Visistadvaita A Philosophy of Religion K.R.Paramahamsa 1 2 Table of Contents Page No Preface 5 1. Visistadvaita - A Darsana 7 2. The Theory of Knowledge 12 General 12 Dharmabhuta-jnaana (Phenomenological Consciousness) 15 Svarupa-jnaana (Existential Consciousness) & Dharmabhuta-jnaana (Phenomenological Consciousness) -Interrelationship 19 3. The Theory of Judgment 22 4. The Theory of Relations 25 5. Truth, Error and Avidya 28 Truth 28 Error 30 Avidya 33 6. Saguna Brahman 37 The Brahman as Adhara 44 The Brahman as Satya 47 The Brahman as Jnaana 50 The Brahman as Ananta 54 The Brahman as Bhuvana Sundara 57 The Brahman as Saririn 65 The Brahman as Sesin 71 The Brahman as Niyantr 75 The Brahman as Redeemer 82 7. Cosmology 91 8. The Psychology of Jivatman 94 9. Mukti-Mumuksutva 99 Mukti 99 Mumuksutva 105 10. Ways to Salvation 107 Karma-yoga 107 Jnaana-yoga 109 Bhakti-yoga 112 Prapatti-yoga 117 11. The Mysticism of Visistadviata 123 3 12. The Theology of Srivaisnavism 127 13. Srivaisnavism of Visistadvaita 131 14. Evolution of Vaisnavism 136 Narayana-Visnu 136 Sankarsana-Baladeva 139 Pancaraatra 144 4 Preface Visistadvaita, as a philosophy of religion, not only interprets metaphysics in terms of religion, and religion in terms of metaphysics, but equates the two by the common designation darsana. Darsana connotes a Vedanta philosophical system as well as spiritual perception of Reality, and may be explained as an integral intuition of the Brahman. In extreme monism, the Brahman is jnaana and is realized by jnaana. Extreme theism distrusts the intellect and relies on scriptural faith. But in Visistadvaita, the Brahman can be enquired into as well as experienced. Conceptual knowledge of God is exalted by the soul- sense of God, and the soul-sight of God is rationalized by conceptual knowledge. Ramanuja integrates the experiences of risis and Alvars in relation to the Brahman, the Supreme Self, and expounds what is called Ubhaya-Vedanta. As a philosopher-saint, he establishes the truths of Visistadvaita as embodied in the Vedantasutras. Simultaneously, he elucidates each adhikarana of the Sutras as experience of the Brahman, brahmanubhava. He gives a critical exposition of the experiences of the Alvars by showing their logical coherence. As a saint, he experiences God, and as a philosopher, he proves the truths of spiritual experience. He establishes that Sribhashyam, his commentary on Vedantasutras, and the Bhagavad-visaya, the logical exposition of the spiritual experiences of Nammalvar, are similar in content and look to the Brahman as the Ultimate to be attained. He is thus the exponent of Vedanta as stated in Vedantasutras and in Bhagavad-visaya and is, therefore, considered the architect of Ubhaya-Vedanta. The end and aim of Ubhaya-Vedanta is summed up in the Upanisad itself: ‘He who knows the Brahman attains the Highest’. The catholicity of Visistadvaita lies in its synthetic insight into truth, and the spiritual transformation of such insight into universal love. Ramanuja’s synthetic method consists in his conclusion that all ideas and names ultimately connote the Brahman, Narayana, that the worship of deities like Indra is really the worship of Narayana, the inner ruler of all beings. The terms sarva-saririn, sarva-sabdavacya and sarva-raksaka refer only to the Brahman or Narayana. Srivaisnavism, as a living religion, owes itself to Ramanuja. He has moulded it into a religion of sattvic love based on sastraic authority and spiritual experience. Visistadvaitic Srivaisnavism lays stress on personal mystic experience rather than on super naturalism and historicity. It guarantees God to all persons, and affords a philosophic basis for religious consciousness. For Ramanuja, God is love, the atman is eternal and the Paramatman is immanent. The idea of God as the saririn of all and as indwelling love is the contribution of Ramanuja. This concept offers the most inspiring motive for philosophic enlightenment and achievement of social integration. Visistadvaita is not a mere metaphysical enquiry into the nature of the Brahman as the ground of existence, but it is also a spiritual method of attaining the Brahman as the supreme end of life. Thus Visistadvaita establishes itself as a philosophy of religion. It is significant to note that the term Visistadvaita is generally translated into English as Qualified Non-dualism. What is qualified in Visistadvaita is not Non-dualism, but the Brahman. Visistadvaita propounds that the Brahman is saguna as opposed to nirguna, though ontologically. It subscribes to the theory of Non-dualism, though of the Saguna Brahman. It is also significant to note that while Vaisnavism has evolved predating the Christian era as a non-Vedic religion of rites, Srivaisnavism, as a Vedic religion, has been the 5 contribution of Vedic seers such as Sri Ramanuja, Vedanta Desika, etc. These seers along with the Alvars have made Srivaisnavism a religion of spiritial realization. This book Visistadvaita- A Philosophy of Religion borrows considerably from the work ‘The Philosophy of Visistadvaita’ by P.N.Srinivasachari, a very well researched and creative presentation. 6 1. Visistadvaita - A Darsana A Darsana is a body of eternal and impersonal spiritual truths enshrined in Sruti, which can be logically tested and verified in personal experience. Sruti is self-valid, and the self-explanation of existence in its wholeness and of experience in its integrity. The Vedanta Darsanas afford insight into the nature of the Brahman. The ultimate proof of the existence of the Brahman is the experience of the Brahman. It is not tarka-drsti, the way of reasoning and dialectic, but tattva-drsti, the soul-sight of the Brahman, by knowing which everything is known. Visistadvaita, a Vedanta Darsana, maintains its position in the history of Indian thought by establishing its own siddhanta by a criticism of rival systems. It has, at the same time, a synthetic insight into the essentials of other Darsanas, and accepts whatever in them is consistent with its basic principles. It is neither pure philosophy nor pure religion. It is a true philosophy of religion, which reconciles the opposition between philosophy and religion, and the conflict between monism and pluralism. If it is liberally interpreted in terms of contemporary philosophy and comparative religion without, in any way, sacrificing its foundational principles, it is capable of satisfying the demands of science and philosophy on the one hand, and of ethics and religion on the other. It is the task of philosophy as an intellectual enquiry into the whole of reality to frame the ultimate problems of life. The three persistent problems of philosophy relate to God, nature and the self. Of them, the enquiry into the nature of God is the most valuable. The existence of God is established by the well-known theistic proofs, and not by revealed theology. Faith and reason belong to different realms. It is impossible to prove the existence of God by logical thinking. On the other hand, mere reason is ill founded and self- contradictory. As free thought leads to atheism, blind faith leads to dogmatism. The conflict between faith and philosophy is mainly due to the difference in their method of approach or enquiry. Faith claims finality. When it is supported by reason working in a subordinate capacity, it becomes dogmatic. When dogma is sanctioned by tradition, and sanctified by the worship of word, it claims absolute allegiance. Faith then results in fanaticism. On the other hand, philosophy rejects the way of faith. It accepts only the guidance of reason, and follows its conclusions. But, quite often, it starts doubting everything, and ends with doubts, with no solutions to the problems posed by it. The advancement of reason, for its own sake and unrelated to spiritual intuition, only leads to atheism. Theology, therefore, condemns its guidance and takes refuse in faith. This conflict between faith and philosophy will cease only if they get reconciled in a true philosophy of religion. Visistadvaita offers a contrast to mere philosophical speculation on the whole of reality on one hand, and to religion in the sense of a faith in revealed theology on the other. Theology insists on dogmatic faith in truths regarded as infallible on account of scriptural authority or divine disclosure. It is by its nature antagonistic to the free exercise of reason on the facts provided by human experience, which is the hallmark of philosophy. Ramanuja’s system of Visistadvaita recognizes the claims of both faith and reason. It aims at harmonizing or reconciling them. It admits a free play of reason as to the data of sense perception and inference. It also accepts spiritual intuition, anubhava of the great seers, and the doctrines or views recorded in the scriptures. 7 There is considerable divergence between secular thought and religious knowledge in different realms with varying results. The first stage is that of tension between naturalism and supernaturalism. The conflict is of value in so far as it leads to recognition of the fact that matter is real, though the materialistic outlook is false. It also becomes clear that a metaphysical system cannot be built on the foundations of the physical-chemical sciences and mathematics. Polytheism, in whatever form, cannot satisfy the demand of reason for unity, and the ethical claims of righteousness. The second is that of the collision between vitalism and animism. Vitalism accepts the primacy of reason, but denies the validity of faith. It also repudiates the mechanistic view of life. On the other hand, animism attributes life and divinity to nature. It assumes different forms such as metempsychosis, fetishism, totemism and spiritism. According to it, every natural object is animate and endowed with spirit. Visistadvaita is opposed to both the philosophy of vitalism and the religion of animism.