Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada - 1

Life and Work

The date of Sri Adi Sankaracharya the most famous Advaita philosopher who restored the Vedic Dharma and Advaita Vedanta to its pristine purity and glory is not very clear. Traditional date is Kaliyug 2593 or 509 BC. Modern Orientalists hold that he lived between 788 and 820 AD.  But it is agreed that he was born to a pious Nambudiri Brahmin couple Sivaguru and Aryamba in Kalady on the banks of River Purna, now River Periyar, in Kerala State. Legend has it that Aryamba had a vision of Lord Siva in her dream and was told that the Lord would incarnate as her child. The couple who were childless and praying for a child were overjoyed.  The child was named after Lord Siva as Sankara. Even as a child Sankara was precocious and could grasp and retain anything he read once. Even at a tender age of three he had studied the Kavyas and Puranas in Malayalam. He had his early education in the village in the usual way.  Sankara lost his father when he was of age seven and it fell upon his mother to get his upanayanam performed and to get him admitted in a Gurukulam for the study of Vedas and other Sastras. He not only learnt Vedas and Vedangas quickly but also learnt about other systems of philosophy as well. Young Sankara is reported to have performed two miracles.

In one he is said to have caused the River Purna to change its course to flow near his house through his prayer so that his aged mother need not struggle to walk a long distance for her morning bath. In the other as he was on his rounds seeking Bhiksha as a brahmachari, he stopped at a house where the poor lady of the house had nothing to offer and also did not have the heart to send the radiant little boy empty handed. So she searched and searched and managed to find an Amla fruit which she offered him as Bhiksha. Seeing her poverty and sensing her large heartedness, he sang a hymn, Kanakadhara Stotram, addressed to Goddess Mahalakshmi, at her doorsteps and caused a shower of golden Amlas in her courtyard.  The descendants of this lady still live in that house called swarnaththa manai

When he returned home from Gurukulam, Sankara’s mother started looking for a bride for him. But Sankara’s mind was set on becoming an ascetic. One day Sankara and his mother went to take bath in the river. Sankara plunged into the water and felt that a crocodile was dragging him by the foot. He cried out to his mother to allow him to take Aapat Sanyasa then at least.  Mother unable to save him agreed.  As soon as he recited the Mantra for taking Sanyasa, the crocodile left him and he became an ascetic then on.  After consoling his mother that wherever he was, he would return to her side in her last moments, Sankara left in search of a Guru.

Sri Sankara made his way to the Ashram of Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada on the banks of River Narmada. Sri Govinda Bhagavatpada, a great teacher of Advaita Vedanta, was a prominent disciple of the famous Sri Gaudapadacharya, who through his Mandukya Karika established firmly Advaita Vedanta refuting the then dominant Buddhistic thought.  He was very happy to have such a brilliant disciple as Sri Sankara and initiated him into the Paramahamsa order of Sanyasa.  He taught Sri Sankara the profound philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, and commanded him to expound the philosophy of Advaita through commentaries on the Brahmasutras, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita.

Taking leave of his guru, Sri Sankaracharya travelled from place to place and arrived at Varanasi. Here he attracted many disciples around him, prominent among them being Vishnu Sarma. Sri Sankaracharya gave him the name Sanandana and Sanandana exemplified the Guru-Sishya relationship. For Sanandana, the Guru was everything and the command of Guru was ultimate. Once when he was on the opposite bank of a river, Sri Sankaracharya who was on the other side called him.  Sanandana, without even thinking that he might be drowned in a swollen river began walking on the water and lo! a lotus appeared under his feet on every step and held his feet from drowning.  From then on he came to be known as Padmapada.  Two other brilliant disciples to join him later are the ones who came to be known as Totakacharya and Hasthamalakacharya.  There is an incident connected with each one of them.

Totakacharya’s previous name was Giri.  Giri conducted himself as a hard-working and loyal servant of Sri Sankaracharya, and he did not appear bright to the other disciples. One day, Giri was washing his Guru's clothes, when Sri Sankaracharya was waiting for Giri to come back from his chores and join the class.  On this occasion, Padmapada pointed to a wall meaning that it would be the same if Sri Sankaracharya taught to this dumb wall as teaching to Giri. Sri Sankaracharya divined his mind and decided to reward Giri for his loyalty and devotion. Then he mentally blessed Giri with the complete knowledge of the sastras. The enlightened Giri composed extempore the Toṭakaṣhṭakam a Sanskrit poem in praise of the Guru and the dumb disciple blossomed into Toṭakacarya.

When Sri Sankaracharya was travelling in the western parts of India and overcoming in debate the expounders of the various schools of thought, he once came to a village known as Srivali. There a learned Brahmin named Prabhakara came to pay respects to Sri Sankaracharya. He brought his son along with him and after both of them prostrated, he explained to Sri Sankaracharya that the boy had been dumb from his childhood and that he had no likes and dislikes, nor a sense of honour and dishonour; and that he was completely inactive. Sri Sankaracharya then turned to the boy and asked him who he was. The boy replied in 12 verses containing the gist of the Advaita philosophy that he was pure awareness and not a man, God, Yaksha, Brahmin etc.  Sri Shankaracharya was greatly impressed and took him as his disciple, with the name Hastāmalaka since the knowledge of the Self was natural to him like an Amalaka fruit in one's hand.  Hasthamalaka   joined Sri Sankaracharya’s party thereafter.

At Varanasi, Sri  Sankaracharya wrote his commentaries on Brahmasutras, major ten upanishads and Bhagavad Gita besides minor works known as prakarana granthas like Athma bodha, Upadesa Sahasri etc.  It is at Varanasi, Sri Veda Vyasa came in the guise of an old man and challenged him on his interpretations in the commentary on Brahmasutras and feeling satisfied with his reply, revealed himself and blessed him.

At Varanasi, Sri Sankarachaya and his disciples were going for bath in the River Ganges, On the way they met a hunter with his dogs. As the hunter was being considered an outcast, disciples asked the hunter to keep out of the way as was the practice with the orthodox then. The hunter confronted Sri Sankaracharya and asked how could there be a difference between them as they were only Athmas in reality and that Athma was one and the same in all. Sri  Sankaracharya then came out with five beautiful highly philosophic verses of Manisha Panchakam wherein he acknowledged the hunter as his Guru. Then hunter revealed himself as Lord Siva and his dogs as Vedas. This seems to be more a ploy on the part of Sri Sankaracharya to condemn the untouchability among caste Hindus, in keeping with his reformist spirit.

In addition to writing commentaries Sri Sankaracharya engaged in philosophical debates with leaders of various other schools and defeated them and converted them to his fold as was the custom then, for the defeated to convert to victor’s thought. Thus Sri Sankaracharya debated with Buddhist philosophers, with followers of Sankhya and with Purva Mimamsakas, the followers of Vedic ritualism, in Varanasi and elsewhere and defeated all his opponents in debate.  One of the important debates was with Mandana Misra the well-known Mimamsaka of Mahishmathi. The discussion went on for several days and at the end Mandana Misra accepted the superiority of Sri Sankaracharya’s philosophy and became one of his Sanyasi disciples with the name Suresvaracharaya.

During his travels in the south he heard that that his mother was seriously ill. He rushed to her bedside alone and was in time to see her before she breathed her last.  People were against his performing the funeral rites as promised to his mother as he was a sanyasi.  But he overruled their objections, and built a pyre himself and cremated his mother in her own backyard. After this, he resumed his travels, visiting many holy places, reviving Pujas at temples that had fallen into neglect, establishing yantras at Devi temples as in Kanchipuram, and composing many devotional hymns. He tirelessly travelled the length and breadth of the country for the propagation of Advaita philosophy, in those days with few facilities. In the course of his travels, Sankara reached Kashmir and ascended the sarvajnapita with the blessings of Goddess Sarada after engaging in debate and winning over all opponents.

Sri Sankaracharya was a great organizer and a religious leader with a national outlook. Shri Sankaracharya established four Mutts in four corners of India. The Mutts are Jyothir Mutt at Joshimath near Badrinath in northern India; Sarada Mutt at Sringeri in southern India; Govardhan Mutt at Jaganath Puri in eastern India and Kalika Mutt at Dwarka in western India.  He put his four main disciples to head them and continue his work maintaining the Advaitic tradition. Sri Sureshwaracharya, who hailed from the north was placed in charge of the Sarada Mutt in the South, Totakacharya from the South was placed in charge of Jyothir Mutt in the North, Padmapadacharya in charge of Govardhan Mutt and Hasthamalakacharya in  charge of Kalika Mutt.

The heads of Mutts have also come to be known as Sankaracharyas, in honour of their founder, who is now called as Sankara Bhagavatpada or Adi Sankaracharya, and revered as Jagadgurus. Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada also organized the community of ekadandi monks into the sampradaya of dasanamI sannyasins, and affiliated them with the four mutts that he established. He also organized for the Nambudiris from Kerala to perform Puja at Badrinath; Brahmins from Maharashtra to perform Puja at Rameswaram; and the Brahmins from Karnataka to perform Puja in Nepal. 

It was indeed a vast program that Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada accomplished within the short span of 20 effective years for at the age of 32 he had finished his work and had folded up his mortal life. He went to Kedarnath alone and entered into Mahasamadhi there.  Kedarnath is the place of Lord Siva and it is only fitting that Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada who is considered an incarnation of Lord Siva, shed his mortal coils in Kedarnath.

There are about 23 Bhashya granthas, 54 Prakarana and Upadesa granthas and 76 stotra, stuthi granthas, in all 153 works, attributed to Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada.  They may not all be the work of Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada, consider some, as the heads of various mutts were also called as Sankaracharyas.  Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada is considered to have completed all his major works before he was twenty-four.  After that he might have composed some stotras and Prakarana granthas only, it is said.  Of these, Bhashyas on Prasthana thraya and Vishnusahasranamam, Prakarana granthas like Vivekachudamani, Updesa Sahasri, Aparoksha Anubhuthi, Athmabodha and stotras like Bhaja Govidam, Dakshinamurthy Stotra, Kaupina Panchakam, Nirvana Shatkam, Manisha Panchakam,Soundaryalahari, Govindashtakam, Dasaloki, Dvadasa Panjarika, Sivananda lahiri and Sadhana Panchakam are a few among his important works which are acknowledged as his authentic works. Swami Vivekananda, who called Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada as the greatest teacher of the Vedanta philosophy, observed “--- his whole life’s work is nothing but that, the throbbing of the beauty of the Vedas and the Upanishads.”

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Meykandar and Saiva-Siddanta

“The Saiva Siddhanta system is the distilled essence of Vedanta ------ It is midway between Sankara’s Advaita and Ramanuja’s Visishtadvaitha” observes Swami Sivananda.  Today Saiva Siddanta is more known as Southern Saivism associated with Tamilnadu and with Tamil diaspora all over the world.  But Saiva Siddanta, considered as the culmination of Saiva Agamas as Vedanta is the culmination of Vedas had been in existence from 2^nd century BC, though not in the form as it is today and the first known guru of Saiva Siddhanta tradition was Nandinatha, who lived around 250 BC in Kashmir.   The present form which is popular in Tamilnadu and all over the Tamil speaking world has as its scriptural basis not only Agamas and Vedas but also Nalvar Thevaram and Siddantha Sastras, most important of which is Sivajnanabodham written by Meykandar.  In fact Sivajnanabodham is considered as primary text today of Saiva Siddantha Philosophy.

In thirteenth century there lived in Pennadagam of present day Cuddalore district, a pious Saiva peasant by name, Achyutha Kalappalar.  He had no children and he sought the advice of his guru, Sakalagama Pandithar.  Sakalagama Pandithar after praying to Lord shiva, brought the holy Thirumurais and put a thread inside the Thirumurai palm leaf book (kayiru charththal). The song that came was “peyadaiyaa piriveydhum---(பேயடையா பிரிவெய்தும்)“ in Thiruvengattu Thiruppadhikam.  The verse of Thirugnanasambandar declared that one, who took bath in the three temple tanks and worshipped the Lord of Thiruvengadu, would have all his wishes fulfilled including the birth of a son.  As per that he asked Achyutha Kalappalar to go to Thiruvengadu with his wife and bathe in the three tanks in the temple and offer worship to the Lord of  Thirunengadu.  Accordingly Achyutha Kalappalar went to Thiruvengadu with his wife and together they bathed in the three tanks; Surya Theertham, Chandra Theertham and Agni Theertham, singing songs from Sambandar Thevaram and went and worshipped the Lord of Thiruvengadu praying for a son.

In due time a son was born to Achuyutha Kalappalar’s wife and was named Svethavanaperumal, the name of the Lord at Thiruvengadu. He was growing as a pious child. As a child of three he went to his uncle’s house at Thiruvennainallur and was playing in the street.  At that time time a miracle happened.  Paranjothi munivar who was travelling in the air towards Podhikai hills, noticed the boy playing in the street.  He was struck by the divine glow in the little boy’s face and could foresee a great spiritual future for him. He came down and took the child in his hands giving him Sparsa deeksha and Nayana deeksha and also imparted him cryptic essence of Sivajnanabodham.  He gave him also the deeksha name of Meykandar, a Tamil rendering of Paranjothi munivar’s guru’s name, Satya Jnana Darsini.  Like Tirugnanasambandar, who was blessed with divine milk from Goddess Parvathi at the age of three, Meykandar had also blessing of the last of the Akha(அக) Santhanakuravars to blossom into first Pura Santhanakuravar.

Enlightened child prodigy Meykandar compiled the essence of the sacred knowledge received, in a work of 12 sutras, known as Sivajnanabodham. This work of 40 lines has become the basic work of Saiva Siddantha.  He pioneered the line of preceptors called Pura Santhanakuravars who produced great philosophic works elucidating the philosophy outlined in Sivajnanabodham.  His fame started spreading and many became his disciples. Sakalagama pandithar heard about Meykandar’s rising fame and came to see him with a superiority complex that after all Meykandar was only the child whom he had helped to bring about and he wanted to test Meykandar’s depth of knowledge.  At the time he came, Meykandar was taking lessons on Aanava Mala and Sakalagama pandithar who burst into the class asked Meykandar to define Aanava Malam.  Meykandar without uttering a word pointed straight at Pandithar himself as answer to the question.

Shedding his arrogance, Pandithar prostrated at the feet of Meykandar and requested he be taken as one of Meykandar’s disciples.  It was a case reminiscent of Lord Dakshinamurthy and his disciple where Guru was young and disciple old.  Meykandar accepted him as a disciple with a diksha name Arulnandhi Sivam. Soon he became the foremost student and became the second Pura Santhanakuravar after Meykandar. We only know that Meykandar also wrote a commentary for his work and breathed his last in Thiruvennainallur and his time was around 1232 AD. Nothing more is known about his personal history.

Santhana Kuravars are Gurus of philosophy in Saiva Siddantha. All Santhana Kuravars bear a chain relationship of Guru Sishya, from one to next. Of them Akha Santhana Kuravavars are ones of Deva parampara and live in Mount Kailash.  They are four in number and they are; 1) Thiru Nandhi Devar,  2)Sanath Kumarar, 3)Satya Jnana Darshini and 4)Paranjyothi Munivar.  Pura Santhana Kuravars are ones born as mortals and are also four in number.  They are; 1) Meykandar, 2) Arulnandi Sivam, 3) Maraijnana Sambandar and 4) Umapathy Sivachariyar.

According to Saiva Siddhanta, Lord Siva is the Paramathma, called Pathi, the primal being and the supreme deity.  Pathi is infinite consciousness, infinite intelligence and infinite bliss and is omniscient, omnipresent and unbound. He is free from defects; the all-doer and all knower. He brings forth the worlds and their beings through his dynamic power, Sakthi.  Sakthi alone is the conscious energy of Lord Siva. The five activities (Pancha-Krityas) of the Lord are Srishti (creation), Sthiti (preservation), Samhara (destruction), Tirobhava (veiling) and Anugraha (grace). These, separately considered, are the activities of Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Mahesvara and Sadasiva. For a pot the potter is the efficient cause; clay and wheel the instrumental causes and clay the material cause. Same way for the Creation, Lord Siva is the efficient cause, Sakthi, the instrumental cause and Maya, the material cause.

The Jeevathmas or the individual souls are called Pasus. They are not the same as Siva, but they are made of the same essence   Thus in Saiva Siddhanta there is a fine distinction between the Jeevathmas and Paramathma; and their relationship is not a state of oneness but of sameness.  Pasus are by nature infinite, eternal and all-knowing like Pathi; but they think they are finite, limited and little-knowing because of Pasa, bondage.

Pasa consists of three impurities, Malas. These three Malas are Anava, Karma and Maya.  Anava Mala is the natural impurity (Sahaja Mala) which is born with the Jeevathma that clouds its consciousness and makes it think it is limited and of finite knowledge and leaves the Jeevathma only at the time of liberation, called Kaivalyam. Karma Mala binds the Jeevathma to the consequences of its actions and brings about its conjunction with the body. Maya Mala binds the Jeevathma to the sense objects through desires and ignorance. The Jeevathmas are of three types called Sakalar, Pralayakalar and Vijnanakalar. Sakalar have all the Malas, Anava, Karma and Maya; Pralayakalar have Anava and Maya, and Vijnanakalar have only the Anava Mala.

Liberation is attained when Jeevathma freed of all Malas knows that its intrinsic nature is the same as that of Paramathma but that it is not Paramathma and this realisation comes through the grace of Paramathma.  In its liberated state Pasu enjoys Pathi (Siva) consciousness as its true consciousness free from all Pasa, though it does not become Pathi.  Sadhanas for liberation are stated as Chariyai, Kiriyai, Yoga and Jnana.  Cleaning temples, making garlands of flowers, singing Lord’s praises, burning lamps in the temples, running flower gardens constitute Chariyai.  Kiriyai is to perform Puja, Archanas. Yoga is restraint of the senses and contemplation on the internal light. Jnana is to understand the true significance of Pathi, Pasu, Pasa and to become one with Siva by constant meditation on Him after removing the three Malas.

Thirumoolar gives in a nutshell the essence of Saiva Siddanta:       

      பதி பசு பாசம் எனப் பகர் மூன்றில்

      பதியினைப் போல் பசு பாசம் அனாதி

      பதியினைச் சென்று அணுகாப் பசு பாசம்

      பதி அணுகில் பசு பாசம் நில்லாவே.   (Thirumanthiram)

Pasu and Pasam are eternal like Pathi. Pathi is the supreme. Pasu with Pasam by itself cannot reach Pathi.  When Pathi bestows His Grace, Pasam and Pasu consciousness disappear and Pathi Consciousness only shines in Pasu. 

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Sri Ramanujacharya

Sri Ramanujacharya, the well-known exponent of Sri Vaishnavism and Visishtadvaitam, was born in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in 1017 A.D. to a pious and virtuous couple, Keasava Perumal Somayaji Dikshitar and Kanthimathi ammal. He was named Ilaya Perumal by his parents. Within sixteen years of age he had learnt the Vedas and Sastras. At the age of seventeen he married Rakshakambal.  Soon after his marriage his father died and the family moved over to Kanchipuram. There he enrolled himself in the school run by an Advaitic Sanyasi Yadavaprakasa to prosecute further study of Vedas.  On many occasions he differed with guru’s interpretations.  On one occasion Yadavaprakasa became so angry that he asked Ilaya Perumal to leave the school and start his own, if he felt so strongly about his interpretation. Ilaya Perumal parted company with Yadavaprakasa and started a small school where he taught his Visishtadvaita philosophy and became popular. 

Seeing the growing popularity of Ilaya Perumal and his philosophy, Yadavaprakasa feared he will be a threat to his school and spread of Advaita philosophy. So he planned to kill Ilaya Perumal by drowning him in River Ganges while on a pilgrimage tour of the country with his disciples. He invited Ilaya Perumal to join him and his disciples in the pilgrimage tour.  Unsuspectingly Ilaya Perumal agreed and joined the pilgrimage along with his cousin, Govinda.   On the way Govinda came to know of Yadavaprakasa’s plot from some of the disciples and alerted Ilaya Perumal, who then slipped out of the group into the forest at dead of night.  He was lost in the forest but miraculously an aged hunter couple appeared from nowhere and led him as if in a trance to the outskirts of Kanchipuram and disappeared.  As the couple disappeared as suddenly as they appeared, he realized it was none other than Lord Varadaraja and Perundevi Thayar who had come in the guise of the hunter couple to guide him. Feeling thankful to the Lord he continued his routine in Kanchipuram, assisting Tirukkachi Nambi in his daily chores of service to Lord Varadaraja and also running the school, as if nothing had happened.   When Yadavaprakasa returned, he was surprised to see Ilaya Perumal working as before and did not interfere in his life.  Rather he became Sri Ramanuja’s disciple at a later date and was given the name Govinda Jeer. 

Yamunacharya, a great sage and profound scholar and head of the Mutt at Srirangam, had once met Ilaya Perumal and was very much impressed by him and secretly desired Ilaya Perumal should succeed him as head of the Srirangam Mutt.  So when Yamunacharya fell ill he sent word to Ilaya Perumal.  As Ilaya Perumal and Tirukkachi Nambi arrived in Srirangam, they could see the funeral procession only. Ilaya Perumal was told of three wishes that Yamunacharya wanted Ilaya Perumal to carry out.  They were; 1) to write a commentary to Brahmasutra on Visishtadvaita lines; 2) to spread Visishtadvaita on the lines of Nalayira Divya Prabandham; 3) to perpetuate the memory of Parasara and Vedavyasa. Ilaya Perumal swore to carry out all the three wishes on the funeral pyre of Yamunacharya and returned to Kanchipuram. 

Ilaya Perumal’s married life was not a happy one as there was a regular clash of views with his ultra orthodox wife on what was holy and sacred and on what was religiously correct.  Matters came to a head one day when he was aged thirty and he walked out of the house and took Sanyasa with the name “Ramanuja Muni”. The inmates of the monastery in Kanchipuram made Sri Ramanuja their head.  Dasarathi, his nephew became the first disciple of Sri Ramanuja with the name Mudaliandan. Another important disciple to join him at Kanchipuram was Kuresar, also known as Kurathalwan.

The seat of Acharya at Srirangam was lying vacant without a successor to take over. Sri Ramanuja was prevailed upon to assume charge. So Sri Ramanuja left for Srirangam along with Mudaliandan and Kurathalwan and a host of disciples and devotees.  At Srirangam Lord Ranganatha Himself invited Sri Ramanuja into the temple by calling him “come on my son, Udayavare".  From then on Sri Ramanuja came to be called also as Udayavar. After installation as the head of Visishtadvaita Mutt at Srirangam, Sri Ramanujacharya proceeded to Thirukkoshtiyur to take initiation from Thirukkoshtiyur Nambi for Japa of the sacred Mantra of eight letters “Om Namo Narayanaya”.  Somehow, Nambi was not willing to initiate him easily. Nambi made him travel many times before initiating him and that too only after exacting solemn promises of secrecy.  But Sri Ramanujacharya wanted all to benefit from this Mantra and so climbed up to the top of the steeple of the temple and called out aloud to people and proclaimed to the large assemblage the sacred Mantra. Thirukkoshtiyur Nambi was enraged and demanded an explanation. Sri Ramanujacharya gave the reason that though he would go to hell for breaking the secrecy, the multitude of humanity that listened to this would be saved spiritually. The Guru was overwhelmed by this reply. Embracing Sri Ramanujacharya and appreciating his broad mindedness, he called him 'Emperumanar'.

Ramanuja travelled throughout the length and breadth of India to disseminate the path of devotion. He visited all the sacred places throughout India including Kasi, Kashmir and Badrinath.  Sri Ramanujacharya then visited all the Vaishnavite shrines in South India and finally reached Srirangam. Here he settled himself and continued his labours of preaching the Visishtadvaita philosophy and writing books. He wrote a detailed commentary on the Brahmasutras known as the Sri Bhashya as promised to Yamunacharya. He wrote also other books—detailed commentary on Bhagavad Gita (Gita Bhashya), a treatise on Visishtadvaita (Vedanta Sangraha), a brief commentary on Brahmasutras and also a commentary for beginners (Vedanta Dipa and Vedanta Sara), Grantha thriam (Saranagathi Gadhya, Sri Ranga Gadhya, Sri Vaikunta Gadya) and manual for Thiruvaradhana (Nithya grantha). Thousands of people gathered every day to hear his lectures. During this period he cleansed the temples, settled the rituals to be observed in them, and rectified many social evils which had crept into the community. . He converted lakhs of people to the path of Bhakthi

But this routine was disturbed when the Chola king Kulothunga I, a staunch Saivite. wanted him to subscribe to king’s faith.  When ordered to king’s court, two of his disciples, Kurathalwan and Peria Nambi, donned the orange robes of Sannyasins and visited the court of Kulothunga I in place of Sri Ramanujacharya. They argued there for the superiority of Lord Vishnu, when asked to accept the superiority of Lord Siva. The monarch was incensed and had their eyes put out and subjected them to torture.  Peria Nambi succumbed to the torture, but Kurathalwan survived and managed to get back to Srirangam blind.

Meanwhile, Sri Ramanujacharya, with a few followers, left Srirangam and proceeded with difficulty to Melkote in the kingdom of Mysore.  The king of the place was Bhatti Deva of the Hoysala dynasty. The king’s daughter was possessed of some devil and nobody was able to cure her. Sri Ramanujacharya succeeded in exorcizing the devil and the princess was restored to her former health. The king was very much pleased with him and readily became his disciple and converted himself into a Vaishnavite. Thereafter Sri Ramanujacharya firmly established himself in the Mysore king's dominions, constructed a temple at Melkote, and created a strong Vaishnavite community there. He constructed a few more Vishnu temples in and about Mysore, and put them in charge of his disciples to continue his work and spread the Visishtadvaita philosophy and Vishnu worship throughout the king's dominions. Thus he continued his labours here for nearly twenty years and his followers numbered several thousands.

In the meantime, Kulothunga Chola 1, died and the successor to Kulothunga Chola I was not a religious bigot and allowed full freedom of worship. The followers of Sri Ramanujacharya in Srirangam communicated the news to Acharya and requested him to come back to Srirangam. Sri Ramanujacharya himself longed to go back to Srirangam and continue his work from there.  But his new disciples and followers at Melkote and other places in Mysore would not let him go. So he installed his own image in a temple for worship by his disciples and followers and left the place for Srirangam. He was welcomed by his friends and disciples at Srirangam and he continued his labours from there for another thirty years and ended his long active career attaining Paramapadam at the ripe old age of hundred and twenty. 

Stated briefly, Sri Ramanujacharya’s philosophy is Visishtadvaita philosophy.  Here Parmathma, Jeevathmas and Jagat , all three are Real as they form a whole with Jagat and Jeevathmas being part of Paramathma as His body. Jagat and Jeevathmas inhere in Paramathma as attributes to a substance. Lord Vishnu is the Paramathma. He is the life of all Jeevathmas as individual Jeevathma is the life of individual Jeeva. Jeevathmas are of three types; Nitya, eternally free, Muktha, free now but once were in Samsara and Baddha, in Samsara and not free. Jeevathmas retain their identity even after Moksha and live in Fellowship with Paramathma, either serving Him or meditating on Him.  Moksha is attained through liquidation of one’s karmas as spelt out in Vedas achieved through total devotion to Lord Vishnu, characterised by Saranagathi.  Vaishnavism as expounded by Sri Ramanujacharya is called Sri Vaishnavism because of the special importance given to the worship of Goddess Laksmi as the mediator between Jeevathma and Paramathma.

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Sri Madvacharya

Sri Madvacharya, the founder of Dvaita school of philosophy, was born in the village of Pejarka, near Udupi in Karnataka state in 1238 AD.  He was born to Narayana Nadillaya and Vedavati, a pious couple devoted to Lord Vishnu.  They named the child Vasudeva and he also grew up as a very pious child. He also showed extraordinary mental abilities and physical powers from his childhood. When his father repeated previous day’s lesson he usually complained why he was teaching the same thing as previous day.  Once his teacher found him not paying attention to his teaching.  When the teacher scolded him for not paying attention, he replied that he was not interested in learning Vedic hymns part by part. The teacher dared him to recite the whole hymn and he recited the hymn in full with flawless intonation and won the appreciation of his teacher. He was a good sportsman skilled in swimming, wrestling and weight lifting. 

Even from his early childhood he was devoted to Lord Vishnu.  At the age of eight he sought his father’s consent to become a sanyasi. When his father hesitated because he was the only son, he assured his father that he will wait until another son was born to his parents. Shortly thereafter a second son was born and father reluctantly gave his consent.  Then his mother said “No”, but latter had to say “Yes” when faced with the alternative of his running away from home.  Then he took sanyasa from Sri Achyuthapreksha, who gave him a new name Purnaprajna. 

Sri Achyuthapreksha belonged to an Advaitic order and had his math in Ananteswar shrine and he had a hard time teaching young Purnaprajna, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita on monistic lines. Purnaprajna argued hard and impressed his guru with his dualistic interpretation of the scriptures. He was a skilful debater and his guru got converted to his views. After changing to Dvaita, Achyuthapreksha changed his name also to Purushottama Tirtha.  He also appointed Purnaprajna as his successor with the name Ananda Tirtha.  Ananda Tirtha  thereupon began to preach his Dvaita philosophy according to which the world is real, the individual souls are different from Brahman, and Vishnu is the Highest Entity in the universe. Many pundits and scholars of other schools who challenged him to a debate got defeated by his keen and irrefutable logic.  Ananda Tirtha, in order to propagate his faith undertook a pilgrimage to various shrines in South India where he debated and won over opponents of other schools in the different places. Upon his return to Udupi, he wrote the commentary on Bhagavad Gita, Gita Bhashya, his first work. His guru now called him by a new name Madhva, meaning “honey bringer”, by which name he became famous.

Soon after, Sri Madhvacharya made a pilgrimage to the North and went to Allahabad, Dwaraka, Benares, Delhi and other places and reached the famous Badrikshetra. He composed the Madhavabhashya, commentary on Brahmasutras at this place and went further north all alone to the depths of Himalayas, where Sri Vedavyasa is said to have his abode. On his return journey Sri Madhvacharya came to the banks of Godavari and had debates with two eminent scholarly pundits Shobana Bhatta and Samasastry belonging to Advaitic school. The Pundits were defeated in the debate and they became his disciples taking up Sanyasa.  Shobana Bhatta became the famous Padmanabha Tirtha, followed his master and was greatly devoted to him and later succeeded Sri Madvacharya.  Samasastry became Narahari Tirtha and joined him later as per his orders.

After his return to Udipi, Sri Madhvacharya began writing various works establishing the new system of philosophy which has come to be called Dvaita Vedanta.  He wrote commentaries on the ten principal Upanishads, ten special treatises called Prakaranas, the Gita Tatparya and other works during this period. It is during this period he noticed from the shores of Malpe, a coastal village near Udupi a ship in distress, in the Arabian Sea. He used his saffron cloth to guide the ship safely to shore.  The thankful captain of the ship offered Sri Madvacharya anything he wanted from the ship. He only took a small mound of Gopi Chandan from the ship. When he broke it there was a statue of Sri Krishna. 

With this idol of Sri Krishna he established the Krishna temple in Udupi.  He also established eight mathas, called Ashta Matha in Udupi, the heads of which preside over the worship of Sri Krishna in the temple by rotation. The maths are Palimaru matha, Adamaru matha, Krishnapura matha, Puttige matha, Shirur matha, Sodhe matha, Kaniyooru matha, and Pejavara matha.  The system of rotation continues even today at Udupi. Change takes place once in two years and change-over is celebrated as Paryaya festival.

Sri Madhvacharya undertook a second tour of North India. He met many Muslim rulers like Ghyasuddin Balban and conversed with them in Urdu. Ghyasuddin Balban was so impressed that he offered a part of his Kingdom as jaghir if Sri Madhvacharya would stay in his kingdom.  Sri Madvacharya politely declined his offer and proceeded with his tour.  After returning from North India he spent the rest of his life in Udupi, occasionally visiting a place called Vishnumangala near Udupi.  During one of his visits he entered into a debate with a reputed champion of the Advaita school by name Trivikramapanditacharya. The debate between them seems to have extended to fifteen days and in the end Trivikramapanditacharya admitted defeat and became his disciple embracing Dvaita philosophy. 

Trivikramapanditacharya became devoted to Sri Madvacharya and wrote the commentary known as Tatvapradipa on the Brahmasutra Bhashya of  Sri Madhvacharya. At his request Sri Madhvacharya wrote a metrical commentary on the Brahmasutras which is famous as Anuvyakhyana. The end for Sri Madvacharya is said to have come in his eightieth year suddenly.  While he was teaching the Aitareya Upanishad Bhashya to his disciples, he seems to have suddenly disappeared from the sight of disciples in a shower of flowers. 

Sri Madhvacharya is considered to be the third avatar of Mukya Prana, Vayu, the earlier two being Hanumanji and Bhima, the Pandava prince. Like Bhima, he could eat and digest enormous quantity of food without being affected, while at the same time he could fast for days without showing any sign of tiredness. One incident attributed to him in this respect runs as follows. Once when Sri Madvacharya was travelling through the Goa region, a Brahmin by name Sankara wanted to test him. So he invited him to his place and offered 4000 banana fruits which Sri Madvacharya ate completely besides drinking 30 vessels of milk, reminiscent of Bhima’s exploits. Seeing his special superhuman powers the local king wanted Sri Madvacharya to stay in his place.  When he refused, the king tried to detain him by locking him in the local temple.  Sri Madvacharya became invisible to the king and left the place with his disciples.

Another famous miracle attributed to him is “walking on water”.  While returning from Badrinath, he and his disciples had to cross River Ganges. There were no boats to cross the river. He left his disciples and walked into water and reached the other bank.  The Muslim king at the other bank was surprised to see him crossing the full river without boat and without getting the clothes wet. The king recognized the greatness of Sri Madvacharya and he immediately arranged for boats to get the disciples across the river. 

Sri Madhvacharya has written in all thirty seven works, and they are collectively called Sarvamula. Four of his works are on Brahmasutras, two on Bhagavad Gita, ten are the commentaries on ten Upanishads, one on the Mahabharata and one on the Bhagavata and ten are the Prakaranas. The Rigbhashya is a commentary on the Rig-Veda (for a few typical Riks). Seven of his works are of the Stotra type. The direct disciples of Sri Madhvacharya, viz. Padmanabha Tirtha, Narahari Tirtha, Trivikramapanditacharya among others have written commentaries on his works.

The philosophy he espoused was dualism, Dvaitam, He was critical of Sankara’s Advaita, which he attacked fiercely and of Ramanuja’s Visishtadvaita. The salient points of his philosophy can be summed up as:

1. Brahman is Lord Vishnu. He only is independently Real
2. Jeevas (Athmas) and Jada (insentient objects) are also Real but their Reality is dependant Reality, dependant on Brahman.
3. Panchabeda,  five differences i.e. between Brahman and jeevas, jeeva and jada, jada and jada, jada and Brahman, jeeva and jeeva, is an eternal fact.
4. Liberation (Moksha) means attaining the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu; in other words, entering an eternal relationship of service to the Supreme Lord
5. Pure devotional service to Lord Vishnu is the only way to attain this liberation    
6. Jeevas are of three classes; mukthi-yogas, eligible for Moksha, nitya-samsarins, subject to eternal Samsara, tamo-yogyas, condemned to eternal hell.
7. The truth can be known only through; pratyaksha (direct perception), anumana (inference or logic), and sabda (Vedic authority)
8. The worship of Vishnu consists of - (i) Ankana, marking the body with His symbols, (ii) Namakarana, giving the names of the Lord to children and (iii) Bhajana, singing His glories
9. Renunciation, devotion and direct cognition of the Lord through meditation lead to the attainment of liberation.

Sri Madvacharya's Dvaita philosophy had been further developed by Jayatirtha (1356-1388) and Vyasaraya (1478-1589) and has its main centre at Udupi (Karnataka).

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Athma - One and Many

Sanathana dharma i.e. Hinduism has six systems of philosophy based on Vedas, which are known as Shad-darsanas. Each is a way of looking into the Truth.  One of them is Uttara mimamsa, also known as Vedanta, as the philosophy is based on Upanishads, which constitute the latter part of Vedas, i.e. Veda anta bhaga. Vedanta has three main subsects Advaita, Visishatadvaita and Dvaita. They all base their philosophy not only on Upanishads, but on Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita as well and all these three together are called “Prasthana Thriam”, three authoritative texts.  The difference between the systems arises due to the difference in their interpretation of the texts.  Before going into a brief discussion of the three Vedanta schools of philosophy and their treatment of Athma, let me  at the outset explain that I will be referring in this blog,  Athma, the sentient force behind the body-mind complex, as Jeevathma and Brahman, the Cosmic equivalent of Athma, as Paramatma.  Jeevathma is what is commonly referred to as soul in all religious literatures.

Dvaita

Dvaita is a Sanskrit word that means "duality, dualism”. The Dvaita or "dualist" school of philosophy originated with Sri Madhvacharya who was born in Karnataka state in 13^th century. Madhvacharya called it Tattvavada and based his philosophy on Bhagavatha puranam as well along with Prasthana Thriam.  To Madhvacharya Lord Vishnu is the Paramathma and Paramathma is saguna and is different from Jeevathmas, which are many, and from the insentient objects, Jada.  Paramatma is a real eternal entity that governs and controls the universe.  According to Madhvacharya there are two orders of reality: 1. svatantra, independent reality, which consists of Paramatma alone and 2. paratantra, dependent reality, which consists of jeevathmas and jada.  So as per Dvaita philosophy, there are three realities Paramathma, Jeevathma and jada, one independent and two dependant on the one independent.

“I” is supposed to be the insentient body containing a sentient  jeevathma, which is different from the ever-powerful Paramathma, from other insentient objects that constitute the world and also from  other jeevathmas.  Madhvacharya outlines  pancabheda, the five-fold difference between

1.  Paramatma and Jeevathma

2.  Paramathma and Jada

3.  Jeevathma and jada

4. one jeevathma and another Jeevathma

5.  one jada and another jada

Jeevathma can never be one with Paramathma and Moksha, Liberation, is described as the realization that all finite reality is essentially dependent on the Supreme Paramathma.  Bhakthi yoga is the means for Liberation. Further Jeevathmas are divided into three grades.  One grade of Jeevathmas, mukthi-yogyas, only qualify for liberation, another, nithya-samsarins, are subject to the eternal  transmigration cycle of entry and exit in bodies while a third grade, tamo-yogyas, are condemned to eternal hell. 

So in a nutshell as per Dvaita philosophy, Jeevathmas are many and Jeevathma  is the servant of Paramatma and Jeevathma can never claim unity with Paramatma.

Visishtadvaita

The Vishishtadvaitic thought is considered to have existed for a long time and Ramanujacharya who accepts the Prasthana Thriam as well as the works of Alwars as the source of authority for his philosophy is now revered as the main proponent of Visishtadvaita philosophy.  Visishtadvaita is so called because it inculcates Advaita, oneness with Visesha,  attributes.  Like Dvaita, it holds Lord Vishnu as Paramathma and He is supreme as creator and redeemer. He is saguna, with qualities of omnipotence, omniscience and infinite love. He has no base attributes like sorrow, mortality, and change in Him.  

Ramanujacharya introduces a new concept “aprathak-siddhi” meaning “inseparability” to define the relation between Paramathma, Jeevathmas and Jagat.  All the three are Real but they are not separate Realities, as Jagat and Jeevathmas form part of Paramathma as His body.  Paramathma is Angi and Jeevathmas and Jagat are His Angas.  So all the three are eternal and inseparable but not the same. The three forming one is the non-duality part and Jagat and Jeevathmas inhering in Paramathma as attributes to a substance is the qualification part of non-duality.

Moksha is through Bakthi and Grace of Paramathma, that is attained through Prapatti or saranagathi  to Lord.  Karma and Jnana are only means to Bhakthi.  Moksha means giving up the worldly existence and passage to Vaikuntha to remain forever in presence of Lord Vishnu. The liberated Jeevathma attains to the nature of Lord but does not become identical with it. The Jeevathmas are classified in three groups :

1.   Nityas, or the eternally free Jeevathmas  who were never in Samsara
2.    Muktas, or the Jeevathmas that were once in Samsara but are now free
3. Baddhas, or the Jeevathmas  which are still in Samsara

So in a nutshell Jeevathmas are many and part of Paramathma but not Paramathma itself like a seed in the jackfruit which is not jackfruit itself. 

Advaita 

Though there had been earlier exponents of Advaita philosophy it is Sri Adi Sankara who perfected it and gave a finishing touch to it.  The Advaita philosophy enunciated by him is beautifully summed up in one line “Brahma Satyam Jagan Mithya Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah – Parmathma (Brahman) alone is Real; this world is apparently Real and the Jeevatma is not different from Paramatma”   Here Mithya is the word used to describe the world.  Mithya is not false but something which appears true but on investigation revealed as not true.  For instance the blueness of sky that you can perceive ordinarily but on investigation is revealed as not true. Same way with sunrise and sunset for sun does not really rise or set.  As Swami Paramathmananda states "Mithya object can have experienceability, transactability and utility but has no Reality"  

In my blogs on Athma and Jeeva-Iswara Ikyam, advaitic view of Athma and its identity with Brahman have been discussed.  To sum them up, Reality is Paramathma only and everything else is manifestation of Paramathma with form and name and that Paramathma is same as Jeevathma, in terms of the idiom used in this blog. 

To revert back to the terms used in the earlier blogs; as per Dvaita, Athmas are many and Athma is different from Brahman that is Saguna; as per Visishtadvaita, Athmas are many and different from Brahman that is Saguna, but they have a special relationship of Angi and Anga with the Saguna Brahman;  and  as per Advaita,  Athma is one and identical with Brahman that is Nirguna, and is defined as “Existence, Consciousness, Bliss” which is its intrinsic nature.  Swami Jitadmananda while describing Swami Vivekanananda’s practical Vedanta says “By Vedanta Vivekananda always meant all the three schools of Vedanta; dualism ( Dvaita) leads by the process of reason to qualified monism (Visishtadvaita) and qualified monism culminating in the same way in Advaita.  Dualism, qualified monism and non-dualism (Advaita) are only three gradually ascending stages of vision which unfolds themselves as one develops finer and finer intelligence”.  A jnani with advaitic vision experiences Brahman as “isness” of his thoughts in the inner mind in meditation and as “isness” behind the many in the outer world when interacting with the outer world involving duality.

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