Vedanta 2

Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Non-dualism or Advaita of Śaṅkara (788-820 CE)
Kalady, Kerala
Brahma-sūtra-Bhāṣya
Commentary on Upaniṣads
Commentary on Bhagavad-Gita
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi (Crest-Jewel of Wisdom)
Upadeśasāhasri (A thousand teachings)
Bhāmati of Vācaspati Miśra
Pañcapādikā Vivaraṇa of Prakāśātman
Advaitins - Padmapāda, Sureśvara, Sriharsha, Citsukha,
Maṇḍanamiśra, Appayya Dīkṣita, Madhusūdhana Sarasvati
Two schools – Bhāmati and Vivaraṇa
Śaṅkara founded four monasteries
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Metaphysics
brahma satyam, jaganmithyā;
jīvo brahmaiva nāparaḥ
Brahman alone is real, the world is illusory,
the individual self is non-different from Brahman
Brahman
Nirguṇa Brahman or attributeless Brahman
Saguṇa Brahman or Īśvara

Soul or Self
The individual self is identical with Brahman
It is all-pervasive (vibhu)
Jīva is the construction of nescience Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Māyā or Illusion
Māyā is neither real nor unreal
conceals what is there
projects what is not there.
Eg. This is snake.
World is a mere appearance due to māyā
Māyā is magical power in God and ignorance in human person

Three levels of reality

Vyavahārika satya (Empirical viewpoint)
Prātibhāsika satya (Illusory)
Pāramartika satya (Absolutely real)
Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
There are three categories in Advaita:

Sat Never sublated Brahman Real

Asat Never Cognised Horn of a hare, sky flower Non-existent
Sadasat Cognised but sublated later Empirical world and objects False or Mithyā
Neither sat nor asat
By analysing the stages of life we can know Brahman to a certain extent.
These stages are:
Jāgrat/Awakening state
Swapna/Dreaming state
Suṣupti/Sleeping state: “I slept happily,” “I didn’t know anything”
What is common in these three stages is cit and ajñāna.
cit is like light and ajñāna like darkness.
cit means Brahman with upādhis (accidental) like senses, manas, ahaṁkara
The upādhi of Īṣvara is māyā and of jīva is avidyā. Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Theory of Causality
Brahman is both efficient and material cause.
Brahma-vivartavāda.
Vivarta means apparent
Eg. The rope appearing like snake.
the effect has no reality of its own

Vivartavāda Pariṇāmavāda
Effect is an unreal transformation Effect is a real transformation

Epistemology
Advaita accepts six pramāṇas.
a. Perception: knower, knowing means and knowing object
b. Inference: three propositions.
c. Comparison: knowledge of similarity
d. Śabda: four conditions of a sentence
e. Postulation
f. Non-apprehension Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2

Bondage and Liberation

Bondage is the association of self with the body due to ignorance.
Realisation of the identity is liberation.
jñāna or knowledge is path
Sādhana Catuṣṭaya or fourfold disciplines:
a. Discernment
b. Detachment
c. The attainment of six virtues: mind control; sense control;
endurance;
withdrawal of senses from objects; concentration; and faith.
d. Intense desire for liberation.
Śaṅkara postulates jīvanmukti as well as videhamukti.
Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Qualified Non-dualism or Viśiṣṭādvaita of Rāmānuja (1017-1137 CE)
Rāmānuja was born in Sriperumbudur, Tamilnadu.
Influenced by the bhakti cult of Āḷvārs
Drāviḍa Veda (Nālāyīra Divya Prabhandham) as the fourth canon.
Significant works: Śrībhāṣya, Vedārthasaṅgraha and Bhagavadgita-bhashya.
Followers are: Yamunācārya and Vedānta Deśika.
Śrīnivāsācārya wrote Yatīndramata Dīpikā and Śrībhāṣyavārtikā
There are two schools:
Vadagalai (Northern Tradition)
Tengalai (Southern Tradition)

Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
METAPHYSICS
Three realities: Brahman/Visnu, cit (Jīva) and acit (Jagat).
Brahman is qualified by Jīva and Jagat.
The jīva-Brahman relation is like body and soul relation
World and jīva form the body of Brahman
inseparable and dependent
BRAHMAN
Abode of infinite qualities.
Māyā is the real power of God.
SOUL OR SELF
Jīvas are atomic in size (aṇu) and infinite in number.
Threefold:
baddha (souls in bondage),
mukta (liberated souls by the grace of God) and
nitya (eternally free souls).
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Notion of World
World is real entity and is part of Brahman.

Theory of Causality
Brahman is the efficient and material cause.
Satkāryavāda = Brahma-pariṇāmavāda.

Epistemology
Knowledge is cognition of the object as it is.
Knowledge is a property of a knower and the nature of the soul.
Three means of knowledge
Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Bondage and Liberation
Bondage of the soul is due to ignorance.
Liberation is attaining the properties of the Lord
Bhakti and upāsanā or prapatti (surrender)
Prapatti is like considering God as husband, friend or servant.
Bhakti is understood in two ways: markatakiśoranyāya
i.e., mother monkey and its kid
mārjālakiśoranyāya i.e., cat and kitten
Rāmānuja agrees with videhamukti alone.
Bhakti continues even after attaining mokṣa.
The five stages of liberation are:
a. Sālokya d. Sārūpya
b. Sāṛṣṭi e. Sāyujya
c. Sāmīpya
Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Dualism or Dvaita of Madhva (Ānandatīrtha) (1238-1317 CE)
Madhva was in born in Udupi, Karnataka.
He was influenced by Vaiṣṇavism.
He has authored 37 works.
Brahmasūtrabhāṣya, Anuvyākhyāna,
commentaries on Upaniṣads and Bhagavad-gīta.
Jayatīrtha wrote Tattvaprakāśika and Nyāyasudhā
Vyāsatīrtha
Padmanābhasūri’s Madhvasiddhāntasāra
He began eight monasteries (aṣṭamaṭhas)

Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Metaphysics
Madhva accepts two principles:
Brahman as independent (svataṅtra)
Jīva and jaḍa as dependent (asvataṅtra)
Their relation is like bimba-pratibimba bhava
i.e., image and reflection.
He upholds pañcabheda or five kinds of differences:
1. Brahman and jīva Brahman
2. Brahman and jaḍa
3. Jīva and jaḍa
4. Jīva and jīva PAÑCABHEDA
5. Jaḍa and jaḍa Jiva Jada

Ivan D’Souza
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Brahman
Viṣṇu’s sovereignty.
Supreme semantic referent of all the Scriptures
Brahman is endowed with innumerable qualities.
Māyā is the real power of God.
Soul or Self
Individual souls are eternal but dependent
Atomic in size (aṇu) and are countless
Classification:
Those which are fit for liberation;
Ever-transmigratory and
Those destined to hell
Concept of World
World is real entity. It is different and dependent.
Ivan D’Souza
 Vedanta 2
Theory of Causality
Brahman is only the efficient cause of the universe.
Prakṛti (Lakṣmī) is the material cause.
Theory of causation is called sadāsatkāryavāda.
before effect comes into existence it is in cause (pot is in clay form)
after the production it exists as a distinct being (pot is not in clay).

Epistemology
Pramāṇa includes both knowledge and the means of knowledge.
Three means of knowledge

Ivan D’Souza
 Vedanta 2
Bondage and Liberation
Bondage of the soul is due to ignorance.
Mokṣa is blissful state.
The fourfold distinction of mukti are:
Sālokya; Sāmīpya; Sārūpya; and Sāyujya.
There is gradation of bliss in mokṣa.
Liberation comes through bhakti and God’s grace
(prasāda).
Bhakti continues in different levels.
The soul is not merged
Dvaita agrees with videhamukti alone.

Ivan D’Souza
 Vedanta 2
Mahāvākyas or Great sayings
1. Prajñānam brahma - “Consciousness is Brahman”
(Aitareya Upaniṣad 5.3 of the Ṛg Veda)
2. Ayam ātmā brahma - “This Self (Ātman) is Brahman”
(Māndukya Upaniṣad 1.2 of the Atharva Veda;
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.5.19)
3. Tattvamasi - “Thou art That”
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8.7 of the Sāma Veda)
4. Aham brahmāsmi - “I am Brahman”
(Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.10 of the Yajur Veda)

Ivan D’Souza
 Vedanta 2
Chandogya Upaniṣad: Tattvamasi (CU 6.8.7)
The mahāvākya “tat tvam asi” “That Thou art” comes in the
context of the dialogue between Uddālaka and his
son Śvetaketu.
The formula of “Tat tvam asi” is repeated nine times in the
nine analogies.

Hermeneutics of “tat tvam asi”

It explains the relationship between God and soul.

Ivan D’Souza
 Vedanta 2
Advaita Vedānta
Advaita partly includes and partly excludes the expressed sense of
the sentence.
For example, ‘This is that Devadatta’.
Present + Devadatta = Past + Devadatta
So, Devadatta = Devadatta
In “tat tvam asi” the conflicting properties are excluded.
‘Tat’ is omniscient and ‘Tvam’ is limited by knowledge
Omniscience + Consciousness (Soul) = Limited intelligence + Consciousness (Soul)
So, Consciousness (Soul) = Consciousness (Soul) [Tat = Tvam]
A is B
“I and Father are one”; “It is not I who live but Father lives in me.”

Ivan D’Souza
Vedanta 2
Viśiṣtādvaita Vedānta
Rāmānuja holds God is self-dependent
The individual soul is God-dependent
‘That’ means Brahman whose body is the individual soul
‘Thou’ stands for soul that qualifies Brahman.
‘Thou’ and ‘That’ denote “a single reality which exists in two modes.”
Our Soul/Self = God’s body
God’s body + His Soul/Self = Brahman
Rāmānuja employs the technique of Collocation
It means two things sharing the same locus.
For example, the Blue Lotus.
Blue Lotus is one reality with lotusness and blueness.
Blueness and lotusness are applied to one and same substance.
Likewise, the Jīva and Brahman are connected each other.
“You are part of That.”
A is in B
“I am the vine, you are the branches.”
Ivan D’Souza
 Vedanta 2
Dvaita Vedānta
Madhva uses the technique of prototype–image relation.
Difference, dependence and similarity.

a. Padacchēda Technique:
Madhva adopts the grammatical technique
He reads as: sa ātmā-atat-tvamasi.
Ātmā (ā) + (a) atatvamasi = ātmātatvamasi.
That not thou art

b. Context: There is bheda between tat and tvam.

A in not B
“Our Father” Ivan D’Souza
 Vedanta 2
Significance of the Interpretation

Christian teaching: God’s image and likeness

Acts 17:28
“In him we live and move and have our being.”
Christian mystics and Sufi Saints
Paul Deussen, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
The neighbour has to be loved because neighbour is oneself.
Your soul and your neighbour’s soul are reflections of the
Supreme.

Ivan D’Souza