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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00039 Nov 2005

 
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 1. The world, The individual soul and Isvara, all the three are real.
2. The world and the individual soul, in other words thw world 
consisting of the insentient(jada) and sentient(chethana) stands in 
relation of sarira to its sariri(body and soul) with Isvara.
3. Isvara, that is Narayana is transcendent(all pervading) and 
imminent(antharyaami) and hence everything is in Him and He is in 
everything.
4.Brahman of visishtadvaita is Narayana who is not nirguna(wiyhout 
attributes ) but possesses infinite auspicious qualities.
5. Satyam,truth, jnanam,knowledge and anantham,eternality are His 
attributes which are inseparable from Him, being His inherent 
nature,svabhaava.
6.Being the Antharyaami He is the inner self of everything.
7.So He is the Controller,Niyantha, Master, Seshi and support, 
Adhaara.
8. Bhakthi is the sole means of Liberation.
9. Nithya, Naimiththika Karma, the obligatory and occasional actions 
namely the actions according to varnasrama and rituals for special 
occasions like sraadhdha etc. are tobe done and cannoyt be 
renounced , but should be done as offering to Narayana, without 
attachment and desire.
10.'Thathvamasi' and other scriptural texts that claim unity with 
Brahman do not imply identity.The merging with Brahman is like when 
the gross body and subtle body are given up and the individual is 
identified with the soul.
11. There are ample texts substantiating this.
12.Avidya/Maya is not beginningless and independent but the power of 
Narayana.

 
            The philosophy of  visishtadvaita, expounded by Ramanuja, 
creates harmony between the absolute  idealism  of advaita and the 
theistic pluralism of dvaita. Advaita is based on the scriptural 
texts that affirm identity between jiva and abarahman while dvaita  
quotes the texts that speak of plurality and difference. Ramanuja 
reconciles the discord between the two by means of the relational 
texts which he calls ghataka sruti, thus upholding the validity of 
the scriptural texts as a whole. In his view the texts should be 
interpreted in such a manner that  they do not present a 
contradiction. His explanation bridges the gap between the abhedha 
and bhedha texts.
 
            Brahman of visishtadvaita is synonymous with Narayana, 
who is the transcendent and imminent reality.  The word Narayana 
denotes the abode of all beings, naaraanam ayanam,  and also that He 
is in everything, naaraah ayanam yasya Thus He is not the mere 
personal God of a particular religion. V aishnavism is only apart of 
visishtadvaita, serving as a means of attaining the goal.
 
             The key concept of visishtadvaita is the sarira- sariri 
bhaava, the body-soul relationship between the universe and Brahman. 
There are three reals, thathvathraya, namely, Isvara, the Lord,  Jiva 
the individual soul,  and  Jagath, the world of insentient beings. 
They are not separate entities but together they form one organic 
whole. This is  explained by the concept of body and soul 
relationship.
 
            Ramanuja defines sarira as `that substance that a 
spiritual  entity can use and support entirely for his own purpose, 
and that, in its essence is exclusively subordinate to that entity.' 
Being the sarira of the Lord, the universe of sentient and insentient 
beings stands in an inseparable relation with Him. This relationship, 
called aprthaksidhdha, is like that of a substance  and its 
attribute, where the latter cannot exist without the former as in the 
example of fire and heat.
 
            Brahman is the material as well as the efficient cause of 
the universe. Ramnuja cites the sruti text  `yatho va imana 
bhoothaani jaayanthe yena jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhi samvisanthi 
thadvijijnaasava  thadbrahma' (Taitreya up.),  `that from which 
everything came from, by which everything that is born is sustained 
and into which everything merges back, know that to be Brahman.' 
            
            The causality of Brahman is also ascertained by the 
text `sadheva soumya idhamagra aaseeth ekameva advitheeyam; 
thadhaikshatha bahusyaamprajaayeya, which says that there was   sat  
alone in the beginning , one only without a second and it willed to 
become many. This according to Ramanuja confirms the body-soul 
relationship between Brahman and the universe. He claims that this is 
the real purport of the mahavakya thathvamasi and not the absolute 
identity as professed by  advaita. Everything existed in Narayana in 
subtle form before creation and became manifest in gross form after 
creation. 
 
             This concept of sarira-sariri bhava exposes 
visishtadvaita to the criticism that if the world is the sarira of 
Brahman, that is, Narayana, the imperfections of the world will 
adhere to Brahman. This argument is refuted by Ramanuja , who says 
that just as the imperfections of the body of an individual do not 
affect the soul, Brahman who is the Self of all, is not contaminated  
by the imperfections of the universe.
 
            An objection that may arise with respect to the authority 
of this concept of sarira-sariri bhava is met with  by means of the 
ghataka sruti texts like the one which says `He who dwells in this 
earth and within the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body 
the earth is, who rules the earth from within, He is thy self, the 
ruler within and immortal.' There are several texts citing Brahman as 
the Self of everything  naming the elements and the individual soul 
separately as the  sarira  of Brahman.
 
             Brahman of visishtadvaita is not nirguna,  without 
attributes but possesses  innumerable auspicious qualities, 
ananthakalyanagunavisishta, which are not adventitious but form His 
svarupa. The scriptural definition of Brahman as Sathyam, Jnanam, 
Anantham is explained by Ramanuja in accordance with the principle of 
Samanadhikaranya, coordinate predication, according to which several 
terms are applicable to an entity on different grounds. For instance, 
in the expression shyamo yuva  Devadattah, Devadatta is a dark young 
man, the adjectives shyama and yuva denote the same entity, 
Devadatta. Similaraly the epithets  Sathyam, jnanam, anantham denote 
the same            Brahman, sathyam implying absolutely 
unconditional existence, jnanam, non-contracted knowledge and 
anantham implies  that Brahman is not limited by  space,time and form.
 
            Jiva in visishtadvaita is real and so is Jagath. The 
jnana of jiva is contracted due to karma, born of ajnana. W hen the 
ajnana  is removed by jnana as a result of bhakthi, jiva regains its 
original state of liberation when its jnana becomes infinite. 
 
             Bhakthi  is the sole means of liberation in 
visishtadvaita. Bhakthi and Prapaththi are the two wings with which 
the jiva ascends to the realm of  the Lord to become one with Him. 
Karmayoga and jnanayoga are the natural outcome of bhakthi and 
prappaththi, total surrender, as the devotee acquires the knowledge 
that the Lord is the  inner self of whom he himself is the sarira.  
The devotee realizes his own state as  sesha, dependent on, adheya, 
being supporteby, and niyaamya, being led by the Lord, who is  the 
Seshi,  Master, Adhaara, Support and niyantha, the one who leads him. 
As a result the jiva leads his life as an instrument of the Lord, 
acquiring viveka and vairagya, offering all his thought, word, and 
deed to the feet of the Lord. He sees the Lord in everything and 
everything in Him.  This is the unity in diversity achieved through 
devotion.
 
             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.




                                                     







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