The principles of the philosophy of visishtadvaita are
expounded in the interpretation of the Brahmasuthra by Ramanuja. His
commentary on Brahmasuthra, otherwise known as Vedanta suthra, is
his monumental work, the Sribhaashya. Ramanuja establishes the
tenets of visishtadvaita firmly in Sribhaashya while refuting the
views of other schools of philosophy effectively.
Ramanuja opens Sribhashya his commentary on the Brahmasuthra
with an invocational verse, Akhilabhuvanajanmasthembhangaadhileele
vinathavidhithabhoothavratharakshaikadheekshe sruthisirasi vidheepthe
brahmani sreenivaase bhavathu mama parasmin semushee bhakthirupaa.
'May my intellect, semushi, be engrossed in devotion, bhakthirupa
bhavathu, on Lord Srinivasa , the Supreme Brahman, brahmani
srinivase, who is shining on the crown of the vedas,sruthisirasi
vidheepthe, who has vowed to protect all beings who bow down to Him
and follow His path vinathavidhitha bhothavraatha rakshaika
dhikshe,and for whom the acts like creation sustenance and
annihilation are mere sport,
akhilabhuvanajanmasthemabhangaadhileele.'
As in vedharthasangraha here also Ramanuja uses the name
Srinivasa as a synonym for Parabrahman. Srinivasa could be taken to
have reference to the Lord of Thirumala, but considering the subject
matter dealt with in this work Srinivasa can be construed as sriyah
nivasah , the abode of Sri, that is Lord Narayana, Paravasudeva, the
Brahman of visishtadvaita.
Bhavathu mama semushi bhakthirupa implies that bhakthi is the
sole means of salvation. Jnana as a result of bhakthi is stressed in
visishtadvaita. Srinivasa, or Brahman crowns the sruthi, veda, as
its chief import Srutisirasividheepte. Veda is the only source of
knowledge about Brahman and Brahman is the only purport of the veda.
Brahman or Narayana is described as having taken the diksha, vow of
protecting His bhakthas,vinatha vidhitha
bhoothavraatharakshaikadheekshe. Bhootha, all beings, who are
Vinatha,surrender to Him and vidhitha, follow the path of devotion.,
may it be man bird or beast, as can be seen in the case of
Vibheeshana, Gajendhra and Jatayu. It is His only vow as Rama says
when Vibheeshana surrenders to Him, sakrdheva prapannaanaam thavaasmi
ithi vadhinaam abhayam sarvabhoothaanaam dhadhaami ithi vratham
mama. 'It is my vow to give protection to all beings whoever
surrenders to me saying, "I am yours." ' As SudharsanaSuri puts it
His vow to protect is, to give them Mukthi ultimately.
The reason for this vow is denoted by akhila
bhuvanjanmasthemabhangaadhileele. The creation, janma, the
sustenance, sthema and the annihilation, bhanga all are His leela,
done without effort, and hence He feels responsible for the beings He
Himself created when they turn to Him for protection. He not only
creates sustains and annihilates but also enters into the beings as
their Self. This is implied by aadhi padha, bhangaadhi, annihilation
and so on. the word akhila is used instead of any other word of the
same meaning, like sarva or nikhila because the letter 'a,' akaara
denotes auspiciousness and represents the Lord Himself. Khila means
sesha, remnant, while akhila is asesha, all inclusive.
Saroja Ramanujam
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