Sri Vaishnava Philosophy ( Visistadvaita)

[Guest guest]

Pranam to all Vaishnavas ,

 

SRI VAISHNAVA PHILOSOPHY (VISISTADVAITA )

 

The philosophy of Sri Vaishnavism is known in Sanskrit as Visistadvaita. The term literally means ``non-duality of Reality as characterized by attributes.'' As a classical expression of Vedanta (the philosophical basis for much of Hinduism), the goal of Visistadvaita philosophy is to understand and experience Brahman, the One Blissful Reality who is the all-pervasive ground and sustenance of the universe -- the string upon whom all pearls are threaded. The ``pearls'', individual beings and matter, are inseparable attributes of the Supreme Person, modes of Its existence.

To the devout Sri Vaishnava, the religious concept of Brahman is best expressed by the term ``God'' (Lord Narayana) . Brahman is Infinite, not just in physical terms, but in metaphysical and qualitative terms. Brahman is the absolutely real abode of all consciousness. He is infinitely auspicious, infinitely blissful, supremely gracious, infinitely merciful, infinitely beautiful -- in fact, infinitely infinite. The relationship between Lord Narayana and the universe is one of love, as all this is but a conscious emanation from Him. We are to Him as a child is to a parent, as a friend is to a friend, and as a beloved is to a lover.

Brahman also stands in relation to the universe and the individual souls as the Self of each, providing the basis for their reality. As such, Brahman has matter and individual souls as His body, and is therefore the Supreme Being in whom all reality is comprehended. All that we see is but a spilling from the plenitude of His glorious, all-pervasive essence. This is why the favorite devotional name for God among Sri Vaishnavas is Narayana -- He in whom all beings rest.

Ramanuja’s Brahman is essentially a Personal God, the all-powerful and all-wise Ruler of a real world, permeated and animated by His spirit. Ramanuja’s Brahman is Savisesha Brahman, i.e., Brahman with attributes. Ramanuja’s Brahman is not the Impersonal Absolute, but He is a Personal God, with the qualities of omnipotence, omniscience and infinite love. God is Saguna (some translate Saguna as with attributes). Ramanuja identifies God with 'Narayana' who dwells in Vaikuntha with His consort, Lakshmi. She introduces the devotee to Her Lord and obtains for him salvation. Lakshmi occupies a pre-eminent place in Vaishnavism .

 

 

 

 

 

Ramanuja's Vedarthasangraha

 

 

Summary of the Meaning of the Vedas

Acharya Sri Ramanuja wrote nine works in Sanskrit on the philosophy of Visishtadvaita. Of these, the Vedartha-sangraha occupies a unique place inasmuch as this work takes the place of a commentary on the Upanishads, though not in a conventional sense or form. The work mirrors a total vision of the Upanishads, discussing all the controversial texts in a relevent, coherent manner. It is in fact an independent exposition of the philosophy of the Upanishads. Prof. M. Hiriyanna describes it as "an independent treatise explaining in a masterly way his

philosophic position, and pointing out the basis for it in the Upanishads" . Sudarsana Suri, the celebrated commentator on the Sri-bhashya and the Vedartha-sangraha, says that the work was expounded in the form of a lecture before Lord Srinivasa at Tirumalai . Thus it is his testament at the feet of the Lord whom he served throughout his life. Sri Ramanuja refers to this work more than once in his Sri-bhashya.

The Vedartha-sangraha is written in a lucid, vigorous prose without the usual divisions of chapters, but the structure of the thesis is developed in a scientific manner. Sri Ramanuja refers in this work to ancient teachers of theistic tradition, Bodhayana, Tanka, Dramida, Guhadeva, Kapardin and Bharuci, besides his own Guru, Sri Yamunacharya . Tanka and Dramida are quoted profusely to support his interpretation. He takes abundant help from the Brahma-Sutras, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Vishnu Purana, the Manu Smrti and other genuine smrtis in the exposition of his philosophy.

At the outset Sri Ramanuja states that the Upanishads, which lay down the welfare of the whole world, move around three fundamental notions:

 

A seeker must acquire a true knowledge of the individual self and the Supreme ;

he must devote himself to meditation, worship and the adoration of the Supreme;

this knowledge with discipline leads him to the realization of the Supreme .

To put it briefly, the first affirms the tattva or the nature of the Reality, the second declares the hita or the means, and the third states the purushartha or the ideal of human endeavour.

A chief difficulty in understanding the meaning of the Upanishads arises in determining the relation of Brahman to the individual self on the one hand, and to the non-sentient world on the other. There are some texts which declare that the world is only an appearance in the ultimate analysis. There are other texts which affirm that the world is not an appearance, but real and distinct.

Bhartrprapanca, who was anterior to Sri Sankara, held that the self and the universe are identical with and different from Brahman, the triad constituting a unity in variety. That is to say that the reality is at once one as Brahman and many as the self and the world. For example, an ocean consists of water, foam, waves, etc. As the water is real, so also are the foam, waves, etc. The world, which is a part and parcel of Brahman, is necessarily real. The import of all this is that according to this view the Upanishads teach the eternal difference and identity between Brahman on

the one hand, and the self and the world on the other .

Sri Sankara rejects the view of Bhatrprapanca, because mutually contradictory attributes cannot be predicated of one and the same thing. According to Sri Sankara the passages which affirm manifoldness and reality of the world do not embody the essential teaching of the Upanishads. It is a concession made to the empirical view that demands a real world having causal connection with time-space. Since variety is but an appearance having no foundation in the ultimate Reality, the true essential doctrine of the Upanishads, according to him, is only pure unity. The individual self is nothing but Brahman itself appearing as finite due to limiting adjuncts which are superimposed on it.

Sri Ramanuja also attempts to systamatize the philosophy of the Upanishads, taking the cue from the ancient theistic philosophers. He recognises three lines of thought in the Upanishads concerning the relation between Brahman, the self and the world:

 

Passages which declare difference of nature between the world, the self and Brahman. Here the world is the non-sentient matter (acit) which is the object of experience, the self is the experiencing conscious subject (cit), and Brahman, the absolute ruling principle . These may be named analytical texts .

Passages which teach that Brahman is the inner self of all entities which constitute his body. For instance, "He who dwells in the earth and within the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body the earth is, and who rules the earth within, he is thy Self, the ruler within, the immortal" etc. (Br. III, vii, 3-23). These are called ghataka-srutis or mediating texts.

Passages which proclaim the unity of Brahman with the world in its causal as well as effected aspect. The famous text, 'That thou art, O Svetaketu' (Cha. VI 2-8) comes under this category. These may be termed as synthetic passages. Sri Ramanuja lays down that the interpretation of the various passages must be such that they are not made to contradict each other, and not a single passage should be so interpreted as to be divested of its primary significance .

The first group of texts distinguishes Brahman from the world and the individual selves. In a way it emphasizes the transcendent character of Brahman. The second group of texts declares Brahman to be the inner self of all entities. Neither the individual self nor the world can exist by itself. They are inseparably connected with Brahman as his body, and thus are controlled by him. These texts teach duality in so far as distinction is made between body and self, and unity in so far as the self, the substantive element, predominates over and controls the body, its attribute. The last group of texts aim at proclaiming the non-dual character of Brahman who alone constitutes the ultimate Reality. The self and the world, though distinct from each other and real, have a different value. They only exist as a mode or attribute of Brahman. They are comprehended in the reality of Brahman. They exist because Brahman exists.

On this principle of interpretation, Sri Ramanuja recognizes that the passages declaring distinction between Brahman, the world and the self, and those affirming Brahman to be the same in the causal as well as effected aspects, do not in any way contradict the mediating passages which declare that the individual selves and the world form the body of Brahman, and they in their causal state do not admit the distinction of names and forms while in the effected state they possess distinct character.

The notion of unity may be illustrated by the example, "A purple robe." Here purpleness is quite different from robe. The latter is a substance while the former is an attribute. This integral and essential relation is not found in the case of a man wearing a wrist-watch. If the former relation is inseparable (aprthaksiddhi), the latter is separable and external. A word signifying attribute does not stop after denoting the usual meaning, but extends till it reaches the substantive. This is the true significance of an attribute. The individual selves and the world constitute the body of Brahman who is

their inner self. Brahman is the integral principle without whom neither the self nor the world can exist. Hence all names finally denote him.

The way in which Sri Ramanuja interprets the famous text, 'That thou art' (tat tvam asi) is unique. This is done by means of co-ordinate predication (samanadhikaranya). In a co-ordinate predication the identity of the substantive should not be established through the rejection of the natural significance of co-ordinate terms. The identical import of terms taken in their natural signification should be brought out. The Mahabhashya of Patanjali defines co-ordinate predication thus: "The signification of an identical entity by several terms which are applied to that entity on different grounds is co-ordinate predication. " In such a proposition the attributes not only should be distinct from each other but also different from the substance, though inseparable from it. In the illustration of a "purple robe", the basic substance is one and the same, though "purpleness" and "robeness" are different from it as well as from each other. That is how the unity of a "purple robe" is established. In the co-ordinate predication asserting identity between "that" and "thou", Brahman himself with the self as his mode, having the self as his body, is pointed out.

The term "thou" which usually stands for the self here stands for Brahman ("that") who is the indweller of the self and of whom the self is the mode as a constituent of his body. The term "thou" does not mean the physical body or the individual self. Since Brahman has interpenetrated all matter and self, "thou" signifies Brahman in the ultimate analysis. The term "that" signifies Brahman

himself as the ground of the universe and the soul of all individual selves. Hence in the identity of "that" and "thou" there is no rejection of the specific connotation of the co-ordinate terms. The upshot of the dictum is that the individual selves and the world, which are distinct and real attributes, are comprehended in Brahman. Brahman as the inner self of the jiva and Brahman as the ground of the universe are one. The central principle is that whatever exists as an attribute of a substance, that being inseparable from the substance is one with that substance.

Thus Sri Ramanuja upholds all the three streams of thoughts in the Upanishads, namely, unity, plurality and both. He himself clinches the argument:

We uphold unity because Brahman alone exists with all other entities as his modes. We uphold both unity and plurality, as the one Brahman himself has all the physical and spiritual entities as his modes and thus exists qualified by a plurality. We uphold plurality as the three entities -- the individual selves, the world and the supreme Lord -- are mutually distinct in their substantive nature and attributes and there is no mutual transposition of their characteristics .

II

The summum bonum is the vision of the supreme Person, known as Brahman or Sriman-Narayana . The chief obstacle in the path towards perfection is the accumulation of evil tendencies. These can be destroyed only by the cultivation of good tendencies. This is followed by self-surrender which generates an inclination towards life divine. Then one has to acquire the knowledge of the Reality from the scriptures aided by the holy teachers. Then the practice of virtues like the control of mind and sense, austerity, purity, non-violence, compassion, etc., becomes easy. Nitya and naimittika duties are to be performed, and prohibited actions are to be avoided, the whole conduct being conceived as

the worship of Lord Narayana. Narayana, the embodiment of love and compassion, showers his grace on the aspirant, which puts an end to all his obstacles. Finally bhakti rises which is an enjoyment of bliss in itself . Bhakti is but meditation which has assumed the character of the most vivid and direct perception of the Supreme.

Yamunacharya, declares that bhakti succeeds the twofold training of the mind by karma and jnana . Karma-yoga is performance of duties of one's station in life with no thought of reaping any personal benefit in the spirit of the Gita's teachings . Karma that is performed in this manner cleanses the heart . Jnana-yoga, which immediately follows the previous discipline, is meditation upon the individual self as distinct from matter like body, mind, etc., with which it is associated . It helps the aspirant to determine the true nature of one's self in relation to the Supreme. He realizes that he is absolutely subservient to Lord Narayana .

The discipline does not stop with the knowledge of one's self alone. It is incomplete without the knowledge of God.

Here the word bhakti does not connote the popular sense in which it is understood . Bhakti-yoga is loving meditation upon God . When the meditation attains the form of "firm remembrance" (dhruva-anusmrtih) characterised by intense love, the vision of the Supreme is attained . It must be mentioned here that the final release is attained after the dissolution of the body. One endowed with such bhakti and self-surrender attains the fitness to earn the grace of the Lord Narayana. This bhakti itself is upasana or vidya mentioned in the Upanishads . It is same as knowledge spoken of in the srutis : "One who knows Brahman attains the Supreme," (Tai. II.1), "He who knows him becomes immortal here," (Pu. 20), and "He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman," (Mu. 3.2.9). As the vision of the Supreme

is not possible through ordinary means of perception, he can be seen only through bhakti, which is a unique form of knowledge. This is in consonance with the Gita declaration, "I am attainable only through undivided bhakti" (9.54).

III

It was already mentioned that the ideal to be realized is the vision of the Supreme . It is an experience of absolute peace, perfection, bliss and freedom, untouched by the cosmic limitations of space and time . Sri Ramanuja is accused of having given a "picturesque description" of the ideal realm . But a little insight into the spirit of his writings reveals that the ideal is not such a fairyland as it is made out to be . The domain, he points out, is of the nature of pure immutable sattva . It is transcendent without the taints of the material gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas . Similarly the individual

self also, in the state of moksa, gives up its material body and assumes a transcendent form . The substance of suddha sattva is common to Lord Narayana, the self and the realm of the ideal known as nitya-vibhuti . The first chapter of the Kausitaki Upanishad gives a figurative account of the pilgrim's progress till he reaches the feet of Lord Narayana .

The individual self is the essence of knowledge . This knowledge in its attributive aspect (dharma-bhuta-jnana) gets more or less contracted in samsara, but it expands infinitely in the state of moksa . It becomes all-knowing and enjoys perfect bliss and love in divine communion . In short it is an ineffable enjoyment . In this natural state it yields its spirit to the will, glory and adoration of God . Ramanuja characterises this state as 'ananya-prayojana ', having no other end except itself . In this ideal place there is no break in the enjoyment of divine communion .

Sri Ramanuja is not unaware of the criticism that there is subservience to and dependence upon God in his conception of moksa . The critics say that subordination in any form cannot conduce to the joy of self . The divine fetters are not less strong to bind . Further Manu says that servitude is a dog's life. Sri Ramanuja effectively meets this criticism in his characteristic way . He enunciates a principle "that what an individual pursues as a desirable end depends upon what he conceives himself to be ." Different people pursue different and mutually conflicting values .

Hence the notion that independence is happiness proceeds from the misconception that one is identical with the body, mind, etc . This attachment to the body is a sort of dependence itself . Instead of dependence on God, it is dependence on matter . The metaphysical fact is that he is not the body, and consequently there must be something else with which his self is related . There cannot be relation of the principal entity and the subsidiary (sesin and sesa) between any finite objects . The only object with which such a relation can exist is God. Hence dependence on anything other than God is painful andsubservience to God is joy and freedom. Similarly bondage is indeed a dog's life when one serves those who are unworthy of

service . The only entity which is worthy of love, adoration and service is God . Sri Ramanuja clinches the issue by quoting a text , "He is to be served by all ." The emancipation consists in service of God, and true bondage is independence of God and service of body .

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction to the Sri-Bhashya

 

 

Ramanuja's Commentary on the Brahma-Sutras Establishing the Philosophy of Vedanta

1. Brahma-Sutra

The text attributed to Badarayana designated Brahma-Sutra or Sariraka-Sutra occupies the foremost position of authority in the system of Vedanta . That there were commentaries on it even before Sri Sankara we learn explicitly from Sri Sankara himself, whose commentary is the earliest available now. Its central status in Vedanta is thus very well established . This is understandable as it explicitly endeavours to formulate, elaborate, and defend the philosophy of the Upanisads in the full-fledged darsana style . The Bhagavad Gita seems to accord to it this

pivotal status in the one significant reference we have in it .

All the commentators seem to identify the author Badarayana with Veda Vyasa . The Advaitic tradition handed down both by Vacaspati and Prakasatman is unanimous on the point .

The Sutras fall into a magnificent pattern . The first chapter brings out the coherent import of the Upanisads by elucidating the apparently doubtful import of certain pronouncements . The second chapter works out a philosophical defence of the Vedantic standpoint in the context of adverse systems of thought . The third chapter outlines the spiritual pathway to the supreme Goal of life, while the fourth chapter discusses the nature of that goal itself .

2. Pre-Ramanuja Position

In spite of the greatness of the design, the Sutras offer insuperable difficulties. Excepting a few, the Sutras in general do not indicate the theme of discussion or the particular line of thought adopted . They definitely require an interpretative tradition to convey their import . Hence authoritative commentaries utilizing such tradition or traditions were supplied from time to time . Sri Sankara refers to a vrttikara in the context and Sri Ramanuja refers to an extensive vrtti by Bodhayana . Sri Sankara's commentary is the earliest and a very substantial work of elucidation . He propounds a specific school of philosophy as sponsored by the Sutras . Its distinctive features are that it asserts the sole reality of the Absolute Spirit, named Brahman in the Upanisads, regards the external world as only phenomenally real, and identifies the essential Self in man with Brahman . Man's supreme perfection lies in apprehension of this identity through the realization of the import of the fundamental propositions of the Upanisads .

It appears, as is evident in the next significant commentary of Bhaskara, that this formulation of the philosophy of the Sutras was found to be unacceptable to a considerable section of Vedantic philosophers . They seem to have felt that the Brahma-Sutra, while affirming Brahman, does not negate the reality of the world, nor identify the individual spirit with the absolute so wholly, and the way to blessedness is knowledge that springs from Karma-yoga and matures into upasana or devotional meditation . There was a strong current of the mysticism of love or bhakti, standardized by the greater Puranas, the Bhagavad Gita, the Agamas, and the experience of high-ranking and God-intoxicated saints . Sri Yamunacarya seems to have yearned for a competent and adequate commentary on the Sutras integrating all these doctrinal

and spiritual points of view. He was convinced that the truth promulgated by Badarayana lay in this direction but could not himself produce the much needed work of interpretation .

3. Sri-Bhashya

The prayers of the saintly Yamunacarya were to be fulfilled by his grand-disciple, Sri Ramanuja . Providence destined Sri Ramanuja to accomplish the great task of elucidating the Sutras in a theistic style, asserting the metaphysical eminence of Brahman without the supplementary thesis of world-denial and the denial of the individuality of the finite selves, and promulgating knowledge of Brahman as arising from Karma-yoga and maturing in bhakti .

Sri Ramanuja has bequeathed three works on the Brahma-Sutra : the Vedanta-Sara, Vedanta-Dipa, and the Sri-Bhashya . The first work merely enunciates the meaning of the Sutras . The second goes beyond this summary of conclusions and indicates cates the dialectical framework . The third is the fullest and all-sufficient commentary . Pious tradition records that the Goddess Sarasvati was so charmed by it that she blessed it with the prefix 'Sri' .

Sri Ramanuja lived a long and full life . He seems to have spent nearly half of it in equipping himself for the creation of this masterpiece . He did advance his special philosophical point of view in his early work, the Vedarthasangraha in a brilliant and spirited manner. But he acquired devoutly all that Sri Yamunacarya's tradition could give him on the Sutras, studied ancient documents on the Sutras such as the works of Bodhayana, Tanka, and Dramida, mastered the current schools of philosophy to perfection, soaked himself in the Vedic literature, particularly the Upanisads, acquired an authentic understanding of the commentaries of Sri Sankara, Bhaskara, and Yadava-prakasa, got the core of the Advaitic classics of the masters such as Mandana, Padmapada, Suresvara, Vacaspati-misra, Vimuktatman, and Prakasatman, and shaped

his own vision of Vedanta and an appropriate style before he addressed himself to the literary mission of his life .

No wonder the Sri-Bhashya is a stupendous and masterly work, its style matching its substance. Sri Ramanuja chooses the hard way on every issue, that of thoroughness, and he is massive in the statement of prima facie views and also in his vindication of his own findings. The language of exposition is lucid as well as grand . Vedanta Desika, himself a great master of style, acknowledges that his own style acquired grace through a devout application to the writings of Sri Ramanuja . In the compass of vision, fullness of execution, and splendour of style the Sri-Bhashya reaches heights of excellence .

4. The Sequel

The great commentary evoked a great many sub-commentaries in its turn . It is a pity that Vedanta Desika's Tattva Tika is available only in its introductory portion . His verse condensation of the Sri-Bhashya, the Adhikarana Saravali, is happily available completely . But Vedanta Desika's greatest service to the Sri-Bhashya is his preservation, under hard circumstances, of the Srutaprakasika of Sudarsana Suri, an elder contemporary of his, and his propagation of it . This work is a monument of devotion, thorough elucidation and brilliant amplification . As a sub-commentary it set standards unsurpassed in Vedantic literature .

The Ramanuja tradition of Vedanta thus consolidated has influenced all subsequent writings on the Brahma-Sutra, not excluding the commentaries adverse to Sri Ramanuja's school of Vedanta . The Vaisnava schools of Vedanta in general have utilized kindred elements profusely . It is in the fitness of things that Jiva Gosvamin, the celebrated Vedantin of the Caitanya school says of Sri Ramanuja, "Pramita mahimnaam", "as one whose glory is established." The great Appayya-diksita used the Sri-Bhashya considerably in his Sivarka-Mani-dipika and also wrote a condensation of it called Naya-mayukha-malika .

 

Thus the Sri-Bhashya is a major work in the history of Vedanta, propounding a powerful theistic version of it, and is also great in its subsequent influence .

5. Architectonics of the Work

The Sri-Bhashya expounds the philosophy of Sri Ramanuja in all its essentials. The structure of the work following the structure of the Sutras is laid down well . The first four Sutras concern themselves with four considerations of an introductory character . The rest of the first chapter elucidates the crucial passages of the Upanisads that appear to be ambiguous, and the result is a formulation of the philosophy of the Upanisads in a coherent and decisive manner . The second chapter deals with the possible exegetical and philosophical objections to the standpoint . It incidentally examines rival philosophical systems. These two chapters present the metaphysics of Vedanta . The third chapter propounds the sadhana or the pathway to the attainment of the supreme Goal of life . The fourth chapter delineates that goal with all its implications . The last two chapters, thus relate to the ideals to be achieved . In traditional language the first two chapters formulate the Tattva or the nature of Reality and the third deals with the Hita or sadhana, and the fourth brings out the Purusartha or the supreme ideal of life.

6. Introductory Matter

The first aphorism of the Brahma-Sutra is very important as it initiates the inquiry into Brahman . It lays down the precondition into the inquiry and also the reason for it . The precondition is the inquiry into the nature, limitations, and value of karma as elucidated in the Karma-Mimamsa of Jaimini .

Inquiry into karma and Brahman constitutes one organic unity of Vedic philosophy . In the earlier inquiry into karma, the purport of the earlier portion of the Vedas centred in religious activity is discussed. Being dissatisfied with the objectives of karma, the inquiry into Brahman is undertaken as the knowledge of Brahman is said to bring about the eternal and infinite good of man in the later portion of the Vedas, namely, the Upanisads .

In this context the Sri-Bhashya discusses elaborately the role of karma, as it leads to minor objectives when performed in an ego-centric way and also as it conduces to the understanding of Brahman when performed in a disinterested spirit of worship and dedication . Such a discrimination is the antecedent to the inquiry into Brahman . The reason for the inquiry is the unsatisfactory character of the ends procured by religious life devoid of knowledge . The inquiry is for purposes of gaining knowledge of Brahman; which knowledge is said to bring about the summum bonum . The knowledge that could accomplish such a supreme consummation is no mere intellectual and mediate understanding, but a devout and intense meditation on Brahman . It is,

in short, bhakti .

In this context the Sri-Bhashya under takes a complete examination of Advaita in its longest discussion, opposing the concept of nirguna Brahman and the supplementary postulate of Avidya or Maya . Brahman is significantly described: "The term 'Brahman' signifies the supreme Person (Purusottama) who transcends all imperfections and abounds in infinite classes of auspicious qualities of unsurpassed excellence ."

The Purva-Mimamsa writers attempted to interpret the whole of the Vedas as just inculcating imperatives and denounced the metaphysical purport of Brahman . That position is rejected after considerable discussion .

The second aphorism offers a definition of Brahman to focus further elucidation and Sri Ramanuja defends the definition as perfectly legitimate . The definition according to him means :

That supreme Person who is the ruler of all ; whose nature is antagonistic to all evil ; whose purposes come true ;who possesses infinite auspicious qualities such as knowledge, bliss and so on; who is omniscient, omnipotent, supremely merciful; from whom the creation, subsistence, and re-absorption of this world -- with its manifold wonderful arrangements, not to be comprehended by thought, and comprising within itself the aggregate of souls from Brahma down to blades of grass, all of which experience the fruits (of their previous deeds) in definite points of space and time

-- proceed is Brahman : such is the meaning of the Sutra .

The third aphorism concerns itself with the source of our knowledge of Brahman . It declares the 'shastra' as our only source of knowledge . This involves the entire epistemology of Visistadvaita . The school recognizes the validity of perception and inference in their respective spheres . It does not to the thesis that they are infected with an error or nescience at their very root . In the matter of proving the existence of the supreme Being, it does not accept the efficacy of inference, as was done in the Nyaya-Vaisesika system . It discovers flaws in that theistic argument somewhat on the lines of Purva-Mimamsa writers . But it does not

agree with the latter in interpreting the Vedic scriptures as bereft of metaphysical import . Nor does it question the veridical character of the shastra which is our only source of knowledge concerning the transcendent ultimate, Brahman .

The supreme shastra in the context is the concluding portion of the Vedas, the Upanisads . Sri Ramanuja describes Brahman as 'Sruti-Sirasi vidIpte', meaning that, that supreme Reality is specifically and pre-eminently revealed in the Upanisads . In the interpretation of these texts and in the defence of their philosophy, reason is to be fully utilized . Hence Vedanta is no mere cult based on mere faith, but a philosophical inquiry employing methods of logical investigation . Reason is also of value in the examination of schools of thought opposed to the philosophy of the Upanisads . The primary scripture of Vedanta is to be supplemented and augmented by the secondary scriptures such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Puranas such

as the Visnupurana, the Agamas such as the Pancaratra, and Smrti texts such as that of Manu .

The principle of this supplementation is stated by Sri Ramanuja clearly :

By this "supplementation" we have to understand the elucidation of the sense of the Vedic texts studied by us through the words of men who had mastered the entire Veda and its contents, and by the strength of their devotion had gained full realization of Vedic truth . This needs to be done, since the import of the entire Veda with all its sakhas cannot be fathomed by one who has studied a small part only, and since with out knowing that purport we cannot arrive at certitude .

It is to be understood that Sri Ramanuja included in the category of secondary scriptures, the body of inspired mystical poetry, collectively named Divya Prabandha, composed and sung by the Alvars, but he does not use this source in the Sri-Bhashya by direct statement for the understandable reason that it was not acknowledged as authoritative by the other schools of Vedanta . This was a case of personal inspiration and not probative evidence.

The fourth aphorism attempts to demonstrate the supreme value of the knowledge of Brahman . The ignorance of Brahman is the very essence of human bondage and to know Brahman even mediately is a source of joy . Impelled by this joy, the seeker pursues further knowledge by way of direct apprehension through the comprehensive discipline of bhakti . In the end his effort is crowned through the grace of God with the joyous triumph of the full attainment .

Thus the four Sutras establish the necessity and possibility of the inquiry into Brahman, the definition of It, the sources of knowledge concerning It, and the supreme value of the pursuit of the knowledge in question . An old verse sums up the work of the four Sutras :

The four Sutras eliminate any objection to the commencement of the inquiry into Brahman on four prima facie suppositions : (a) the Vedic words cannot signify Brahman (an accomplished reality), (b) the Brahman cannot be defined, © It is revealed by other means of knowledge, and (d) the inquiry is of no value .

7. Tattva

Brahman is the supreme Tattva or Reality. The function of Vedanta is the discernment of its nature. It does it in hundreds of ways but there is a fundamental concord run ning through all of them . The Sutras review almost all the central Upanisads and discuss their import. The one persistent misunderstanding they succeed in removing is, that the Upanisads, in their major metaphysical dialogues, raise to ultimacy either the category of Prakrti (nature) or the individual self . They all affirm the transcendent Brahman, of the nature of absoluteness of Being, Consciousness, and Bliss, and that nature and the finite sell come in as its vehicles of self-manifestation .

The Sri-Bhashya regards the Sutras as a single document with no internal stratification in terms of authenticity . There is no lower and higher Brahman, and there is no lower and higher knowledge . It is the same logic of indivisible truth that is discerned in the Upanisads . When Brahman is spoken of as attributeless, the motive is to deny of It imperfections characteristic of the finite existents . When attributes like omniscience are ascribed, they are to be taken in metaphysical seriousness . When Brahman is exhibited as other than matter and finite spirits, the truth of transcendence is being proclaimed . When Brahman is spoken of as one without a second, the significance is that Brahman

is the central substantive reality to which the finite realities belong in the relation of predicates or subsidiary associates . The full truth is conveyed without any chance of misconception when Brahman is described as the Atman, and the world of matter and individual selves are said to constitute its 'Body' . This is a monism that does not involve any illusionism .

Sri Ramanuja opposes illusionistic monism, the grosser forms of Bheda-abheda and also dualism . He says : “Apart from the consideration of Brahman as the Soul of all, the meditation of Brahman as the jiva or the jiva as Brahman cannot be true. On the theory of difference-cum-identity, as the limiting adjuncts condition Brahman itself, all the consequent flaws will contaminate It itself . On the theory of absolute difference between Brahman and the jiva, the teaching of Brahman as the Atman of all would be impossible and thus the entire Vedanta gets rejected .The external world of insentient existence and the finite selves is real, however much they may be subject to mutation .

They have existence in all their states as permeated and sustained by the supreme Spirit . ”

In this concept of the totality of existences as constituted of Brahman and the realm of finites, we have the justification of the designation of Visistadvaita that has come to be applied to Sri Ramanuja's school of Vedanta. He himself does not use the term but his authoritative commentators, Sudarsana Suri and Vedanta Desika employ it . (Vide Tatparya-dipika, p. 48, Tirupati edition; and Pancaratra-raksa, p. 121, Kanchi edition). It signifies that Reality is one, in so far as there the one central substantive principle, Brahman, and the totality of finites characterizes It as inseparable qualifications .

8. Hita or Means

The question of sadhana naturally pertains to the individual soul or jiva . The Sri-Bhashya expounds the nature of the jiva in the course of the second chapter . It is uncreated, is of the nature of a conscious principle, and enjoys powers of free volition conferred by God . The plurality of the individuals is real and eternal . Uniqueness and self-consciousness are fundamental in its nature . The jiva is neither separate from God nor wholly identical with Him . It is an 'Amsa' or part in the sense of forming an adjectival mode .

The third chapter reviews the life of the jiva and comes to the conclusion that in all its mundane states it is infected with evil of the nature of suffering brought about by ignorance and evil-doing . Hence a spirit of renunciation is called for. When it looks to its inward Soul, the Paramatman, it sees in Him infinite perfections in spite of His immanence . Seeking Him is the road to its own perfection . He is its final goal and also the power that could effectuate its final blessedness . The third quarter of the third chapter determines the exact nature of the various types of 'Vidya' or meditation

to be practised in order to win the grace of the Supreme Being . The fourth quarter elucidates the supremacy of know ledgeand the pathway to perfection and determines the accessories of this knowledge . This knowledge is of the nature of bhakti or loving meditation, cultivated in ever-increasing intensity .

9. Purusartha

The fourth chapter is devoted to working out the notion of moksha . The Sri-Bhashya states the nature of moksha in the first chapter itself and the final chapter is an elaboration thereof :

According to Ramanuja, Moksha means the soul’s passing from the troubles of mundane life into a transcendental realm (Vaikuntha) where the soul will remain forever in undisturbed personal bliss in the presence of Lord Narayana . The liberated soul attains to the nature of God . It never becomes identical with Him . It lives in fellowship with the Lord, either serving Him or meditating on Him . It never loses its individuality . There is no such thing as Jivanmukti (liberation while being embodied), according to Ramanuja. Salvation comes when the soul leaves the body .The final emancipation can be obtained

only through Bhakti or devotional service and the grace of the Lord . The grace of the Lord comes through devotion and Prapatti or absolute self-surrender. Karma and Jnana are only means to Bhakti .

The three implications of moksha are that it is a release from all the binding karma of the past , it is a release of the soul into the abundance of its innate nature, and the fulfilment of this nature in the blissful experience of Brahman, its own inmost soul . This unimpeded joy of existence is the eternal destiny of the jiva .

10. Conclusion

The substance of the Sri-Bhashya may be stated in four synoptic propositions .

 

It is a reasoned and critical reconstruction of the philosophy of the Upanisads with due appropriation of other sources of knowledge such as perception and inference and the supplementary scriptures .

The reconstruction presents ultimate Reality, Brahman, the supreme Spirit, as the transcendent repository of all perfections and as holding as it's own embodiment the totality of finite existence, sentient and insentient .

The pathway to the final good of life is the blissful communion with Brahman by way of devout and loving contemplation named bhakti, facilitated by a life of virtue and founded on assured philosophical understanding .

The end attained through that means is the eternal experience of Brahman, with all the plenitude and eternity which only that experience can bring to the individual per sonality. It is the supreme ecstasy of life in God .

Om Namo Narayanaya!

 

Sri Krishna’s servant, Rajeev

 

 

 

Note – Extract of Vaishnavite articles & discourses.

 

Win a castle for NYE with your mates and Messenger