Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

encyclopedia

Supreme Being as the cause of the Universe and as possessing

various attributes gives to the Ramanuja school of Vedanta a theistic

character.

Ramanuja was not as brilliant a metaphysician as Shankara but

his ideas spread all over India and gave rise to many theistic Vedan-

tic devotional schools which helped to spread Hinduism.

Shankara's philosophy though it afforded spiritual comfort to

many did not satisfy those in every age who hunger for a God whom

they can love and worship. Shankara's Brahman is too much of an

abstraction to be the object of love and worship. Shankara's philoso-

phy touches such dizzy heights of abstraction that it becomes dif-

ficult, if not impossible, for most men to comprehend or to accept

it. Ramanuja's God was a personal being who was full of love for

his creation, unlike the impersonal world soul of Shankara. Ramanuja

argues that the individual soul was one with God but yet separate

and that the highest ideal and the ultimate goal is complete surrender

to God. Therefore the system of Ramanuja is called Visistadvaita

or qualified monism.

After the death of Ramanuja his followers split into two schools:

the

Uttara-Kalarya

(Northern School) and the

Dakshina-Kalarya

(Southern School). The theologians of the former school argued that

some effort on the part of the believer was needed for salvation. The

latter argued that God saves whom he wills with no effort on their

part.

Madhwa (1199-1278) attacked Shankara's theory of

maya

and

based his philosophy of dualism (

dvaita

) on the idea of differences

which are five in number: difference between God and individual

souls, between soul and soul, between soul and non-living matter,

between God and matter and between matter and matter.

The world is real because it is perceived as such. The objects

presented to our perception may be either subject to change or not

subject to change and the fact that an object is fleeting and change-

able does not mean that it is not real.

Madhwa was also a Vaishnavite who declared that Vishnu has

full power over both soul and matter. Only those who live pure and

moral lives can be saved. Evil souls are predestined to eternal

damnation while souls of mediocre quality will transmigrate eter-

nally. The belief of Madhwa that only a few attain salvation while

the rest cannot and some even suffer damnation is contrary to the

teachings of all other Indian religious schools.

Among the other theistic schools of

Vedanta,

there are the

schools of Nimbarka (12th Century), Vallabha (15th Century) and

Chaitanya (16th Century). Nimbarka's philosophy emphasised both

identity and difference of the world and finite souls with

Brahman.

Vallabha's philosophy is called pure nondualism. He adopted

Shankara's view with greater stress on the personal God and His

grace. Chaitanya founded Vaishnavism in Bengal. His life was

characterised by emotional fervour towards Sri Krishna, the incar-

nation of Vishnu. All the schools were theistic and practised fervent

devotion to God in the form of Lord Krishna.

Among the theistic schools of philosophy, there are the realis-

tic, dualistic, idealistic and monistic schools of Shaivism. The

former, the

Shaiva-Siddhanta

school of Tamil Nadu, rejected Shank-

ara's non-dualism: the world and souls are real and emancipation

requires the grace of Shiva.

The

Shaiva-Siddhanta

school recognises three categories

(

padarthas

): God (Shiva), Soul

(pashu

) and the bonds

(Pasha);

and

the 36 principles (

tattvas)

as against 25 of the

Sankhya

and

Yoga.

PHILOSOPHY

These 36 are divided into three groups :

the five pure principles

Shiva tattva

(the essence .of Shiva)

is the first of these and is the cause of the rest -

Shakti

(power),

Sadashiva

(the eternal good),

ishvara

(lord) and

Shuddvidya

(true knowledge).

the seven mixed principles -

maya,

five sheaths (destiny,

time, attachment, knowledge and power) and

purusha

or self.

24 impure principles beginning with

prakriti

(this list is the

same as that of

Sankhya).

Bonds are of three kinds:

maya,

Karma

and

avidya.

The world and souls are real and

emancipation requires the grace of Shiva. The Shaiva-

Siddhanta rejected Shankara’s non-dualism and insisted on

the preservation of the individuality of the finite soul even

in the state of emancipation. The released souls continue to

exist as souls.

In contrast the idealistic and monistic school of Shaivism devel-

oped in Kashmir and became known as Kashmir Shaivism. The

individual soul of a person is identical with Shiva. Recognition of

identity is essential to liberation.

Kashmir Shaivism emphasised the importance of knowledge

(jnana) as the means of release. The removal of this ignorance has

to be worked through discipline

carya

(observance),

kriya

(rites) and

yoga.

It is knowledge that removes the sorrows of the soul. Based

on the esoteric spiritual texts of the Tantras rather than the Vedas,

Kashmir Shaivism produced a series of great teachers the most

outstanding of whom was Abhinavagupta (10th century).

(M.P.Y.K)

JAINISM

Jainism is fundamentally atheistic in that while not denying the

existence of gods, it refuses them a place as “creators” in the universal

scheme. The world functions according to universal law. It is not

created, maintained or destroyed by a single deity. The universe is

eternal, its existence is divided into an infinite number of cycles, each

consisting of a period of improvement and decline. The world is now

in a period of decline but it will be followed by a period of improve-

ment, followed by decline and so on for all time.

Jainism (divides the world into the realms of the inanimate, the

non-soul non-living substance, (

ajiva)

and the animate substance

(jiva).

The former comprises five categories, modes and substances

— space (

akasha

), movement

(dharma),

rest (

adharma

), time

(kala),

and matter

(pudgala).

Matter (earth, water, fire and air) is composed

of atoms

(anu)

which cannot be further broken down or divided.

Shade and light, sounds and notes are also regarded as matter.

To the realm of the animate

(jiva)

belongs the soul in its pure

state

(atman)

and the soul in association with its body

(samsari jiva).

The terms

atman

and

jiva

both denote the same soul according as

it exists in a pure state or in a condition of incarnation. All

atmans

are alike. They are eternal, endowed with consciousness, omniscient,

free from sorrow and perfect.

The

jivas,

because they exist in bodies, are different.

The pure

atman

remains a

jiva

because of the deposit of matter,

invisible to the eye, on the

atman,

in the same way as grains of dust

settle on and cloud a bright, oily surface. The

atman

remains a

jiva,

a physical being subject to the cycle of rebirths (

Samsara

) ever-

renewed suffering. Jainism regards as animate objects which other

schools of thought regard as inanimate. Apart from human beings

and animals, plants, stones, rocks, running water and many other

natural objects are regarded as

jivas.