Re:advaitha and visishtaadvaitha

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Dear Friend,

You wrote :-

 

1)What does visishtadvaita exactly mean and what are

some of the basic differences between advaita and

visishtadvaita.I have read a lot of articles on

this regard form the previous bhakthi mails but I

cannot understand what exactly is meant by the terms

"duality" , "non-duality" etc.Can anybody explian

them in simpler terms.

 

2) I have always felt that there is only one supreme

God and it is just that people of diffrent religions

call him by different names.For example we call him

Narayna,Muslims call him Allah etc.

I think even according to Hinduism there is only

One Supreme Brahman and Narayana,Siva ,Brahma are only

manifestations of thatbrahman.Then why does

Vaishnavism says that only Naryana is Supreme?.Why are

we expected to worship god only in the form of

Naraynan if Narayana is only a name by which we call

that one Supreme being.

 

Doesn't Advaita seem to be logical in saying the there

is only one Supreme being without Name ,form and

qualities and Naryana ,siva are merely manifestations

of that Brahman and so the question of who is Supreme

never comes into play.

 

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

The answer follows :-

 

Advaitha literally means "Not two or Non dual" and

Visishtaadvaitha literally means"Not two or Non dual

but having visheshanas(qualities or attributes)".So

the former term is taken to mean Non duality

without qualities.

 

Differences between advaitha and visishtaadvaitha:-

 

Adv = Advaitha.

Visadv = visishtadvaitha.

 

Adv :- Brahman alone is the only reality which is

attributeless or having no visheshanas.All else i.e

Isvara(God), Jiva atma(finite self) and the

prakriti(matter) are ultimatley mere imaginary

concepts or misapprehensions of Brahman,which are felt

to be real as long as the Non-dual Brahman is realized

through intution.

 

Visadv :- Brahman alone is the only reality,but it is

same as the God or Isvara of Religion and is Qualified

by infinite auspicious attributes,with the Jiva atma

and prakriti forming the attributes or modes of

Brahman.

 

Adv :- Jiva atman is Brahman identified with Body,mind

and intellect and in essence both are identical.

 

Visadv:- Jiva atman is an eternal part of Brahman as

its attribute or mode and different from Brahman

though

inseperable and lives and moves in Brahman.So Jiva

atman and Brahman are forever inseperable but not

identical.It is this Jiva atman that is subject to the

adventure of knowledge called as samsara and not

Brahman.

 

Adv :- Isvara is the saguna Brahman or Brahman with

qualities having maya as upadhi or Brahman identified

as contoller of the world having maya under his

control.He is the resort of jivas having theistic

minds,who are yet to mature to a state wherein they

can intuit the Nirguna Brahman,who is the non-dual

brahman by sublating the unreal version(i.e saguna

brahman)of the same.

 

Visadv :- Isvara the controller and owner of maya in

the form of prakriti is the very Brahman himself.He

has infinite kalyana gunas and remains so

forever.He is Nirguna in the sense that he is

untainted by the imperfections of both prakriti and

Jiva in which he is always immanent and not that he is

characterless in himself.

 

Adv :- The means to moksha is meditation on the

meaning of advaitha vakyas found in upanishads such as

"Aham Brahmaasmi" etc. Meditation on an Ishta devatha

or on a God of one's personal liking should be done to

the end of purifying one's mind so that it is ready

for recieving the higher knowledge i.e nirguna

brahman.

 

Visadv :- The means for Moksha is Bhakti or

prappati.Bhakti is a state of mind achieved through

the process of karma yoga and/or gnana yoga,wherein

the mind naturally flows to God and is delighted only

in thought of God.Prappati is a state of mind in

which the jiva appeals to God to save it from its

attachment and consequent pains felt with respect to

prakriti after realising its shortcomings in prakriti

thus allowing God himself to be the means for reaching

him.

 

Adv :- Liberation of a Jiva is not something which is

attained at some point of time,but is the true state

which is always liberated that has to be "realised".

Bondage is only a make believe due to ignorance,which

is neither real or unreal.Liberation is possible even

in embodied state.

 

Visadv :- Bondage and Liberation are facts wherein the

attributive consciousness of jiva is subject to

modifications leading to ignorance at various

levels.Ignorance is real and its effect is the career

of material attraction and enjoyment on the part of

the Jiva. Liberation is a cosmic event wherein the

jiva confounded in prakriti is elevated to the

status of Brahma gnani after the jiva gives up both

the gross and subtle body it is linked to.

 

The above are some of the important differences that i

can think of writing in this mail,but surely there are

lot more which you can get from Books related to the

same.

 

Now as far as duality and non-duality are

concerned,Duality means more than one reality and

non-duality means only one reality.

 

It should be noted that in vishistaadvaitha,from the

point of view of totality,Brahman alone exists with

qualities.But in himself there is a difference between

him and his attributes jiva and prakriti and also

between the latter two attributes.So,both the terms

can apply to Brahman from the above points of view.

 

As far as the second question is concerned,It is

agreeable that there is only one supreme God and just

as there are different approaches to him so are there

different names to him.With this philosophy,if one

sincerely approaches god attached to a particular

form of his,then there is no problem as God himself

will reveal himself to a true devotee.

It is not a mistake if the supreme God is called

as Narayana by vaishnavas or Shiva by shaivates or

Allah by muslims,but it will be a mistake if the

qualities of the supreme God which the names refer to

are used for a finite self or Jiva or if religion is

used for political gains or sense gratification.

But,the advaitha concept of Ishta devatha or God

of one's personal choice is not applied in the same

sense nor is it a solution for the problem of

universal God because according to advaitha any God

will do as long as the mind is purified to grasp the

higher knowledge of Nirguna brahman in which the so

called supreme God or saguna brahman himself is

sublated.So God here is looked upon only from an

utiliterian point of view which no sincere devotee of

a supreme God will accept because God for him is his

goal and not just a means.

 

Hope the above answers your doubts.comments are

welcomed.

 

Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu

Suresh B.N.

 

 

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