ShuddhAdv

ait
a:Val
labhachar
ya

Thephi l
osophyofSr iVall
abhacharyaisSuddha-Advaitaorpuremoni sm,because
hedoesnotadmi tMay al i
keSankara,andbel i
evesthatthewholewor l
dofmat t
er
andsoul sisr ealandi sonlyasubt l
eform ofGod.Thosewhobr i
ngMay aforthe
explanat
ionoft hewor l
dar enotpur eAdv ai
ti
ns,becausetheyadmi tasecondt o
Brahmin.Vallabhahol dsthatBrahmancancr eatetheworldwithoutanyconnect
ion
withsuchapr inci
pleasMay a,butSankaratr
acestheuniversetoBrahmanthrough
thepowerofMay a.Hencet hephi l
osophyofVal l
abhaiscal l
edpur emonism or
Suddhadv ai
ta.

Hi
st heorycanbeplacedbet
weenAdv
ait
aandt
heot
herVedant
icschool
s,namel
y
Vi
sishtadvai
taandDvait
a.

Vall
abhaoffer
edat heisti
cint
erpret
ationoftheVedantainwhichBr ahmanandt he
univer
seareoneandt hesame, andtheuniv
ersei sanatur
alemanat ionfr
om God
thatdoesnotinvolveanynotionofchange.Thr oughHiswi l
lBr ahmanmani fests
Himselfasmat t
erandassoul s,reveali
nghi
snat ureofExi
stence,Knowledge,and
Bli
ssinvar
yingproport
ions.

Theconceptof‘ pushtibhakt i
'whichisVal l
abahacharya'scontr
ibut
iont oVedant a
l
iterature,hasbeenbot ht hemeansandt heendofenqui r
y(pushtimar ga),which
alonel eadst heseekeront hepat htoliberat
ion.ForVal l
abhacharya,Bhakti,not
Jnana,i sthemeanst ol iberat
ionandBhakt i
,accordingt ohim,coul dbebot h
nirgunaandsaguna—t hef ormerwhendirectedtowardsLor dKri
shna( theSupreme
Being)andt helat
terwhenshownt owardsothers.Iti
snirgunaBhaktithatleadsone
toliberati
on, wi
thdivi
negr ace.

Accor
dingt
otheUpani
shadsBr
ahmanmadet
hewor
ldoutofi
tsel
f.

 Advai
tai
nter
pretsthi
sasthere'
snor
ealmodif
icat
ion(par
inaama)ofBrahman
i
ntotheuniv
erseandt hatthemani
fest
ati
onofBr ahmanast heuniv
er sei
s
onl
yanappearance(vi
vart
a).

 I
nVal l
abhachar
ya’
sphiosophyt
l hesoul
,Nature(uni
verse)andeveryt
hingel se
i
sr ealbutappear
sdist
inctfr
om Brahm unti
loneist ot
all
yengrossedi nthe
bhaktiofKri
shna(God),atthatti
meev ery
thi
ngi sreali
zedasGod,j ustas
Gopisusedtoseeandreali
zedevery
thi
ngasKr i
shnaandnot hi
ngbutKr ishna.
Forexample,whentheyweresell
ingbutt
ertheyusedt oseeKrishnainstead
Mi
tr
a'sI
AS:52, I
II
rdFloor,
OldRajinderNagarMkt .
,NewDel
hi
8826469839,9560928172,011-45505509
 ofbut
ter
.

 Vall
abhaholdsthatthemanif
estati
onisreal
.Butagaini
tisnotpari
naamaas
thi
smanifestat
iondoesn'
tinv
olveanychangeort r
ansfor
mationinBrahman.
Thisvi
ew ofVal l
abhawhichist akesami ddl
epl acebetweenv i
vart
aand
pari
naamaiscal l
edavi
krt
apari
naamav aada.

Vall
abhar ej
ectstherelat
ionofsamav aayabetweensubst anceandattr
ibuteand
advocatestadaatmayaori dent
it
y .Att
ri
but
esar eidenti
caltot hesubstanceand
eff
ectsareidenti
calt
othecause.Thesubstancereal
lyappearsastheatt
ri
butesand
thecausereall
yappearsastheeffect
.

AsBr ahmani stheinherentmateri

alcauseofthi
swor
ldheisi
dent
icalwit
hthe
eff
ect( t
heuniverse)butstil
lasfarasBr ahmani
sconcer
nedt
hemani f
est
ati
on
doesn'ti
nvol
veanychangei nhim.

Brahmani salsotheeffici
entcause.Hemani festshimsel
fastheuniversewithout
undergoinganychange.Cr eati
onbasical
lymeansmani f
est
ati
onofBr ahmani nto
the univer
se wit
houti nvol
v i
ng anychange in Brahman and di
ssol
ution means
withdrawalofthi
smani fest
ationbyBrahmani ntohimself
.Li
kesparksspringforth
from fir
e,t
heuniver
sespr i
ngsf or
thf
rom Brahman.Justli
kecott
onspreadsi t
selfas
threads,Br
ahmanspr eadshimselfasthisuni
verse.

GOD,
SOULSANDMATTER

BrahmanisShr iKri
shnaandhi sessenceissat-chi
t-
ananda-exist
ence,knowledge
andbli
ss.Matterandsoulsar ehispartsandrealmanifest
ati
ons.Heistheabodeof
al
lgoodqualit
iesandincludesev enseemingl
ycont r
aryones-heissmallerthanthe
small
est,
greaterthanthegreatest,
oneaswel lasmany .

I
tisbyhispowerormay at hathemanifest
shi
msel
fast hi
sdiver
seuniver
se
r
eveal
i
nghi
snat
uresofexi
stence,
knowl
edgeandbl
i
ssi
ndif
fer
entpr
oport
ions.

 Fr
om hi
snat
ureasexi
stence,
sat
,spr
ingsf
ort
hli
fe(
prana)
,sensesandbodi
es.

 Fr
om hi
snatur
eofknowledge,
chi
t,spr
ingsf
ort
hinf
ini
teat
omi
csoul
swhi
ch
ar
ethesubj
ect
sofbondage.

 Andfrom hi
snat
ureasbl
iss,
Ananda,spr
ingf
ort
htheant
ary
aamins(
inner
cont
rol
ler
s)whoaret
hepresi
dingdei
ti
esofthesoul
sandareasmanyi n
Mi
tr
a'sI
AS:52, I
II
rdFloor,
OldRajinderNagarMkt .
,NewDel
hi
8826469839,9560928172,011-45505509
 numberast
hesoul
s.

Godisthesupremeantaryaamin-t heinnerruleroftheuniver
se.Inthemat erial
worl
donlytheexi
stence(sat)aspectofGodi smani f
estedwhil
eknowl edgeand
bl
issar
eobscur
ed.Inthesouls,sat&chi
t,existenceandknowledgearemani f
ested
whil
ebl
issi
sobscur
ed.Intheantaryaami
nsall t
het hr
eeaspect
saremanifested.

Allthethr
eef orms-j agat,
jivaandantar
yaamins-areessent
iall
yident
icalwithGod.
Whi l
ejagatisdi ssi
milarfr
om him( v
ij
aatiy
a),t
heji
vasaresimilartohi
m( saj
aati
ya)
andt heantar
y aaminsar einsi
dehim( sv
agata)
.Hepervadesallthefor
mswhi chare
non-dif
fer
entf r
om him.Ther e'snodi
ffer
enceeit
herhomogeneousorhet erogeneous
orinter
nali
nGod.

Jagati
sdi f
ferentf
rom samsar
a.Jagatistherealmani
fest
ati
onofGod,whil
e
samsar
aist hecycl
eofbirt
hsanddeathsi
maginedbythesoulduet
oignor
ance
whichi
sfi
vefol
d:

1.i
gnor
anceofi
tsr
eal
nat
ure,

2.f
alsei
dent
if
icat
ionwi
tht
hebody
,

3.f
alsei
dent
if
icat
ionwi
tht
hesenses,

4.f
alsei
dent
if
icat
ionwi
tht
hev
ital
breat
hsand

5.wi
tht
hemi
nd.

Wit
hthedawnofknowledgeignor
ancevanishesandwi
thi
tvani
shessamsar
a.But
j
agatbei
ngar
ealmani
festat
ionofGod,endures.

Thesoulasiti
sapartofGodisident
icalwit
hhim andonl
yappear
sasdif
fer
entdue
tot
heli
mi t
edmani
festat
ionsofsomedivineaspect
sandobscur
ati
onofot
hers.

Li
ber
ati
on

Vall
abhadi sti
nguishesbetweenj agatorpr
apancha,therealmani festati
onofGod;
andsamsar a,
thecy cl
eofbi r
thsanddeaths.Samsaraisi
magi nedbyt hesoul,whi
ch
suff
ersf r
om f i
ve-
foldignorance:I
gnoranceoftherealnatureoft hesoul ;andfal
se
i
dentif
icati
onwi ththebody ,wit
ht hesenses,wit
ht hevitalbreaths,andwi t
hthe
i
nternalor gans.Wi t
ht he dawn ofknowl edge,ignorance v anishes,and with
i
t,samsara.

Accor
dingtoVall
abha,bhakt
i,afi
rm andal
l
-sur
passi
ngaf
fect
ion(sneha)f
orGod,
wit
haf ul
lsenseofHisgreat
ness,i
stheonl
ymeansofsal
vaton.Bhakt
i imeansan
Mi
tr
a'sI
AS:52, I
II
rdFloor,
OldRajinderNagarMkt .
,NewDel
hi
8826469839,9560928172,011-45505509
attachmentt oGodwhi chpresupposesdet achmentf r
om ev erythingelse.Itisnot
knowl edge,orwor ship,butaf f
ecti
onand l ov i
ng ser
viceofGod.Thef eeli
ng of
onenesswi thGodisnoti t
scul minat
ion;thef eeli
ngofaffecti
onisgai nedthroughthe
grace of God,whi ch i s at t
racted by pur it
y of hear t
.I n ot her Vedant i
c
school s,bhaktii
sat t
ainedt hroughmaki ngef for
ttodest royi
ndividualsin.InPusti-
mar ga, bhaktii
sattai
nedsi mplybyt hegr aceofGod,whi chautomat i
call
ydest r
oys
si
n.God,pl easedbyt hedev otiontakest hedev oteewithinHimsel f
,orbr i
ngshi m
neart oenjoyt hesweet nessofhi sservi
ce.

Achi
nty
aBhedaAbheda:Chai
tany
aMahapr
abhu

Her
e“Achi
nty
a”meansi
nconcei
vabl
e.

BothBheda( di
fference)andAbheda(oneness)arepr
esentbetweenSupremeLor d
andIndi
vidualbeings,buthow thesetwoarereconci
l
ed,cannotbeunder stoodby
merelogicalthinking.Si
multaneousdif
fer
enceandi dent
it
yofsakti(energy)and
sakt
iman( ener
getic)cannotbecomprehendedbymer elogi
c.Theref
ore,i
tiscall
ed
aci
ntyaorinconceivabl
e.

Caitanya stated thatt he pr i

nci
ples ofoneness and di ffer
ence ar einherentl
y
i
nsepar able,thatt heyal waysexistsimul t
aneously,and t hatthei
rsi multaneous
existence li
es att he cor e ofallmet aphysi
cs.He f urthermore stated t
hatt he
simul t
aneousexi stenceofonenessandmany -nessi scalledAcintyai nSanskr i
t,
whi chmeans“ inconcei
v able”.I
nconcei
v abi
li
tyimpli
est hatt hi
saspectofr eali
tyis
i
nconcei vabletothehumanandf i
nit
emi nd,andtranscendst hepri
nciplesoflogic.

Acint
yaBhedabhedaTattvashoul
dnotbeconsi dered‘i
ll
ogical’
,butr atheritshould
beconsi
dered‘supr
alogi
cal’
.Thedi
ff
erenceisthatwhi l
easupr alogicalprincipl
emay
appeart
odef ythel
awsofl ogi
c,t
heprinci
pleitsel
fcanbeper ceivedandv erif
iedby
meansofdirectper
cepti
on,andhasanempi r
icalfoundati
on.Assucht hepr incipl
eof
Acint
yaBhedabhedaTattvacanbeobservedinmanyphenomenonandoccur r
ences
i
nthisworl
d.

Forexampl
e,t
hespatialpercept
ionofanobj
ect,sayacoin.Whi
let
hecoinisone,i
t
hasmanysides,aninsideaswel lasanout
side,anupsideanddownside.These
di
ffer
entsi
des establ
ish an elementofmany -ness wit
hint
he obj
ect,thatis
Mi
tr
a'sI
AS:52, I
II
rdFloor,
OldRajinderNagarMkt .
,NewDel
hi
8826469839,9560928172,011-45505509
si
mul
taneousl
yper
cei
vedasoneobj
ect
.

Ulti
mat elythephilosophyofAci nt y
aBhedabhedaTat t
vaexpl ai
nst her elati
onship
between God and Hi s creation,and mor e specifi
cally,ital so expl ains the
rel
ationshipbet weenGodandl ivingent i
ti
es,suchasour selv
es.Thephi losophyof
AcintyaBhedabhedaTat tvast atest hatthisrelati
onshipt oo,ischar act er
izedby
simultaneousonenessanddi ff
er ence.Wear eonewi thGodi naqual itati
v esense,
howev erwear ediff
erentquant itati
vely.I
nquant i
tyGodi sinfinit
eandwear ef i
nit
e.
Itist hereforeami staket o assume,assomeI ndi
an school soft houghthav e
advocat ed,thatmani si denti
calt oGod,andf undament all
yonewi thHi mi nevery
respect.Wear enotGod,mer elysmal lpartsofGod,wi th al i
mi t
ed degr eeof
i
ndependence.

I
nt hi
ssensei ti
spanenthei
st icasinnowaydoesi tdenythesepar at eexist
enceof
God( Vishnu)i
nHi sownper sonal f
orm.Howev er
,atthesamet i
me, cr eati
on(orwhat
i
st er
medi nVaishnavatheol ogyast he'cosmi cmanifest
ati
on')isnev erseparat
ed
from God.Heal waysexer cisessupr emecont roloverhiscr eati
on.Somet imes
directl
y,butmostoft hetimei ndi
rect
lythroughhi sdi
ffer
entpot enciesorener gi
es
(Prakrti
).Examplesaregivenofaspi derandi tsweb;earthandpl antsthatcome
forthandhairont hebodyofhumanbei ng.

I
tcan be under st
ood as an i
ntegr
ati
on oft he str
ictduali
st(dvai
ta)theology
ofMadhvacharyaandthequali
fi
edmoni sm (vi
shi
shtadvai
ta)ofRamanuja,r
eject
ing
theabsol
utenon-dual
i
sm (adv
ait
a)ofAdi Shankar
a.

AcintyaBhedabhedaTat t
vaal so shedsl ighton thei denti
tyofGod Hi mself.It
maintains thatwhi le God isat ranscendentalPer son,he i s simultaneously
i
mper sonalaswel l
.Ther elat
ionshi
pbet weent heper sonalandi mper sonaltoohas
beent hesubj ectofmanyphi losophicalarguments.Whi l
econsci ousnessandf orm
representtheper sonalaspectofGod,i nfini
tyandal l-
per v
asivenessr epr
esentthe
i
mper sonalaspect ,whi ch attr
ibut
es appearcont radictory.Acintya Bhedabheda
Tattvamai ntainsthattheybot hexi stsimul t
aneously,andt hattheycompl ement
eachot her
.Godi ssimultaneouslyf ul
loff orm andf ormless,f i
nit
eandi nf
ini
te,
personalandi mpersonal.

Theindi
vidualsoul
sandsuper
soularesamei nqual
i
tybutdi
ff
erenti
nquanti
tyj
ust
l
ikesunandi t
’sray
sorgol
dandit
’spart
icl
es.Thuswe(i
ndi
vi
dualsoul
s)andGodare
dif
fer
entaswel l
assame.

Apar t
icl
eofgoldi sal
sogol d,adr opofwat erfrom theoceanisalsosalty,and
si
milar
lywetheliv
ingenti
ti
es,beingpar tandparceloft
hesupremecont r
oll
er,
īśv ara,
orBhagavān,LordŚrīKṛṣṇa,hav eallthequaliti
esoft heSupremeLordinmi nute
quanti
tybecausewear emi nut
eī śv
ar as,subordi
nateīśvar
as.Forexample:at ree
Mi
tr
a'sI
AS:52, I
II
rdFloor,
OldRajinderNagarMkt .
,NewDel
hi
8826469839,9560928172,011-45505509
carr
iessomanyleaves,f
rui
tset
c.Fr
om adist
ancetheymayl ookonewitht
hetree
butwhenwecomecl oserwetheyseeeachleaforfr
uithasitsownident
it
y.But
ther
eexist
encedependsonl
yonthetree.

Wear et r
yingtocontr
olnatur
e,aspresent
lywearet
ryi
ngtocontr
olspaceorpl
anet
s,
andt hi
st endencytocontr
olisther
ebecauseiti
sinKṛṣṇa.Butal
thoughwehavea
tendencyt olor
ditovermater
ialnat
ure,weshoul
dknowthatwearenotthesupr
eme
control
ler.

Theindi
vidualsoulsar esubordi
natet oLordordependentonLor det er
nall
y.The
worl
disrealbuttempor ary.God(LordKrishna/Vi
shnu)hasaSpiri
tual
,eter
nalfor
m
wit
hspir
itualort
ranscendentalqual
it
ies.Hisbodil
yeff
ulgencei
sknownasBr ahman.
Theindi
vi
dualsaredifferentsoul
swhi chareofsamequal i
tyandquant
itycompared
toeachother.

Li
ber
ati
on

Bhaktialonecangivesal
v at
ion.Mokshaisnott hedestruct
ionofthe“I”i
nthesoul,
butitisthedest
ructi
onoft hef al
sesenseof“ I”
,theahamkara( f
alseegoorpri
de),
confusion ofoneness witht he body,karma and so on.The t r
ue “I
”oft he
i
ndividuali
tyofthesoulper si
st seventhroughmokshabecausei tisadif
ferent
enti
tythanSupersoul(Kr
ishna),whoi st
hei nnersoulorsupersoulofthei
ndi
vidual
soul
.

Bhakt
iisoft
wot
ypes

1.Vi
ddhi
bhakt
iwhi
chi
saccor
dingt
ovedasandt
heshast
ras

2.Ruchi
bhakt
ioraf
fect
ion.

Bhaktiist heaffecti
onat
eser v
iceofGodf orhissakeal one.RuchiorRaganuga
bhaktii
st heend.Itconsi
stsinintensespi
ri
tuall
oveforGodl i
kethatoft hegopi
sand
culminatesintheloveofRadha.Tol ov
eGodasone’ sloverandtor egardonesel
fas
thebelovedofGodandt obr ooknoseparationf
rom isthehighestbhakt i
.Li
ber
ati
on
consist in the eternal enjoyment of this bl
issf
ul lovef or Kr shna in hi
s
Nit
y avr
indavanadhama.

Achi
nty
abhedav
ada,
Adv
ait
vada&Dv
ait
vada

Hi
stor
ical
l
ytherear
etwoconfl
i
cti
ngphil
osophi
esr
egar
dingt
her
elat
ionshi
pbet
ween
(
Jiv
aorAt ma)andGod(I
shvar
aorBrahma).

Mi
tr
a'sI
AS:52, I
II
rdFloor,
OldRajinderNagarMkt .
,NewDel
hi
8826469839,9560928172,011-45505509
  Advai
taschool
sassertthemonisti
cviewthattheindi
vi
dualsoulandGodare
one and the same,whereasDvai
taschools gi
vet he duali
sti
c ar
gument
thatt
heindi
vi
dualsoulandGodareeternal
l
yseparate.

 The phi l
osophy of Achintya-bheda-
abheda incl
udes element
s of both
viewpoints.Theli
vingsoulisintri
nsi
cal
lyli
nkedwiththeSupremeLord,and
yetatt hesamet imeisnott hesameasGod-t heexactnatur
eoft hi
s
relat
ionshipbei
nginconcei
vabletothehumanmi nd.

Ni
mbar
ka-
DVAI
TADVAI
TVADA

Nimbarka’
s phil
osophi
cal posi
ti
on i
s known
asbhedabheda(
dvai
tadvai
ta),
simul
taneousduali
tyandnon-dual
i
ty,dual
it
y
i
nunity.

Like Ramanuj a,he def i

nes t
hree categories ofexistence,God (I
sv ar
a),
souls( cit
)andmat ter(
acit)
.God(I
svara)existsindependentl
yandbyHi mself
,
butt heexi st
enceofsoul sandmat t
eri sdependentuponGod.Soul sand
mat t
erhav eatt
ri
butesandcapaciti
eswhi charediffer
entfrom God(Isvar
a),
butatt hesamet imet heyarenotdiff
er entfr
om Godbecauset heycannot
existindependentl
yofHi m.Therel
ati
oni soneofi denti
tyaawellasdi
ff
erence.

- “Di
ff
erence”or“dual
ity
”refer
stotheseparat
ebutdependentexi
stenceof
soulandmatter(par
a-t
antr
a-sat
ta-
bhav
a),whil
e

- “
non-di
ff
erence”or“non-
duali
ty”meansthatiti
simpossi
blef
orsouland
matt
ertoexisti
ndependent
lyofGod(svatant
ra-
sat
ta-
bhav
a).

Nimbarkaperceiv
est herel
ati
onbet weenBr ahman,andsoul s(ci
t)andt he
univ
erse(aci
t)asarelat
ionofnaturaldi
ff
erence-non-
dif
f ence(
er svabhavika-
bhedabheda),j
ustli
kether el
ati
onshipbetweent hesunandi t
sr ays,ora
snakeanditscoil
.Justasthecoili
snothingbutthesnake,yetdi
fferentf
rom
Mi
tr
a'sI
AS:52, I
II
rdFloor,
OldRajinderNagarMkt .
,NewDel
hi
8826469839,9560928172,011-45505509
 i
t;justast hediffer
entkindsofstones,thoughnothi
ngbutearth,areyet
di
fferentf rom it;so the souls and the uni
ver
se,though nothi
ng but
Brahman( brahmatmaka),
are dif
fer
entfrom Hi m because of t
heirown
peculiarnaturesandatt
ri
butes.

However
,accordi
ngt oadvai
tvadasuchrelat
ionisAbheda–puei dent
it
y,for
Ramanuj
aitisAprathaksi
ddhi–identi
tyqual
ifi
edbydiff
erence,
forMadhvait
i
sBheda–pur ediff
erence.

Accor
ding to Ni mbarka,Brahman ( God)
,soul s(ci
t)and matt
er or t
he
uni
verse(aci
t)arethreeequal
lyrealandco-et
ernalreali
ti
es.Br
ahmanisthe
Contr
oler(
l niyant
r),t
he soul is the enjoyer(bhoktr)
,and the mater
ial
uni
verseistheobjectenj ed(
oy bhogya).

God

 GodisthehighestBrahman,r
uleroftheuniver
se,andbyHisnat
urei
sf r
ee
fr
om al
ldef
ectsandtheabodeofallgoodness.Godisi
dent
if
iedwi
thKr
ishna,
andRadhaishisconsort
.

 Godi
sbot
htheef
fi
cientandmat
eri
alcauseoft
heuni
ver
se.

- Godistheef fi
cientcausebecause,asLor
dofKarmaandi
nter
nalrul
erof
soul
s,Hebr ingsaboutcreati
onsot hatt
hesoul
swil
lbeabl
et oreapthe
consequencesoft hei
rkar
ma.

- God isthe mater

ialcause ofthe univ
er se because creati
on i
sa
manif
est
ati
onofHispower sofsoul(
cit
)andmat ter(aci
t)
;creati
onisa
[
5]
t
ransf
ormat
ion(
pari
nama)ofGod’spowers.

 Ther elati
onshi pbetweenGodandt heuniverseisanat uralr
elati
onshipof
i
dent i
ty-and-dif
fer
ence or di f
ference and non- dif
ference(svabhavika-
bhedabheda) .I
ftheuni v
ersewereabsol ut
elyidenti
calwithGod, thenallofits
i
mper fections,suff
erings,andmi seri
eswouldbepar tofGod,andGodwoul d
no longerhav eapur enat ur
e.I f
,howev er,t heuniver
sewer ecompl etely
separatef rom God,thenitwouldactasal imitt oGodandHewoul dnotbei ts
i
nnerr ulerandcont r
oller
.

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tr
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 Soulandmat t
erhav enoi ndependentexi
stence(sv at
antr
asat
tabhav
a)and
thereforearenotdiff
erentfrom God.Andy etbecausetheyhavedependent
existence,par
atantr
asattabhava,
andareli
mi t
ed, t
heref
ore,t
heyaredi
ffer
ent
from Godwhoi sindependentandunlimi
tedruler
.

 I
nthef
ormul
a‘t
att
vam asi
‘

- Tatmeanset
ernal
all
per
vadi
ngBr
ahman

- Tv
am meanst
hedependentsoul

- Asimeanst
her
elat
ionofdi
ff
erence-cum - non- di
ff
erencebet
ween
them.

 Nimbar ka consider
st hehighestobjectofworshipto beKr i
shnaand His
consortRadha,at t
endedbyt housandsofgopi
'
s,orcowher desses,ofthe
cel
estialVr i
ndavan.Devot
ionaccordingtoNi
mbar ka,consi
stsinprapat
ti
,or
sel
f-surrender.

Mat
ter

 Thei
nani
mat
eisoft
hreeki
nds:

1.Apr
akr
ta:iti
simmutabl
esuper-mat
terofwhi
chdi
vi
nebodyi
smadeand
whi
chisl
i
keShuddhasat
tvaofRamanuja.

2.Pr
akr
ta:
whi
chder
ivedf
rom Pr
akr
it
iwi
thi
tst
hreegunas

3.Kal
aort
ime

Soul
,Bondage&Li
ber
ati
on

 Theindi
vidualsoulisofthenat
ureofknowl edge(j
ñãnasvarũpa),andatthe
sametimeisthesubstrat
um ofknowledge,i
nthesamewayt hatthesunisof
thenat
ureoflightandatt
hesamet i
mei sthesubst
ratum ofl
i
ght .

 Thesoulistheknower
,agentandenjoyer
,dependentonGod,suppor
tedby
God,perv
adedbyGodandcontrol
l
edfrom wit
hinbyGod.Soulsar
ethesizeof
mini
scule at
oms and ar
e numerous.A souli s et
ernal
,yetitbecomes
embodiedandsuf
fer
sbirt
handdeathbecauseofkarma.
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tr
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 Li
berat
ionofthesoulcomesaboutthr
oughknowl
edge,andknowl
edgei
tsel
f
i
sbroughtaboutbyGod’sgr
ace,
whichisduet
odevot
ion.

 Ni
mbar
kai
dent
if
iest
hree“
moment
s”i
ntheeducat
ionoft
hesoul
.

Fi
rsttheseekermuststudyrel
igi
oustextsunti
lher eal
i
zesthatthebenefi
ts
whichresul
tfrom per
for
manceofal ltheVedicdutiesdonotbringabouta
st
ateofeternalbl
i
ss.Theseekert
henunderstandsthatonl
ythereali
zat
ionof
Br
ahmanl eadstoanunchangeabl
e,const
antandeternalst
ateofbli
ss.

Anxi
oust oat t
ainthi
sr eal
izai
t on,heapproacheshisteacherwithaffect
ion
andreverencetoreceiv
ei nstructiononthenatureofBr ahman.Kri
shna,the
omnipotent,
all
-per
vasi
veBei ng, canonl
yber eal
i
zedthroughaconstanteff
ort
topermeateoneselfwi
thhisnat urebymeansofthoughtanddevoti
on.

Thest udentl i
stenst ohi steacher ,whohassuchadi rectreali
zati
onoft he
natureofBr ahman,andt ri
est ounder st
andt hemeani ngofhi steacher’
s
i
nstructon,sr
i avana.Next ,thestudentgoest hr
oughapr ocessofor ganizi
ng
hist houghts, manana, tof aci
l
itatear ecepti
ve approach t ot he tr
uths
communi catedbyt het eacher,i
nor dertodev el
ophisfait
hi nthem.Thet hi
rd
step,ni
didhyāsana, i
sapr ocessofconst antmedi t
ati
ontodi r
ectthestudent’
s
i
nnerpsy chicalpr ocessest oadi rectexperienceofthetruthscommuni cated
byt heteacher ,culminati
ngi nther ev el
ati
onoft henatureofBr ahmani nthe
seeker.

 Avi a,
dy thei
gnor
anceofone’struenatur
eandr elat
ionshi
pwi
thGod,i
sthe
causeofkar
ma,andofat
tachmenttothesenses,
bodyandmatt
er.

Nimbarkaident
if
ied,ast heult
imateideal
,thereali
zati
onofone’ sabsol
ute
uni
tywithGod,absol ut
elycontr
oll
edandr egul
atedbyGod.I nsuchast at
e,
onewoul dabnegateal lacti
ons,desir
esandmot i
ves,feeloneselfasan
absol
uteconsti
tuentofGod.Onceachi evi
ngt hi
sstate,abeingneveragain
comeswi t
hinthegr aspofmundanebondage,andl i
vesineternalbl
issin

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dev
otionalcont
emplati
onofGod.Li
ber
ati
on,t
her
efor
e,woul
dbeunf
li
nchi
ng
medit
ationonthenatur
eofGodandpar
ti
ci
pati
oni
nHim.

Sr
iNi
mbar
kar
efer
sto5met
hodst
oSal
vat
ion:

1.Kar
ma(
ri
tualact
ion)

Perf
ormedconscienti
ouslyinaproperspi
ri
t,wi
thone’
svar
na(cast
e)and
asr
ama( phaseofli
fe)therebygi
vi
ngr i
setoknowl
edgewhichi
sameans
tosal
vat
ion).

2.Vi
dya

Notasasubor dinatefact
orofkar mabutalsonotasani ndependent
meansforevery
one;onl yf
orthoseincl
i
nedt ospendi
ngvastlengt
hsof
t
imeinscr
ipt
uralstudyandref
lect
ionondeepermeani
ngs.

3.Upasanaordhy
ana(
medi
tat
ion)

Itisoft hr
eet ypes.Fi
rstismedi tat
ionont heLordasone' sself,i .
e.
meditat
ionont heLordast heInnerControll
erofthesentient.Secondi s
meditat
ionont heLordast heInnerCont r
ollerofthenon-sentient
.Fi nal
oneismedi t
ati
ononLor dHimself,asdif
ferentfr
om thesentientandnon-
senti
ent.Thi
sisagai nnotanindependentmeanst oSalvati
onf orall,as
onlythosequal i
fi
ed to per
for
m t heupasana ( wi
th Yaj
nopav i
tam)can
perf
ormt hi
sSadhana.

4.Pr
apat
ti(
Sur
rendert
otheLor
d/Dev
oti
on)

Devoti
onandsel f
-surrendert
oGodasShr iRadhaKr sna.Thismethodof
att
aini
ngSalvat
ion,knownasPr apattiSadhana,containselementsofall
theothermeans,andi smosti mpor tantl
y,avai
labletoal l
.Men,women,
for
eigner
s,al
lclassesandcast es( ornon-castes)areper mit
tedtoseek
l
iberat
ionthr
ought his,themosti mpor t
antSadhana.I tisrefer
redtoas
Sadhana(orApar a)Bhakt i– devotiont hr
oughr egulati
ons.Thisintur
n
l
eadst oParaBhakt i–t hehighestdev oti
onchar act
erisedbyMadhur y
a

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tr
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 Rasa–t hesweetemot
ionsofdev
oti
onexper
iencedbyt
hoseper
fect
edi
n
SadhanaBhakt
i.

5.Gur
upasat
ti

Devot
ionandself-
surr
endertoguru.Bestreal
i
sedasapar
tinPr
apat
ti
,and
notasanindependentmeans,al
thoughitcanbeso.

Ni
mbar
aka&Ramanuj
a

1.Ramanuja bel
ieves in i
dent
it
y-i
n-and-t
hrough-
dif
fer
ence or ident
it
y
qual
i
fiedbydi
ff
erence,
Nimbar
akbeli
ev esinident
it
yanddif
fer
ence.

2.Accor
ding t
o Ramanuja dif
fer
ence cannotexistindependentl
yfrom
i
denti
tywhi
chitqual
if
iesandtowhichitbel
ongs.ButforNimbarakabot
h
i
denti
tyanddif
fer
encesaresepar
atel
yandequallyr
eal.

3.Nimbarakar ejectsthev iew t

hatsoulandmat terareattr
ibutesofGod.
Thef uncti
onofqual it
iesiseithert odistingui
sht heobjectf rom other
object
sort omaket hatobjectbetterknown.Forexampl e:heat tr
ibute
whenwesay‘ Rama, thesonofDasr atha’,theattr
ibut
eheredi sti
ngui
shes
Ramaf rom BalramaandPar shuram whoar ealsoknownbyt hesame
name.I tal
sot hrowslightonRamabecausewenowal soknowhi sfather
al
so.Butt hemat terandsoulashi sat t
ri
butesser v
enopur posesuch
purpose.Ast hereisnothingoutsi
deGodt heycannotdist
inguishhi mfrom
anythi
ngel se.Norcant heythrow anylightonGodbecauset heydonot
consti
tutehisessence.

4.Nimbarakaal sor ej
ectsthedist
incti
onbetweenthebodyandt hesoulof
Godandt hev iew t
hatmat t
erandsoulsf or
m bodyofGod.I fmat t
erand
soul
sar ebodyofGodt henGodmustbesubj ect
edt o al
lt hepains,
miseri
es,def ectsandi mperf
ecti
onsoft heuniv
erse.Onepor t
ionofGod
cannotber eservedforchangeandi mper
fecti
onsandtheotherforeter
nit
y
andperfections.Therefor
e,Nimbarakacall
smatterandsoulsast hepart
s
orpowersofGod.

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tr
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