The avidhyA, nescience, being anAdhi, beginningless and powerful
according to the advaitin, the perception of duality cannot be
removed by the mere knowledge of Brahman through the vedantavAkyas.
Therefore besides the study of the vedantavakyas dhyAna
and upaAsanA have been prescribed by the vedntavakyas themselves
which can be seen in the texts like ' omithyEva AtmAnam dhyAyaTHa,
meditate on the Self as OM,'(Mund. 2-2-6) 'AthmAnamEva lokam
upAseetha, one should meditate on the Self alone,'(Brhd.3-4-
15) 'AthmA vA are drashtavyah manthavyah nidhiDHyAsithavyah,the Self
is to be seen, thought and meditated'(Brhd.6-5-6). The
word 'knowing,vinjAna' is also to be taken in the sense of meditation
Now what is meditation? Ramanuja defines it as 'dhyAnam cha
thailadhArAvath avicchinna smrthisanthAna roopam,' continous flow of
remembrance like the stream of continously dripping of oil. 'DhruvA
smrthih ;smrthilambhe sarvagranTheenAm vipramokshah,'(Chan.7-26-2)
when the constant,(dhruva) remembrance, (smrthih) is attained all
knots are rent asunder. Thus DHruvAsmrthi is prescribed as the means
of liberation. Here remembering is synonymous with seeing. as shown
by the text, 'bhidhyathE hrdhayagrantTHih cchidhyanthE sarvasamsayAh
ksheeyanthe asya karmANi thasmin dhrshte parAvarE,'(Mund.2-2-9) when
that, (Brahman) is seen all knots are broken, all doubts vanish and
all karma are destroyed. Similarly the word nidhiDHyAsithavyah also
refers to BrahamasAlshAtkAra only.
Remembrance when become intent ,Dhruvasmrthih, is the same as
seeing. Sruthi says, 'nAyamAthmA pravachanena labhyah na meDhayA na
bahunA sruthEna yamaivEsha vrnuthE theEna labBhyah thasyaisha AthmA
vivrNuthE thanoom svAm,'(Mund.3-2-3) the self cannot be attained
through talk or contemplation or by hearing . Only to him whom the
Self chooses to manifest, the Self reveals itself.' From this
statement of the sruthi, says Ramanuja, it is obvious that Self
cannot be realised by sravaNa, manana and nidhiDhyAsana, as professed
by the advaitin. 'YamaivEsha vrnuthE THeNA labhyah,' means the one
whom the Athman chooses to reveal itself must be priyathama, most
loved, implying, to him also the Athman is priyathama, most dear, '
priyathama Eva varaNeeyo bhavathi, yasya ayam nirathisayapriyah sa
Eva asya priyathamo bhavathi.'
This has been proclaimed by the Lord Himself in
Bhagavatgita, 'nAyam vedair na thapasA na dhAnEna na chEjyayA sakya
Evam vidho dhrashtum dhrstavAnasi mAm yathA bhakthyAthvananyayA
sakyah,'(BG11-53-54. Iam not to be seen as you see me now, through
knowledge of the vedas nor penance nor gifts nor by sacrifice except
through singleminded devotion.' And 'purushah sa parah pArtha
bhakthyA labhyasthvananyayA', the Supreme being can be attained only
by devotion.
The Lord says that He will give jnaAna only to those who
ever united with Him through avicchinnasmaranNa, unbroken flow of
meditation and love, 'thEshAm sathathayukthANam bhajathAm preethi
purvakam dhadhAmi buddhiyogam tham yEna mAm upayAnthi thE, thus
enabling them to attain liberation. This constant remembranca with
love is bhakthi.
Let the meditation with bhakthi be instrumental for the true
knowledge of Brahman, that is, brahmasAkshAtkAra, perception of
brahman, but where is the necessity for the karma enjoined in the
karmakAnda of the vedas?
Ramanuja answers that the karmas like yajna are the sAdhana
or means for such dhruvasmrthi, constant remembrance with love.The
efficacy of karma in securing brahmajnana has been stressed by the
suthrakara himself in the third pAdha by the suthra'yajnAdhisrutheh
asvavath,'(BS3-4-26) there is need for all karma,because the
scriptures prescribe yajna etc, ' thamEtham vedhAnuvachanEna
brAhmaNA vividhishanthi yajnEna dhAnena thapasA anAsakEna,'(Brhd.4-4-
22) the seekers of brahman wish to realise it (Brahman) by study of
the vedas, by sacrifices, by charity,by austerity which does not
cause destruction, meaning, when done in moderation,thus asserting
the instrumentality of vaidika karma for dhruvasmrthi. As the
constant remembrance, dhruvasmtrthi which continues till death, is
the only means of realisation, the various karma prescribed for the
varnAsrama have to be followed throughout life.
Nevertheless the samadhamAdhi are enjoined as subsidiaries to
meditation and have to be practised by the householder while doing
his duties. The view that performance of work and practice of
samadhamAdhi are mutually contradicting is refuted by the suthrakAra
himself. 'SamadhAdhyupethahsyAth thaTHApi thu thadviDHeh
thadhangathayA theshaAm avasyAnushTHE yathvAth,' (BS3-4-27) they have
to be practised because they are enjoined as subsidiaries to
meditation.
Ramanuja then explains what are viveka and other spiritual
disciplines.
1.Viveka,
Discrimination between what is right and what is wrong is
needed for physical purity. There are three kinds of food to be
avoided, as enjoined in the sruthi. They are known as jAthidhushtam,
that belonging to prohibited class of food, like eating garlic,
Asrayadhushtam, prohibited on account of asraya, source like
chAndAlAdhidhravya, coming from impure houses and nimittha dhushtam,
contaminated food like remains of food eaten by someone
else,ucchishtam, or polluted by hair etc. Omitting these kinds of
food is viveka with reference to body, resulting in kAyasuddhi,
physical purity.The purity observed in eating helps one to attain
satthvasuddhi which in its turn helps to attain
dhruvasmrthi, 'AhArasuddhou satthvasuddhih satthva suddhou dhruvA
smrthih.' (Chand.7-26)
2. Vimoka
Vimoka is to be free from desire, kAma. As shown in the Gita,
dhyAyatho vihsayAn pumsah sangasthEshoopajAyathe sangAth sanjAyathe
kAmah kAmAth krodhOpajAyathe,' When one thinks about the sense
objects longingly there comes attachment which gives rise to desire
which, when thwarted, becomes krOdha thus leading him to ruin. The
text 'shAntha upAseetha,'(Chand.3-14-1) implies the control of kAma
krOdhAdhi, resulting in mental purity.
3.AbhyAsah
Gita defines abhyAsa as 'sadhA thadbhAvabhAvithah,'(BG8-6)
being ever absorbed in the thought of Brahman.
4.KriyA
'PanchamahAyajnAdhyanushthAnam shakthithah kriyA. The
observance of the five mahayajnas, namely brahmayajna, study and
teaching of scriptural texts,devayajna, worship and other ritualistic
offerings . Pitryajna, srAddha, tarpaNa etc. to pitrs, manushya
yajna, service to humanity like charity, hospitality etc.,
bhoothayajna, service to all creatures through kindness and ahimsa.
Mundaka Upanishad says, 'kriyAvAnEsha brahmavidhAm varishtah,'
(Mund.3-1-4) the performer of the devotional practices is the
foremost among the knowers of the Self.
5. kalyANAni
Possession of good qualities which are specified as follows:
Satya, truthfulness, Arjavam, uprightness of thought word and deed,
dayA, unselfish attitude of kindness,dhAnam , generosity, anabhidhyA,
devoid of desire to possess what belongs to others or to take
revenge. anavasAdhah, without sorrow for the past and fear for the
future, in short, dhainyam, diffidence, which stands in the way of
Self realisation, as made out by the sruthi 'nAyam AthmA balaheenEna
labhyah,' the Self cannot be attained by weakminded, and
anuddharshah, absence of uddharsha , feeling of elation, which is the
opposite of avasAdha, despair.
Ramanuja further illustrates his point by taking another
sruti text, namely,'vidhyAm cha avidhyAm cha yah thath vedha uBHayam
saha avidhyayA mrthyum theerthvaa vidhyayA amrtham asnuthe,'( Isa.11)
he who knows both vidhyA and avidhyA, having conquered death by
avidhyA attains immortality through vidhyA. Here the word avidhyA ,
says Ramanuja, means the duties of the varnAsrama laid out in the
vedas. If it is ignorance that is meant, one could not conquer death
with it. 'karmaNA mrthyum jnAnothpatthiviroDhi prAcheenam karma
theerthvA apohya vidhyayAamrtham brahma asnuthE ithyarThah.' By
performing karma without attachment the past karma which is
obstructing the rise of jnAna i is exausted and then by jnAna
Brahman is attained.
The karma which is jnAna virodhi, opposed to jnAna denotes
both merit and demerit, puNyapApa rupa. PuNya is also termed as jnAna
virodhi as it results in birth in order to enjoy the fruit of puNya.
Rajas and thamas conceal the knowledge of Reality, yaThArTha jnAna
Avarana while the satthva is yaTHArThajnAna hethu, causes the rise of
the knowledge of Reality. 'sAtthvAth sanjAyathE jnAnam,'(BG.14-17)
So to attain Brahman the activities of the respective varNa
and
Asrama are to be undertaken in order to understand the nature of
karmA and the transitoriness of the fruits of karma. So the study of
purvamimAmsA is precedent to that of UttharamimAmsA.
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