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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00070 Jun 2006

 
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       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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