemptive mercy of he Lord, the
saviour. A bhaktha is endowed with the jnana that the Lord is the inner self of
all and the whole world of sentient and insentient beings constitute His body.
Thus he realizes that he is inseparable from the Lord , who is his inner self
and understands the relationship between him and the Lord as that of aadhaara
-aadheya, seshi –sesha, niyanthaa- niyaammya etc.
Ramanuja thus synthesizes the
three means of salvation , karma ,jnana and
bhakthi with the concept of meditation
which, according to him, is the same as
devout meditation or bhakthi.. Jnana referred to in visishtadvaita is jnana
transformed into bhakthi, bhakthirupapanna jnana..
In the philosophy of Ramanuja karma is the
sum-total of all duties .It becomes karmayoga
when the same is done as the
worship of the Lord.
Section 5- Prapatthi
Prapatthi is the alternative path to
mukthi prescribed for those who lack the
ability to follow bhakthiyoga, which requires knowledge, will and patience.
Thus it is given the status of a yoga and called
praptthiyoga. The path of
prapatthi or surrender is shown by the Lord Himself in Gita by
the charamasloka, ‘sarvaDharmaan parithyajya maam ekam SaraNam vraja,’ which
summons the whole world of jivas offering them mukthi.
Prapatthi is also known as
nyasavidhya and is included among the brahmavidhyas outlined in the upanishats.
Prapatthi preserves all the essential requisites of bhakthi but excludes the more rigorous
disciplines of bhakthi such as the
ritualistic worship and other accessories laid out by the sastras. The only
requisite of prapatthi is a change of
heart which makes one believe that the Lord is all for him vaasudhevassarvam ithi,
and absolute faith in the Lord as his protector, the staunch faith in the mercy
of the Lord which is unconditional irrespective of one’s unworthiness due to
the sins committed in the past lives and this.
Prapatthi is an act of self
surrender, which requires shedding of ego and responsibility and also to be
responsive to the grace of the Lord. After surrendering oneself the prapanna
feels that he is not the doer but only carries out the wish of the Lord as he
does all actions as the service to the Lord. Responsiveness to grace consists
in accepting whatever accrues as the result of his actions as the grace of the
Lord. The emotion is akin to bhakthi in as much as the prapanna is also a bhaktha since he loves the
Lord for Himself but a bhaktha remains
separated from the Lord even if it is only to enjoy doing bhkathi but the
prapanna has a sense of belonging to God as a sesha. The sesha seshi bhava is
uppermost in prapatthi.
Thus Prapatthi is the free act of
absolute self surrender. The prapanna seeks the grace of the Lord and the mercy
of the Lord lifts him up and makes him deserving it. This is an example how a
small effort produces great effect.
Desika outlines the principles of
Prapatthi in his nyasadhasaka thus,
Svaamin svaSeasham svavaSam svabharathvena nirbharam
Svadhattha svaDhiyaa svaarTham svasmin nysayathi maam svayam
The meaning of this sloka is that
the Lord makes
the prapanna His Sesha, under His control
and bestows the knowledge of Himself and assumes all responsibilities to
protect him.
Desika also explains about the
method of prapatthi and the characteristics of a prapanna by two slokas.
Aham madhrakshanabharaH madhrakshaNaphalam thaThaa
Na mama SreepatheH eva ithi aathmaanam nikshipeth buDhaH
Nyasyaami akinchanaH Sreman anukoolo anyavarjithaH
viSvaasapraarThanaapoorvam aathmarakshaabharam thvayi
Prapatthi is of three kinds.
First is svaroopasamarpaNa, in which
the self is surrendered with the attitude “My self is not mine but of
Sreepathi,” Na mama SreepatheH eva. Second
is the attitude “the responsibility of protecting me is His,” madhrakshanabharaH SreepatheH eva.
The third is “ the fruit of protecting me
is also His,” madhrakshaNaphalam
thaThaa. The first sloka
explains this.
The second sloka illustrates the
five accessories of prapatthi. It means,
“I am unable to follow any other
path, akimchanaH, and have absolute
faith, viSvaasa, that You alone can save me, I always do what pleases You, anukoolah and avoid what does not, anyavarjithah. Therefore with prayer, viSvaasapraarThanaapoorvam that You must be my saviour, Sreeman,
I place the whole responsibility of my protection in You, aathmarakshaabharam thvayi
nyasyaami.
The five accessories as
illustrated by the sloka are,
1. Helplessness of the prapanna- akimchanathvam
2. Great faith in the Lord that
he alone can protect- mahaaviSvaasam
3.To do
only what pleases Him-aanukoolyasankalpam
4.To
avoid what is not accepted by Him- prathikoolyavarjanam
5.Pray
to Him to be the saviour-gopthrthvavaraNam
The perfect example of
saranagathi can be seen in the episode of Vibheeshan saranagathi from Valmiki Ramayana.
Vidheeshana was described by Valmiki
as dharmathma through out the epic which shows that his aanukoolya sankalpam. He
left Ravana after advising him many times because he was a dharmathma and could
not side with adharma. This is prathikoolya
varjanam. When he came to Rama he
informed the vanaras, ‘ thyakthvaa puthraamscha dhaaraamscha raaghavam
saraNam gathah, I have left my sons
and wives and came to Rama who is my only refuge. This is gopthrthva varanam. He
expresses the great faith that Rama would accept him by leaving off everything,
which shows his akinchanyam and
coming to him. This is mahaavisvaasam.
Finally on seeing Rama he says, bhavdhgatham
me raajyam cha jeevitham cha sukhaani cha, I surrender to you my kingdom, life
and happiness which is bharanyaasa.
Thereafter he lives only to do service to Rama which illustrates the sesha
seshibhava of visishtadvaita. Hence Ramayana is deemed as saranagathi veda according to vaishnava doctrine. Through out Ramayana
we see Rama as Saranya or saviour to those who approached him and gave refuge
to all, man ,bird and beast. He gave refuge to the
rshis of dandakaaranya, and even to kakasura who committed an unforgivable
offence but in vibheeshna saranagathi the principle of prapatthi is displayed
in full.
Chapter 6-PurushaarTha
PurusharTha is defined as the
objective of human life, or the goal of endeavour, while the Thatthva is the
nature of reality and the Hitha is the path to attain the ultimate reality.
The goals or purusharTha
according to Hinduism are four, namely, dharma, the ethical values, arTha, the
economoical values, kaama, seeking sensuous pleasures and moksha, liberation.
Moksha is the ultimate goal of
human life which means the liberation from the bondage of karma which leads one
to the cycle of birth and deaths. The other three .are only subsidiary values
which must be pursued
in such a manner as to lead to the final goal of moksha. The Lord
says in the Bhagavatgita ‘dharma
avirudDha kaamo asmi,’ I am the
This interpretation of purusharthas is
accepted by all vedantic thinkers while each one differs regarding the concept
of moksha. The desire for release fro the woes of samsara is deeply implanted
in the mind of men which is why they seek to acquire the knowledge, brahmajijnasa, of the ultimate reality. Ramanuja writing on the
concept of moksha says
that it is not the annihilation of ‘I’
as some profess because in that case no one will wish for release.
However this ‘I’ should not be
confused with the egotistic self, but the natural state of the self. Release or
moksha therefore consists in the manifestation of the true self free from sin
and the state of infinite joy, and knowledge which have been obscured by karma.
In mukthi the individual soul is
not identical with Brahman but attains its real nature of being inseparable
from Brahman. That is,
the individual soul is separate yet united with Brahman and is in
the relation of body to soul, sarira-sariribhava.
In chandhogya upanishat it is
declared ‘sa svarAt bhavathi, thasya sarvEshu lOkEshu
The
meaning of the passage beginning with 'sa svarAt bhavathi saya Ramanuja,
is that the released soul, conscious of Brahman and His glories experiences the
objects which lie within the limited spheres of HiraNyagarbha and the like and
does not indicate the powers of controlling the universe on the part of the
individual soul, because they exclusively belong to the Lord. The equality in
attaining the state of mukthi is in enjoyment of bliss. The individual soul
however can assume any form at will and wander all over the universe.
Mukthi
is not only the freedom from bondage but also regaining of Paramapadha, the
realm of bliss which the individual soul is entitled to, as its natural state.
Paramapadha is the self luminous suddhasathva and shines in its own light. This is
the world of Brahman from which there is no return.