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Hinduism And Hindu Theology - What Is An Adhyasa ?

Adhyasa means "superimposition" in Sanskrit. This is a fundamental idea in Advaita Vedanta, one of the six schools of ancient Indian philosophy, that explains the world around us's ultimate unreality, despite its seeming reality. 


  • According to the Advaita Vedanta school, there is only one true concept in the world, which is Brahman. 
  • Everything is, in reality, the same thing, and this will never change. Because Brahman is all-encompassing, it can never be seen as such (pratyaksha). 
  • The Advaitins must next explain how things in the world seem to change, or how they appear varied and distinct. 
  • This is described as a result of our erroneous perception and comprehension. 
  • This concept is known as adhyasa, and it is based on the human propensity to “build” an image of the universe. 


Human beings, according to this theory, superimpose a false knowledge (that reality is varied and differentiated) on top of the true understanding (that all reality is nothing but undifferentiated Brahman). 


  • The Advaitins believe that the universe exists because Brahman exists. 
  • The world as most unenlightened people see it is not real. 
  • Advaitins use two well-known examples to demonstrate this concept: a rope that is mistaken for a snake for a short while, and a post that is mistaken for a man.
  • These judgements are not made up out of thin air, despite the fact that they are incorrect. In each instance, one is seeing something real—the rope and post are both real—but “superimposing” a false identity on them, thus “transforming” them into something they are not. 
  • Human awareness, it is claimed, starts with the Supreme Reality (Brahman), which is really there, but superimposes something that is not (the judgment of a diverse world). 
  • The fundamental issue, according to the Advaitins, is epistemological, or how humans come to know things, rather than the nature of the things themselves. 
  • True understanding occurs when the mistaken notions that led to the initial error are destroyed and replaced by true understanding, not when the things themselves change—to return to the example, the rope has always been and always will be a rope—but when the mistaken notions that led to the initial error are destroyed and replaced by true understanding. 
  • Advaitins believe that adhyasa is a manifestation of avidya (a lack of genuine knowledge), which is perpetuated and maintained by the karmic power of one's erroneous ideas and deeds. 
  • Adhyasa vanishes the instant full knowledge is realized, when one realizes that the universe (and oneself) are both nothing but Brahman. 

This epiphany provides ultimate knowledge that can never be lost, just as once a piece of rope has been identified, it can never again become a serpent. Karl H. Potter (ed. ), Advaita Vedanta up to Samkara and His Pupils, 1981; and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore (eds. ), A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, 1957, for further details.


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Hinduism - Who Is Trika In Hindu Philosophy?

 

 

The greatest figure in the Trika school was the tenth-century philosopher and aesthetic theorist Abhinavagupta.

The Trika school was a Kashmiri religious community whose members were devotees (bhakta) of the god Shiva; the greatest figure in the Trika school was the tenth-century philosopher and aesthetic theorist Abhinavagupta.

Trika Shaivism is a tantric tradition—that is, a secret, ritual-based religious practice—whose philosophical foundations combine theism and monism.

Theism holds that a divine being is the universe's Supreme Reality, while monism holds that a more abstract principle is the foundation of all reality.

The deity Shiva, who is both Supreme God and the source of emana tions from which the material cosmos is generated, is the single genuine reality for Trika Shaivism.

The process of "recognition" (pratyabhijna), in which one knows that the whole cosmos is nothing but a manifestation of Shiva alone, leads to final soul emancipation (moksha).

Here, one "recognizes" something that has always been true but had been obscured by a misunderstanding up until that point.

More information can be found in Paul Eduardo Muller-1989 Ortega's book, The Triadic Heart of Siva.

Tantra and Shaiva are two other terms for the same thing.

~Kiran Atma


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Hinduism And Hindu Theology - What Is Ananda?



Ananda is a Sanskrit word that means "bliss." 


Being consciousness-bliss is one of the three traditional characteristics of the Supreme Reality (Brahman), which is typically stated as one of the three traditional attributes of the Supreme Reality (Brahman) (sacchidananda). 


  • Tantra, an esoteric ceremonial tradition, places a strong emphasis on ananda, or joy. 
  • Ananda is a term used in tantra to describe both ordinary bodily pleasure and the ultimate enlightenment. 
  • Even everyday joys, in this perspective, are mirrors of ultimate happiness. 
  • The difference between ultimate happiness and regular pleasure is that it is everlasting, and you lose your sense of self and are just conscious of bliss.


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Hinduism - Who Was Vishakhadatta?

 



 Vishakhadatta(6th c.), was a Sanskrit playwright, Mudrarakshasa ("Rakshasa's Ring") is his sole extant work.

The play is historically significant since its central narrative is the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321–297 B.C.E. ), the founder of the Maurya dynasty, despite the fact that the play attributes his victory to his crafty brahmin minister, Chanakya.

Although, in respect to the actual monarch, this picture is wrong, the play portrays the king as a weak character, with the minister as the true power behind the throne.

The narrative of the drama is convoluted, as is the case with many Sanskrit plays, but the drama's climax occurs when the main protagonists are dramatically saved from execution at the last minute.

Michael Coulson translated the play into English and released it in the collection Three Sanskrit Plays in 1981.

Vishishthadvaita ("Qualified Non-Dualism") is a Sanskrit word that means "qualified non-dualism." Vedanta One of the branches of Vedanta, the philosophical school that claims to reveal the Vedas' ultimate meaning and purpose (anta), the Hindu religious texts' oldest and most authoritative texts.

The greatest figure in Vishishthadvaita is Ramanuja, an eleventh-century philosopher who was central to its formulation, despite the fact that he was building on earlier work.

Ramanuja believed that Brahman, or Supreme Reality, was a personal god rather than an impersonal abstract concept, and that the most significant kind of religious activity was devotion (bhakti).

His philosophical viewpoint, Vishishthadvaita Vedanta, emphasized both of these ideas, and so contrasted with the Advaita Vedanta school, created by the philosopher Shankaracharya.

The Advaita school adheres to the philosophical position of monism, or the belief in a single impersonal Ultimate Reality, which they refer to as Brahman.

Despite the appearance of difference and variety in the perceivable world, Advaita adherents believe that reality is "nondual" (advaita), meaning that all things are nothing but the formless Brahman.

This assumption of diversity, according to Advaitins, is a fundamental misunderstanding of the ultimate nature of things, as well as a manifestation of avidya.

Although avidya is often translated as "ignorance," it is better understood as a lack of genuine understanding that leads to karmic bonding, rein carnation (samsara), and suffering.

Because the real issue for Advaitins is a misunderstanding, realization (jnana) was the best spiritual path to achieve ultimate liberation (moksha).

The material universe and self have genuine and autonomous existence, according to Ramanuja's formulation, while their existence is ultimately anchored in God, whom he names as Vishnu.

The world emerges from God through an evolutionary process based on the Samkhya model, but because matter is unconscious, it is both similar to and dissimilar to God.

Human beings are similar to God in that they have God as their source, but they differ from him in that they are subject to ignorance and suffering.

God, according to Ramanuja and his followers, is not the same as ourselves or the world, which are all thought to have real and independent existence.

In a way that the Advaita proponents will never concede, this notion of identity and difference makes the perceptible world real.

Ramanuja's stance differs from that of a later thinker, Madhva, whose Dvaita Vedanta emphasized the enormous chasm between God and all else.

Because of the disparity in capacities between the god and the devotee (bhakta), Ramanuja and his followers have emphasized bhakti as the most effective route of redemption.

Even after freedom, souls maintain enough separation from God to allow devotion; liberation is seen as a perpetual relationship with God rather than a loss of individuality.

For further detail, read John Braisted Carman's The Theology of Ramanuja, published in 1974, and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore's A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, published in 1957.


Kiran Atma


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Shrivaishnava

 

A religious community in southern India that is devotees (bhakta) of the gods Vishnu and Shri (Lakshmi), and whose religious practice is based on the devotional songs of the Alvars, a group of twelve poet-saints who lived in southern India during the seventh and tenth centuries.

The Alvars were all Vishnu worshipers, and their emphasis on ardent devotion (bhakti) to a particular deity, expressed via hymns sung in Tamil, revolutionized Hindu religious life.

The philosopher Ramanuja, regarded the Shrivaishnava founder, collected and systematized the Alvars' spiritual outpouring two centuries later.

Ramanuja was believed that Brahman, or Supreme Reality, was a personal god rather than an impersonal abstract concept, and that the most significant kind of religious activity was devotion.

His philosophical viewpoint, Vishishthadvaita Vedanta, emphasized both of these ideas, and so stood in opposition to Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta school, which emphasized that the Supreme Being was impersonal and that realization (jnana) was the highest spiritual path.

The Shrivaishnava community separated into two smaller sects following Ramanuja, the Tengalai and the Vadagalai.

The division arose from a debate over whether human work was required for eventual emancipation or if hope comes from total submission (pra patti) to God's favor; the Vadagalais believed the former, while the Tengalais believed the latter.

In reality, the Shrivaishnava community has been heavily impacted by the Pancharatra religious group's theory of divine "emanations," specifically the idea that a properly consecrated picture becomes a manifestation of the god itself.

Shrivaishnava religiosity has traditionally revolved on temples and, in particular, the service of the temple's image, which is regarded a true representation of the god.

Given the emphasis on study and temple-based devotion, it's no surprise that the community has been dominated by brahmins, with the few non-brahmins having a clear lower position.

K. Rangachari's book The Sri Vaisnava Brahmans was published in 1931, and John Braisted Carman's book The Theology of Ramanuja was published in 1974.

Hinduism - Who Was Vallabhacharya?

 

 

Vallabhacharya (1479–1531) was a philosopher, teacher, and founder of the Pushti Marg, a religious community.

Vallabha Charya proposed Shuddadvaita ("pure non-dualism"), in which the Ultimate Reality was regarded as individualized, in the form of Krishna, rather than the impersonal Brahman of the Advaita Vedanta school.

The supreme religious goal was conceived in terms of relationship with that divine person because Vallabhacharya had personalized his conception of the Supreme Reality.

This emphasis on devotion was quickly expressed in the Pushti Marg's temples via intricately structured forms of image worship.

The devotees (bhakta) saw themselves as Krishna's companions throughout his everyday activities—waking, eating, bringing the cows to pasture, returning home, and so on—and so were able to participate in the divine pastime (lila).

The emergence of large liturgical materials, penned by eight poets (the ash tachap) affiliated with Vallabhacharya and Vitthalnath, his son and successor, aided this focus on vision and participation.

R.K. Barz, The Bhakti Sect of Vallabhacarya, 1976, is a good source of information.

~Kiran Atma


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KUNDALINI YOGA'S ESSENCE


In its metaphysical context, YOGA is the mechanism through which the human spirit is taken into close and conscious unity with, or is merged in, the Divine Spirit, depending on whether the human spirit's essence is held to be distinct from (Dvaita, Visishtadvaita) or one with (Advaita). As the above proposition is reiterated by Vedanta, Yoga is the mechanism by which the Yogin or Yoga practitioner realizes the existence of the two (Jivatman and paramatman)—an identity that has already existed. It is so realized that the Spirit has pierced into the curtain of Maya, which obscures this awareness from itself as mind and matter. The Yoga method, which frees the Jiva from Maya, is the way by which this is accomplished. “There is no bond comparable in strength to Maya, and no force greater to break the bond than Yoga,” says the Gheranda-Samhita. Yoga in the form of a final union is inapplicable from an Advaitic or Monistic perspective since union entails a dualism of the Divine and human spirit. 

In this case, it refers to the mechanism rather than the outcome. When the two are considered apart, Yoga may be applied to both. Yogin refers to anyone who practices Yoga. Only a small percentage of people are capable of attempting Yoga. One must have gone through Karma, or selfless service and ritualistic observances, without connection to the deeds or their fruits, and Upasana, or devotional worship, in this or previous lives, and received the fruit thereof, namely, a pure mind (Chittasuddhi). This isn't just about having a conscience clean of sexual impurity. The A B C of Sadhana is doing this and other virtues. In this way, a person may have a pure mind but still be unable to practice Yoga. 

Chittasuddhi encompasses not only spiritual purity in all forms, but also intelligence, isolation, pure intellectual functioning ability, concentration, meditation, and so on. When the mind is taken to this stage by Karma Yoga and Upasana, and when there is dispassion and separation from the universe and its needs through Jnana Yoga, the Yoga road is open for the realization of the true Reality. Just a few people can do Yoga in its advanced form. Most people should achieve development by Karma Yoga and dedication. According to one school of thought, there are four major types of yoga: Mantra Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Laya Yoga, and Raja Yoga; Kundalini Yoga is Laya Yoga. Jnana Yoga, Raja Yoga, Laya Yoga, Hatha Yoga, and Mantra Yoga are some of the other forms of yoga. This is founded on the belief that there are five facets of spiritual life: Dharma, Kriya, Bhava, Jnana, and Yoga; Mantra Yoga is divided into two types depending on whether it is practiced along the Kriya or Bhava path. 

There are seven Sadhanas in Yoga: Sat-Karma, Asana, Mudra, Pratyahara, Pranayama, Dhyana, and Samadhi, which are body cleansing, seat postures for Yoga, abstraction of the senses from their objects, breath-control, meditation, and ecstasy, which is divided into two types: imperfect (Savikalpa) in which dualism is not fully overcome, and perfect (Nirvikalpa) Savikalpa Samadhi is the Samadhi of Laya Yoga, while Nirvikalpa Samadhi is the Samadhi of full Raja Yoga. Functional processes are the first four, behavioral processes are the second three, and supramental processes are the last three. Purity (Sodhana), firmness and determination (Dridhata), fortitude (Sthirata), steadiness (Dhairya), lightness (Laghava), realisation (Pratyaksha), and separation leading to Liberation are all achieved by these seven cycles (Nirliptatva). 

Five of the above Sadhanas (Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhyana, and Samadhi) are used in Ashtanga Yoga, as well as three others: Yama or self-control by chastity, temperance, avoidance of harm (Ahimsa), and other virtues; Niyama or religious observances, charity, and so forth, with devotion to the Lord (Isvara-Pranidhana); Man is a microcosm of the universe (Kshudra Brahmanda). Whatever remains in the world outside of him exists inside him. Both the Tattvas and realms, as well as the Supreme Siva-Sakti, are contained within him. The head and trunk, on the one side, and the wings, on the other, are the two major parts of the body. The human body's center of gravity is located between these two points, at the base of the spine, where the legs begin. The spinal cord supports the trunk which runs the length of the spine. 

This is the body's axis, just as Mount Meru is the earth's axis. As a result, man's spine is known as Merudanda, Meru, or axis-staff. The legs and feet are gross and exhibit less signs of consciousness than the trunk, which contains the organ of mind, or physical brain, with its white and grey matter, and which is greatly inferior to the head, which contains the organ of mind, or physical brain, with its white and grey matter. The white and grey matter of the head and spinal column, respectively, are in reversed positions. The seven lower or nether worlds are supported by the universe's supporting Sakti or Powers in the body and legs below the middle. Consciousness manifests more freely from the center upwards across the spinal and cerebral centers. 

The seven upper regions, or Lokas, are the fruits of Karma in the process of specific rebirth. Lokas is a word that means "What is seen" (Lokyante), that is, experienced. Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, Tapa, Jana, Maha, and Satya Lokas belong to the six centers: five in the trunk, one in the lower cerebral center, and one in the upper brain or Satyaloka, the abode of the Supreme Siva-Sakti. The Muladhara or root-support is located at the base of the spinal column, halfway in the perineum between the root of the genitals and the anus; above it, the Svadhishthana, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddha, and Ajna Chakras or lotuses are located in the area of the genitals, liver, heart, stomach, and throat, and in the forehead between the two eyes. These are the main chakras, though some texts mention the Lalana, Manas, and Soma Chakras as well. 

The upper brain, which is the highest center of embodiment of consciousness in the body and hence the abode of the Supreme Siva-Sakti, is the seventh zone above the Chakras. When it is said to be the "abode," it does not imply that the Supreme is "put" there in the sense of our "placing," i.e., it is there and nowhere else! The Supreme does not have a physical manifestation, but its embodiments do. It can be found both within and outside the body, but it is said to be in the Sahasrara since the Supreme Siva-Sakti is realized there. 

And this has to be the case because consciousness is realized by joining and going through the Sattvamayi Buddhi, which is beyond and above the Chit and Chidrupini Saktis themselves. Mind has emerged as Buddhi, Ahamkara, Manas, and related senses (Indriyas) from their Siva-Sakti Tattva aspect, the center of which is above the Ajna Chakra and below the Sahasrara. The Tanmatras, or generals of the sense-particulars, descend from Ahamkara and give rise to the five types of sensible matter (Bhuta), namely Akasa (ether), Vayu (air), Agni (fire), Apah (water), and Prithvi (water) (earth). 

The Bhutas are not the same as the English components of air, fire, water, and earth, as the English translation implies. The meanings denote various degrees of matter, ranging from ethereal to solid. Thus, Prithvi or earth refers to any matter that is in the Prithvi state, or that can be detected by the Indriya of smell. The body is pervaded by both mind and matter. However, there are several areas where they are dominant. The five lower Chakras, Visuddha of Akasa, Anahata of Vayu, Manipura of Agni, Svadhishthana of Apah, and Muladhara of Prithvi, are thus the centers of the five Bhutas; Visuddha of Akasa, Anahata of Vayu, Manipura of Agni, Svadhishthana of Apah, and Mula In brief, man as a microcosm is the all-pervading Spirit (most solely manifested in the Sahasrara) vehicled by Sakti in the form of mind and matter, the centers of which are the sixth and following five Chakras, respectively. 

The sacrococcygeal plexus, the sacral plexus, the solar plexus, and the solar plexus, starting with the lowest, the Muladhara, have been defined as the six Chakras (which forms the great junction of the right and left sympathetic chains Ida and Pingala with the cerebro-spinal axis). The lumbar plexus is related to this. The cardiac plexus (Anahata), the laryngeal plexus, and the Ajna (cerebellum) with its two lobes follow. The Manas-Chakra, or middle cerebrum, is above this, followed by the Sahasrara, or upper cerebrum. 

The six Chakras are essential centers located in the white and grey matter of the spinal column. They can, and most likely do, affect and control the gross tract outside the spine in the bodily area lateral to and co-extensive with the portion of the spinal column where a specific center is located. Sakti's essential energy is channeled into the Chakras. In other words, these are Pranavayu's Pranasakti centers embodied in the living body, with the presiding Devatas becoming names for the Universal Consciousness manifested in the form of those centers.

The Chakras are not visible to the naked eye. And if they were visible in the living body that they helped to organize; they vanish with the demise of the organism. Some people believe that these Chakras do not exist and are simply the fabrication of a fertile brain since post-mortem inspection of the body does not show them in the spinal column. This mentality reminds us of a doctor who said that after doing several post-mortems, he has yet to find a soul! 

The number of petals on the lotuses varies, with 4, 6, 10, 12, 16, and 2 petals beginning with Muladhara and ending with Ajna. The Matrikas and the Tattvas are all products of the same imaginative Cosmic phenomenon manifesting as bodily or psychological activity, and there are 50 in all. It's worth noting that the number of petals is equal to the number of letters omitting either Ksha or the second La, and that these 50 times 20 equals the 1000 petals of the Sahasrara, a number that represents infinity. But why, one might wonder, do the petals differ in number? Why are there four in the Muladhara and six in the Svadhishthana, for example? The number and location of the Nadis or Yoga-nerves around a Chakra decide the number of petals in that Chakra, according to the response given. 

Four Nadis surround and travel through the Muladhara Chakra's essential motions, giving it the appearance of a lotus with four petals, which are therefore arrangements created by the locations of Nadis at any given center. This aren't the Nadis that the Vaidya is familiar with. The latter are real nerves at their most basic form. However, the former is referred to as Yoga-Nadis, and they are subtle pathways (Vivaras) from which the Pranic currents circulate. Nadi is derived from the root Nad, which means motion. There are an infinite number of Nadis in the body. The body would resemble an extremely complex map of ocean waves if they were exposed to the naked eye. 

The water seems to be the same on the surface. However, inspection reveals that it is going in both directions with differing degrees of force. The spinal columns have both lotuses. The vertebral column is known as the Merudanda. Western anatomy splits it into five regions, which, in support of the hypothesis presented here, correspond to the locations of the five Chakras. The brain, or encephalon, is found inside the skull (in which the Lalana, Ajna, Manas, Soma Chakras, and Sahasrara Chakras are located), as well as the spinal cord, which extends from the upper boundary of the Atlas below the cerebellum and descends to the second lumbor vertebra, where it tapers to a point called the filum terminale. The thread, which is made up of gray and white brain matter and contains the five lower Chakras, is located inside the spine. 

It's worth noting that the filum terminale was once considered to be nothing more than a fibrous thread, making it an unsuitable vehicle for the Muladhara Chakra and Kundalini Sakti. Recent microscopic investigations, on the other hand, have shown the presence of extremely sensitive grey matter in the filum terminale, which reflects the Muladhara's location. The spinal cord, according to Western medicine, is not only a conduit between the periphery and the centers of feeling and volition, but also a separate center or set of centers. The Sushumna is a Nadi in the spinal column's middle. Brahma-Dvara, or Gate of Brahman, is the name of the foundation. 

All that can be said with some degree of certainty about the physiological relationships of the Chakras is that the four above Muladhara relate to genito-excretory, digestive, cardiac, and respiratory functions, and that the two upper centres, the Ajna (with associated Chakras) and the Sahasrara, denote various forms of cerebral activity culminating in the repose of Pure Consciousness there. The left and right sympathetic cords cross the central column from one side to the other, forming a threefold knot called Triveni at the Ajna with the Sushumna, which is said to be the spot in the Medulla where the sympathetic cords join together and where they take their origin—these Nadis, together with the two lobed Ajna and the Sushumna forming the How does Kundalini Sakti's rousing and her union with Siva affect the supposed state of ecstatic union (Samadhi) and spiritual experience?

To begin with, there are two major lines of Yoga: Dhyana or Bhavana-Yoga and Kundalini Yoga, all of which have distinct differences. The first class of Yoga is that in which ecstasy (Samadhi) is attained by intellectual processes (Kriya-Jnana) of meditation and the like, with the aid, it may be, of auxiliary processes of Mantra or Hatha Yoga (other than the rousing of Kundalini) and detachment from the world; the second class stands out as that portion of Hatha Yoga in which, while intellective processes are not neglected, the auxiliary processes of Man The Yogin has Her introduce him to Her Lord, and through her, he feels the ecstasy of union. Though he is the one who awakens Her, it is She who imparts wisdom, or Jnana, because She is that. 

The Dhyana Yogin receives as much knowledge of the Supreme state as his own meditative powers can have, but he is unaware of the pleasures of union with Siva in and through the essential Body-power. Both the process and the outcome of the two types of Yoga are different. The Hatha Yogin considers his Yoga and its fruits to be the best; the Jnana Yogin may feel the same way about his. Kundalini is so well-known that many people want to learn more about her. “Can one get on without it?” one might wonder after studying the principle of this Yoga. “It depends on what you're searching for,” says the answer. If you want to rouse Kundalini Sakti, experience the ecstasy of Siva and Sakti's union through Her, and receive the resulting forces (Siddhis), you can only do so through Kundalini Yoga. There are some risks involved with this situation. 

However, if Liberation is desired without a desire for union through Kundalini, such Yoga is not required; for, Liberation can be attained through Pure Jnana Yoga through abstinence, exercise, and then stilling of the mind, without any rousing of the central Bodily-power. Instead of setting off into and out of the universe to join with Siva, the Jnana Yogin detaches himself from the world to achieve this result. The path of pleasure is one, and the path of asceticism is the other. Samadhi can be attained by both the path of devotion (Bhakti) and the path of wisdom. Really, the highest form of devotion (Para Bhakti) is identical to knowledge. Realisation is present in all cases. 

While both methods lead to Mukti (liberation), there are some significant variations between them. A Dhyana Yogin should take care of his body, for he is both mind and matter, and each respond to the other. A disordered imagination is more likely to result from neglect or sheer mortification of the body than from a genuine spiritual experience. However, he is not obsessed about the body in the same way as the Hatha Yogin is. It is possible to be a good Dhyana Yogin while being physically frail, ill, and short-lived. When he dies, his body, not he, decides when he dies. He can't ever die if he wants. 

Kundalini Sakti is still sleeping in the Muladhara when he enters Samadhi, and none of the physical signs, psychical bliss, or powers (Siddhis) associated with Her rousing are present in his situation. The ecstasy he refers to as "Liberation while still living" (Jivanmukti) is not the same as true Liberation. He could also be bound to a suffering body from which he can only free himself at death, if at all. His bliss takes the form of a trance that takes him through the Void (Bhavana-samadhi) by negating all thought-forms (Chitta-Vritti) and detaching from the world—a comparatively destructive phase of which the constructive act of raising the body's Central Power plays no part. 

The mind, which is a creation of Kundalini as Prakriti Sakti, is stilled by his initiative, along with its worldly desires, removing the veil created by mental functioning from Consciousness. When Kundalini Herself is roused by the Yogin (for such rousing is his act and part), she achieves this illumination for him in Laya Yoga. But why should one be concerned about the body and its Central force, particularly when there are uncommon threats and difficulties involved? The response has already been given. 

Via the agency of the Force that is Knowledge itself (Jnanarupa Sakti), there is completeness and assurance of Realisation, an intermediate accumulation of powers (Siddhis), and intermediate and final enjoyment. If the Ultimate Reality resides in two forms: quiescent enjoyment of the Self and emancipation from all form and active enjoyment of things, that is, as pure soul and spirit in matter, so full union with Reality necessitates some unification in both forms. It is important to be aware of it both here (Iha) and there (Amutra). 

When properly understood and applied, the philosophy that teaches that man can make the best of both worlds is true. There is no actual conflict between the two if actions are performed in accordance with the fundamental law of manifestation. It is considered a misleading teaching that pleasure in the afterlife can either be obtained through a lack of fulfillment today, or through a concerted search for pain and mortification. It is Siva, the Supreme Blissful Experience, who exists in this world.

There is no real conflict between the two if actions are taken in accordance with the universal law of manifestation. It is considered a misleading teaching that pleasure in the afterlife can either be obtained through a lack of fulfillment today, or through a concerted search for pain and mortification. It is the Supreme Blissful Experience, Siva, who takes on the shape of man and lives a life of mixed joy and pain. If the identity of these Sivas is realized in every human act, both happiness here and the joy of Liberation here and hereafter can be attained. This can be accomplished by rendering any human function a holy act of sacrifice and worship, without exception (Yajna). 

Enjoyment of food and drink was followed and followed by human sacrifice and ceremony in the ancient Vaidik ritual. The fruit of the sacrifice and the gift of the Devas was such pleasure. It is given to the One who gives all gifts and of whom the Devatas are inferior small forms at a later point in a Sadhaka's existence. But there is a dualism in this offering, from which the highest Monistic (Advaita) Sadhana is free. Human life and planet life are considered as one in this place. When the Sadhaka eats, drinks, or does some other of the body's normal functions, he or she says and feels "Sivoham." It is not just the separate person who behaves and loves in this way. Siva is the one who makes this happen in and around him. 

As has been said, such a person recognizes that his life and the play of all of its activities are not a separate thing to be kept and pursued egotistically for its and his own separate sake, as if enjoyment were anything to be snatched from life by his own unaided strength and with a sense of separation; rather, his life and all of its activities are conceived as part of the Divine action in Nature (Shak). He recognizes the pulse that throbs through his body which is the Universal Life's music in the pulsating beat of his heart. To ignore or reject the body's desires, to see it as non-divine, is to ignore and disregard the greater existence of which it is a member, and to deny the great truth of the unity of all things and the supreme identity of Matter and Spirit. 

Even the most basic physical needs take on cosmic meaning when governed by such a definition. The body is Shakti, and its requirements are Shakti's requirements. When man enjoys himself, Shakti enjoys himself through him. It is the Mother who looks and behaves in everything he sees and does; His eyes and hands are Hers. Her manifestations include the whole body and all its functions. To truly comprehend Her as such, one must refine the embodiment of Her that is himself. 

When a person strives to be the master of himself, he does so on all dimensions: physical, emotional, and spiritual. These planes cannot be separated because they are all connected, as they are all different facets of the same all-pervading Consciousness. Who is more holy, he who neglects and scorns the body or mind to achieve any fictitious moral supremacy, or he who properly cherishes both as forms of the one Spirit they clothe? By discerning Spirit in and as all beings and their activities, rather than fleeing and throwing these aside as unspiritual or illusory and impediments in the road, realisation can be achieved more quickly and fully. They can be impediments and causes of fall if not properly conceived; otherwise, they become instruments of attainment; and what other options are available? 

As a result, actions performed in the war feeling and frame of mind (Bhava) bring pleasure; and frequent and sustained Bhava leads to the spiritual experience (Tattva-Jnana) of Liberation. When the Mother is seen in all, she is finally recognized as She who is above everything. Before embarking down the journey of Yoga proper, these general concepts are most often applied in everyday life. However, the Yoga mentioned here is an application of these same concepts in the sense that it claims to achieve both Bhukti and Mukti (enjoyment and liberation). Hatha Yoga's lower phases aim to achieve a flawless physical body that is also a fully functional tool for the mind to work. A perfect mind follows and transitions into Pure Consciousness itself in Samadhi. 

As a result, the Hatha Yogin wants a body that is as solid as stone, stable, free of pain, and therefore long-lived. He is the lord of the body, as well as life and death. His lustrous form glows with the vigor of youth. He loves the realm of shapes for as long as he has the will to survive. His death is voluntary (Iccha-Mrityu), and he departs grandly with the great and beautifully articulate expression of dissolution (Samhara-Mudra). The Hatha Yogins, on the other hand, do get ill and die. To begin with, the complete discipline is complex and dangerous, and it can only be practiced under the supervision of a knowledgeable Guru. Unaided and unsuccessful activity will result in illness as well as death. 

Those who attempt to overcome the Lord of Death run the risk of being conquered by Him more quickly if they lose. Of course, not everyone who does this Yoga succeeds or has the same level of progress. Many that fall not only suffer from the ailments of common men, but also from those caused by ill-advised procedures or practices for which they are unfit. Many that do excel, on the other hand, do so in differing degrees. Some people live to the holy age of 84, while others live to 100, while even others live much longer. At the very least, those who have attained perfection (Siddhas) depart from this plane when they are ready. Due to a lack of will, physical power, or situation, not everybody has the same potential or opportunity. All may not be ready or capable of adhering to the stringent guidelines required for performance. 

In general, everyday life does not have the resources for such a comprehensive physical culture. Both men will not want such a life and believe that achieving it is not worth the effort. Any people may want to be free of their bodies as soon as possible. As a result, it is said that attaining Liberation is better than attaining Deathlessness! Unselfishness, distance from the environment, and spiritual and mental restraint are examples of the former. Yet defeating death is more difficult, for certain attributes and actions can not suffice on their own. 

He who conquers in this manner keeps life in one side and, if a good (Siddha) Yogin, Liberation in the other. He is liberated and enjoys himself. He is the Emperor, the World's Master, and the possessor of the Bliss that transcends all dimensions. As a result, the Hatha Yogin claims that any Sadhana is inferior to Hatha Yoga! The Hatha Yogin who seeks liberation practices Laya Yoga Sadhana or Kundalini Yoga, which provides both pleasure and liberation. He enjoys a unique form of Bliss and receives unique powers at each center where he rouses Kundalini. Carrying Her to Siva of his cerebral centre, he enjoys the Supreme Bliss, which is Liberation in its essence, and which, when founded in permanence, is Liberation itself on the loosening of Spirit and Body. Energy (Shakti) polarizes into two types: static or future (Kundalini) and reactive (Shakti) (the working forces of the body as Prana). There is a static backdrop behind all the action. 

The core Serpent Power in the Muladhara is this stagnant center in the human body (root-support). That is the strength that provides the body's entire static support (Adhara) as well as all its shifting Pranic powers. This Power Centre (Kendra) is a gross type of Chit or Consciousness; that is, it is Consciousness in and of itself (Svarupa); and through appearance, it is a Power that is a representation of it as the highest form of Force. As Consciousness appears as Energy (Sakti), it possesses the twin facets of potential and kinetic Energy, just as there is a difference (though equal at base) between the Supreme Quiescent Consciousness and Its active Power (Shakti). In fact, there can be no separation. The Siddha's great eye sees the act of being as an ascription (Adhyasa). 

However, to the Sadhaka's imperfect eye, that is, to the aspirant for Siddhi (perfected accomplishment), to the spirit that is still toiling through the lower planes and variously identifying itself with them, being seems to appear, and an appearance is actual. Kundalini Yoga portrays the world-process as a polarization of Consciousness itself, which is a rendering of Vedantic Truth from this realistic point of view. Yoga, by disrupting the balance of bodily identity, whose consciousness is the product of the preservation of these two poles, destroys this polarity as it resides in and as the body. The human body, which is the Supreme Power's possible pole of Energy, is roused into motion, and the shifting powers (dynamic Shakti) that sustain it are attracted to it, and the entire dynamism thus engendered travels upwards to join with the quiescent Consciousness in the Highest Lotus. Shakti can be divided into two types: static and dynamic. 

This polarity between pure Chit and the Stress that is involved in it is patent to reflection in the mind or experience; specifically, the polarity between pure Chit and the Stress that is involved in it. In the absolute unbounded Ether of Consciousness—the Chidakasa—this Stress or Shakti develops the mind through an infinite number of modes and transitions. The primordial Shakti is shown in the same two polar modes as before, static, and dynamic. The polarity is at its most basic and reaches absoluteness here, but it is worth remembering that there is no absolute rest except in pure Chit. The universe's energy is in a relative, not absolute, equilibrium. Let us now turn our attention away from the mind and into matter. The atom in contemporary science is no longer an atom in the traditional context.

In the absolute unbounded Ether of Consciousness—the Chidakasa—this Stress or Shakti develops the mind through an infinite number of modes and transitions. The primordial Shakti is shown in the same two polar modes as before, static, and dynamic. The polarity is at its most basic and reaches absoluteness here, but it is worth remembering that there is no absolute rest except in pure Chit. The universe's energy is in a relative, not absolute, equilibrium. Let us now turn our attention away from the mind and into matter. In the definition of an indivisible unit of matter, the molecule of modern science is no longer an atom. The electron principle states that the atom is a microscopic universe like our solar system. We have a charge of positive energy at the center of this atomic structure, which is surrounded by a field of negative charges known as electrons. 

The positive charges keep each other in place, resulting in an atom in a state of equilibrated energy that does not normally break up, but it may do so due to dissociation, which is a property of all matter but is particularly visible in radium's radioactivity. As a result, we have a positive charge at rest in the center and negative charges in motion all over it. What is known of the atom is indeed true of the whole cosmic structure and cosmos. The planets revolve around the Sun in the world-system, and the system as a whole is presumably a rotating mass around some other relatively static center, before we reach the Brahma-Bindu, which is the point of Absolute Rest around which all forms revolve and from which all are sustained. Similarly, the operative energy in the tissues of the living organism is polarized into two types of energy—anabolic and catabolic—the former tending to transform the tissues and the latter tending to preserve them; the real state of the tissues is actually the resultant of these two co-existing or concurrent practices. 

In brief, as Shakti manifests, it splits into two polar aspects: static and dynamic, implying that it cannot exist in a dynamic state without still existing in a static form, like the poles of a magnet. According to the cosmic theory of a static back-ground—Shakti at rest or "coiled"—we must have a static background in any given domain of force action. The figure Kali, the Divine Mother, moving as the Kinetic Shakti on the breast of Sadasiva, who is the static backdrop of pure Chit, which is actionless, and the Gunamayi Mother, who is all motion, exemplifies this scientific reality. The Samashti (collectivity) of the Cosmic Shakti is the Vyashti (individual) Shakti of the Kundalini in specific bodies. 

As I previously said, the body is a microcosm (Kshudrabrahmanda). As a result, the same polarization that I mentioned exists in the living body. The Mahakundalini is the source of the world. She is at ease in Her Supreme Form, coiled round and one with the Siva-bindu (as Chidrupini). She then falls asleep. She then unfolds Herself to manifest. The three Gunas are the three coils of Kundalini Yoga, and the Prakriti and its three Gunas, as well as the Vikritis, are the three and a half coils. Her 50 coils represent the letters of the alphabet, and as she uncoils, the Tattvas and Matrikas, the Mother of the Varnas, emerge. She moves in the Tattvas because of this, and she continues to do so even after creation. Since they were born to walk, they will continue to travel. As the Sanskrit word means, the whole universe (Jagat) is in motion. As a result, she keeps behaving creatively until she has developed Prithvi, the last of the Tattvas. 

She constructs mind first, then matter. The latter becomes increasingly thick. The Mahabhutas was thought to be contemporary science's Densities: air density associated with overall gravitational velocity; fire density associated with light velocity; water or fluid density associated with molecular velocity and the equatorial velocity of the earth's rotation; and earth density, that of basalt, associated with Newtonian sound velocity. 

Whatever the case may be, the Bhutas clearly represent increasing matter density before it enters its three-dimensional solid state. What is left for Shakti to do now that she has formed this final or Prithvi Tattva? There's nothing. As a result, she sleeps some more. She takes a static shape while she is at rest. Shakti, on the other hand, is never depleted, or drained into any of its forms. As a result, Kundalini Shakti is now the Shakti that was left over (though still a plenum) after the Prithvi, the last of the Bhutas, was formed. We have Mahakundalini at rest as Chidrupini Shakti in the Sahasrara, the point of absolute rest; and then the body, in which Kundalini at rest is the relative static center, and all the bodily forces pass about this center. 

They, like Kundalini Shakti, are Shakti. The distinction is that they are Shaktis in distinct forms in motion, whereas Kundalini Shakti is undifferentiated, residual Shakti at rest, i.e. coiled. She is coiled in the Muladhara, which means'fundamental protection,' and is the seat of the Prithvi, or last solid Tattva, as well as the residual Shakti, or Kundalini. As a result, the body can be likened to a two-poled magnet. The Muladhara is the static pole in comparison to the rest of the body, which is dynamic, since it is the seat of Kundalini Shakti, a relatively gross type of Chit (being Chit-Shakti and Maya Shakti). 

Muladhara derives its name from the fact that the body's function necessitates and finds such a static reinforcement. Since the dynamic component or pole can never exist without its static equivalent, the static Sakti at the Muladhara is compelled to coexist with the generating and changing Shakti of the body. In another way, it's the Shakti that remains after such an action. So, what happens after this Yoga is completed? Pranayama and other Yogic cycles affect this stagnant Shakti, causing it to become complex. Thus, as Kundalini unites with Siva in the Sahasrara, the polarization of the body dissolves. The two poles merge into one, resulting in the state of consciousness known as Samadhi. Of instance, the polarization occurs in consciousness. 

The body does, in fact, continue to exist as a subject of scrutiny from others. It continues to exist in its natural state. However, man's knowledge of his body and all other things has been removed when the subconscious has ceased to work in relation to his identity, the function having been withdrawn into its ground, consciousness. What keeps the body going? To begin with, while Kundalini Sakti is the static center of the whole body as a full conscious entity, each of the body's parts and constituent cells have their own static centers that uphold them. The Yogins' principle goes on to say that Kundalini ascends and that the nectar that comes from the union of Siva and Sakti in the Sahasrara maintains the body as a total organism. 

This nectar is the product of their union's power ejection. The possible Kundalini Sakti is only partially transformed into kinetic Sakti; however, since Sakti is an infinitude, even as provided in the Muladhara, it is never depleted; the potential store is never depleted. The dynamic counterpart in this case is a partial translation of one energy mode into another. However, if the coiled force at the Muladhara were fully uncoiled, the three bodies—gross, subtle, and causal—would dissolve, resulting in Videha-Mukti, bodiless Liberation, since the static past in relation to a single state of life would have completely given way, according to this theory. 

When the Sakti leaves the body, it becomes cold as a corpse, not because of the depletion or privation of static power at the Muladhara, but because of the concentration or convergence of the dynamic power ordinarily diffused over the whole body, so that the dynamic equivalent set up against the static background of Kundalini Sakti is just the diffused fivefold Prana gathered home—withdrawn from the kundalini kundalini kundalini kund The dynamic counterpart is normally Prana diffused over all tissues; in Yoga, it is converged around the axis, the static equivalent of Kundalini Sakti enduring in both instances. 

Any of the already usable dynamic Prana is rendered to behave in an appropriate manner at the base of the axis, causing the basal center, or Muladhara, to become oversaturated and respond on the whole diffused dynamic force (or Prana) of the body by removing it from the tissues and converging it along the axis side. Around the axis, the diffused dynamic equivalent is transformed into the converged dynamic equivalent. According to this viewpoint, what ascends is an eject like concentrated lightning that eventually meets the Parama-Sivasthana. The human world-consciousness is upheld by the Central Power, which is integrated in the Supreme Consciousness. 

The finite consciousness directly intuits the unchanging Reality that underpins the whole phenomenal flow, transcending the passing conceptions of worldly existence. Man is alive to the universe while Kundalini Sakti rests in the Muladhara; when she awakens to join, and does unite, with the ultimate static Consciousness that is Siva, consciousness is asleep to the world and is one with the Light of all creation. The key theory is that when Kundalini Sakti, either Herself or Her eject, is awoken, she ceases to be a stagnant Force that sustains the world-consciousness, the content of which is retained only as long as She sleeps; and once set in motion, she is drawn to the world-consciousness.

The human world-consciousness is upheld by the Central Power, which is integrated in the Supreme Consciousness. The finite consciousness directly intuits the unchanging Reality that underpins the whole phenomenal flow, transcending the passing conceptions of worldly existence. Man is alive to the universe while Kundalini Sakti rests in the Muladhara; when she awakens to join, and does unite, with the ultimate static Consciousness that is Siva, consciousness is asleep to the world and is one with the Light of all creation. 

The main principle is that, once awakened, Kundalini Sakti, either Herself or Her eject, ceases to be a static Power that sustains the world-consciousness, the content of which is kept only as long as She sleeps, and is drawn to the other static centre in the Thousand-petalled Lotus (Sahasrara), which is Herself in union with the Siva-consciousness or the consciousness of the Supreme Being. 

Man is alive to this world while Kundalini sleeps. He rests until She gets up, which means he lacks his knowledge of the universe and joins his causal body. He achieves formless Consciousness through Yoga. Glory, glory to Mother Kundalini, who, through Her Infinite Grace and Strength, gently guides the Sadhaka from Chakra to Chakra, illuminating his intellect and revealing his identity as the Supreme Brahman! Might Her blessings be upon each one of you!


 

Hinduism - Who Was Ramanuja?


    Who Was Ramanuja?


    Ramanuja was a Southern Indian philosopher and the most important figure in the Shrivaishnava religious community in the 11th century.

    He was the greatest exponent of the philosophical position known as Vishishthadvaita ("qualified non-dualism") Vedanta, the core tenet of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy and the most important figure in the Shrivaishnava religious community.

    Ramanuja spent the most of his life at the temple town of Shrirangam in Tamil Nadu, where he served the temple's resident god, Ranganatha, a form of Vishnu.

    Ramanuja believed that Brahman, or Supreme Reality, was a personal god rather than an impersonal abstract concept, and that the most significant kind of religious activity one could perform was devotion (bhakti).

    His philosophical viewpoint, Vishishthadvaita Vedanta, emphasized both of these principles.

    God, according to Ramanuja, is entirely transcendent and without flaws in his basic essence.

    A notion taken from the Samkhya philosophical tradition is that the universe evolves from God via a process of evolution.

    The universe is therefore like God in that it comes from him, but it is also unlike him in that matter is unaware and insentient.

    Human beings, too, are comparable to God in nature since they have him as their source, yet they are susceptible to ignorance and suffering, unlike God.

    God, according to Ramanuja and his followers, is not the same as human beings or the earth, all of which are said to exist in their own right.

    Due to the differences in capability between God and humans, dedication is the most efficient way to achieve eventual soul liberation (moksha), which is defined as everlasting fellowship with God.


    What Is The Philosophy Of Ramanuja?


    A Brahmin initiate into the theistic and devotional South Indian Sri Vaisnava tradition, Ramanuja lived from from 1075 to 1140 AD. 

    Members of that tradition hold him in high regard as the theologian and scriptural interpreter who, in the tradition of Nathamuni (c. 900-950) and Yamuna (c. 966–1038), provided a strong and thorough theological and philosophical defense and articulation of their beliefs and practices in the system that would later become known as Visistsadvaita Vedanta. 


    What Is The Advaita Vedanta Tradition?

    The Advaita Vedanta tradition of scriptural exegesis, which maintains that the significance of those texts is the identity of the soul (atman) and the ground of being (Brahman), and that all experience of difference is the ultimately unreal result of ignorance or misunderstanding, was challenged in this (avidya). 

    Nothing in Vedanta, whether theistic or not, could ever be the same again as a result of his achievement in this area. 


    What Are The Beliefs Of The Vaisnava Sect?

    The Sri Vaisnava sect gets its identity from the fusion of traditional Vedantic components with sectarian Tantric (non-Vedic) Pancaratra temple ritual and theology, emotional devotionalism (bhakti) toward a personal god with characteristics (saguna), and Tamil Alvar poets. 

    The Pancaratra texts serve as a framework for the sect's liturgical activity (agama). 

    In the temple image, there is a focus on the immanent presence of the divine in creation (arcavatara). 


    Was The Alvar Worship Open To All Of Society?

    The Alvars' devotionalism is open to all social groups. Everyone is welcome to a relationship with God, regardless of caste or gender. 

    The songs portray a deep yearning for God, the "agony of separation" from him, and the joy of reestablished contact. 

    Vedanta, also known as the science of Brahman or the absolute reality, is the systematic exegesis and elucidation of those sections (the jnana-kanda) of the purportedly timeless and infallible Vedic sacred texts known as Upanisads that address in various ways such metaphysical issues as the nature of the absolute principle and summum bonum underlying the cosmos, the nature and destiny of the essential self (atman). 

    Its foundational text is the Brahmasutra, attributed to Badarayana in the second century A.D., which summarizes the major Upanisadic themes in a way that is easily remembered but inevitably highly ambiguous (given the aphoristic nature of the sutra genre), much like the Mimamsa sutras, attributed to Jaimini in the 100s A.D., which summarizes those sections of the Vedas (the karma- Vedanta is also known as Uttara Mimamsa (Later Exegesis). 

    Insofar as the road of ritual activity came to be viewed as antecedent and propaedeutic to the path of knowledge, the ritualist received the title Purva Mimamsa (Previous Enquiry). 


    Did Ramanuja Help Transform Non-Vedic Traditions To Vedic Traditions?

    Ramanuja is a key player in the non-Vedic tradition's transformation into a Vedic tradition. 

    The Upanishads, the Brahmasutras, and the Bhagavad Gita serve as the fundamental sources for the ancient Vedantic tradition, which he attempted to harmonize with the principles of his bhakti religion. 

    The most important of the criteria for Hindu Brahminical orthodoxy (smarta), which also include the acceptance of the Vedically derived social and religious obligations unique to hereditary caste members (varnashrama dharma) and the eternity of an essential principle in man (atman), is the Veda's authority. 


    What Is Vedanticization?

    Vedanticization is the process of articulating sectarian traditions' theory and practice in terms of a broadly accepted philosophy and code of conduct that has been upheld by the main Vedantic tradition. 

    Ramanuja argued for the Vedantic validity of his bhakti religion by writing commentary on the Brahmasutras and the Gita. 

    His theistic and dualistic readings of the Upanisads gave popular devotional religion a classical foundation. 

    Yamuna had created the groundwork for such an endeavor by using Tamil religious literature. 

    He aimed to show in his Siddhitraya that the fundamental self (atman) possesses a personal existence. 

    He promoted the idea of effects being the realm of material things. 

    He maintained that God is the right object of one's devotion since He has attributes of a personal kind. 

    In his Gitarthasamgraha, he argued that the Gita's fundamental goal is to instill bhakti as the only way to achieve liberation, which entails an intimate, loving connection with God in which the individual self is preserved. 

    Since the Upanisads are considered to be completely infallible with respect to the transcendent, synthesizing beliefs with the Vedantic worldview gives them the sanction of antiquity and ensures their reality. 

    The Vedantic language suggests that teachings have an unwavering, everlasting validity. 

    Vedanticization, or the notion that one's tradition has a foundation that is eternally and inherently legitimate, gives one a stronger base on which to develop their religious life. 


    How Was Ramanuja's Philosophy Pan-Indian?

    A theological system may have pan-Indian currency among the educated thanks to the usage of Sanskrit

    Nathamuni and Yamuna started the process, which Ramanuja reinforced. 

    We see a constant endeavor on their part to further the Sanskritization of the bhakti religion. 

    The worshipper's adoring contemplation of God in his heaven is equivalent to moksha (release from the cycle of births), and the acts of worship and veneration are on par with the rites outlined by scripture and tradition. 

    This is how the God of the bakhta is equated with the supreme principle of the Upanishads. 

    It has been claimed persuasively that Yamuna was a self-aware representative of a Pancaratrika Vedanta, who asserted that the sectarian Vaisnava Pancaratra writings are equivalent in authority to the Vedic texts. 

    Using literature that had never before been included in Vedanta or Uttara-Mimamsa, such as the Pancaratra Agamas, which was viewed as a "easily understood" divine revelation, he created a theistic Vedanta. 

    Ramanuja can't be stated to be the same. He is so preoccupied with proving Sri Vaisnavism's Vedantic validity that Pancaratra is left in the background. 

    Only while justifying the compatibility of that tradition with Vedic culture does he make reference to Pancaratra scriptures (SBh.2.2.40–43). 

    He makes no mention of the openly sectarian Vaisnava Bhagavata Purana for the same reason. 


    Ramanuja And The Tamil Veda.

    The Divya Prabandha, sometimes referred to as the Tamil version of the Veda, was compiled by Nathamuni from the passionate songs of the Alvars and utilized in temple worship. 

    Ramanuja doesn't mention the "Tamil Veda" at all. He views bhakti as an intellectual and philosophical phenomena rather than an emotional one. 

    In his conservative view, dedication must be placed within the framework of social and religious commitments. 

    However, there are clear parallels between his realistic and pluralistic metaphysics and the bhakti religion. 

    In the end, monistic Advaita-Vedanta is opposed to bhakti. 

    Ramanuja had to demonstrate that revealed scripture (shruti) and authoritative tradition (smruti), not the Advaitins' religion, was what was taught. 

    In order to do this, he critiqued the intellectual underpinnings of monism and offered theistic and dualistic readings of Upanisadic scriptures. 


    What Is Ramnuja's Visistsadvaita or Vedanta?

    The philosophy he developed, known as Visistsadvaita or Vedanta, is based on the premise that all conscious souls and material beings are one with and in God, who they are inextricably reliant upon since they make up the divine body. 

    Vedanta is the aphoristic summary of the Upanisads' significance found in the Brahmasutras and the systematic hermeneutic of the Upanisads. 

    The Vedantic theologian views himself as a scriptural exegete who draws theological conclusions from a body of scripture that is intrinsically valid (svatah pramanya), independent of God (although, according to Ramanuja, promulgated by the deity at the beginning of a cycle of cosmic emanation), and our only source of knowledge regarding the nature of whom it is (pramana). 

    The Vedic language is ageless, and its meaning is not dependent on any given situation, although it is acknowledged that it is difficult to grasp and requires interpretive clarification. 


    What Is The Significance Of Sampradaya In Vedanta?

    According to Vedanta, a prerequisite for a correct reading of the scriptures is adhering to an established religious tradition (sampradaya). 

    Tradition shouldn't breed damaging bias but rather awareness. Originality in theology is a flaw. 

    The theologian's endeavor, which entails the methodical explication of accepted concepts, is one of preservation. 

    The inherent (autpattika) and unchangeable (nitya) relationship between a Vedic term and the referent in which it participates metaphysically is the source of the infallible authority of text. 

    It was assumed that Sanskrit words were not only symbols for their objects, but also integral parts of them. 

    Neither supernatural intervention nor human convention have been able to mend the link. 


    The Vedas Are Considered A Revelation.

    Vedic speech is "non-personal" (apauruseya). 

    There is neither a divine nor a human author of the Vedas. 

    They are not a divine self-revelation, even yet they are the sole source of information about God. 

    The Purva-Mimamsaka theorists, whose primary religious concern was the clarification of those sections (the karma-kanda) of the intrinsically valid but frequently cryptic and ambiguous Vedic texts that are the only source of knowledge about those ritual performances which are an essential component of the cosmic order (dharma), developed these theories regarding the authority of the Vedas. 


    The Vedas Are Regarded As Infallible.

    The Vedas are regarded as being infallible in theory since all cognitions are taken for granted as true just by virtue of their occurrence and remain true unless refuted. 

    The Mimamsakas were atheists who believed that the universe's stability and human well-being in this world and the next (both covered by dharma) resulted from the disinterested conduct of Vedic rituals, whose proper execution would inevitably have beneficial effects. 

    While certain rituals (kamya) might be conducted with a particular goal in mind, the most important ones were to be carried out in a spirit of obligation for the sake of duty, independent of any particular benefits. 

    Those "twice-born" men (i.e., members of the higher three castes who have undergone the upanayana ceremony of initiation entitling them to participate in Vedic ritual) with the necessary qualification for legitimate access to the rituals (adhikara), according to the Prabhakara school of Mimamsa, are moved to action in the manner of categorical imperatives by the prescriptions enjoining them (vidhi or niyog Indicative, descriptive, or fact-asserting scriptural statements are to be construed as praising the sacrifice or explaining the mode of its performance, according to the Prabhakaras, who also held that only those scriptural statements that are injunctions bearing upon the essential rituals (karya — "things to be done") are an authoritative source of new knowledge (pramana). 


    Siddha And Sadhya.

    They are not authority for things that are already established (siddha) and do not need creation (sadhya), since they are the purview of knowledge-producing mechanisms like perception and inference. 

    As a result, the language of the scriptures cannot be considered authoritative in regards to Brahman. 

    They provide evidence for this by saying that all language has meaning when it is connected to an action. 

    They support a semantic theory known as "associated designation" (anvitabhidhana), which carries the weight that a word only has meaning when it is used in a sentence. 

    The Prabhakaras adopted an anti-realist stance, exemplified by their epistemically constrained definition of reality (satta), which they defined as anything that exists and is amenable to connection with valid cognition (pramana sambandha yogyata). 

    This definition is consistent with their view that reality is something that must be brought about in accordance with the dictates of Vedic injunction. 

    Insofar as it depends on following set rituals, the universe is truly of our creation. 


    A Theory Of Truth.

    A pragmatic theory of truth, which holds that knowledge is useful for directing action whereas mistake is worthless in that regard, complements this point of view. 

    In response, Ramanuja argues that effective action requires language with informational significance, which is often fact-assertive and descriptive. 

    Even if the Vedic jnana-kanda, the Upanisadic books, are taken as commandments that forbid meditation on Brahman, they can only do so if they have previously proven its existence. 

    According to Ramanuja, learning the meanings of words involves an ostensive defining process that results in the creation of an idea (buddhyutpatti) of the words' referents. 

    The young child learns that all words convey their intended meanings and that some word combinations signify various types of unforced linkages between basic items. 

    Thus, he holds to the kind of semantic theory (abhihitanvayavada) put out by the Mimamsaka direct realist Kumarila (c. 650 A.D.), which may be summarized as the idea that a phrase is made up of a string of word meanings that have previously been articulated singly. 

    The fundamental units of meaning are words as individual expressions of general characteristics. 

    A sentence is made up of a collection of distinct words, each of which, taken alone, designates a set of discrete objects, which serves as the main epistemological "given." 

    These words then each separately and serially express one of their proper senses, which are then combined to create a further syntactically connected whole, the purport (tatparya), of the sentence, which stands for a particular person or situation. 

    The grammar (anvaya) of the words' explicitly articulated (abhihita) meanings provides the purport. 

    The intent is particular even if the individual word meanings are universal. 

    It is important to note that they consider the Vedic commands as hypothetical imperatives that only apply to eligible individuals (high-caste men) who have an interest in the specific purposes they define. 

    The logic, epistemology, and metaphysics of the Nyaya-Vaisesika school acknowledged the inspiration of scripture as God's written word. 

    As a result, its validity is external. 

    They rejected the idea that the scriptures alone could answer questions concerning the nature of God and the soul and instead argued that inferential reasoning could be used to prove Isvara and atman's existence and characteristics. 

    They only sometimes used the scriptures to support a point that had previously been made by logical reasoning. 

    They were unable to make an argument for God's existence only based on the scriptures due to the danger of becoming circular. 


    Ramanuja As A Metaphysical And Epistemological Realist.


    Ramanuja is a realist in both metaphysics and epistemology.  Here, I briefly discuss some aspects of both realism and anti-realism in order to distinguish between them and how they restrict what is possible within the confines of language or human comprehension. 

    At its core, realism is the expression of a natural human desire to see beyond appearances that are caused by our limited human perspective on the universe and to get at a genuine perception of reality as it is in itself. 

    Any discussion of a reality that is incomprehensible to our cognitive abilities is questioned by the anti-realist. 

    As a result, "to be" is to be intelligible to us. 

    Such theories include idealism, which entails the mental nature of the ostensibly physical and the exhaustive reduction of everything to states of consciousness; phenomenalism, which holds that familiar physical objects can be reduced to human sensory stimulations; representationalism, which holds that what we are immediately aware of are sensory and mental impressions standing in causal relations to objects; and the type of semantic anti-realism propagated by the semantic anti-realism movement. 

    A realist philosophy, however, may include any or all of the following characteristics: There is an objective, mind-free world. 

    That is to say, even in the absence of occupied human subjective standpoints attesting to their existence, things proposed by an ontology as belonging to a domain exist, truths are true, and situations of events exist. 

    There may be more than we can comprehend or imagine. 

    In other words, certain facts are unreachable to humans. 

    While the degree of connection between our ideas and the outside world is decided independently of human cognitive activity, we are nonetheless capable of accurately imagining and understanding the human surroundings. 

    We often discuss actual objects rather than ideas, concepts, sensory data, or mental sensations. 

    Never are the objects of sense primarily cerebral and non-physical. 

    A universe of mindless physical things is seen as real until that view is refuted by another perception. 

    Similar to how they seem to humans, familiar macroscopic things would also appear the same to species with diverse sensory modalities. 

    (Epistemological realism or realistic common sense) Initially, consciousness is unformed, passive, and receptive. 

    Language and innate concepts do not significantly organize or perhaps even distort the sensory outputs. 

    According to facts about the mind-independent sphere, every proposition is categorically either true or false (realist empiricism). 

    Truth is some kind of relationship between ideas, words, and circumstances. 

    True thoughts and phrases have a representation that is structurally isomorphic to extra-mental reality. 

    Complex true cognitions depict complex situations of events and are causally connected to them. 

    True concept-laden cognition provides more information about the reality. 

    It does not alter or remove us from reality. 

    Certain sorts of property, like abstract universals, exist apart from the human mind and language. 

    (Platonism and the Naiyayika theory of universals, which Ramanuja does not agree with.) It is not possible to reduce claims about one domain (such as the mental) to statements about another kind of domain (e.g.  the physical).


    References And Further Reading:

    • A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, edited by Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan and Charles A. Moore, 1957.
    • John B. Carman, The Theology of Ramanuja, 1974.


    ~Kiran Atma