philosophy of Ramanuja- sections4,5,and6

April 30, 2006

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 osf 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

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May 2, 2006

This write-up is very helpful in understanding the basics of bhagavad rAmAnuja's interpretation of the brahma sUtra-s. If the author can include the references to the sUtra-s covered, and if possible, references to the upanishad passages, it will be of added value to the write-up.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

sarojram18 <sarojram18 > wrote: