The Dvaitadvaita Philosophy of Sri Nimbarka

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The Dvaitadvaita Philosophy of Sri Nimbarka

 

Introduction

 

This is also known by the name Bhedabheda School of Philosophy or

dualistic monism. This system was evolved by Sri Nimbarkacharya.

Nimbarka was a Telugu Brahmin of the Vaishnava faith. He lived some

time after Ramanuja and prior to Madhav, about the eleventh century

AD. He is regarded as the incarnation of the Sun.

 

He wrote a short commentary on the Brahma Sutras called Vedanta-

Parijata-Saurabha, as well as Dasasloki. His commentaries develop the

theory of the transformation (Parinama) of Brahman.

 

Nimbarka's view was largely influenced by the teachings of Bhaskara

who flourished in the first half of the ninth century and who

interpreted the Vedanta system from the viewpoint of Dvaitadvaita or

dualistic non-dualism. This doctrine was not a new discovery of

Bhaskara. It was upheld by the ancient teacher Audulomi to which Sri

Vyasa himself refers in his Vedanta Sutras.

 

God, Soul and World

Identity in Difference

 

Nimbaraka holds that the relation of God to the soul and the world is

one of identity in difference. The soul and the world are different

from God, because they are endowed with qualities different from

those of God. At the same time, they are not different from God,

because God is omnipresent and they depend entirely on Him.

 

Nimbarka's philosophy admits Brahman as the Supreme Reality without a

second. The world and the Jivas (individual souls) are only partial

manifestations of His Power (Sakti).

 

Jiva and Brahman are self-conscious. Jiva is limited. Brahman is

infinite. Brahman is independent Reality. Jiva and Prakriti are

dependent realities. Jiva is the enjoyer (bhokta). The world is the

enjoyed (bhogya). Brahman is the Supreme Controller (Niyanta).

 

God, Jiva and the world are not absolutely distinct. If the Supreme

Being is absolutely distinct from the individual soul and the world,

it cannot be omnipresent. It will be as limited as the individual

soul or the world. It cannot, then, be regarded as their Governor.

Nimbaraka says that both difference and non-difference are real. The

soul and the world are different from Brahman, as they are endowed

with natures and qualities different from those of Brahman. They are

not different, as they cannot exist by themselves and as they depend

absolutely on Brahman. Such a relation exists between the sun and its

rays, the fire and its sparks. The souls and matter are distinct from

God, but they are closely connected with Him – as waves with water,

or coils of a rope with the rope itself. They are both distinct and

non-distinct from Brahman.

 

The Supreme Being and Its Characteristics

 

In this school, Brahman (Supreme Reality) is regarded as both the

efficient and the material cause of the world. Brahman is both

Nirguna and Saguna, as It is not exhausted in the creation but also

transcends it.

 

The Four Forms of the Ultimate Reality

 

The Ultimate Reality exists in four forms. In Its primary form, It is

the unconditioned, immutable, Supreme Brahman. In Its second form, It

is Isvara, the Lord of the Universe. In the third form, It is called

Jiva or the individual soul. In Its fourth form, It is manifested as

the universe of names and forms. The phenomenal universe is a part of

Brahman. It has no existence separate from, and independent of

Brahman. The relation between the world and Brahman is also one of

Bhedabheda. The universe is not different from Brahman.

 

Krishna – The Supreme Being

 

The Supreme Being is absolutely free form all defects. He is full of

all auspicious qualities. He has a divine body. He is full of beauty,

love, sweetness and charm.

 

Nimbarka identifies the Supreme Brahman with Krishna. He is endowed

with all auspicious qualities. He is free from egoism, ignorance,

passion and attachment. He has the four forms (Vyuhas), viz.,

Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. He also manifests

Himself as the Avataras (incarnations).

 

In Nimbarka, Krishna and Radha (Kirshna's consort) take the places of

Narayana and Lakshmi. Radha is not simply the chief of the Gopis, but

is the eternal Consort of Lord Krishna.

 

How Brahman Is both the Material and

the Efficient Cause of the World

 

Brahman is the material and the efficient cause of the universe. His

powers of Chit and Achit in their subtle forms manifest themselves as

the universe. Hence He is the material cause. He causes the union of

the individual souls with their respective Karmas and their fruits.

He provides them the proper instruments for their experience. Hence

He is the efficient cause.

 

Brahman does not want raw materials in order to create the universe.

Also, He does not need hands or any other instruments. He is

omnipotent. He simply wills and the whole world comes into being. His

Satsankalpa objectifies or materializes as this universe. Just as a

spider spins a cobweb out of itself, so also Brahman has evolved the

universe out of Himself. This is the declaration of the Upanishads.

In thus evolving the universe, Brahman is both its material and the

efficient cause. As Brahman is all-powerful, it is perfectly within

His power to be evolved, and at the same time, to remain beyond such

evolution. This is supported by the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras.

Brahman has transformed Himself into this world, without His noumenal

aspect being affected. This is due to the inscrutable creative power

inherent in the nature of Brahman.

 

Relation between the Individual Soul

and the Supreme Soul

Formal Difference and Essential Identity

 

The individual soul is a part of the Supreme Soul. It is also

identical with or the same as, the Supreme Soul. Just as a wave is

both different from the ocean (being only a part of the ocean), and

identical with it (both being water), so also is the individual soul

both different from (being a part of the Supreme Soul), and identical

with (both being of the nature of Chaitanya or Consciousness), the

Supreme Soul. The relation between the individual soul or Jiva and

the Supreme Soul or Brahman is one of formal difference and essential

identity. There is no difference between Jiva and Brahman in kind.

The difference is only in degree.

 

The Jiva is different from Brahman with reference to the phenomenal

aspect or the body-idea. It is identical with, or same as, Brahman

with reference to the noumenal aspect as the invisible whole. This is

what is called Bhedabheda.

 

A strong wind perturbs the sea and a wave is formed. The wave is

different from the ocean, though it is a part of it. The wind passes

away and the wave subsides. Now it cannot be distinguished from the

sea. Even so, the mind is agitated by desires and cravings. It runs

towards the objects along with the senses and becomes conscious of a

distinctive individuality. The ego or the finite self beholds the

relative world with its phenomena, and gets experiences. When the

mind becomes calm and serene by eradication of desires, it ceases to

function and all the Vrittis or waves subside. The phenomenal world

vanishes and the finite self realises the Infinite Self or Brahman.

 

The Jiva and Its Attributes

 

Souls are infinite in number and are atomic in size. The Jiva is

minute (Anu). It is of the form of knowledge (Jnanasvarupa), though

not in the sense of Sankara. The Jiva is knowledge and it is the

possessor of knowledge also, just as the sun is light and the source

of light also. The relation of the soul to its attribute is like that

of the Dharmin (the qualified) to the Dharma (the attribute). It is

one of difference and non-difference (Bheda-abheda).

 

Though the Jiva is atomic in size, it experiences the pleasures and

pains throughout the body owing to its omnipresent quality of

knowledge. It is everlasting. It continues to exist in deep sleep and

the final state of emancipation. In Pralaya or dissolution, the

individual souls and the world merge in the Lord in subtle form.

Births and deaths concern the body, but not the Self.

 

The individual soul is the agent of activity (Karta). It has no

independent knowledge or activity. The individual souls and the world

are not self-sufficient. They are guided by the Lord. They are all

sustained and governed by God. Each soul is a ray of Brahman

individualised. Ananda or bliss belongs to the individual soul in all

its states.

 

Two Classes of Jivas

 

Jivas are of two classes:

 

Jivas who have knowledge of the all-pervading indwelling spirit and

who have realised that the appearances are non-separate from Brahman.

They are called liberated souls (Mukta). They are free from

ignorance.

Jivas who only behold the appearances, but have no knowledge of the

all-pervading indwelling spirit, the support of these names and

forms. They are called bound souls (Baddha).

 

The World - A True Manifestation of Brahman

 

The world is not an illusion for Nimbarka, as it is a manifestation

(Parinama) of what is contained subtly in God.

 

The world is not unreal or illusory, but is a true manifestation or

Parinama of Brahman. It may, however, be said to be unreal only in

the sense that the present state of its existence is not self-

sufficient and it has no separate existence from Brahman. The world

is identical with, as well as, different from Brahman, just as a wave

or a bubble is the same as, and at the same time different from water.

 

There are three principal Tattvas or principles:

 

Aprakriti, which is not derived from the primordial Prakriti, which

is the stuff of the divine body of the Lord (which is similar to the

Suddha Sattva of Ramanuja), and which is the basis of the Nitya-

Vibhuti (eternal glory) of Isvara.

Prakriti with its three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas

Kala or time.

These three Tattvas or principles are also eternal like the

individual souls.

 

According to Nimbarka, the Sakti of Brahman is the material cause of

the world. The changes of Sakti do not affect the integrity of

Brahman. The `Body of Brahman' of Ramanuja is the `Sakti' of Nimbarka.

 

Salvation

 

Avidya is beginningless. The purity of the individual soul is

obscured by its Karma which is the result of Avidya. This Avidya can

be put an end by the grace of the Lord.

 

True Devotion and Real Knowledge Lead to Release

 

Prapatti or complete surrender to God is the way to release. God

showers His grace on His devotees who make complete self-surrender.

The grace of God lifts up the devotees to have Brahma-Sakshatkara.

The Lord generates devotion in them which results in God-realisation.

 

Bhakti involves a knowledge of Brahman, of the nature of the Jiva, of

the fruit of the Lord's grace or Mukti, and of the nature of the

impediments to God-realisation such as the wrong identification of

the soul with the body, the senses and the mind.

 

Salvation is attained by real knowledge (Jnana) and true devotion

(Bhakti). Real knowledge reveals the true nature of the all-pervading

Brahman. True devotion leads to total self-surrender to the Lord. The

individual soul retains its individuality with reference to divine

enjoyment (Bhoga-samyatvam), but its will is subservient to that of

Brahman. The individuality of the soul is not dissolved even in the

state of release, the individual soul is different from, as well as

identical with, Brahman. This is identity with difference, Bheda-

abheda.

 

Salvation a State of Full Awareness

of Identity With the Lord

 

Brahman is revealed to the liberated soul in its pristine glory, but

not in the form of a deity. The soul realises itself now as an

inseparable part of Brahman. It no longer feels that it is a separate

or distinct individual, as it felt in bondage. It is released from

its previous state of bondage. It abides now in the glory of its own

true Self which is Brahman Itself. It is in full awareness or

consciousness of being one with the Lord. It will not return to the

world. It is freed from the round of births and deaths. As it is in

union with Brahman, it attains the same status as that of Brahman,

but it has no power over creation, preservation and dissolution of

the world.