Wk 10 Mon, Mar 8

Final Paper Rubric

The paper is worth 100 points. The paper + presentation constitute 35% of your course grade. Points are awarded for the paper as follows: 10 Clearly articulated goals in the opening 20 Clarity & flow of ideas & arguments 10 Content 10 Breadth of Coverage 15 Take-away Section 5 Clear conclusion 10 Citation of sources 10 Bibliography 10 Formatting, proof-reading

1 Final Paper & Presentation

 10-12 pgs + Bibliography  35% of Course Grade  Due Mon Finals Week 2pm – Mar 15 – 10 min Presentation 2:30-4:20 pm. <<<< Sign up!  Goal: Synthesis, your own position on karma vs. free will  Important concepts studied: – Karma, dharma, reincarnation, self, theodicy – Free Will & Agency – Determinism, fatalism, compatibilism, libertarianism – Bhagavad Gītā, Brahma-sūtras & Agency – Consciousness? Luck?  Systems Considered: 7. Grammarian 1. Sāṅkhya 8. Advaita Ved nta 2. Nyāya ā 3. Abhidharma Buddhism 9. Viśiṣṭādvaita 10. Madhva Ved nta 4. Mādhyamika Buddhism ā 5. Jainism 11. Kashmir Śaivism 12. Gau ya Vai avism 6. Mīmāṃsā ḍī ṣṇ

Final Paper, cont’d

 Some questions to address: – Is karma necessary? Why (not)? – What are implications of (not) accepting karma as seen in the different systems? – What in your opinion is the best solution to the problem karma is trying to answer? – Is there free will? Why (not)? – How do the different systems answer this question? . Are they successful? . Why, or why not? – How has this class affected your thinking on free-will? – What is/are the most significant take-away(s) for you?

2 WOTD

• Svabhāva, inherent nature Dhandeep

Questions

 What is the purpose for the self? Miles  “Morality is subject to the Lord, not vice versa” (265) Joel  If Madhva doesn’t view Vishnu responsible for peoples wrongdoings- who exactly does he blame it on? Sai

 Does karma even exist? Suhana

3 Other Vedāntas

 Viśiṣṭādvaita, (viśiṣṭa-advaita)  Dvāita, duality qualified non-duality

Rāmānuja, 1017-1136 CE Madhva, 1238-1317. CE

Madhva

 Duality, dvaita

 5-way real difference, pañca-bheda (255)

Īśvara Independent

jīva jaḍa Finite self Inert matter eternal & real

4 Brahman

= God = Īśvara = Viṣṇu= ātman = the Lord = Vāsudeva = Hari  The only independent reality  Has a divine body  Has free will  Is transcendent & immanent – Inner controller of all souls

 Above morality, beyond critique (265-6)

Individual Selves

 Finite, plural  Dependent agents, dependent on Viṣṇu: – Volition, prayatna – Inherent nature, svabhāva . Beginningless and eternal  3-fold hierarchy 

5 Means of knowledge

 Pramāṇa-s –perception, – inference, – śabda . Includes: Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas, . Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa epics, . Mānava Dharma Śāstra, . Pañcarātra Āgamas

Scriptures Cited

Kauśītaki Upaniṣad 3.8/9 This very breath is the self consisting of intelligence; it is bliss, unageing, immortal. … It is the one that makes those people perform good actions whom it wants to lead up from these worlds, and makes those people perform bad actions whom it wants to push down from these worlds. He is the ruler of the world, he is the sovereign of the world, he is lord of the world (lokeśa). One should realize, “He is my ātmā.”

6 BS 2.3, on Ātmā as Agent

Brahma Sūtra 2.3.33, 41-42: FWASIP 260-3 33. (The soul is) an agent, on account of scriptural (injunctions) having a meaning on that ground only. 41. But (even) that (agency of the soul) is from the Supreme Lord; so declares the Śruti. 42. But (the Lord's making the soul act) depends on works done (by it); (thus only would) injunctions and prohibitions etc. be relevant.

BS 2.1.35-38 (=34-37 Ś/Rā versions.FWASIP 264-6)

35. Partiality and cruelty (do) not (occur) owing to consideration of other factors, for so (the Vedas) show. 36. Not (so), on account of karma remaining undifferentiated – if this be the objection, not so: because of the beginninglessness (of the transmigratory state). 37. Moreover this is logical and is met with (in scriptures). 38. And (Brahman is the cause) on account of the propriety of all characteristics (of a cause in It).

7 3-fold Hierarchy, tāratamya FWASIP 267

All living beings fall into one of 3 classes: 1. mukti-yogya, destined for liberation 2. sṛṣṭi-yogya / nitya-saṃsārins, forever in saṃsāra 3. andha-tamo-yogya, destined for hell / lower births

– Realization that one may never achieve liberation ‘stiffens the faith’ to eradicate doubts. (Potter 1963, 251) – One must believe that one belongs in #1.

Self entirely dependent on Īśvara, who is independent.

Causes of Action 268

1. Destiny haṭha, as to which of the 3 natures one possesses (previous slide): – Mukti-yogya / nitya-saṃsārin / andha-tamo- yogya 2. One’s karma, which is beginingless 3. One’s volition, jīva-prayatna

All three are always under Viṣṇu’s control

8 Dvaita Liberation, mokṣa

 Not by knowledge of Brahman / Īśvara  Not by experience of identity with Brahman = release from bondage of prakṛti – effected by God & knowledge of God’s superiority – entirely dependent on God’s grace, prasāda – only through bhakti – Self maintains agency/dependency post liberation

To Achieve Liberation One must: 1. Have the right destiny (under Lord’s control), 2. Have the right prior activities (under Lord’s control), 3. Manifest the right volition (under Lord’s control), 4. Engage in and fulfill the practice of worship (by Lord’s grace), and 5. Attain devotion (by Lord’s grace). “The best solution to the problem of how to reconcile the experience of evil and suffering in the world with an omnipotent and benevolent God.” FWASIP 269

9 What would Madhva say?

Determinism or Free Will?

Problems with

Madhva’s Theodicy Buchta 270-2

1. Even if God doesn’t create selves as evil, God sustains their nature – “culpable

negligence” 271 2. “Denies subjectivity to the lower selves” 3. God is not moral & impartial.

10 Madhva’s Influence, 1 Caitanya Mahāprabhu

 Emotionally intense, loving devotion (prema-bhakti) to Kṛṣṇa  3 modes of the divine: 1. brahman, undifferentiated 2. paramātman, dwelling in all individual souls (immanent Lord, 303) 3. bhagavān, ultimate conscious reality, personal, possessed of all auspicious forms 1486–1533/4 CE and qualities, encompassing and surpassing brahman and paramātman, = Kṛṣṇa, transcendent God

Caitanya

 Goal of life: – to enter into eternal communion with Kṛṣṇa and his divine and human companions, – to participate with them in his transcendent pastimes, expressive of loving devotion  Scripture = Bhāgvata [Purāṇa]  Movement known as Gauḍīya/Bengali Vaiṣṇava – ISKCON, founded 1966 by A. C. Bhakti- vedanta (1896–1977)

11 Noted Followers of Caitanya

 Jīva Gosvāmin, 16th c. (1517-1608) – reason subordinate to scripture – relation between self & God: acintya- bhedābheda, beyond reason  Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, 18th c.

Madhva’s Influence, 2 Vallabha  Follower of śuddhādvaita, pure nonduality  Founder of the Puṣṭimārga sect  Devotee of Śrīnāth-jī 1. The path of grace, puṣṭi . For the intensely devoted 1479-1531 CE 2. The path of constraint, maryādā . For the studious . Followers of Advaita 3. The path of flow, pravāha . For the clueless . Destined for andha-tamas, hell.

12 Questions - Revisited

 What is the purpose for the self? Miles  “Morality is subject to the Lord, not vice versa” (265) Joel  If Madhva doesn’t view Vishnu responsible for peoples wrongdoings- who exactly does he blame it on? Sai

 Does karma even exist? Suhana

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