Vedarthasangraha of Ramanuja

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VedharTha sangraha of

Ramanuja

 

The

Vedhartha sangraha of Ramanuja is the work of Sri Ramanuja in which he examines

the different kinds of texts of the Upanishads and establishes the philosophy

of Visishtadvaita by interpreting these texts in a manner so as they are not

contradicting but form one whole theory of Brahman, world and the jeeva, all

three being real as per the visishtadvaita doctrine.

 

There

are three kinds of sruthi texts, namely those which proclaim identity of individual soul, jeeva with Brahman,

abhedha sruthi, which are the basis for advaita philosophy, those which declare

that Brahman , jeeva and jagath are

different from each other , the bhedhasruti, which is quoted by the

dvaitins and those which speak of the

Brahman being the inner self of all both sentient and insentient, which

Ramanuja terms as ghatakasruti. In his opinion the veda texts must be

interpreted in such a manner that there is harmony among them. The

visishtadvaita bridges the two variants of abhedha and bhedha srutis by means

of the ghataka sruti passages to show the unity and not identity with Brahman.

Ramanuja interprets even the so called abhedha srutis to establish the

visishtasya advaitam or visishtayoH advaitam, which means that the relationship

between Brahman and the universe of sentient and insentient beings is one of

body and soul. We shall see how the great acharya establishes the philosophy of

visishtadvaita on the tripod of Esvara, jagath and jeeva, the Lord, the world

and the individual soul, all the three of them being real.

 

1. Mangalasloka

 

aseshachidhachithvasthuSeshiNe SeshaSaayine

nirmalaananthakalyaNaniDhaye vishNave namaH

 

 

Salutations

to the Lord Vishnu who is the real owner , Seshi, of all beings sentient and

insentient, who reclines on the bed of Adhisesha and who is pure and infinite

and the repository of auspicious qualities.

 

By

this mangala sloka Ramanuja establishes the visishtadvaita doctrine as well as

refuting that of others. The Sesha

Seshibhava is one of the main tenets of Visishtadvaita.

Seshin

is the one who is the owner and the sesha is the owned. As the inner self of

all, the whole universe of sentient and in sentient beings is controlled by Him

and supported by Him in the same way as a king controls and supports his

kingdom and his subjects. Only difference is that all beings are inseparable

from Him as they form His body.

 

Similar

to the relationship between the soul and the body of an individual, the former

controlling and supporting the latter which exists for its use and enjoyment,

the relationship between the individual self and the Lord is one of sesha and

seshi.

 

The

sesha – seshi sambandha is one of

absolute dependence on the Lord and that of service to the Lord. This

relationship arises from the fact that the whole universe forms a part of the

Supreme Reality.

 

aSesha chith achith vasthu includes all beings , the word aSesha meaning

without anything remaining, chith referring to all the sentient beings and

achith to the prakrthi and its evolutes which are insentient. By saying that

the Lord is the Seshin to which everything is the Sesha, the sankhya theory of

prakrthi or primordial matter being the cause of the universe is rejected.

 

He

is also the Sesha Saayee, reclines

on the bed of Sesha, who represents the eternal souls who exist for the service

of the Lord and among those Sesha is a special servant of the Lord as he is

always in service and inseparable from

the Lord even in His incarnations.

 

Nirmala means pure, without blemishes. This answers the

opposition for the Lord being the inner self of all in which case the

imperfections of His creations will adhere to Him. The word anantha means eternal which is

explained as desakalavasthu paricchinna

rahithathvam, that is, not

conditioned by place , time and entity since He is all pervading, ever existing

and is transcendent and immanent.

 

kalyaaNa nidhaye means to

one who is the repositary of all auspiciousness. The word anantha can also be

combined with kalyaaNa nidhaye to mean that the Lord possesses infinite

auspicious qualities. This refutes the

theory of nirrgunabrahman of advaita, that Brahman is attributeless. The sesha

seshi sambandha between Brahman and the universe refutes the theory of bhedha

abhedha vadhins, Bhaskara and Yadhava prakasa. Ramanuja deals with these

refutations in detail later.

 

2. Guruvandhana

 

param brahmaeva ajnam

bhramaparigatham samsarathi

paropaaDhyaaleeDam vivaSam aSubhasya

aasapadham ithi

Sruthinyaayaapetham jagathi vithatham

mohanam idham

thamo

yena apaastham sa hi vijayathe yaamuna muniH

 

The

sage Yamuna is victorious, who dispelled the deluding darkness of ignorance

which is the result of prevalent doctrines in the world which are contrary to

Vedas and reasoning that Brahman itself transmigrates out of illusion and

ignorance and that it is helplessly conditioned by adjuncts different from

itself and that it is the abode of evil.

 

This

sloka is a tribute to Yamuna , Alavandar, who was the chief exponent of

Visishtadvaita before Ramanuja and the

grand acharya of Ramanuja ( that is he

was the acharya of the acharya of Ramanuja.

 

By the two slokas Ramanuja indicates the

essence of Visishtadvaita and also the refutation of the other doctrines which

are the subject matter of the present work. According to Advaita Brahman and

the individual jiva are identical, jeevo

brahmaiva na aparaH and the jiva

gets into bondage due to ignorance and delusion which means that Brahman itself

param brahma eva, comes under the influence of ignorance, ajnam, and delusion, bhramaparigatham, says Ramanuja, and

gets into transmigration, samsarathi.

 

 

The

Bhedhaabhedha doctrine of Bhaskara and Yadhavaprakasa are also referred in the

sloka by paropaaDhyaaleeDam, Brahman

or Athman, is conditioned by adjuncts separate from itself, and hence vivaSam, dependent, which refers to the Bhaskaramatha and asubhaaspadham, abode of

impurities, which refers to the

Yadhavaprakasamatha. These are dealt with in detail later in the work.

 

Ramanuja

extols Yamunacharya by saying that he has dispelled the darkness of ignorance, yena apaastham thamaH, due to these

doctrines which are against the sruthi and reasoning, sruthinyaayaapetham, and delude the world, jagathi vithatham mohanam.

 

Then

Ramanuja starts expounding the doctrine of Visishtadhvaita.

 

3.The import of the Upanishads

 

aSesha

jagath hithaanuSaasana SruthinikaraSirasi samaDhigathaH ayam arThah

 

This

is the import of the Upanishads which are the crown of the Vedas and which

enjoin what is beneficial to the entire world.

 

aSesha jagath-

the whole universe.

 

hithaanuSaasana- laying down what is beneficial. The Vedas are the

means of following dharma and attaining the purusharThas, the highest goal ,

purusharTha being moksha which is the subject matter of the Upanishads. Hence

they are the crown of the Vedas, Sruthi

nikara Sirasi means at the head of the Vedas.

 

samaDhigathaH ayam arThaH- this is the import of the Upanishads.

 

Then

Ramanuja gives the whole essence of

Visishtadvaita in a sentence, bringing out the three main tenets of the

Visishtadvaita philosophy, namely, thathva, hitha and purusharTha.

 

4. thathva , Hitha and purusharTha

 

Jeevaparamaathma

yaaThaathmyajnaanapoorvaka varNaasramadharma

ithikarthavyathaaka paramapurushacharaNayugala Dhyaana archana

praNaamaadhiH athyarThapriyaH thath praapthiphalaH

 

Jeevaparamaathma yaaThaathmyajnaana poorvaka- the knowledge, jnaana,

of the real nature, yaaThaathmaya, of the jeeva and the Lord, which acquired beforehand.

 

varNaasramadharma ithikarthavyathaaka- performing of the duties of one’s own varna and asrama,

(ithikarthvyathaaka means the actual procedure involved in performance of

varnasrama dharma.)

 

Dhyaana archana praNaamaadhiH – meditating, worshipping and bowing down to etc.,

 

parampurushacharNayugala- the pair of feet of the Supreme Being, the Lord

Narayana,

 

aThyarTha priyaH- with utmost adoration,

 

thath praapthi phalaH- results in attaining Him.

 

yaaThaathmayjnana of the jeeva and the Lord consists in the

understanding that jeeva is the sesha, of the Lord Jeeva is jnanavan, sentient,

anu, Atomic, and of the nature of bliss, several and eternal. Paramathma is the

seshi, all pervading and possesses infinite auspicious qualities and devoid of

imperfections unlike jeeva. This is thatthva

 

Armed

with that the dhyana etc. are the means to attain the goal, that is the Lord.

This denotes the hitha while the

goal, thathapraapthiphala is the purushaarTha. The important thing to

remember is the word athyarthapriyaH, one should consider the Lord as the

closest and dearest as mere jnana and karma will not lead to the goal but only

bhakthi. which is love .