Vedanta Philosophy- I
Vedas are the towering lighthouses guiding spiritual seekers towards Moksha. Vedanta which literally means the end of vedas is one of the most ancient philosophies of the world. It is one of the six darśana of Hindu philosophy namely sāṃkhya, yoga, nyāya, vaiśeṣika, mīmāṃsā and vedānta.
It is based on the teachings of upaniṣads(extensions of Vedas), Bhagavad Gītā and Brahma Sūtras(also referred as vedanta sutras). These three are collectively called as Prasthānatrayī.
Vedanta talks about the Brahman(ultimate reality) and the Atman(real self). It is transcendental experience of the seers of Truth. It is interesting to know that physical science often tries to describe and model the reality and vedānta does the same except by using the concept of divinity which resides in our self and is realized through prātibhāsika(subjective experience), the vyāvahārika(empirical experience) and the pāramārthika(ultimate spiritual experience).
According to Vedanta, there is just one pure consciousness over which this ever changing universe has been superimposed. There are 3 main schools of vedanta, namely: Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaita . In this article,let’s take a dive into the Advaita Vedānta.
Advaitam means non-dualism which simply means that the soul and God are not different. It traces it roots in upaniṣads and relies on Prasthānatrayī. Śaṅkarācārya learnt Advaita from his teacher Govinda Bhagavatpāda who led him to write bhāṣya on Prasthānatrayī. Śaṅkara began to express advaita in many of his vedantic works like ātmaṣatakam, śivānandalaharī, commentaries on Prasthānatrayī.
Advaita Vedānta says that Mokṣa (liberation) is attained through the path of Jñāna. One should realise that nothing really exists but the supreme spirit known as Brahman. All the remaining we experience are because of māyā and avidyā. Brahman is Satcitānanda (truth-consciousness-bliss) which is known when one realises that he is the ultimate truth there exists.
In simpler terms, it can be explained through the famous Ankola Sloka of Śivānanda Lahari, the various stages of Bhakti are vividly portrayed as a devoted wife, whatever be the nature of her husband, devotes herself to the service of him. There is a clear distinction between the Lord and the Bhakta. It is the type of Bhakti characterized as ‘dāsyam’.
A creeper, which, grows near a tree, slowly catches hold of the trunk for support and ultimately when fully grown completely covers the tree. Here the relationship between the Lord and the devotee is intimate and close as between friends. This superior Bhakti is called ‘Śākhyam’.
A river finding its way into the sea becomes completely one with the sea after confluence , similar to, the devotee, who after having given up everything which is the object of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ completely surrenders himself to the Lord. This is the third and final stage called Ātmanivedana which in Saguna Niṣṭhā leads to śayujyam and in Nirguna Niṣṭhā leads to Kaivalyam.
The three stages can be seen as a progression from Dvaitam(dualism) through Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism) to the final beatitude of Advaitam(non-dualism).
There are many Bhagavad Gītā references for the same, but theses references are subject to one’s interpretations. If an advaitin reads it he finds it to be Advaitic, and the same goes for dvaitins and others.
For instance, in the Bhagavad Gītā, shloka 6.30:
yo māṁ paśhyati sarvatra sarvaṁ cha mayi paśhyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśhyāmi sa cha me na praṇaśhyati
It simply means true yogi observes me in all beings and also sees every being in me. Here ‘me’ refers to Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa.
Dakṣiṇāmūrti stōtram, 1st verse:
viśvandarpaṇa dṛśyamāna nagarī tulyaṃ nijāntargataṃ
paśyannātmani māyayā bahirivōdbhūtaṃ yathānidrayā |
yassākṣātkurutē prabhōdhasamayē svātmānamē vādvayaṃ
tasmai śrīgurumūrtayē nama idaṃ śrī dakṣiṇāmūrtayē
It means that the entire world is like a city seen within a mirror — the seeing happening within one’s own being, it is a witnessing, happening within the Atman, (the Witnessing) of the externally projected world; projected by the power of maya as if a dream in sleep, one experiences this directly (this play of maya) during spiritual awakening within the Non-Dual expanse of one’s own Atman. Salutations to Lord Dakshinamurthy(guru form of lord Shiva), the personification of our inner guru who awakens this knowledge through his profound Silence (If you know about Ramana Maharshi you can relate to this).
The above is an expound into the Advaita philosophy. There are yet Dvaitam and Viśiṣṭādvaitam philosophies which shall be explored in the subsequent articles of the Vedanta philosophy series.
When the westerners were learning about indian philosophy they were more interested in Dvaitam as it differentiates jīvātma (the absolute self) and paramātma (the self beyond) which is closest to Abrahamic theologies. If we dig deep into our ancient philosophy well enough, we would be able to bridge the gap between modern science and the Sanatana philosophy.
Carl Sagan an American astronomer took interest in Hindu philosophy learnt about the Hindu view of the cosmos as an endless cycle of creation, maintenance, and destruction. He compared it with other religious texts and he concluded that the cyclical concept of Hinduism is closer to modern science. We shouldn’t forget that these similarities with ancient Hindu wisdom just serve as analogies with modern science whose paths cross at various junctures.
AUTHOR: Dwadasi Karthikeya, MFD19I005: I am very fascinated by Indian Philosophy because of its vastness and diversity. Different schools of thought co-existed in our land for centuries all together because of our nature which whishes well being of humanity. I take lot of interest in reading our scriptures and understand them.
