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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