Viśiṣṭādvaita

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Introduction

Among the well-known philosophical systems of India, the Vedānta system — called the Vedānta ‘Darśana’ and based mainly on the prasthānatraya, viz. the Upaniṣads, the Brahmasūtras and the Bhagavadgītā — carved for itself a pre-eminent place. Over time it branched into three main streams: Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, and Dvaita.

The Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta Darśana is not the creation of Rāmānuja (A.D. 1017–1137) but much older than him. The twelve Āḻvārs like Nammāḻvār, Kulaśekhara, and Āṇḍāḷ (A.D. 600–900), and Ācāryas like Nāthamuni (A.D. 824–924) and Yāmuna (A.D. 918–1038) preceded him. Rāmānuja evolved the system out of these older teachings and gave it shape, being its best exponent.

After Rāmānuja’s demise, a sectarian split among his followers (Śrīvaiṣṇavas) led to two sects: Vaḍagalais and Teṅgalais, meaning northern and southern schools respectively, each with its lineage and traditions. Successors like Vedānta Deśika (A.D. 1268–1370), Piḷḷai Lokācārya (A.D. 1264–1327), and Māṇavāḷa Māmuni (A.D. 1370–1443) firmly established the system.

Literature

Key canonical works: Gītārthasaṅgraha of Yāmuna; Vedārthasaṅgraha, Śrībhāṣya, and Gītābhāṣya of Rāmānuja; Tātparyacandrikā, Īśāvāsyabhāṣya and Rahasayatrayasāra of Vedānta Deśika; and Śrutaprakāśikā of Sudarśana Sūri (A.D. 1200–1275). Tamil works like Nālāyira-divya-prabandham and compositions of Rāṅgarāmānuja (A.D. 1600) are also authoritative.

Viśiṣṭādvaita is more than dry metaphysics — it is a philosophy of religion, combining reason and faith as ‘reasoned faith’, known also as Seśvara Mīmāṃsā or Ubhaya Vedānta (accepting both Sanskrit and Tamil sources equally). Pāñcarātra treatises are also respected like the Vedas.

Epistemology

Epistemology

Rāmānuja accepts knowledge in all its levels of sense perception (pratyakṣa), inference (anumāna), and scriptural testimony (āgama or śabda) as valid, and also that it affirms reality. The principle of dharmabhūtajñāna, the logical rule of apṛthak-siddha-viśeṣaṇa, the grammatical rule of sāmānādhikaraṇya, and the realistic view of satkāryavāda are the special features of his theory of knowledge.

Dharmabhūtajñāna is the consciousness of the individual soul as its attribute, through which it comes to know the nature of the external world, Self, and Īśvara or Brahman. It is eternal and all-pervasive in respect of Īśvara and the jīvas. However, owing to the limitation imposed by karma, it has become contracted in the latter. When it is purified, it expands into infinity and brings about an immediate intuition of God.

The logical rule of apṛthak-siddha-viśeṣaṇa states that a viśeṣaṇa (quality) subsists in the viśeṣya (the qualified substance) and is apṛthak-siddha or has an inseparable existence. Of course, it is not absolutely identical with it. It is separate and yet inseparable. For instance, when we say that “man is rational,” the quality of rationality is inseparable from man, though it is not man himself. In the view of Rāmānuja, dharmabhūtajñāna is an apṛthak-siddha-viśeṣaṇa of the jīva; the jīvas and prakṛti are apṛthak-siddha-viśeṣaṇa of Brahman or Īśvara.

This very truth is brought out by the grammatical rule of sāmānādhikaraṇya or co-ordinate predication, which means the application of two terms to a single entity through connotation of its two modes. For example, in the sentence, “This is a cow,” different words connoting genus and quality (that is, jāti and guṇa) also connote individual (vyakti) and substance (guṇin) respectively. The same is the case with the Upaniṣadic text, “tat tvam asi” (“That thou art”). A substance may become the body or quality of another substance and a word connoting the body (śarīra) may connote the Self, its possessor (śarīrin), also. Therefore, in the highest Vedāntic sense, all terms connoting a thing or a person or a god also connote Brahman as the source, support, and the ultimate Self of all.

The Sānkhya theory of satkāryavāda, the theory of pre-existent effect, is accepted by Rāmānuja. Consequently, the world which is a transformation (pariņāma) of Brahman, is real and not illusory as asserted by Advaitins.

Ontology

Viśiṣṭādvaita accepts three entities, viz. Brahman or Īśvara, jīva or cit, and prakṛti or acit as the ultimate realities. Hence, these three together are called ‘tattvatraya’. Of these, however, Brahman is the absolute, independent Reality, whereas the other two are dependent realities. It is for this reason that this philosophy is known as ‘Viśiṣṭādvaita’ (Viśiṣṭa Advaita), a philosophy which accepts only one Reality, but with attributes or modes.

Brahman of Viśiṣṭādvaita is both the Absolute of philosophy and the God of religion at the same time. Truth (satya), knowledge (jñāna), infinity (anantatva), and bliss (ānandatva) are His attributes. He is the repository of all virtues and perfection. He is the progenitor, the protector, and the destroyer of this universe. He is also the indweller and controller of everything that exists in this universe. He is the śeṣin (the whole) of whom all the jīvas and the prakṛti are śeṣa (parts). He is the granter of all boons, whether it is righteousness (dharma), worldly gain (artha), and enjoyment of pleasures (kāma) or the attainment of freedom from births and deaths (mokṣa). His form is most wonderfully beautiful, absolutely free from all imperfections and defects. Out of His infinite mercy, He incarnates Himself, in moments of cosmic crisis, into humanity in order that He may recover the lost jīva. He is the master of Śrī or Lakṣmī, Bhū, and Nīlā. Śrī is of the nature of mercy.

He enjoys the cosmic līlā or play of creation. He creates this universe out of the cit and the acit portions of Himself and yet remains unaffected in His essential nature. Since He creates in accordance with the past karma of the individual souls, He can never be accused of partiality or hard-heartedness.

He has a five-fold form, viz.

  1. Para,
  2. Vyūha,
  3. Vibhava,
  4. Antaryāmin and
  5. Arcā.

The first is His form in Vaikuṇṭha, along with Śrī, Bhū, Nīlā, Ananta, Garuḍa, Viṣvaksena and others. The avatāras of Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha, who are His partial manifestations and who are the objects of contemplation by the devotees, go by the name ‘vyūha’. The incarnations of Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Kūrma, etc. are called vibhava. As the indwelling spirit of each and every object (animate or inanimate), He is called the antaryāmin. The descent into the forms, symbols, or idols worshipped by His devotees, in order to bless them, is known as arcāvatāra.

The next tattva is cit or the jīva. The jīvas are innumerable but of identical form and nature. Each jīva is essentially different from the body, prāṇa, mind, buddhi, and dharmabhūtajñāna. He is blissful (ānanda-svarūpa), atomic (aṇu), unmanifested (avyakta), unthinkable (acintya), homogeneous (niravayava), immutable (nirvikāra), substratum of consciousness and knowledge (jñānāśraya). He is (niyamya) controlled by Īśvara, and is a part of Him (śeṣa). He is knower of knowledge, doer of actions, and experiencer of their results (jñātr̥, kartr̥ and bhoktr̥).

The jīvas can be divided into three groups: the bound (baddha), the liberated (mukta), and the eternally free (nitya). The bound souls are those who are constantly going through this transmigratory existence being attracted by and attached to the prakṛti in all its forms. Those of the bound souls who awaken to the evils of saṃsāra owing to their previous good karma and get liberated by doing spiritual practices and by the grace of God belong to the second category. Those like Ananta or Garuḍa who are never bound by the shackles of saṃsāra form the third category.

The jīva, though essentially free, becomes bound in saṃsāra by the proximity of prakṛti, avidyā, karma, vāsanā and ruci. Avidyā is ignorance which manifests itself in various forms like anyathā-jñāna (knowing a thing in a way that is different from what it really is), viparīta-jñāna (knowing a thing as the opposite of what it really is), etc. Karma is what is performed by the body, the senses, or the mind, whether good or bad. Doing anything unintentionally is vāsanā. Ruci is the inordinate desire created by vāsanā. Through bhakti and prapatti and the consequent grace of God, these bondages are destroyed.

The last tattva is acit or prakṛti. It is the insentient substance out of which this material universe is evolved. It is ever-changing and can never be the substratum of knowledge. It is of two kinds:

  1. Śuddhasattva and
  2. Miśrasattva.

The first is the material which is absolutely free from rajas and tamas, which is eternal, which is not subject to karma but only to the will of God. It is the substance out of which all things in Vaikuṇṭha (which is called nityavibhūti, as opposed to this temporal world, called līlāvibhūti) are made. The second, viz. miśrasattva, comprises the three guṇas—sattva, rajas and tamas. It is this which evolved as the universe.

Out of these, Brahman or Īśvara is the independent reality, and the other two are dependent realities which inhere in Him by the principle of sāmānādhikaraṇya. Just as skin, flesh, seed, colour, taste and smell can all exist in the same mango simultaneously, so also cit and acit can exist in Brahman.

Means of Liberation

Viśiṣṭādvaita accepts three ultimate entities (tattvatraya):

  1. Brahman or Īśvara – the independent Reality
  2. Cit or jīva – the conscious souls
  3. Acit or prakṛti – the insentient matter

The mumukṣus, or those desirous of liberation, have to know three things: tattva or Reality, hita or the means of attaining that Reality, and puruṣārtha or the nature of attainment. Of these, tattva has already been described.

As regards the hita, the scriptures have described it in various ways. These things can be grouped under five headings, and are consequently known as ‘arthapañcaka’. They are: sva-svarūpa (one’s own nature), para-svarūpa (nature of God), puruṣārtha-svarūpa (nature of the four ends in life), upāya-svarūpa (nature of the means to liberation), and virodhi-svarūpa (nature of the obstacles in spiritual path).

Out of these, the first two have already been delineated while describing the tattvatraya. Puruṣārthas, or the things desired for by men, are four in number: dharma (practice of righteousness); artha (economic gain); kāma (enjoyments of the pleasures of life); and mokṣa (freedom from saṃsāra). Of these, the mumukṣu should know that the real puruṣārtha is mokṣa.

Upāya, or the means of liberation, is five-fold:

  1. Karma,
  2. Jñāna,
  3. Bhakti,
  4. Prapatti, and
  5. Ācāryābhimāna.

Karma includes all such acts like yajña, dāna, sandhyā, pañcayajñas, dhyāna, tīrthayātrā, etc. Jñāna or Jñānayoga consists of self-renouncement (vairāgya) and ceaseless practice of contemplation on Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. This leads to the realization of the self, but not that of the Bhagavān.

The next step is bhakti. Bhakti or Bhaktiyoga marks the consummation of moral and spiritual endeavour as attained in the other two yogas. The Visiṣṭādvaita constructs a ladder, as it were, from ethics to religion and from religion to mystic union. The seven aids to bhakti are: viveka (purification of the body as the living temple of God); vimoka (inner detachment); abhyāsa (ceaseless practice of the self-presence of God as the inner Self); kriyā (service to all beings); kalyāṇa (practice of virtues); anavasāda (freedom from despair); and anuddharṣa (absence of exultation).

Prapatti is complete self-surrender, and is meant for those who are unable to follow either Karmayoga, Jñānayoga, or Bhaktiyoga. Its main characteristics are: to conceive what is in conformity with the will of God; to reject what is disagreeable to Him; to seek Him alone as the protector; and to surrender one’s self to Him in all meekness.

Ācāryābhimāna is strong faith in the guru and his affectionate attachment to the disciple.

The obstacles to the spiritual path (virodhi), which are the last of the artha-pañcaka, are again five-fold. Obstabcles to:

  1. The realization of the self;
  2. The realization of God;
  3. Mokṣa;
  4. The means of realization;
  5. The attainment of the goal.

State of Liberation

The liberated soul has a direct vision of Brahman in Vaikuṇṭha and is absorbed in the eternal bliss of union with him (sāyujya). To him the pluralistic world remains, but the pluralistic view is abolished. The distinction between him and Brahman still remains, and there is no loss of personality. He will continue for ever to enjoy this state of bliss by serving Brahman.

Conclusion

Visiṣṭādvaita is thus not a dry metaphysics, but a philosophy of religion. In it, reason and faith have been nicely synthesized. It guarantees the vision of God and salvation to all finite beings—human, subhuman, or celestial. The view that God is immanent in all for the purpose of cosmic redemption inspires the feeling that the God of all religions is ultimately one, though the various seers and sects may give different accounts of Him.

Sources and References

  1. Three Systems of Vedanta, an Introduction by Swami Harshānanda

Philosophies