Hinduism - 15.

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15. Ramanuja

 

Ramanuja, of course, was concerned much more with the personal aspect.

His teachings may be regarded as a reaction against the tendency to view

religion on the intellectual rather than the emotional plane. He

assimilated many beliefs of the Dravidian civilisation and helped to

encourage and promote temple worship and public festivals. Born early in

the 11th century, Ramanuja was deeply influenced by the Tamil saints and

Alvars - their ideas coloured his interpretation of the Upanishads and

the Brahma Sutra. He put forward a theistic view of the Vedas as against

the rigid Advaita point of view of Sankara. Basing his thoughts on

Bodhayana and the theistic Upanishads, the Mahabharata (including the

Bhagavad-Gita), Vishnu Purana as well as the compositions of the Alvars

and Acharyas, Ramanuja produced a number of works culminating in the

Sribhasya . He proclaimed the doctrine of salvation through Bhakti or

faith. His earlier followers came to be known as Vadagala is. About two

centuries later the Tengalais appeared; they, unlike the Vadagalais, did

not concentrate on Sanskrit scriptures and traditions and regarded Tamil

scriptures as equally canonical.

 

There were several points of difference between Ramanuja and early

Vaisnava teachers like Nadamuni and Yamunacharya. One was the importance

attached to Swami Krupa, Grace of God. According to one school, this is

spontaneous, not depending on any effort or merit of the devotee. The

other school asserts that Grace also depends on the devotee's

virtuous action. The religious approach of Ramanuja was mainly based on

self-surrender, which must result in universal charity and sympathy, and

friendliness even to an enemy. He insisted that the performance of

scriptural duties alone was not enough for salvation. Karma Yoga and

Jnana Yoga, according to the Ramanuja School, only purify the mind in

preparation for Bhakti Yoga or devotion. Ramanujas Saranagati Gadya is a

notable contribution to the gospel of self-surrender, but it does not

rule out caste functions and duties, and the doctrine of Karma.

 

Vedanta Desika, the greatest successor of Ramanuja, and a strong

opponent of Sankaras Advaita doctrine, wrote a very controversial work,

Satadusani. Pillai Lokacharya, the famous exponent of the Tengalai

school, advocated passive surrender (Praptti) in preference to active

faith (Bhakti), and the guidance of a spiritual preceptor, Manavala Maha

Muni is the chief Saint of the Tengalais. This school built up a

remarkable Tamil literature to which it ascribed an importance equal to

that of the Vedas - it was called the Tamil Tirumurai or the Tamil Veda.

In essence, however, there was no fundamental doctrinal divergence

between the two sects. Differences in certain features such as caste

marks on the forehead and temple ceremonials and usage became

accentuated in later years.

 

Successors of Ramanuja

 

As the ideas of Ramanuja spread through India, men like Madhvacharya,

Vallabhacharya, Chaitanya, Ramananda, Kabir and Nanak came under their

spell. Ramanuja and his followers opposed the doctrine of Maya and the

interpretation of the world as purely phenomenal or illusory. They

emphasized the distinction between the individual soul and the supreme

Godhead and based their philosophy on mans conviction of sin, his

responsibility for sin and the importance of grace emanating from the

divine. In other words, they believed that salvation comes not specially

through Jnana (knowledge) or karma (action), but through Bhakti (faith)

and Prasada (grace). The Bhagavata doctrine of complete resignation to

God was one of the articles of their faith. God was viewed alternately

as father, mother, child, teacher and friend, and even as the beloved.

Ramanuja declared that caste had nothing to do with the soul's

quality; some of the Alvars were in fact non-Brahmins. Ramanuja is said

to have admitted even Harijans to the temple at Melkote. One of his

later followers, Ramananda, who lived in the 13th century, not only

protested against caste distinctions but enjoined that no man should ask

any devotee about his caste or sect: whoever worships God is Gods own.

 

Later followers of Ramanuja included a number of scholars who sustained

his philosophic system through the centuries. While accepting the set

rituals of initiation and worship, they admitted Jains, Buddhists,

Sudras and Harijans into their fold. A celebrated successor of Ramanuja

was Nimbarka, who lived about the same time as Madhvacharya. According

to his philosophy, which is a type of Bhedabhedavada, that is, the

theory of the Absolute as Unity-in- difference, Brahman or the Absolute

has transformed itself into the world of matter and spirit. As the

Life-force, Prana manifests itself in the various cognitive sense

functions, and yet keeps its own independence, integrity and difference,

so the Brahman also manifests itself through the numberless spirits and

matter, without losing itself in them. As the spider spins its web out

of itself and yet remains independent of the web, so the Brahman splits

itself up into numberless spirits and matter but retains its fullness

and purity.

 

The reaction against Sankara's Advaitism reached its climax in

Madhvacharya's dualistic philosophy. It resembles Ramanuja's doctrine to

some extent but stands for unqualified dualism. Madhva, also known as

Purnaprajna and Anandatirtha, was born near Udipi in South Kanara in the

12th century. He draws a clear distinction between God and the

individual soul, God and matter, individual soul and matter, one soul

and another and one variety to matter and another. Large groups in India

follow this doctrine which bases itself on the feeling of absolute

dependence on God and love for Him.

 

Madhvacharya attacked Sankara vehemently on the ground that his

philosophy was a disguised variety of Buddhism. It is well known that

Sankara was strongly influenced by Gaudapada, who had great regard for

the Buddhist philosophy, and it is unquestionable that, while Sankara

was opposed to Buddhist thought in general, he was perhaps unconsciously

influenced by some of its tenets. Madhva, on the other hand, objected to

Advaita: it seemed to him presumptuous for the individual soul to claim

identity with Brahman. According to his doctrine, Vishnu is the only

Supreme Being; and Bhakti is the primary essential for liberation. Among

his great disciples was Purandaradasa, reputed as a social reformer and

one of the creators of the Karnataka system of music. Vadiraja, a

renowned writer, was another Madhva philosopher.