Vishishtadvaita

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

VisishtAdvaita is monism of the qualified whole, in which Brahman alone exists, but is characterised by multiplicity. It is a school of Vedanta philosophy which believes in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity. Ramanuja, the main proponent of Visishtadvaita philosophy contends that the Prasthana Traya i.e. the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and The Brahma Sutras are to be interpreted in way that shows this unity in diversity, for any other way would violate their consistency. Visishtadvaita philosophy of Ramanuja provided the philosophical basis for the establishment of Sri Vaishnavism and gave Vedantic backing to the brimming devotion of the Alwar saints and their composition of wonderful poetry and devotional songs in praise of Lord Vishnu

The Visishtadvaita school of philosophy is probably the first school to uniquely interpret the Vedanta texts without being influenced by Buddhist thought.

The Philosophy

In more specific terms Vishishtadvaita conclusions may be briefly summarised as below.

The Absolute Supreme Reality referred to as Brahman, is a Transcendent Personality with infinite superlative qualities. He is Narayana, also known as Lord Vishnu. He creates the other two members of the Trimurti, namely, Creator Brahma and Shiva, the Lord of Deluge.

Narayana is the Absolute God. The Soul and the Universe are only parts of this Absolute and hence, Vishishtadvaita is panentheistic. The relationship of God to the Soul and the Universe is like the relationship of the Soul of Man to the body of Man. Individual souls are only parts of Brahman. God, Soul and Universe together form an inseparable unity which is one and has no second. This is the non-duality part.

Matter and Souls inhere in that Ultimate Reality as attributes to a substance. This is the qualification part of the non-duality.

Souls and Matter are only the body of God. Creation is a real act of God. It is the expansion of intelligence. Matter is fundamentally real and undergoes real revelation. The Soul is a higher mode than Matter, because it is conscious. It is also eternally real and eternally distinct. Final release, that comes, by the Lord's Grace, after the death of the body is a Communion with God. This philosophy believes in liberation through one's Karmas (actions) in accordiance with the Vedas, the Varna (caste or class) system and the four Ashramas (stages of life), along with intense devotion to Vishnu. Individual Souls retain their separate identities even after moksha. They live in Fellowship with God either serving Him or meditating on Him. The philosophy of this school is SriVaishnavism, a branch of Vaishnavism.

The succession of great Master-Expositors and spiritual giants of Vishishtadvaita school starts with the twelve Alwars, who left behind an imperishable legacy of Tamil devotional poetry in the form of 4000 songs, now called the Nalayira-prabandham.

Natha Muni

Natha-muni of the ninth century AD, the foremost Acharya of the Vaishnavas, collected the Tamil prabandhams, classified them, made the redaction, set the hymns to music and spread them everywhere. He is said to have received the divine hymns straight from Nammalvar, the foremost of the twelve Alwars, by yogic insight in the temple at Alwar Thirunagari, which is located near Tirunelveli.

Yamunacharya

Yamunacharya, who renounced a kingship and spent his last days in the service of the Lord at Srirangam and in laying the fundamentals of the Vishishtadvaita philosophy by writing four basic works on the subject.

Ramanuja

Ramanuja was the first propagator of Vishishtadvaita philosophy on a national scale. He undertook three major tasks of his Master upon himself. The first was his masterly commentary called the Shri-Bhashya, on the Brahma Sutras where he claimed to have proven that the interpretations of the Upanishads according to the Advaita school were not tenable. His second vow was to perpetuate the name of Parashara, the author of Vishnu purana. This he did by calling Bhatta, the son of one of his disciples by that name and making him write a commentary on Vishnu Sahasranama. The third vow was to perpetuate the name of Nammalwar, which he did by causing a commentary to be written on Nammalwar's Tamil Veda, Tiruvai-mozhi, which represents the cream of Vishishtadvaita philosophy. The message that Ramanuja left for posterity and the world went home not only in his homeland, but in the entire country up to distant Kashmir. Sri Ramanuja spent about 14 years of the most productive part of his life in Melukote near Mysore, Karnataka, where he could continue his work on Vishishtadvaita in peace under the patronage of the maharajahs of Mysore.

Vedanta Desika

Vedanta Desika, one of the foremost learned scholars of medieval India, wrote more than a hundred works in Sanskrit and Tamil. All are characterised by their versatility, deep spiritual insight, ethical fervour and excellent expressions of devotional emotion in delightful style. His Paduka-sahasram is a classic example. He was a great teacher, expositor, debater, poet, philosopher, thinker and defender of the faith of Vaishnavism.

Pillai Lokacharya

Pillai Lokacharya, who is considered as the real founder of the tenkalai (Southern Learning) sect of Vaishnavism.

External links

• Biographies of Ramanuja and Vedanta Desika
• Ramanuja and VisishtAdvaita
• more information
• Advaita and VisishtAdvaita
• more information
• http://www.vaishnava.com/shrivaishnavaintro.htm
• http://www.hinduweb.org/home/dharma_and_philosophy/vvh/vvh.htm
• The non-absolutist school of Hindu philosophy