You are here: SriPedia - Oppiliappan - Archives - Apr 2006

Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00179 Apr 2006

 
Apr 2006 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


2. The philosophy of visishtadvaia



             Ramanuja asserts that the sole source  of the knowledge of
Brahman being the scriptural texts, they should be interpreted so as not
to be contradictory in their purport. Brahman, that is Narayana, is
defined in Sribhashya as the Supreme ruler, possessing innumerable
auspicious qualities, anantakalyanaguna visishta, satyakama
satyasankalpa, true- willed ,sarvajna, omniscient,
sarvasakthiman,omnipotent and full of mercy.



             Narayana that is, Brahman is the creator, protector and
annihilator  as per the sruti text 'yatho va imaani bhoothaani jaayanthi
yena jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhisamvisanthi thadvijijnaasasva
thadbrahma,' and contains within Himself all beings from the four-faced
Brahma  to the blade of grass. He is the dispenser of the fruits of
action..



             Ramanuja considers both the texts describing Brahman as
nirguna  as well as saguna are equally valid. He says that the saguna
texts mention the infinitely auspicious qualities of Isvaara while the
nirguna texts negate inauspicious  qualities in Him. Ramanuja claims
that  the auspicious qualities being the essence of Brahman there is no
possibility in His being nirguna.



             Brahman is described as savisesha  by Ramanuja in Sribhashya
which is different from thr term saguna used by sankara. Savisesha
implies the relatinship between the substantive and the attribute, that
is, dharmi and dharma. For instance the fire is the dharmi and the heat
is the dharma which is inseparable from its dharmi, the fire, without
which the svarupa of fire will not exist as such.



3.Brahman is savisesha.



             Brahman is defined  as 'satyam jnanam anantam' and also
aanandham in Taittiria Upanishad. Ramanuja considers the word nirguna
describing Brahman only to mean that Brahman is free from all finite
qualities or the omperfections of the finite beings. The text 'satyam
jnanam anantam brahma'  defines Brahman only as visishta, satyam
denoting  infinite existence as the absolute reality, jnanam, the
infinite knowledge or omnscience and anantam refers to the fact that
Brahman is not conditioned by time, place or entity, desakalavasthu
paricchinnarahitatvam. It  means that Brahman is not limited by space 
being all encompassing, sarvavyapin,  not limited by time being
everlasting, anaadhyantharahitha and not limited by entity as there is
nothing but Brahman everywhere. Similarly Brahman is anandham ,bliss.



             These are according to Ramanuja, svrupanirupaka dharma,
inseparable attributes as in the example 'blue lotus.'  Even though the
words 'blue' and 'lotus' have different connotations taken separately,
in the word 'blue lotus' they mean the same entity. Ramanuja calls this
ekaarthavrththi, according to the principle of samanadhikaranya, defined
by Patanjali in  Mahabhashya on Panini, as 'denotationof the same object
through different connotations,' This principle of samanadhikaranya
along with that of sadvidya and sarira- sariri bhava form the tripod on
which the philosophy of visishtadvaia stands firm.



The unity of Brahman  with the world is that of visishtaaikya and not
svarupaaikya. The Reality is visishta in the sense of being an organic
whole where the viseshana, attribute and the viseshya, the substantive
exist in inseparable relation to each other. It is not svarupa aikya or
absolute identitiy that is meant which necessitates the denial of the
world as unreal. Ramnuja in his Sribhashya  establishes Brahman as
savisesha on the basis of various sruti texts.












              


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list