sribhashya-Laghusiddhantha continued

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The avidhyA, nescience, being anAdhi, beginningless and powerful

according to the advaitin, the perception of duality cannot be

removed by the mere knowledge of Brahman through the vedantavAkyas.

 

Therefore besides the study of the vedantavakyas dhyAna

and upaAsanA have been prescribed by the vedntavakyas themselves

which can be seen in the texts like ' omithyEva AtmAnam dhyAyaTHa,

meditate on the Self as OM,'(Mund. 2-2-6) 'AthmAnamEva lokam

upAseetha, one should meditate on the Self alone,'(Brhd.3-4-

15) 'AthmA vA are drashtavyah manthavyah nidhiDHyAsithavyah,the Self

is to be seen, thought and meditated'(Brhd.6-5-6). The

word 'knowing,vinjAna' is also to be taken in the sense of meditation

 

Now what is meditation? Ramanuja defines it as 'dhyAnam cha

thailadhArAvath avicchinna smrthisanthAna roopam,' continous flow of

remembrance like the stream of continously dripping of oil. 'DhruvA

smrthih ;smrthilambhe sarvagranTheenAm vipramokshah,'(Chan.7-26-2)

when the constant,(dhruva) remembrance, (smrthih) is attained all

knots are rent asunder. Thus DHruvAsmrthi is prescribed as the means

of liberation. Here remembering is synonymous with seeing. as shown

by the text, 'bhidhyathE hrdhayagrantTHih cchidhyanthE sarvasamsayAh

ksheeyanthe asya karmANi thasmin dhrshte parAvarE,'(Mund.2-2-9) when

that, (Brahman) is seen all knots are broken, all doubts vanish and

all karma are destroyed. Similarly the word nidhiDHyAsithavyah also

refers to BrahamasAlshAtkAra only.

 

Remembrance when become intent ,Dhruvasmrthih, is the same as

seeing. Sruthi says, 'nAyamAthmA pravachanena labhyah na meDhayA na

bahunA sruthEna yamaivEsha vrnuthE theEna labBhyah thasyaisha AthmA

vivrNuthE thanoom svAm,'(Mund.3-2-3) the self cannot be attained

through talk or contemplation or by hearing . Only to him whom the

Self chooses to manifest, the Self reveals itself.' From this

statement of the sruthi, says Ramanuja, it is obvious that Self

cannot be realised by sravaNa, manana and nidhiDhyAsana, as professed

by the advaitin. 'YamaivEsha vrnuthE THeNA labhyah,' means the one

whom the Athman chooses to reveal itself must be priyathama, most

loved, implying, to him also the Athman is priyathama, most dear, '

priyathama Eva varaNeeyo bhavathi, yasya ayam nirathisayapriyah sa

Eva asya priyathamo bhavathi.'

 

This has been proclaimed by the Lord Himself in

Bhagavatgita, 'nAyam vedair na thapasA na dhAnEna na chEjyayA sakya

Evam vidho dhrashtum dhrstavAnasi mAm yathA bhakthyAthvananyayA

sakyah,'(BG11-53-54. Iam not to be seen as you see me now, through

knowledge of the vedas nor penance nor gifts nor by sacrifice except

through singleminded devotion.' And 'purushah sa parah pArtha

bhakthyA labhyasthvananyayA', the Supreme being can be attained only

by devotion.

 

The Lord says that He will give jnaAna only to those who

ever united with Him through avicchinnasmaranNa, unbroken flow of

meditation and love, 'thEshAm sathathayukthANam bhajathAm preethi

purvakam dhadhAmi buddhiyogam tham yEna mAm upayAnthi thE, thus

enabling them to attain liberation. This constant remembranca with

love is bhakthi.

 

Let the meditation with bhakthi be instrumental for the true

knowledge of Brahman, that is, brahmasAkshAtkAra, perception of

brahman, but where is the necessity for the karma enjoined in the

karmakAnda of the vedas?

 

Ramanuja answers that the karmas like yajna are the sAdhana

or means for such dhruvasmrthi, constant remembrance with love.The

efficacy of karma in securing brahmajnana has been stressed by the

suthrakara himself in the third pAdha by the suthra'yajnAdhisrutheh

asvavath,'(BS3-4-26) there is need for all karma,because the

scriptures prescribe yajna etc, ' thamEtham vedhAnuvachanEna

brAhmaNA vividhishanthi yajnEna dhAnena thapasA anAsakEna,'(Brhd.4-4-

22) the seekers of brahman wish to realise it (Brahman) by study of

the vedas, by sacrifices, by charity,by austerity which does not

cause destruction, meaning, when done in moderation,thus asserting

the instrumentality of vaidika karma for dhruvasmrthi. As the

constant remembrance, dhruvasmtrthi which continues till death, is

the only means of realisation, the various karma prescribed for the

varnAsrama have to be followed throughout life.

 

Nevertheless the samadhamAdhi are enjoined as subsidiaries to

meditation and have to be practised by the householder while doing

his duties. The view that performance of work and practice of

samadhamAdhi are mutually contradicting is refuted by the suthrakAra

himself. 'SamadhAdhyupethahsyAth thaTHApi thu thadviDHeh

thadhangathayA theshaAm avasyAnushTHE yathvAth,' (BS3-4-27) they have

to be practised because they are enjoined as subsidiaries to

meditation.

 

Ramanuja then explains what are viveka and other spiritual

disciplines.

1.Viveka,

Discrimination between what is right and what is wrong is

needed for physical purity. There are three kinds of food to be

avoided, as enjoined in the sruthi. They are known as jAthidhushtam,

that belonging to prohibited class of food, like eating garlic,

Asrayadhushtam, prohibited on account of asraya, source like

chAndAlAdhidhravya, coming from impure houses and nimittha dhushtam,

contaminated food like remains of food eaten by someone

else,ucchishtam, or polluted by hair etc. Omitting these kinds of

food is viveka with reference to body, resulting in kAyasuddhi,

physical purity.The purity observed in eating helps one to attain

satthvasuddhi which in its turn helps to attain

dhruvasmrthi, 'AhArasuddhou satthvasuddhih satthva suddhou dhruvA

smrthih.' (Chand.7-26)

 

2. Vimoka

Vimoka is to be free from desire, kAma. As shown in the Gita,

dhyAyatho vihsayAn pumsah sangasthEshoopajAyathe sangAth sanjAyathe

kAmah kAmAth krodhOpajAyathe,' When one thinks about the sense

objects longingly there comes attachment which gives rise to desire

which, when thwarted, becomes krOdha thus leading him to ruin. The

text 'shAntha upAseetha,'(Chand.3-14-1) implies the control of kAma

krOdhAdhi, resulting in mental purity.

 

 

3.AbhyAsah

Gita defines abhyAsa as 'sadhA thadbhAvabhAvithah,'(BG8-6)

being ever absorbed in the thought of Brahman.

 

4.KriyA

'PanchamahAyajnAdhyanushthAnam shakthithah kriyA. The

observance of the five mahayajnas, namely brahmayajna, study and

teaching of scriptural texts,devayajna, worship and other ritualistic

offerings . Pitryajna, srAddha, tarpaNa etc. to pitrs, manushya

yajna, service to humanity like charity, hospitality etc.,

bhoothayajna, service to all creatures through kindness and ahimsa.

Mundaka Upanishad says, 'kriyAvAnEsha brahmavidhAm varishtah,'

(Mund.3-1-4) the performer of the devotional practices is the

foremost among the knowers of the Self.

 

5. kalyANAni

Possession of good qualities which are specified as follows:

Satya, truthfulness, Arjavam, uprightness of thought word and deed,

dayA, unselfish attitude of kindness,dhAnam , generosity, anabhidhyA,

devoid of desire to possess what belongs to others or to take

revenge. anavasAdhah, without sorrow for the past and fear for the

future, in short, dhainyam, diffidence, which stands in the way of

Self realisation, as made out by the sruthi 'nAyam AthmA balaheenEna

labhyah,' the Self cannot be attained by weakminded, and

anuddharshah, absence of uddharsha , feeling of elation, which is the

opposite of avasAdha, despair.

 

Ramanuja further illustrates his point by taking another

sruti text, namely,'vidhyAm cha avidhyAm cha yah thath vedha uBHayam

saha avidhyayA mrthyum theerthvaa vidhyayA amrtham asnuthe,'( Isa.11)

he who knows both vidhyA and avidhyA, having conquered death by

avidhyA attains immortality through vidhyA. Here the word avidhyA ,

says Ramanuja, means the duties of the varnAsrama laid out in the

vedas. If it is ignorance that is meant, one could not conquer death

with it. 'karmaNA mrthyum jnAnothpatthiviroDhi prAcheenam karma

theerthvA apohya vidhyayAamrtham brahma asnuthE ithyarThah.' By

performing karma without attachment the past karma which is

obstructing the rise of jnAna i is exausted and then by jnAna

Brahman is attained.

 

The karma which is jnAna virodhi, opposed to jnAna denotes

both merit and demerit, puNyapApa rupa. PuNya is also termed as jnAna

virodhi as it results in birth in order to enjoy the fruit of puNya.

Rajas and thamas conceal the knowledge of Reality, yaThArTha jnAna

Avarana while the satthva is yaTHArThajnAna hethu, causes the rise of

the knowledge of Reality. 'sAtthvAth sanjAyathE jnAnam,'(BG.14-17)

 

So to attain Brahman the activities of the respective varNa

and

Asrama are to be undertaken in order to understand the nature of

karmA and the transitoriness of the fruits of karma. So the study of

purvamimAmsA is precedent to that of UttharamimAmsA.