Philosophy of Ramanuja - jnana and bhakthi

June 19, 2008

Section 3-jnanayoga

Karmayoga means rationalized karma and preferred because it is easy but karmayoga to be effective jnana is necessary because karma and jnana interpenetrate each other. Both become fruitful with Bhakthi as we shall see in the section on bhakthi yoga. Ramanuja identifies jnana with dhyana or upasana.

What has been described in Mundaka Upanishat as `seeing the Supreme self ` on which all the shackles of the mind are broken, the doubts vanish and all karma is destroyed, is accomplished by meditation that gives intuition resulting in immediate manifestation that secures the final release.

The goal of jnanayoga is the realization of prathyagaathman, the inner self, and it is achieved only by rigorous moral and spiritual discipline. The evils of raga and dhvesha which cause entry into the cycle of births and deaths are due to abhimana or the false identification of self with the body. They could be overcome by controlling the mind through vairagya , dispassion and abhyasa, constant practice as the Lord has made out in Gita, `abhyaasena thu kountheya vairaagyena cha grhyathe.'.(BG.6-35) Vairagya consists in stripping the self of everything that is non-self, and abhyasa is introversion., which is withdrawing the mind from the interplay of gunas caused by the accumulated vasanas and focusing it on the Self. Thoughts are not suppressed but are thought away.

Vairagya is giving up the raga for non-self and acquire raga for the Supreme self. Abhyasa is the endeavour which consists in self control by withdrawing the mind from the senses and direct it towards the Supreme Self.

There are two kinds of knowledge , namely, that which comes from the study of scriptures and the other which is higher is called Upaasanaa , the devout meditation and consists in direct intuition of Brahman.

The Lord says in the Gita describing the four types of seekers, aarthi, the distressed, arThaarthi, seekers of worldly things, jijnaasu , seekers of knowledge and jnaani, men of knowledge, that the jnani is .most dear to Him and he is too is so to the Lord. The most beloved is the `chosen one' mentioned in the upanishat as ` yamevaisha vrNuthe thena labhyathe.' (Kata-II-23) It says the self cannot be gained by study of Vedas, by hearing etc. but the Self reveals itself to the one whom it chooses.

Gita starts with the moral of nishkama karma, which is karmayoga, and then continues with the exposition of the philosophy of Athmajnana, jananyoga and culminates with the religious discipline of bhakthiyoga as the highest state in the philosophy of religion. It is seeking Brahman as Bhagavan and seeing Him face to face.

Section4- Bhakthiyoga

Steady remembrance of the Lord is called bhakthi or devotion by Ramanuja. Bhakthi is intense and single-pointed and preceded by the true knowledge of the Lord and His glory. The supreme object of bhakthi is to know, to see and to attain the Lord in His real nature. By bhakthi alone He can be attained as the Lord Himself says in te Gita, `bakthyaa thu ananayayaa labhyaH.' The definition of a bhkatha is also given in the Gits as `mathkarma krth mathparamo madhbhakthaH sangavarjithaH ; nirvairaH sarvabhootheshu yaH sa maamethi paandava.' This means , "doing work for Me, having Me as his aim, being my devotee, without attachment and without hatred towards any one , he comes to Me.'

Ramanuja, commenting on this sloka, enumerates the charactarestics of bhaktha.

The happiness of a bhaktha is to be with the Lord and sorrow is the separation from Him.

A bhaktha attributes all his suffering to his own karma.

He has an implicit faith in the Lord and that all beings are subjected to His will.

According to visishtadvaita philosophy the Brahman of the Upanishats, Vasudeva of the Gita, Bhagavan of Panchrathra, the gospel of visishtadvaita, and the archa, the forms of worship in the temples , of the azvars, connotes the same Supreme Self and the bhakthi yoga is the direct means of knowing Brahman.

All karma of a devotee is not nshkamakarma but a kainkarya to the Lord. The fruit of upasana is not determined by merit alone but by the redemptive mercy of he Lord, the saviour. A bhaktha is endowed with the jnana that the Lord is the inner self of all and the whole world of sentient and insentient beings constitute His body. Thus he realizes that he is inseparable from the Lord , who is his inner self and understands the relationship between him and the Lord as that of aadhaara -aadheya, seshi –sesha, niyanthaa- niyaamya etc.

Ramanuja thus synthesizes the three means of salvation , karma ,jnana and bhakthi with the concept of meditation which, according to him, is the same as devout meditation or bhakthi.. Jnana referred to in visishtadvaita is jnana transformed into bhakthi, bhakthirupapanna jnana..

In the philosophy of Ramanuja karma is the sum-total of all duties .It becomes karmayoga when the same is done as the worship of the Lord.

June 20, 2008

I am givng below the answer I have already providedfor teh same question in a different group.

'Though.It is true that you must have a particular form of deity etc. for upasana. But it is my opinion and experience that you do not have to choose the form of ishtadevata but it comes to you of its own accord. 'YamaiveshavrNuthe thena labhyathe' When you go on worshipping Him in all forms suddenly He comes to you in one form and settles in your heart.For those saints like Kabir and Thyagaraja, they got fixed to one form due to their poorvajanma sukrtha.But Thyagaraja has sung on all deities and that does not make him a less devotee of Rama.He had the jnana and so did all the saints and azvars that all are the different forms of the same God. We have different photos of our beloved ones, father, mother, son, etc. But there is surely one

particular photo in a particular dress and expression you love most and would like to place on your table or car.That does not make you love the others less. Similarly the particular form that steals your heart is that of your ishtadevata.As I said your ishtadevata and also your acharya are something that happens to you by God's grace when the proper time comes. That is why it is said that if you have ardent aspiration and faith the guru seeks you out to impart instruction.

All the azvars say in their hymns about the Lord in various divyadesams that "it is He who appeared as Rama, (or Krishna, trivikrama, vamana etc.) is seen in this divyadesam. All are like defferent photos of the Lord in different costumes, as Desika puts it. Personally speaking my ishtadevata is Lakshminarasimha but I did not choose Him. He chose me.When I see or worship any other form of Narayana it is only a diffferent form of

Narasimha, who is Lord Narayana. Mukkur swami has said in his 'kuraiyonrum illai' that the Lord is present even in Thirupparkadal as Narasimha and threw away His chata etc and became Krishna. Desika says in his varadarajasthava that the whole world is even now nrsimhagarbham except the one pillar in the courthall of Hiranyakasipu because the Lord pervaded everywhere as Narasimha because He did not know where Hiranya kasipu was going to point out and He had the responsibilty to prove the words of His bhaktha Prahlada who said that the Lord is everywhere.He appears to you in what ever form you want to see Him and manifests in all forms for His devotees which are the different costumes of the

kapatanatakasuthradhari.'

This is presuming that you are adevotee of Narayana. Even if you are a devotee of other forms Siva, Shakthi, etc. it is the same. Go on worshipping God in all forms you like till your mind gets fixed in one form.But You should remember that it is one God appearing in different forms and should not have the guilt is choosing only one or think that if you forget one that deity will be displeased etc. Krishna says in the Gita, 'yepyanyadevataabhakthaah yajanthe Sraddhayaanvithaah the api maam eva kountheya yajanthi ,' even those who worship i other deities with full faith, they worship Me only.

Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.

www.freewebs.com/asrama3

--- On Thu, 6/19/08, dasa1313 <no_reply > wrote:

dasa1313 <no_reply >[Guruvayur] Re: Philosophy of Ramanuja - jnana and bhakthiguruvayur Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008, 7:52 PM

Dear Sarojam ji ,

I wish to hear your expert opinion on the necessity of having an "Ishta-Deva" and focussing the Bhakti-yoga on Him . Now a days , devotees worship so many Deities and "Avataras" without having any particular "Ishta-Deva" for following that Path .

My understanding is that Acharyas like Ramanuja and Chaithanya Mahaprabhu stressed the necessity to have an "Ishta-Deva" .

Please pardon me , if my line of thinking is unacceptable .

Rgds,

Dasan

guruvayur@grou ps.com, "sarojram18" <sarojram18@. ..> wrote:>> > Section 3-jnanayoga> > > > > > Karmayoga means rationalized karma and preferred because it is easy but> karmayoga to be effective jnana is necessary because karma and jnana> interpenetrate each other. Both become fruitful with Bhakthi as we shall> see in the section on bhakthi yoga. Ramanuja identifies jnana with> dhyana or upasana.> > > > What has been described in Mundaka Upanishat as `seeing the Supreme> self ` on which all the shackles of the mind are broken, the doubts> vanish and all karma is destroyed, is accomplished by meditation that> gives intuition resulting in immediate manifestation that secures the> final release.> > > > The goal of jnanayoga is the realization of

prathyagaathman, the inner> self, and it is achieved only by rigorous moral and spiritual> discipline. The evils of raga and dhvesha which cause entry into the> cycle of births and deaths are due to abhimana or the false> identification of self with the body. They could be overcome by> controlling the mind through vairagya , dispassion and abhyasa, constant> practice as the Lord has made out in Gita, `abhyaasena thu> kountheya vairaagyena cha grhyathe.'.( BG.6-35) Vairagya consists in> stripping the self of everything that is non-self, and abhyasa is> introversion. , which is withdrawing the mind from the interplay of> gunas caused by the accumulated vasanas and focusing it on the Self.> Thoughts are not suppressed but are thought away.> > > > Vairagya is giving up the raga for non-self and acquire raga for the> Supreme self. Abhyasa is the

endeavour which consists in self control by> withdrawing the mind from the senses and direct it towards the Supreme> Self.> > > > There are two kinds of knowledge , namely, that which comes from the> study of scriptures and the other which is higher is called Upaasanaa ,> the devout meditation and consists in direct intuition of Brahman.> > > > The Lord says in the Gita describing the four types of seekers, aarthi,> the distressed, arThaarthi, seekers of worldly things, jijnaasu ,> seekers of knowledge and jnaani, men of knowledge, that the jnani is> .most dear to Him and he is too is so to the Lord. The most beloved is> the `chosen one' mentioned in the upanishat as ` yamevaisha> vrNuthe thena labhyathe.' (Kata-II-23) It says the self cannot be> gained by study of Vedas, by hearing etc. but the Self reveals itself to> the

one whom it chooses.> > > > Gita starts with the moral of nishkama karma, which is karmayoga, and> then continues with the exposition of the philosophy of Athmajnana,> jananyoga and culminates with the religious discipline of bhakthiyoga> as the highest state in the philosophy of religion. It is seeking> Brahman as Bhagavan and seeing Him face to face.> > > > Section4- Bhakthiyoga> > > > Steady remembrance of the Lord is called bhakthi or devotion by> Ramanuja. Bhakthi is intense and single-pointed and preceded by the> true knowledge of the Lord and His glory. The supreme object of bhakthi> is to know, to see and to attain the Lord in His real nature. By bhakthi> alone He can be attained as the Lord Himself says in te Gita,> `bakthyaa thu ananayayaa labhyaH.' The definition of a bhkatha> is also given

in the Gits as `mathkarma krth mathparamo> madhbhakthaH sangavarjithaH ; nirvairaH sarvabhootheshu yaH sa maamethi> paandava.' This means , "doing work for Me, having Me as his> aim, being my devotee, without attachment and without hatred towards any> one , he comes to Me.'> > > > Ramanuja, commenting on this sloka, enumerates the charactarestics of> bhaktha.> > > > 1. The happiness of a bhaktha is to be with the Lord and sorrow is> the separation from Him.> 2. A bhaktha attributes all his suffering to his own karma.> 3. He has an implicit faith in the Lord and that all beings are> subjected to His will.> > > > According to visishtadvaita philosophy the Brahman of the Upanishats,> Vasudeva of the Gita, Bhagavan of Panchrathra, the gospel of> visishtadvaita, and the archa, the forms of worship in

the temples , of> the azvars, connotes the same Supreme Self and the bhakthi yoga is the> direct means of knowing Brahman.> > > > All karma of a devotee is not nshkamakarma but a kainkarya to the Lord.> The fruit of upasana is not determined by merit alone but by the> redemptive mercy of he Lord, the saviour. A bhaktha is endowed with the> jnana that the Lord is the inner self of all and the whole world of> sentient and insentient beings constitute His body. Thus he realizes> that he is inseparable from the Lord , who is his inner self and> understands the relationship between him and the Lord as that of> aadhaara -aadheya, seshi –sesha, niyanthaa- niyaamya etc.> > > > Ramanuja thus synthesizes the three means of salvation , karma ,jnana> and bhakthi with the concept of meditation which, according to him, is > the same

as devout meditation or bhakthi.. Jnana referred to in> visishtadvaita is jnana transformed into bhakthi, bhakthirupapanna> jnana..> > > > In the philosophy of Ramanuja karma is the sum-total of all duties .It> becomes karmayoga when the same is done as the worship of the Lord.>