Clustering de eventos

INTRODUCTION

Hari Om! Sal u ta tions to Sri Vyasa, the Avatara of Vishnu, the wise Badarayana and Sri Krishna Dvaipayana.

Vedas con sist of three por tions viz., the Karma Kanda which deals with sac ri fices or cer e mo nial rites, the Upasana Kanda which treats of Upasana (wor ship) and the Jnana Kanda which deals with knowl edge of Brah man. Karma Kanda rep re sents the feet of a man, Upasana Kanda the heart, and the Jnana Kanda the head. Just as the head is the most im por tant por tion of a man, so also the Upanishads which treat of the knowl edge por tion of the Vedas is the head of the Vedas. Hence it is said to be the Siras (head) of Vedas.

Mimamsa means the in ves ti ga tion or en quiry into the con nected mean ing of the sa cred texts. Of this Mimamsa two branches have been re cog nised, the Purva Mimamsa (ear lier) and the Uttara Mimamsa (the lat ter). The for mer sys tema tises the Karma Kanda—the por tion of the Veda which per tains to ac tion and sac ri - fices and which com prises Samhitas and the Brahmanas; the lat ter sys tema tises the Jnana Kanda i.e., that part of the Vedas which in - cludes the Aranyaka por tion of the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. Jaimini is the au thor of the Purva Mimamsa. Sri Vyasa (Badarayana or Krishna Dvaipayana) the Guru of Jaimini is the au thor of the Brahma Sutras oth er wise known as Vedanta Sutras. The study of Brahma Sutras is a syn thetic study of the Upanishads. It treats of the Vedanta phi los o phy.

The Vedas are eter nal. They were not writ ten by any in di vid ual. They came out from the breath of Hiranyagarbha (Lord Brahma). Vedanta is the end or gist of the Vedas. It deals with the knowl edge por tion. Vedanta is not mere spec u la tion. It is the au then tic re cord of tran scen den tal ex pe ri ences or di rect and ac tual reali sa tion of the great Hindu Rishis or seers. Brahma Sutras is the Sci ence of the Soul.

Sutras are con cise aph o risms. They give the es sence of the ar - gu ments on a topic. Max i mum of thought is com pressed or con - densed into these Sutras in as few words as pos si ble. It is easy to re mem ber them. Great in tel lec tual peo ple only, with reali sa tion, can

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com pose Sutras. They are clues or aids to mem ory. They can not be un der stood with out a lu cid com men tary (Bhashya). The com men tary also is in need of fur ther elab o rate ex pla na tion. Thus the in ter pre ta - tions of the Sutras gave rise to var i ous kinds of lit er ary writ ings such as Vrittis (gloss) and Karikas. The dif fer ent Acharyas (found ers of dif - fer ent schools of thought) have given their own in ter pre ta tions of the Sutras to es tab lish their own doc trines. The Bhashya of Sri Sankara on Brahma Sutras is known as Sariraka Bhashya. His school of thought is Kevala Advaita. The Bhashya of Sri Ramanuja who founded the Visishtadvaita School is called Sri Bhashya. The com - men tary of Sri Nimbarkacharya is known as Vedanta-parijata- saurabha. Sri Vallabhacharya ex pounded his sys tem of phi los o phy of Suddhadvaita (pure mo nism) and his com men tary on the Brahma Sutras is known as Anu Bhashya.

San skrit is very elas tic. It is like Kamadhenu or Kalpataru. You can milk out of it var i ous kinds of Rasas ac cord ing to your in tel lec tual cal i bre and spir i tual ex pe ri ences. There fore dif fer ent Acharyas have built dif fer ent sys tems of thought or cults by in ter pret ing the Sutras in their own ways and be came found ers of sects. Madhva founded his own sys tem of Dvaita. The cults of Vishnu known as Bhagavata or Pancharatra and those of Siva, Pasupata or Mahesvara have in ter - preted Brahma Sutras in ac cor dance with their own ten ets. Nimbarkacharya in ter preted the Vedanta sys tem from the stand point of Bhedabheda-Dvaitadvaita. He was largely in flu enced by the teach - ings of Bhaskara who flour ished in the first half of the ninth cen tury. The the ory held by Bhaskara and Nimbarka was held by the an cient teacher Audulomi. Badarayana him self re fers to this the ory in his Brahma Sutras.

There are more than four teen com men tar ies on the Brahma Sutras. Sri Appaya Dikshita ren dered the com men tary of Sri Sankara more clear by his Parimala, Sri Vachaspati Misra by his work Bhamati and Sri Amalananda Sarasvati by his Kalpataru.

The er ro ne ous iden ti fi ca tion of the body with the pure At man is the root cause for hu man suf fer ings and mis er ies and for births and deaths. You iden tify your self with the body and say, ‘I am fair, dark, stout or thin. I am a Brah min, I am a Kshatriya, I am a doc tor’. You iden tify your self with the senses and say, ‘I am blind, I am dumb’. You iden tify your self with the mind and say, ‘I know noth ing. I know ev ery - thing. I be came an gry. I en joyed a good meal. I am suf fer ing from this dis ease’. The en tire ob ject of the Brahma Sutras is to re move this er - ro ne ous iden ti fi ca tion of the Soul with the body which is the root cause of your suf fer ings and mis er ies, which is the prod uct of Avidya (ig no rance) and help you in the at tain ment of the fi nal eman ci pa tion through knowl edge of Brah man.

The Upanishads seem to be full of con tra dic tions at first. They do not con tain con sis tent sys tem of thought. Sri Vyasa sys tema tised the thoughts or phi los o phy of the Upanishads in his Brahma Sutras. The Sutras rec on cile the con flict ing state ments of the Upanishads. In re al ity there are no con flicts for the thinker. Audulomi and Asmarathya also did this work in their own way and founded their own schools of thought.

Those who wish to study the phi los o phy of Vedanta should study the Ten Clas si cal Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. All Acharyas have com mented on Brahma Sutras. This is a great au thor - ity for ev ery philo soph i cal school in In dia. If any Acharya wishes to es - tab lish his own cult or sect or school of thought he will have to write a com men tary of his own on Brahma Sutras. Then only it will be re cog - nised.

The five great Acharyas: Sri Sankara the ex po nent of Kevala Advaita or un com pro mis ing mo nism, Sri Ramanuja the ex po nent of Visishtadvaita or qual i fied mo nism, Sri Nimbarka the ex po nent of Bhedabheda-vada, Sri Madhva the ex po nent of strict Dvaitism or Dvaita-vada and Sri Vallabha the ex po nent of Suddhadvaita-vada or pure mo nism agree that Brah man is the cause of this world and that knowl edge of Brah man leads to Moksha or the fi nal eman ci pa tion, which is the goal of life. They also em phat i cally de clared that Brah - man can be known only through the scrip tures and not through mere rea son ing. But they dif fer amongst them selves as to the na ture of this Brah man, the re la tion of the in di vid ual soul to Brah man, the state of the soul in the state of fi nal eman ci pa tion, the means of at tain ing It and Its cau sal ity with ref er ence to this uni verse.

Ac cord ing to Sri Sankara, there is one Ab so lute Brah man who is Sat-chit-ananda, who is of an ab so lutely ho mo ge neous na ture. The ap pear ance of this world is due to Maya—the il lu sory power of Brah - man which is nei ther Sat nor Asat. This world is un real. This world is a Vivarta or ap par ent mod i fi ca tion through Maya. Brah man ap pears as this uni verse through Maya. Brah man is the only re al ity. The in di vid - ual soul has lim ited him self through Avidya and iden ti fi ca tion with the body and other ve hi cles. Through his self ish ac tions he en joys the fruits of his ac tions. He be comes the ac tor and enjoyer. He re gards him self as atomic and as an agent on ac count of Avidya or the lim it ing Antahkarana. The in di vid ual soul be comes iden ti cal with Brah man when his Avidya is de stroyed. In re al ity Jiva is all-per vad ing and iden - ti cal with Brah man. Isvara or Saguna Brah man is a prod uct of Maya. Wor ship of Isvara leads to Krama Mukti. The pi ous dev o tees (the knowers of Saguna Brah man) go to Brahmaloka and at tain fi nal re - lease through high est knowl edge. They do not re turn to this world. They at tain the Nirguna Brah man at the end of the cy cle. Knowl edge of Nirguna Brah man is the only means of lib er a tion. The knowers of

Nirguna Brah man at tain im me di ate fi nal re lease or Sadyomukti. They need not go by the path of gods or the path of Devayana. They merge them selves in Para Brah man. They do not go to any Loka or world. Sri Sankara’s Brah man is Nirvisesha Brah man (Im per sonal Ab so lute) with out at trib utes.

Ac cord ing to Sri Ramanuja, Brah man is with at trib utes (Savisesha). He is en dowed with all aus pi cious qual i ties. He is not in - tel li gence it self. In tel li gence is his chief at trib ute. He con tains within Him self what ever ex ists. World and in di vid ual souls are es sen tial real con stit u ents of Brah man’s na ture. Mat ter (Achit) and soul (Chit) form

the body of the Lord, Lord Narayana who is the In ner Ruler

(Antaryamin). Mat ter and souls are called modes of Him (Prakara). The in di vid ual souls will never be en tirely re solved in Brah man. Ac - cord ing to Ramanuja, Brah man is not ab so lutely one and ho mo ge - neous. The in di vid ual souls un dergo a state of Sankocha (con trac tion) dur ing Pralaya. They ex pand (Vikasa) dur ing cre ation. Sri Ramanuja’s Brah man is a Per sonal God with at trib utes. The in di - vid ual soul of Ramanuja is re ally in di vid ual. It will re main a per son al ity for ever. The soul re mains in Vaikuntha for ever in a state of bliss and en joys the di vine Aisvarya of Lord Narayana. Bhakti is the chief means to fi nal eman ci pa tion and not Jnana. Sri Ramanuja fol lows in his Bhashya the au thor ity of Bodhayana.

Ac cord ing to Sri Nimbarkacharya, Brah man is con sid ered as both the ef fi cient and ma te rial cause of the world. Brah man is both Nirguna and Saguna. The uni verse is not un real or il lu sory but is a true man i fes ta tion or Parinama of Brah man. (Sri Ramanuja also holds this view. He says “Just as milk is trans formed into curd, so also Brah man has trans formed Him self as this uni verse”). This world is iden ti cal with and at the same time dif fer ent from Brah man just as the wave or bub ble is the same and at the same time dif fer ent from wa ter. The in di vid ual souls are parts of the Su preme Self. They are con - trolled by the Su preme Be ing. The fi nal sal va tion lies in real is ing the true na ture of one’s own soul. This can be achieved by Bhakti (de vo - tion). The in di vid u al ity of the fi nite self (Jivatman) is not dis solved even in the state of fi nal eman ci pa tion. Sri Ramanuja also holds that the Jiva as sumes the di vine body of Sri Narayana with four hands and en joys in Vaikuntha the di vine Aisvarya of the Lord.

You may ask why do such great real ised souls hold dif fer ent views, why have they started dif fer ent cults or sys tems. The high est phi los o phy of Sri Sankara which be speaks of the iden tity of the in di - vid ual soul and the Su preme Soul can not be un der stood by the vast ma jor ity of per sons. There fore Sri Madhva and Sri Ramanuja started their Bhakti cult. The dif fer ent schools are dif fer ent rungs in the lad der of Yoga. The stu dent must place his foot step by step and fi nally reach the high est peak of per fec tion—the Kevaladvaita reali sa tion of Sri

Sankara. As tem per a ments are dif fer ent, dif fer ent schools are also nec es sary to suit the taste, ca pac ity, and stage of evo lu tion of the as - pi rant. There fore all schools and cults are nec es sary. They have got their own place and scope.

The views of var i ous Acharyas are all true in re spect of the par - tic u lar as pect of Brah man dealt with by them each in his own way. Sankara has taken Brah man in His tran scen den tal as pect, while Sri Ramanuja has taken Him chiefly in His im ma nent as pect. Peo ple were fol low ing blindly the rit u als dur ing the time of Sri Sankara. When he was pre par ing his com men tary he had in view the pur pose of com - bat ing the bane ful ef fects which blind rit u al ism pro duced. He never con demned self less ser vice or Nishkama Karma Yoga. He con - demned the per for mance of rit u als with self ish mo tives.

Sankara Bhashya is the old est of all com men tar ies. It up holds Suddha-Para-Brah man or the Su preme Self of the Upanishads as some thing su pe rior to other di vine be ings. It pro pounds a very bold phi los o phy and de clares em phat i cally that the in di vid ual soul is iden ti - cal with the Su preme Self. Sankara’s philo soph i cal view ac cu rately rep re sents the mean ing of Badarayana. His ex pla na tions only faith - fully ren der the in tended mean ing of Sri Vyasa. This is be yond doubt and dis pute.

Stu dents of Kevaladvaita School of Phi los o phy should study the Sariraka Bhashya of Sri Sankara which is pro found, sub tle and unique. It is an au thor ity which leads to the right un der stand ing of the Brahma Sutras. The best think ers of In dia, Ger many, Amer ica and Eng land be long to this school. It oc cu pies a high rank in books on phi - los o phy. Advaita phi los o phy is the most sub lime and the grand est phi - los o phy of the Hin dus.

You can un der stand the Brahma Sutras if you have a knowl edge of the twelve clas si cal Upanishads. You can un der stand the sec ond

chap ter if you have a knowl edge of Sankhya, Nyaya, Yoga,

Mimamsa, Vaiseshika Darsana and Buddhistic school, too. All these schools are re futed here by Sri Sankara. Sri Sankara’s com men tary is the best com men tary. Dr. Thibaut has trans lated this com men tary into Eng lish. “Brahma Sutras” is one of the books of Prasthanatraya. This is an au thor i ta tive book on Hindu Phi los o phy. The work con sists of 4 Adhyayas (chap ters), 16 Padas (sec tions), 223 Adhikaranas (top ics) and 555 Sutras (aph o risms). The first chap ter (Samanvayadhyaya) uni fies Brah man, the sec ond (Avirodhadhyaya) re futes other phi los o - phies, the third (Sadhanadhyaya) deals with prac tice (Sadhana) to at - tain Brah man and the fourth (Phaladhyaya) treats of fruits of Self-reali sa tion. Each chap ter con tains four Padas. Each Pada con - tains Adhikaranas. Each Adhikarana has sep a rate ques tion to dis - cuss. The first five Adhikaranas of the first chap ter are very, very im por tant.

Glory to Sri Vyasa Bhagavan, son of Parasara, the mighty sage, a Chiranjivi who has writ ten all Puranas and also di vided the Vedas. May his bless ings be upon you all!

CHAPTER I SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION

The Vedanta Sutras are called “Sariraka Mimamsa” be cause they deal with Para Brah man, the Sarira (the em bod ied).

In the first chap ter the au thor shows that all the Ve dic texts uni - formly re fer to Brah man and find their Samanvaya (rec on cil i a tion) in Him. In the sec ond chap ter, it has been proved that there is no con flict be tween Vedanta and other Sastras. In the third chap ter the means of