Posts Tagged ‘souls’
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Parabrahm
Parabrahm, Purushottam, or Narayan: Part V
God is sarvagna (all-knower). He is Karma-fal-pradātā (the judge and the reward giver of the deeds or actions). He does not have any of the worldly attributes. He is also called Nirgun, because He is beyond any attributes of maya. He is sarva-vyāpak (omnipresent) by His antaryāmi (inner guiding, inspiring, and controlling) power yet forever remains present in His abode. This is like space or energy that is inherently present in an atom yet no one can see it. The same way, God is present in every atom or subatomic particle of His Creation, but we cannot see Him. The same figure of God that is present in His abode is also present in every brahmand. This omnipresence quality of God, known as His “yogakalā” is beyond our human imagination or common logic (atārkya). While remaining there in His abode, He manifests in many different forms in many different brahmands according to His will. Wherever He resides in whatever form becomes the center of His abode as there are no limits to His abode. Thus, He never leaves His abode. This how Shri Swaminarayan describes in his Vachanamrut, “… In the same way, Purushottam Bhagwan manifests in whatever form is required in whichever brahmand – while simultaneously dwelling in Akshardham. Actually, He Himself forever dwells in Akshardham. In fact, wherever that form of Purushottam resides, that is the very center of Akshardham.” (Vachanāmrut: Gadhadā II-42)
He resides in Atma (souls) and in Aksharbrahm penetratingly (Vyāpak), because souls are akshar-like and though both are ontologically different, they are characteristically same. Atma (soul) and Akshar (Brahm) are both under His authority (ādhin) and dependant and penetrable compared to Him. He is all-capable. Purushottam (God) creates and enters the various types of life forms as their cause and as their inner-guide (antaryami) or controller (niyanta) and inspires them to different degrees according to the hierarchy (taratamataha). “Sva-kruta-vichitra-yonishu vishann iva hetutayā | Taratamatashchakāssyanalavat svakrutānukrutiha ||” (Shrimad Bhagwat: 10.87.19) Purushottam is distinct from Brahm and is the cause, the supporter, and inspirer of even the transcendental Brahm. Purushottam is described as different, distinct, and transcendental from both – Kshar (perishable) and Akshar (imperishable) in Gita (Bhagwad Gita: 15.17). Purushottam is also described, in Gita, to be transcendental and supporter of lifeless (jad) or non-transcendental (aparā) and live (chaitanya) or transcendental (parā) both kinds of prakruti (Bhagwad Gita: 7.4, 5). Hierarchy should be understood as follows. Among living (chaitanya) things, as per the knowledge (gnan), power (shakti), capability and potential (sāmarthya) humans are higher than animals and animals are higher than plants; devas are higher than human beings; and ishwars (purushas) are higher than devas. Brahm is transcendental to purushas and everything else, whereas Parabrahm Purushottam Narayan Paramatma (God) is transcendental to even Brahm. There is absolutely nothing higher than Purushottam. Just as tremendous energy resides in an atom without even being noticed or seen by anybody, God resides within the souls, universal souls (ishwars), His whole creation (maya), and Brahm. He is present in every little thing, though not equally but hierarchically (tāratamya). In common people He is present as the judge or the rewards giver for their deeds (karma fal pradātā), in His devotees He is present as an eyewitness (sākshi), and in God-realized Sant or Satpurush He is present entirely, fully, completely, and wholly (sāngopāng).
Shri Swaminarayan says that, God resides in the heart of a person who understands that the infinite numbers of wonders or miracles that happen at every moment in the world and cosmos are only due to God that I have presently realized or attained and no one else is the cause of all these wonders; who also realizes that, infinite numbers of wonders that have happened in the past, are happening now, and are going to happen in the future are all due to God that I have presently attained; who (is very stable minded, sthitpragna, and) feels indifference even if someone were to humiliate or honor him; who also possesses countless noble virtues of the sant described in the scriptures, such as atma-gnan, brahm-gnan, devotion, dispassion, etc.; who, despite of possessing number of powers and potential to empower and liberate number of people, tolerates insults as well as praises of common and insignificant people; and yet who is a great forgiver. In such a person God resides forever.
And lastly, Shri Swaminarayan says that, “Everyone wants to worship God, but the difference is in the understanding.” (Vachanāmrut: Gadhadā I-27)
Tags:abode, ādhin, akshar, akshar-like, Aksharbrahm, Akshardhām, all-knower, animals, Antaryāmi, aparā, atārkya, ātmā, atom, attributes, authority, Bhagwad, Bhagwan, Bhagwat, Brahm, brahmand, capability, cause, chaitanya, completely, controller, Creation, Darshan, deeds, devas, devotees, energy, entirely, eyewitness, fal, fully, Gadhadā, Gita, Gnān, God, God-realized, hierarchy, human, humans, Imperishable, inherently, inner-guide, inspirer, ishwars, jad, judge, Karma, Karma-fal-pradātā, knowledge, kshar, lifeless, live, logic, manifests, maya, Narayan, nirgun, niyantā, non-transcendental, omnipresence, omnipresent, Para, Parabrahm, Paramātmā, perishable, Philosophy, plants, potential, power, pradātā, Prakruti, present, purushas, Purushottam, sākshi, sāmarthya, sāngopāng, Sant, sarva vyāpak, sarvagna, Satpurush, Shad Darshan, shakti, Shri, Shrimad, souls, space, subatomic particle, supporter, Swaminarayan, taratamataha, Tāratamya, transcendental, universal souls, Vachanāmrut, Vedānta, vyāpak, wholly, worldly, yogakalā
Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, Navya Vishishtadvaita, Parabrahm - Part V, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Parabrahm
Parabrahm, Purushottam, or Narayan: Part IV
For the human form of God, there are also two kinds of understandings prevailing: Paroksh bhāv and Pratyaksh bhāv. Paroksh (para + aksha) means beyond our vision or eyesight, when He does not remain in front of our eyes. Paroksh bhav means the feelings created in common people’s mind that God has left this world bared without His protective presence, when God leaves this ordinary human form and goes back to His abode. Some even have feeling that “their God” has come last and no God will come or appear now or afterwards. Pratyaksh (prati + aksha = in front of our eyes) means the feelings created in learned person’s mind that God never leaves this world unattended and He is always present in this world to guide us. Pratyaksh bhav means the feeling of God right in front of our eyes, not even a slightest distance away from our eyes. Paroksh form of God means the form, revelation, or manifestation of God that has previously happened on this earth. Pratyaksh form of God means the present form of God in our own time for our own sake of fulfillment of our wishes, bliss and happiness, and ultimately our liberation. Shri Krishna Bhagwan in Bhagvad Gita says that, “Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bhārata, abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmanam shrujāmi aham ||” (Bhagvad Gita: 4.7) Meaning, “Whenever there is a decline in religious practices, O Arjun (the descendent of King Bharat), I by myself manifest in this world and outroot the evil.” God or God-realized sant is always present on this earth to reestablish and revitalize the transcendental religious practices (Sanātan or Ekāntik Dharma) and to liberate the souls (jiv) that are following the said religious practices. The feeling of God present right in front of our eyes is very important in worshiping.
The form of God is very difficult to understand, but we have to trust the words of the scriptures – the words of God Himself. We can say that, God on Earth and God in His abode are like difficult-to-understand yet unhesitatingly accepted wave-particle duality or uncertainty principle of the science. We, as an inexperienced people, have to believe it. In Hinduism, sakar and nirakar forms are described mainly for Brahm only. Whenever nirakar form is described in the scriptures it is in reference to Brahm only. In Hinduism, God is always described as sakar. He is omnipotent or all-powerful. He can take any form whatever He wants, as many as He wants, and as many times as He wants. If He says He will appear and He may not. If He says that He wouldn’t and He may appear. Obviously, we do not have any control over that and we cannot put any limitations over that too. God is independent. He can do whatever He wants. “Hari, chāhe jo kare so hoye,” meaning, whatever God does it happens. Sometimes it looks like we have the control over His form. When God takes the form or avatar, it doesn’t mean He transforms Himself to that form but He “appears” to us in that form. He never changes His original form, nor does He leave His abode. In Hinduism, sakar forms of God (avatars) are described parallel to the evolution of living beings on Earth. Initial avatars are described in animal forms, such as, Matsya (the fish), Kurma (the tortoise), and Varah (the boar). All latest forms or avatars are in human forms to show the similarity or likeness with us, such as, Vaman, Parashuram, Ram, Krishna, and Buddha. If, we had a form different than human, then God also would have taken that different form for our salvation. Thus, the human form of God is most closely related to us. Now, what does sakar mean in Hinduism? Sakar means human like but divine form with all His divinity and without any of the worldly attributes of the body, such as, aging, gender difference, changes of maturity, personality traits, psychological problems, etc. God is never described as nirakar or even as an abstract entity. God has definite but an absolute form.
Though, in spiritual language He is transcendental to us, in worldly language, He is a reality like us, so His messengers or representatives are also like us. His language is like our language. His way of communication is like our way of communication. He can listen to our prayers. He can feel our pain. He can fulfill our wishes. He can accept our services and worship. This is all because He is like human beings, but He is not human being. He is divine being. He is master and we are His servants. He is boss and we are His subordinates. He is king and we are His subjects.
Tags:abode, Absolute, abstract, aksha, all-powerful, Arjun, Avatars, Bhagvad, Bhagwan, bliss, Brahm, Buddha, Darshan, dharma, Earth, Ekāntik, entity, evil, evolution, form, Gita, God, God-realized, happiness, Hinduism, human, jiv, King Bharat, Krishna, Kurma, liberation, living beings, manifest, manifestation, Matsya, Narayan, nirākār, only. Omnipotent, Para, Parabrahm, Parashuram, paroksh, Paroksh bhāv, Philosophy, practices, prati, pratyaksh, Pratyaksh bhāv, Purushottam, Rãm, reestablish, religious, revelation, revitalize, sākār, salvation, Sanātan, Sant, science, Scriptures, Shad Darshan, Shri, souls, Swaminarayan, transcendental, unattended, uncertainty principle, Vaman, Varah, Vedānta, wave-particle duality, wishes, world, Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bhārata
Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, Navya Vishishtadvaita, Parabrahm - Part IV, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Parabrahm
Parabrahm, Purushottam, or Narayan: Part III
Avatars of God are incarnations of God. Incarnation does not mean that God leaves His abode and comes on this earth or He divides into many incarnations. Incarnations or avatars mean manifestations of divine God by His full presence into human world for specific missions. They show both the aspects of humanity, externally, and divinity, from the inside. On one side they act as humble servants of God and on other side they show signs of divinity that do not exist in humans. When they appear as humans they act as perfect human beings. In the human form they act as normal human beings trying to hide their divine powers which come out occasionally to show God’s presence in them. In other words avatars are seen as Godly beings that have been sent by God from the spiritual world as an instrument of His divine revelation.
When God is not manifest on this earth, one should seek the refuge of the Sant who is God-realized. Even when such a God-realized Sant is not present at that particular time and place, one should keep faith in God’s murti (mental and physical image) and worship Him with navadhā bhakti while observing one’s religious vows and duties (swadharma). It also grants liberation to the soul.
Shri Swaminarayan says that, “When God is not manifest on this earth; one should seek the refuge of the sant who has the realization of God, because jiv can also attain liberation through him. Even when such a sant is not present, one should keep a firm faith in God’s murti and perform bhakti while observing swadharma (one’s religious vows), because doing so can also grant liberation to the jiv.” (Vachanāmrut: Vartāl 10)
It is said in the scriptures that wherever the manifest form of God resides, that itself is the highest abode of God. A person who has realized God perfectly has nothing left to realize.
There are three most important things to know about God: 1. Greatness: His greatness, His subtleness, His omnipresence, and His cause-effect (kārya-kāran) relationship with His creation. 2. Power: His supremacy or power in respect to the creation, control, and destruction of countless brahmands. 3. Form: God’s form has two aspects: Vyatirek and Anvay. As His vyatirek or distinct form, God is present in divya sākār swarup (divine personified form), surrounded and humbly served by Aksharbrahm and akshar-muktas. At the same time, as an anvay or indistinct form God, because of His inner guiding (antaryāmi), inspiring (prerak) power, and controlling (niyantā) power, is present as a witness (sākshi) within His creation, that is, His abode Brahmdham or Akshardham, ishwars, souls, maya and the effects of maya – the countless brahmands. When the same, extremely powerful, extremely luminous, and extremely great God with extraordinary qualities takes the simple human form, on this earth, with ordinary human qualities for the liberation of the souls, one’s mind boggles or hesitates to believe in Him, especially during His presence on the earth. After hundreds or thousands of years people have no hesitation to believe in Him as God. It is recommended in the scriptures that, both these forms, the one in His abode Akshardham and one in this world, have to be known perfectly.
Tags:akshar-muktas, Aksharbrahm, Akshardhām, Antaryāmi, anvay, Avatars, beings, believe, bhakti, boggles, brahmands, Brahmdhām, cause-effect, control, controlling, Creation, Darshan, destruction, distinct, divine, Divinity, divya, duties, faith, form, full presence, God, godly, Greatness, hesitates, human, humanity, humble, image, incarnations, indistinct, inner guiding, inspiring, ishwars, jiv, kārya-kāran, liberation, manifest, manifestations, maya, mind, murti, Narayan, Navadhā, niyantā, omnipresence, Parabrahm, personified, Philosophy, power, prerak, present, Purushottam, realization, refuge, religious, revelation, sākār, sākshi, Sant, Scriptures, servants, Shad Darshan, soul, souls, subtleness, supremacy, swadharma, Swaminarayan, swarup, Vartāl, Vedānta, vows, vyatirek, witness, world, worship
Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, Navya Vishishtadvaita, Parabrahm - Part III, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Brahm
Brahm, Akshar, or Aksharbrahm: Part IV
The abode of Purushottam (God) is known as Akshardham. Swaminarayan philosophy describes that, once reaching in Akshardham the souls get another type of body than the worldly body. It is called aprākrut or divine, brahm-like, body called brahmmaya tanu. The souls are now known as Muktas of Akshardham or Aksharmuktas. Because Akshardham is beyond the space, time, karma, and maya, space-time doesn’t reach there, along with that the ordinary light also does not reach there; maya doesn’t reach there, so, maya’s inherent characteristics called three gunas also doesn’t reach there; and karma or deeds doesn’t reach there, so the soul’s destiny or fate is determined by God’s will only. In other words when the soul becomes completely free from these attachments of influencing factors, then only goes to Akshardham. This is the reason why Akshardham or Brahmdham is called in the scriptures as the final destination of the souls. Secondly, because of the above mentioned transcendental nature of Brahm or Brahmdham, there is no aging there, no decaying there, no gender differentiation is there, or not any of the physical worldly characteristics of the body is there. Moreover, material wealth does not reach there, bodily relatives and their relations are not maintained there, worldly sensual pleasures or pain, comfort or sufferings does not reach there.
This abode of God, Akshardham, is filled with cool, extremely bright luminescence of divine light (different than ordinary light) irradiating from Purushottam. Laws of physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences, or any of the worldly sciences doesn’t apply here, only the laws of spiritual science (brahmvidyā) or the laws of the Supreme Being apply here. One can think of any imaginable thing in the Aksharbrahm, but everything would be in the divine form. It is the final resting place of no return for the liberated souls (muktas) where all the souls are equally divine (divya), bright (tejomaya) and luminescent (prakāsh-yukta), equidistant from God, and forever enjoy the bliss of God. All souls here are similar in looks and brightness. There is no age differentiation, gender differentiation, skin-color differentiation, race differentiation, animal or plant (kingdom) differentiation, phylum, class, order, family, genus, or species differentiation among the muktas. They all look like Brahm and Parabrahm. The only difference is ontological difference, which is still maintained. All liberated souls (Aksharmuktas) are equally powerful but not as powerful, potential, and capable as Brahm, and Brahm is not as powerful as Parabrahm (God). God is omnipotent or all-powerful.
The essence of Brahm or Akshar is Parabrahm or Purushottam. Akshar, Brahm or Aksharbrahm is described, in the scriptures, as the body or “sharir” of Parabrahm and Parabrahm is described as “Shariri” or ātmā (soul) of Brahm or Akshar. Both Brahm and Akshar are the terms used synonymously in the scriptures. So, sometimes it is called “Aksharbrahm.” Brahm, Akshar, and Aksharbrahm are the three names of one and same ontological entity. It is described to be Sagun and Nirgun. Sagun (sa + guna, means, with attributes) Brahm has all the worldly attributes, whereas, Nirgun (nihi + guna, means, without attributes) Brahm is transcendental, divine, and without having any attributes. Sagun means gross form of Brahm and Nirgun means microscopic or subtle form of Brahm. Sagun Brahm is larger than even the largest objects combined. Its largeness or magnitude is such that countless brahmands look like mere atoms floating in its sagun form. Nirgun Brahm is subtler than even the subtlest object or an ordinary space in the atom so that it pervades everything. If we see in the eyes of ordinary space (Ākāsh), which is tinier than an atom, there is space everywhere and atoms are very far and wide. If we see in the eyes of superspace (Chidākāsh or divine space), superspace (Chidākāsh or divine space) is everywhere and universes are very far and wide looking merely like atoms such is the vastness of Brahm. Chidakash seems to be exactly opposite of Maya. Scientifically speaking, analogically, if Maya (the avyakrut form of universe and the multiverse) is Black Hole, Chidakash can be analogized as the White Hole, and the Archi Marg (the direct path or highway for the free soul leading to Brahmdham – the highest abode of God connecting Brahmrandhra of the body to the center of Aksharbrahm) can be analogized as the tunnel or the Worm Hole connecting the two.
Secondly, almost hundred year old, Big Bang theory may be true for single universe but the Steady State theory can be applied to the multiverse of Sagun Brahm. Brahm is eternal. It has no beginning and no end. It doesn’t contract or expand. It does not change its appearance, topology, shape, and size over the period of time. It is homogenous and isotropic in space and time. It is uniform in all directions. For the big bang theory, the scientists have few questions, such as, from where the matter came into the fireball, what or which force made fireball to explode, and what was the purpose or reason of creation of the universe from the fireball? The answers to all of these questions can be found from the philosophy of Hinduism even before the big bang theory was proposed.
Nirgun Brahm is all-pervading, subtler than the subtlest. The cool bright luminescence is uniform and homogenous in all directions. It follows the perfect cosmological principle. Brahm has no boundary. It is limitless. The original form of Brahm is described to be the divine personified form which is beyond three types of body (deh), three basic natural qualities (gunas), and three states of body and mind (avasthās) and always remains in the humble service of Parabrahm (God). It is this form of Brahm that a soul has to unite, level, or resemble with and attain the highest enlightened state called Brahmrup or Brahmanized state for salvation. No one can be like Purushottam (God) but one can be and has to be like Brahm for the ultimate liberation (Ātyantik Mukti).
Tags:abode, Akash, akshar, Aksharbrahm, Akshardhām, Aksharmuktas, all-pervading, all-powerful, appearance, aprākrut, Archi Marg, ātmā, atom, atoms, attributes, Ātyantik, avasthās, Avyākrut, beginning, Big Bang, Black Hole, bliss, body, boundary, Brahm, Brahm-like, brahmanized, Brahmdhām, brahmmaya, Brahmrandhra, brahmrup, Brahmvidya, bright, change, Chidākāsh, contract, cool, cosmological, Creation, Darshan, deh, destiny, directions, divine, divine light, divine-space, divya, end, enlightened, essence, eternal, expand, fate, fireball, force, form, God, gunas, homogenous, humble service, isotropic, Karma, liberated souls, liberation, life sciences, limitless, luminescence, matter, maya, Muktas, mukti, multiverse, Nature, nirgun, omnipotent, ontological, ordinary light, ordinary space, Parabrahm, personified, pervades, Philosophy, physical sciences, prakāsh-yukta, principle, Purushottam, qualities, sagun, salvation, Scriptures, Shad Darshan, shape, sharir, shariri, size, social sciences, soul, souls, space, space-time, spiritual science, states, Steady State, superspace, Supreme Being, Swaminarayan, tanu, tejomaya, time, topology, transcendental, tunnel, ultimate, uniform, universe, universes, Vedānta, White Hole, worldly, Worm Hole
Posted in Brahm - Part IV, Hinduism - Philosophies, Navya Vishishtadvaita, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Monday, June 21st, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Brahm
Brahm, Akshar, or Aksharbrahm: Part III
Two aspects of Brahm The scriptures also describe two aspects of Brahm, namely, sagun and nirgun. The sagun and nirgun aspects of Brahm are the special divine powers or potentials of the original form of Brahm. The original eternal form of Brahm is the manifest visible human form of Brahm. The distinction of sagun and nirgun applies only to Akshar, Brahm, or Aksharbrahm. Purushottam is beyond and transcendental to both of them.
Sagun aspect or form of Brahm is extremely large, vaster than the vastest objects combined in the creation. Compared to the vastness of Brahm, infinite number of brahmands (universes) appears to be like dots or mere atoms (anu) compared to each of his pore or a hair follicle (roma). It is not that those brahmands shrunk in their sizes but because of the extreme vastness of Brahm that multiple brahmands appear to be extremely small.
Nirgun aspect or form of Brahm is extremely subtle, subtler than even subtlest object in the creation. It is subtler than even an atom, subtler than even an ordinary space, because it is cause of them. In his nirgun form, Brahm is pure (shuddha), bright (prakāsheyukta), non-associating (asangi), and non-attaching, non-sticky, or non-interacting (nirlepa) with maya and its effects. These are nirgun qualities of Brahm.
Two forms of Brahm
The scriptures have also described two swarups of Aksharbrahm. Swarups are divine forms of onself. These two forms are: Impersonal and Personal. Swarups are like two physical states or forms of the same entity that differs in several of his properties, like different physical states of matter or different physical forms of carbon. But the ontological element (tattva) of both these forms is the same confusing the philosophers. This is the reason why nirākārvādi philosophers (believers of formless or impersonal Brahm) differ from the sākārvādi philosophers (believers of personal Brahm or God). Both forms have been described in the scriptures, but philosophers and their followers couldn’t believe both opposite and contradictory characteristics in the same entity so they gave them preferential treatment and propone one particular form. Shri Swaminarayan (1781-1830) could easily grasp that reality explained to the world.
Having these two contradictory forms of one entity is rather difficult to understand and perceive meaningfully and intellectually. It is like the wave-particle duality of matter, the most puzzling phenomenon in the universe, in which a particle behaves like a wave and wave behaves like a particle. But, it is the widely accepted and proved fact, which can be explained by the quantum mechanics fathered by Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901-1976) by first publishing his theory of uncertainty in 1927.
The same thing is true about Brahm. Shri Swaminarayan explains that, Brahm is nirakar in the sense that it has no māyik trigunātmik ākār or form; instead it has divine Sachchidanand form. Brahm is never described in the scripture as an abstract entity. Brahm is sakar in the sense that he is like a person or personality but in divine sense. Brahm is not like a person having mayik or worldly characteristics, such as, gender difference, aging, external signs of maturity, internal signs of organ systems, personality characteristics, traits, temperaments, behavioral patterns, mood changes, etc.
Brahm serves Parabrahm Purushottam – the Supreme Being, in a two-fold manner.
In his impersonal (amurta) form, he is like the light (prakāshrup) – limitless, and formless (nirākār). Impersonal form is known as ekarasa (homogenous), chaitanya (consciousness), and chidakash (divine-space as against ordinary space). In this form, he is also known as divya (divine) tejomaya (light-like), and Brahm-mahol (abode), and serves God by being God’s supreme divine abode that supports or sustains countless brahmands, akshar-muktas (liberated souls), and Parabrahm (God).
In his personified (murta) form, Aksharbrahm always remains at the service of Parabrahm (God) as His humble servant and never goes away from His eyesight or vision even for a fraction of a second.
Though Purushottam (God) is present everywhere (omnipresent) in His creation, by His inner guiding (antaryāmi), inspiring (prerak), and controlling (niyantā) power, as much as He is present in His Aksharbrahm, He is not present in Prakruti-Purush, Pradhan-Purush, Mahattattva, Virat Narayan, Brahmā, Marichi-like Prajāpati, Kashyap-like Prajāpati, and devatas like Indra, as well as, in Human Beings, animals, birds, insects, plants, and others, respectively. This is known as tāratamya presence of God in His creation.
Purushottam is the cause of Aksharbrahm and Aksharbrahm is the cause of creation. From tiny portion of space (ansh or amsha) of Aksharbrahm Mahapurush is born, which initiates and activates Mahamaya to create countless pairs of Pradhān and Purush. From each pair of Pradhan and Purush, a Virat-Purush (the essence of brahmand), Mahattattva (primordial matter of brahmand), and the whole brahmand (universe) is created. The whole creation is described in detail in Purans and other scriptures of Hinduism.
This Brahmdham or Akshardham, as the abode of Purushottam, is transcendental and beyond even the space-time. The space-time curvature stops there or folds over itself, so that the time (kāl) or the multidimensional and multidirectional space (desh) doesn’t reach there. Universe is limited by the space-time, so that, the nature (maya), and even deeds or actions (karma) doesn’t reach there. Only the souls (jiv or ātmā) free from their three kinds of worldly bodies reach their after becoming brahm-like (brahmrup). Without developing, cultivating, or attaining Brahm-bhāv, (Brahmanization), that is, without becoming brahm-like (brahmrup) even souls cannot reach there and by developing Brahm-bhav even without dying soul enjoys the same bliss and happiness of Brahm and Parabrahm on this very Earth.
Tags:abode, abstract, actions, aging, ākār, akshar, akshar-muktas, Aksharbrahm, Akshardhām, amsha, amurta, animals, ansh, Antaryāmi, anu, asangi, aspects, ātmā, atoms, behavioral patterns, birds, bliss, Brahm, Brahm-bhāv, Brahm-like, Brahm-mahol, Brahmā, brahmand, brahmands, Brahmanization, Brahmdhām, brahmrup, bright, cause, chaitanya, characteristics, Chidākāsh, consciousness, contradictory, controlling, Creation, Darshan, deeds, Desh, devatās, divine, divine-space, divya, duality, Earth, effects, ekarasa, entity, form, formless, forms, gender difference, God, guiding, hair follicle, happiness, Heisenberg, Hinduism, homogenous, human, Human Beings, impersonal, Indra, insects, inspiring, jiv, Kal, Karma, Kashyap-like, liberated, limitless, Mahāmāyā, Mahapurush, Mahattattva, manifest, Marichi-like, matter, maturity, maya, mayik, mood changes, multidimensional, multidirectional, murta, Nature, nirākār, nirākārvādi, nirgun, nirlepa, niyantā, non-associating, non-attaching, non-interacting, non-sticky, omnipresent, ontological element, organ systems, Parabrahm, particle, person, Personal, Personality, personified, phenomenon, Philosophy, physical states, plants, pore, Pradhān, Pradhan-Purush, Prajāpati, prakāsheyukta, prakāshrup, Prakruti-Purush, preferential, prerak, primordial, properties, Purāns, pure, Purush, Purushottam, quantum mechanics, roma, Sachchidanand, sagun, sākār, sākārvādi, Scriptures, servant, Shad Darshan, Shri, Shuddha, souls, space, space-time, Supreme Being, Swaminarayan, swarups, Tāratamya, Tattva, tejomaya, temperaments, time, traits, transcendental, trigunātmik, universe, universes, Vedānta, Virat Narayan, Virat-Purush, visible, wave, wave-particle, worldly
Posted in Brahm - Part III, Hinduism - Philosophies, Navya Vishishtadvaita, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – in General II
In the scriptures Parabrahm, Parameshwar, Paramatma, Purushottam, Narayan, Hari, are all referred to one single entity – the Supreme Being – called “Bhagwan” (God). Brahm the abode of Parabrahm, which is holding and supporting multiple brahmands by its power, is the single penultimate truth of just lesser than equal level of Purushottam (God) and is transcendental to everything else except Parabrahm (God). Purushottam Narayan (God) is forever the Supreme Being – the Ultimate Truth. Sometimes the scriptures have used different words similarly or similar words differently according to the time, place, audience, and other factors. When one studies and understands all the scriptures together than the real meaning becomes apparent. Currently, Swaminarayan philosophy is gaining attentions and interests of many intellectual students of religious philosophy and other intellectual audience of different professions. Even though its’ contemporary origin of only a couple of hundred years compared to the other philosophies of many hundred to a couple of thousand years old, it is increasingly being accepted in the current curriculum of religious philosophies.
Swaminarayan philosophy holds that Jiv, Ishwar, Maya, Brahm, and Parabrahm are the five fundamental eternal realities quite distinct from each other. All of these five realities are described in the scriptures of Hinduism but their true or real meanings and their relationship with each other are explored and explained very first time by Shri Swaminarayan. Before the explanation by Swaminarayan Philosophy, some philosophers believed that both the jivs and ishwar where same or part and partial (amsh-amshi). According to some philosophers Ishwar, Brahm, and Parabrahm were considered as one and the same entity. According to some philosophers Brahm and Parabrahm were considered as the same reality. The five great Acharyas – the proponents of above mentioned philosophies of Hinduism, namely, Shri Shankaracharya, Shri Ramanujacharya, Shri Nimbarkacharya, Shri Madhavacharya, and Shri Vallabhacharya all conclusively inferred that Brahm is the cause of the cosmos, it should be the goal of life for everybody, and the knowledge and the union of soul with Brahm would lead to the Moksh or the final liberation. In Bhagwad Gita there are two separate chapters allocated to Aksharbrahm and Purushottam: Chapter 8 – the Aksharbrahm Yoga and Chapter 15 – the Purushottam yoga. They both describe Akshar Brahm as the abode of Purushottam, which can only be attained by the utmost devotion to Purushottam and by attaining it one never has to come back again in the cycle of births and deaths in this material world. Within Brahm the entire existence is situated and the entire existence is pervaded by it. It should be the ultimate goal for everyone – every soul. In both the chapters, the topmost reality is described as Purushottam, the unparalleled, the one and only, Supreme Being generally known as God. God, who is the controller of other four subordinate realities, has created this Creation in such a way that once it is created He never have to intervene again in its day-to-day activities related to creation, sustenance, and destruction of many different lower levels, from birth, life, and death of a star to those a human being.
Tags:Acharyas, akshar, Aksharbrahm, amsh-amshi, Being, Bhagwad, Bhagwad Gita, Bhagwan, Brahm, Brahm Sutras, brahmands, controller, cosmos, Gita, God, Hari, Ishwar, jagadishwar, jagat, jiv, liberation, Madhavacharya, maya, moksh, Narayan, Nimbarkacharya, Parabrahm, Paramātmā, Parameshwar, penultimate, Prasthan, purushas, Purushottam, Ramanujacharya, religious philosophy, Scriptures, Shankaracharya, souls, Supreme Being, the one and only, Trayi, Truth, ultimate, universal souls, universe, unparalleled, Upanishads, Vallabhacharya, Yoga
Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, In General II, Navya Vishishtadvaita, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Saturday, June 12th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Shuddhadvaita philosophy
Shuddhadvait philosophy of Vallabhacharya:
Pure non-dualism or Suddha Advait (Shuddhadvait) philosophy is given by the 15th century scholar of Hinduism Shri Vallabhacharya (1479-1531). As one may think, the pure non-dualism may mean Advaita or Monism, but it is not. Advaita philosophy of Shankaracharya and Monism of the Western world are different than pure non-dualism. About the relationship between two realities, namely, the world and God, Vallabhacharya believes that God (Brahm) is pure and non-dualistic, but at the same time, unlike Shankaracharya, he strongly believes that the souls and Nature (universe) are not illusion but real. His philosophy is known as Shuddhadvait Brahmvād. This is opposite of Kevala Advait philosophy of Shankaracharya, in which, the world and souls are all considered as one with Brahm. The difference between Advait philosophy of Shankaracharya and the Advait philosophy of Vallabhacharya is that, in Shankaracharya’s philosophy the soul, Nature (universe) and everything else is Brahm but look different because of the illusion created by the ignorance (avidyā) and veil of maya. In Vallabhacharya’s philosophy the soul, Nature (universe) and everything else is real but appears distinct from Brahm until one is totally engrossed in the bhakti of Krishna (God), at that time everything is realized as God, just as Gopis used to see and realized everything as Krishna and nothing but Krishna. Foe example, when they were selling butter they used to see Krishna instead of butter.
Surprisingly, in the non-dualistic philosophy the general belief that God is unparalleled, the one and only is still maintained. Vallabhacharya strongly believed that Brahm means personal God – the Supreme Being and he could not accept the nirgun and nirakar nature of Brahm. He firmly believed that God is in the personal form only so as to accept his devotion and services (seva bhakti). The difference in Vallabhacharya’s tradition and other Vaishnav Acharya’s traditions is in the style of worship or devotion and in the use of specific terminologies. In Vallabhacharya’s tradition, also known as Pushti marg, the initiation to the tradition means “brahmsambandh.” The word “pushti” literary means “the grace of God” and “brahmsambandh,” literary, means the relationship (sambandh) or union of the soul with Brahm (the supreme entity or God). Brahmsambandh is needed to transform the ordinary jiv (soul) to Pushti jiv (pure or graced soul). “Pushti marg” means the path of spiritual nourishment and of the grace of God. The one who is admitted to the Pushti marg gets the kind of purity of one’s soul, which is needed to be eligible to pursue bhakti (meaning, the daily worshiping or services called sevā of the murti (as if it is living deity) which is known as Pushti Swaroop) and relationship with God (Brahm). The pure love for God (Shri Krishna in His child manifestation) is shown through seva (services to God) and smaran (remembering God). In Pushti marg the exclusive rights to grant brahmsambandh are only given to the descendants of Shri Vallabhacharya. In Pushti marg, the enjoyment of God’s bliss and God’s grace are considered as the primary goals of the devotee, seeking the liberation is secondary to it. Achieving the knowledge (gnan) – brahmgnan or atmagnan is not considered as important as the personal services (seva) to God for the liberation.
Vallabhacharya was a contemporary of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Just as Chaitanya’s tradition is known by the Kirtan Bhakti of adult Krishna, Vallabhacharya’s tradition is known by the Seva Bhakti of child Krishna (Lālji). Philosophy wise both traditions – the tradition of Vallabhacharya and the tradition of Chaitanya are almost similar except some minor differences in worshiping. Vallabhacharya’s tradition is known as the path of grace of God or “Pushti Marg.”
According to Vallabhacharya’s philosophy, as with other Vaishnav philosophy, there are also three basic realities: soul, universe, and God. Soul is characteristically not much different than God. However, God or the Supreme Being is believed to be the whole (purna), whereas, individual soul is a part (ansh) of it. Soul, itself, is Brahm with one attribute bliss or happiness (Ānand). It is considered both doer (kartr) and enjoyer (bhoktr). Maya is not regarded as unreal but as real and the power of Ishwar. Ishwar is both the creator and the creation (which includes universe and souls) itself. Brahm desired to become many so He became individual souls and the universe. It is the pure Brahm that is the effect (kārya) and cause (kāran) of this world. According to this philosophy, though the knowledge (gnan) of God is needed, it is the devotion to God or bhakti which is considered as the means of liberation. The philosophy stresses utmost love, devotion (bhakti), activities related to personified God and complete servitude to God rather than aiming the goal for the liberation called “Mukti”. Liberation automatically follows the total surrenderance and devotion. Vallabhacharya’s philosophy considers Brahm as Purushottam (God). Everything that was created from brahm that ultimately ends in the Brahm after dissolution by the time. Souls or living objects are considered as part of Brahm and non-living objects are considered as modifications of Brahm. After death and destruction or dissolution, Soul (jiv) and universe, both mixes with the Brahm. The object of worshiping in this philosophy is Krishna who is considered as Narayan or God himself (Svayam Bhagavan). Krishna is considered as the cause of all avatars including Vishnu. His “Satchitanand” (also called Sachchidananda) form is considered as the Absolute Brahm. His abode is called “Golok” (Goloka) which is consider beyond Vaikunth or Vaikuntha (the abode of Vishnu), Satyalok or Satyaloka (the abode of Brahmā the Creator), and Kailash or Kailas (the abode of Shiv). Thus, God and His abode are considered two separate things. The reason for the creation is considered, according to this philosophy, as no other than the sport (leelā) of Shri Krishna, and is unlike illusion (maya) of Vedanta. The liberation of jiv occurs by God’s grace only, as a result or reward of giving-up of oneself solely with the heart, mind, and body called “Atma-nivedana” and nine kinds of worship called “Navadhā or Nava Vidha Bhakti.”
Tags:Absolute, Advait, Advaita, Ānand, ansh, Atma-nivedana, atmagnan, Avatars, avidyā, bhakti, bhoktr, bliss, Brahm, Brahmā, brahmgnan, brahmsambandh, Brahmvād, cause, chaitanya, Creation, Creator, Darshan, devotee, devotion, dissolution, effect, Gnān, God, Golok, Goloka, Gopis, grace, Hinduism, ignorance, Ishwar, jiv, Kailas, Kailash, kāran, kartr, kārya, Kevala, Kirtan-bhakti, Krishna, Lālji, leelā, liberation, Mahaprabhu, Mārg, maya, Monism, mukti, Narayan, Nature, Nava Vidha, Navadhā, nirākār, nirgun, non-dualism, philosophies, Philosophy, purna, Purushottam, pushti, Pushti marg, Pushti Swaroop, realities, Sachchidananda, sambandh, Satchitanand, Satyalok, Satyaloka, sevā, Seva Bhakti, Shad Darshan, Shankaracharya, Shiv, Shri, Shuddhadvait, Shuddhadvaita, smaran, soul, souls, Suddha, Supreme Being, Svayam Bhagavan, universe, Vaikunth, Vaikuntha, Vaishnav, Vallabhacharya, Vedānta, Vishnu
Posted in Hinduism - Philosophies, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies, Shuddhadvaita philosophy | Comments Closed
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Dvaita philosophy (contd.)
Shuddha Dvait philosophy of Madhavacharya (contd.):
Madhavacharya categorizes unreleased or non-liberated souls into three more or less fixed categories (intrinsic or inherent gradation called “jiva-traividhya”) depending upon their knowledge, power, and bliss. They are: Mukti-yogya (qualified for liberation), Nitya-sansāri (not qualified for the liberation and forever remain in the cycle of rebirth), and Tamo-yogya (condemned to Hell and never get liberated). The idea was to explain plurality of souls and the co-existence of good and evil living entities in the world. Madhavacharya describes the same kinds of intrinsic differences among the liberated souls also, namely, devas (sarva-prakāsh), rishis (antah-prakāsh), and naras (bahir-prakāsh). This kind of ideology (swarup-tāratamya) was unique and not fully supported by the basic Vedic Hindu philosophy of Prasthan Trayi.
It was different than the special titles assigned to some souls by Ramanujacharya, and was not accepted by traditional Hindu philosophers. All souls deserve salvation or liberation limited to their knowledge, behavior, and efforts. Another understanding of Dvaita philosophy which did not get wide acceptance in the mainstream Hinduism was ill-defined or poorly understood “Tāratamya” or “devatā-tārātamya”, meaning, hierarchy among subordinate or minor gods (devatās). According to Madhavacharya’s philosophy, as it is in Ramanujacharya’s philosophy, Vishnu is considered as the Supreme God and Laxmi (the female deity) as His eternal consort. Vishnu is considered as the cause of all Avatars or incarnations of God. Thus, Vaishnavism is also continued in Madhavacharya’s philosophy. In Madhavacharya’s philosophy, Vishnu and Laxmi are placed at the higher level than the level of Brahmā, Shiv, and Vayu god but, with that, other demigods, such as, Surya, Chandra, Indra, Varun, etc. were also placed at different hierarchically lower levels. This was also less acceptable for the Hinduism of that period. According to Madhavacharya all souls, although ontologically identical, are different in potential. Demigods or devas are not of God category so they are of jiv category but according to devata-taratamya they are of different hierarchical levels – higher than ordinary souls of all living beings. One important concept introduced by Madhavacharya was, to maintain the supremacy of God and to maintain the hierarchy; Vishnu was paced at the highest level being completely divine having no worldly body. Vishnu as Shri Hari is considered as sarvottama (the Supreme Being). Laxmi was placed at just a little lower level categorizing her as akshar (imperishable) having indestructible (aprākrut) body as against the mundane (prākrut) bodies of other entities like Brahmā, demigods or devas, and jivas that are destructible or kshar (perishable). This was the indirect or unintentional beginning of separation of Akshar, the penultimate element from God, the ultimate element, but no one could realize it at that time.
Basically, except some minor differences, Madhavacharya accepts the basic understanding of Vaishnava philosophy of Ramanujacharya and also stresses more on Bhakti (devotion) or worshiping. The followers of Ramanujacharya worship Vishnu as Narayan, Sriman Narayan, or Shri Lakshmi-Narayan (it is a one word used for Narayan Himself only, with Lakshmi residing in His heart), whereas the followers of Madhavacharya worship Vishnu as Krishna, Bāla-Gopāla (young Krishna), Bāl-Gopāl-Krishna, Venugopala Krishna or Radha-Krishna (it is also a one word used for Krishna Himself only, with Radha residing in His heart). Until Madhavacharya’s period God was worshiped alone. Shiv, Vishnu, Pārvati (Devi), and Lakshmi were worshiped by themselves alone. Madhavacharya started worshiping Krishna alone and later on worshiping Krishna with his choicest bhakta Arjun was started. Initially, during the Madhavacharya’s period conjugal love (premlakshanā bhakti) in worshiping Krishna with Radha was not fully developed, it was added later on and by the time of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu it had reached to a higher level. Thus, Vishnu’s worship as a young innocent Krishna was turned into fully Krishna’s worship with Radha by a devotee showing an utmost love that only spouse can show towards her partner by Chaitanya’s period.
In Madhavacharya’s period Karmis (those who believe more in Karmas), Gnānis (those who just believe more in tattva-gnan or just philosophy), and Māyāvādis (those who believed in impersonal God) were all freely respected along with truly devotees who as well believe in utmost devotion (bhakti). In Hinduism, devotion (bhakti) is always placed higher than the philosophical knowledge only. Knowing philosophy only without having the devotion attached to it has no value. Also merely blind devotion without knowing whom one worships is also of no value. Hinduism believes in both, the philosophical knowledge of the Truth and the utmost devotion (bhakti) to the Supreme God. Madhavacharya’s period also marks the beginning of worshiping Krishna (the latest and greatest form or incarnation of Purushottam – God) as the principal object of worship from worshiping Vishnu (Narayan) as the principal object of worship in Ramanujacharya’s period.
Madhavacharya maintains that Brahm referred to God (Vishnu) by saying “Brahmashabdashcha vaishnaveva”, thus identifying Brahm with God. That period was unifying Brahm with God or unifying Shaivism with Vaishnavism or rather tending towards replacing Brahm with God. One can see that in the story of Lord “Ananteshwara.” Lord Vishnu, during the period of incarnation as Parashurāma, stayed and enshrined in the Shivalinga and being known as Ananteshwara. The place is known as Shivarupya or Shivalli (Udupi). Although Madhavacharya’s philosophy (Dvaita) was strongly against or exactly opposite of Shankaracharya’s philosophy (Advaita), he himself worshiped Shivalinga as Vishnu in the form of Ananteshwara. Also he respected or rather highly regarded Brāhmins irrespective of their worship to Lord Shiva or Lord Vishnu. At the same time, Madhavacharya goes one step further in separating Vishnu from other deities, establishing further the monotheistic nature of Hinduism. According to him Vishnu is the Supreme God and the primary object of worship, whereas, other deities are subordinate to him. Thus, he translates Hinduism from polytheism to monotheism and adds one more distinction between deities (Devas) or so-called demigods and God proper reestablishing or revitalizing the supremacy of God. The important contribution of Dvaita philosophy of Madhavacharya to Hinduism is that Atma and Brahm (also known as Vishnu or God) are eternally and ontologically two different realities, one is subordinate to the supreme other, respectively – a big and daring separation, at that time, from the Advaita philosophy of Shankaracharya and still maintain unity between Shaivism and Vaishnavism. This is the beauty of Hinduism. Brahm and Parabrahm (God) were still considered a one and the same reality in that period. Brahm was tried to be concealed away by promoting Parabrahm (God). In essence, according to Dvaita philosophy of Madhavacharya, there exist three clear-cut fundamental eternal realities, soul, Nature (universe), and God quite distinct from each other and not the part and parcel (ansh-anshi) of each other. The distinction between God and Brahm was still left-off for the future. Both were used synonymously.
Tags:Advaita, akshar, Ananteshwara, ansh-anshi, antah-prakāsh, ātmā, Avatars, bahir-prakāsh, Bāl-Gopāl-Krishna, Bāla-Gopāla, bhakti, body, Brahm, Brahmā, Brahmins, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Chandra, consort, cycle of rebirth, Darshan, deities, deity, demigods, devas, devatā-tārātamya, devatās, Devi, devotion, divine, Dvait, Dvaita, element, eternal, Gnānis, God, Hari, Hell, hierarchy, Hindu, Hinduism, Imperishable, incarnations, Indra, jiva-traividhya, jivas, Karmas, Karmis, Krishna, kshar, Lakshmi, Lakshmi-Narayan, Laxmi, liberation, Madhavacharya, Māyāvādis, Monotheism, Mukti-yogya, naras, Narayan, Nitya-sansāri, Parashurāma, Pārvati, penultimate, perishable, philosophies, Philosophy, polytheism, Prasthan Trayi, premlakshanā bhakti, Rādhā, Radha-Krishna, Ramanujacharya, Rishis, sarva-prakāsh, sarvottama, Shad Darshan, Shaivism, Shankaracharya, Shiv, Shivalinga, Shivalli, Shivarupya, Shri, Shuddha, souls, Sriman Narayan, Supreme God, Surya, swarup-tāratamya, Tamo-yogya, Tāratamya, tattva-gnan, Truth, Udupi, ultimate, Vaishnava, Vaishnavism, Varun, Vāyu, Vedānta, Vedic, Venugopala Krishna, Vishnu, worldly, worshiping
Posted in Dvaita philosophy (contd.), Hinduism - Philosophies, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Dvaitadvaita philosophy (contd.)
Dvaitadvait philosophy of Nimbarkacharya (contd.):
Nimbarkacharya’s philosophy believes in three categories of souls, namely, baddha (means, bounded by sansār or māyā), baddha mukta (means, liberated from the bondage of sansar or maya), and nitya mukta (means, forever liberated or who never came into this sansar or maya, can be called as anādi mukta). “…muktancha baddham kila baddhamuktam, prabheda bahulya mathapi boddhyam ||” (Vedant Dash-Shloki by Nimbarkacharya: Shlok: 2)
Secondly, according to Nimbarkacharya’s philosophy, everything is done or achieved by the grace of God (Ishwar Krupā).
Nimbarkacharya believes that God and Brahm are not different and maintains worshiping personified God. Like Ramanujacharya who believed in and worshiped Vishnu (Narayan) as Sriman Narayan – the spouse (pati or nāth) of Laxmi (also spelled Lakshmi), as the Godhead of the universe, Nimbarkacharya also believed in Lakshmi-Narayan and worshiped Him as Shri Hari, Gopāl, Mādhav, Krishna etc. specifically with his consort Rādhā, both surrounded by a group of Gopis as their devotees (bhakta) in the divine place called Vrindāvan dham. In Nimbarkacharya’s period Radha was not worshiped as the consort of Shri Krishna (Krishna’s principal wife was Rukmani) just as Lakshmi was the consort of Vishnu, but Radha was worshiped as Krishna’s dearest, topmost, and true devotee or bhakta. Radha is considered the latent power (Shakti) of Krishna (Shaktimān). Both cannot be separated. “Upāsaniyam nitram janayhi sadā, prahannaye agyāna tamo anuvratte | Sanandadhyir munibhisthoktam, shrināradayakhila tatva sakshine ||” (Vedant Dash-Shloki by Nimbarkacharya: Shlok: 6) Meaning, “One should constantly reside in and meditate upon this dual (yugal) form of bhakta and Bhagwan (Parabrahm) – Shri Radha-Krishna. Mere concentrating or contemplating on them removes the basic ignorance. Shri Sanakādik Rishis had bestowed this very same knowledge to Shri Nārada.” “Radhayo sahito devo madhvo vaishavottamaih, archyo bandyashcha dhyeyashcha shrinimbarkapadanugaih ||” (Shri Nimbarka-Sudha) Meaning, “For the followers of Shri Nimbarkacharya, the worshiping form is “Radha sahita Madhava” (uttam bhakta sahita Bhagwan), which should be worshiped, prayed to, and meditated upon.”
Thus, Nimbarkacharya’s philosophy suggests a major change in Hinduism in the way of worshiping God, in two ways. One, worshiping the current or present form of God (Krishna) is valued more in salvation than worshiping the past form of God (Vishnu). Secondly, worshiping God with His dearest, nearest, and truest devotee or bhakta is more important than worshiping God alone. This kind of worshiping of God with His choicest and the best devotee (bhakta) is known as “Yugal Upāsanā”.
Nimbarkacharya writes in the “Dash-Shloki” on the worship of Radha-Krishna:
“Ange tu vāme Vrishabhānujām mudā, virājamānam anuroopsoubhagām | Sakhi sahastraihi pari sevitām sadā, smarema devim sakaleashta kāmadām ||”(Vedant Dash-Shloki by Nimbarkacharya: Shlok: 5) Meaning, “We remember Radha (the daughter of King Vrishabh) – the most beautiful and as glorious as Shri Krishna, who is on the left side (vame) of Him, and who is served or worshiped by thousands of sakhis (bhaktas).”
According to Nimbarkacharya, the devotion means total self-surrenderance or complete submission to God known as prapatti, also known as sharanāgati or nyasa. Prapatti should have five or six constituents or qualities (angas) fulfilled: 1. Anukulasya sankalpa – resolution of total submission to God, to do only things that pleases God, 2. Pratikulasya varjanam – avoidance of all negatives in submission, not to entertain any bad thoughts, not to do anything that displeases God, 3. Maha Vishwas (Rakshisyati iti vishwasa) – faith that only God shall provide protection and grant liberation (moksh), acceptance of only God as the savior, 4. Gopatratva varanam – praying for the protection and granting salvation (moksha), 5. Atmanikshepa – total sacrifice of one’s self to God, to leave everything up to God (ātma nivedanam, ātma samarpan, bhāra samarpan, and phala samarpan), 6. Karpanya – feeling of helplessness or incapability to perform bhakti or devotion and to get salvation by one’s own efforts only and without the grace of God.
In Nimbarkacharya’s philosophy, as a personified God, the Lord of all, the controller of all, the Highest Reality, is known as Hari, Narayan, or Krishna (God). As the sole cause of creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe, as the basic material cause (upādāna) and the efficient cause (nimitta) it is known as Brahm.
In Nimbarkacharya’s philosophy, Brahm is believed to be the sole cause of the creation. Nimbarkacharya describes two aspects of Brahm. In one aspect Brahm is eternal, transcendental, the greatest, and the creator of all. In another aspect it is abode of all good virtues, qualities, beauty, bliss and charm. Brahm as God have four nirgun forms or “vyuh”, namely, Vāsudev, Sankarshan, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha. Vāsudev Narayan is considered as the original form. (It looks like the word “view” may have origin in the word vyuh (also spelled as vyuha.) In worshiping God, Dvaitadvait philosophy is also a bhakti marg. Later philosophies does not differ much in philosophical (tāttvik) aspect, that is, number, status, or relationships of the three realities, of Hinduism but it mainly differ in the worshiping aspect of Hinduism, that is, the form of worshiping deity (ishtadev) and the way of worshiping.
Tags:abode, anādi mukta, angas, Aniruddha, Anukulasya sankalpa, ātma nivedanam, ātma samarpan, Atmanikshepa, baddha, baddha mukta, Bhagwan, bhakta, bhakta sahita Bhagwan, bhaktas, bhakti, Bhakti Mārg, bhāra samarpan, Brahm, cause, Creation, Dash-Shloki, deity, destruction, devotees, dham, divine, dual, Dvaitadvait, Dvaitadvaita, forms, God, Godhead, Gopal, Gopatratva varanam, Gopis, grace of God, Hari, Hinduism, ishtadev, Ishwar Krupā, iti, Karpanya, Krishna, Lakshmi, Lakshmi-Narayan, Laxmi, liberation, Lord, Mādhav, Maha Vishwas, maintenance, maya, moksh, moksha, Nārada, Narayan, nāth, Nimbarka-Sudha, Nimbarkacharya, nimitta, nirgun, nitya mukta, nyasa, Parabrahm, pati, personified, phala samarpan, philosophies, Philosophy, Pradyumna, prapatti, Pratikulasya varjanam, Rādhā, Radha sahita Madhava, Radha-Krishna, Rakshisyati, Ramanujacharya, realities, Rishis, Rukmani, sakhis, salvation, Sanakādik, Sankarshan, sansār, Shad Darshan, shakti, Shaktimān, sharanāgati, Shlok, Shri, souls, Sriman Narayan, tāttvik, universe, upādāna, uttam, vāme, Vāsudev, Vedant, Vedānta, Vishnu, vishwasa, Vrindāvan, Vrishabh, Vyuh, vyuha, worshiping, yugal, Yugal Upāsanā
Posted in Dvaitadvaita philosophy (contd.), Hinduism - Philosophies, Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies | Comments Closed
