Jnana & Bhakti

[Guest guest]

Martin Gansten writes:

 

The dual focus of this list (and of the beautiful Sri Vaishnava home

page)

on devotional sentiment (as in Alvar poetry) and Upanishadic

philosophy

strongly appeals to me. Now, I wonder to which extent this reflects

a

conscious balancing of these two elements within Sri Vaishnava

tradition

itself. To put it in other words, how is the relationship between the

quest

for aatmavidyaa and the development of bhakti towards the Lord viewed?

Is

gnosis of the Upanishadic kind a necessary prerequisite for truly

transcendental devotion (as could be argued from, say, Bhagavadgita

18.54),

or is it possible to attain salvation even without gnosis, simply by

faithful worship (as could be argued from, say, 13.25 of the same

text)? And

as an offshoot of this: if such a balancing does exist on the

theological

level, is it matched on the practical level, e.g. by emphasis on

both

yogic/meditative techniques *and* more devotional practices like

arcanam,

chanting of stotrams, etc -- or is one element favoured over the

other?

 

------------------------------

 

Welcome to the group Mr. Gansten. Your question is essential to the

understanding of SriVaishnavism, and probably varies slightly between

the two schools of SriVaishnava thought that are propounded by the

Kanchi and Srirangam Acharyas. I will attempt to answer this

question from one School's perspective, leaving further discussion to

those in this group who are more familiarized with the other.

 

While not discounting the standardly accepted views of the soul as

having knowledge, free will, and intelligence, the Srirangam Acharyas

state that true atmavidya is in a sense synonymous with bhakti, as

the true nature of the soul is Sesatva to the Lord. Pillai

Lokacharya says in his SriVacana Bhushanam (Verse 73):

 

------------------------------Begin Mumme's translation

 

The soul's very nature is to be a sesa, since it is a mode of the

Lord's Svarupa....dasya distinguishes the soul from the Lord. Jnana

and Ananda distinguish it from insentient matter. Even though both

these descriptions are necessary for it, the soul gains its very

existence by being a mode of the Lord; therefore subservience is said

to be its internal characteristic...

 

------------------------------end quote

 

On practical levels, as sesatva is in keeping with the soul's true

nature, the expression of this through temple and home worship as

kainkarya to the Lord is strongly favored over yoga and meditative

practices. Indeed, the attempt to undergo yoga and meditative

practices as means to realization would be viewed by the Srirangam

School as being counterproductive to its achievement. The way to

realization is the same as the goal, the Lord Himself.

 

Daasanu Daasan,

 

Mohan