Alavandar's Siddhitraya - Part 1

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Dear Members,

 

Yamuna, the spiritual perceptor of Ramanuja, composed many works of

which

Siddhitrayam is the most important one, with respect to the

Visistadvaita philosophy.

It was Yamuna who introduced the concept of Dharmabhutajnana,

sesha/seshi relationship,

and other philosophies that came to be known as Visistadviata. In the

following weeks,

I'll try to post an English translation of this great work in parts. The

translation and commentary is by Sri R. Ramanujachari and is probably

out of print at this time.

 

Siddhitraya At a Glance:

By R. Ramanujachari

 

Atma siddhi, Isvara Siddhi,a and Samvit Siddhi, collectively known as

Siddhitrayam, are not part of a

single work, but pendent treatises designed to establish the conception

of Atman (soul or jiva), Isvar

(God) and Samvit (consiousness, knowledge), after a critical

consideration of rival views. These

polemical are conceived on the model of the great siddhis of the

advaitic school, such as Brahma

Siddhi, Ishta-Siddhi and Naishkarmya Siddhi. Some of the views set forth

in these Siddhis of the

Advaitic school come in for critical examination in Siddhitraya. In

Atmasiddhi, some statements from

Ishtasiddhi are cited and criticised.

 

Atma Siddhi and Isvarasiddhi are written in elegant prose interoersed

with verse in the manner of early

philosophical works like Rantra-vartika; and Samvit Siddhi is wholly in

verse.

 

Unfortunately all these have suffered from the ravages of time and

neglect and possibly from vandalism.

All of them end abruptly. Isvara siddhi and Samit siddhi have no

beginning either and Samvit siddhi is

the worst hit., because even in the body of this work there are many

gaps. What we have now of

Siddhitraya is only a fragment of the original work. Even in this

truncated form, Siddhitraya impresses

upon its reader that the author was a master-mind who expounded all the

cardinal principals of

visistadvaita in a clear and distinct manner and that he set himself the

highest standards of logical

thinking. These three siddhis are of the greatest value to the student

of vedantic thought not only because

they are the earliest available visitadvaita classics but also because

they present an authentic

account of this system of thought and belief, having been inspired and

shaped by the rich contributions

of previous acharyas including Nathamuni, transmitted to him through an

unbroken tradition.They have furnished the basis and inspiration for

Ramanuja's brilliant

systematisation of Visistadvaitic thought and also for post-Ramanuja

dialectics.

 

-to be continued.

 

--

 

Venkatesh K. Elayavalli Cypress Semiconductor

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