Theism and Devotional Hinduism: A few centuries later, further light was shed on the Brahma Sutra with a theistic outlook. The most famous was by Ramanujacharya (circa 1017-1137 C.E.) . He taught in the famous temple of Srirangam in the Tamilnadu and later established an ashram in Melkote in Karnataka, where he lived for twenty years. He crossed the river Kaveri into Karnataka to escape religious persecution by the Chola kings, who were fanatic Shaivites (one who worshipped Shiva as his god). He lived to the ripe old age of one hundred and twenty and returned to Srirangam, where he attained eternal bliss with his head resting on the lap of his favorite disciple, Govinda. He is credited to be instrumental in building and consecrating many temples both in Tamilnad and Karnataka. At this time, Hoysala king Bitti Deva, a Jaina, converted to Vaishnavism (the sect that considered Vishnu as the God) and assumed the name of Vishnuvardhana. He also built five famous temples in Karnataka in honor of Ramanuja (Belur, Talakad, Tondanur, Gadag and Melkote). 

Unlike the impersonal World Soul of Sankara, Ramanujacharya proposed that the road to salvation was through Bhakti yoga, devoted to a personal God, namely Narayana. Narayana is a complex organic whole of soul and matter in one. Soul and matter constitute the body of the Lord and they are his subordinates. Unlike the amorphous characterless nirguna Brahman of Shankara, Narayana has attributes (vishesha ). Hence Ramanuja's Brahman is known as Savishesha Brahman. While matter is the non-conscious form of the Lord, soul is the conscious form. 

Ramanuja belonged to the Sri-Vaishnava school of thought and arguably the most important Indian philosopher in history. He wrote lengthy commentaries on the Brahma Sutra (sribhashya), Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads. He admitted to the usefulness of ritual observances though only in a qualified measure. God or Narayana is the omnipotent, omniscient and all pervasive Reality. All living beings have God as their origin but are temporarily separated from Him. True fulfillment and joy lies in reestablishing this connection with the Absolute, which is the origin of all Reality. The individual soul, made by God out of his own essence, returned to its maker and lived forever in full communion with Him, but was always distinct form Him. The soul shared the divine nature of omniscience and bliss, and evil could not touch it. However, the soul was always conscious of itself, as 'I' and it was eternal as far as the self-consciousness was maintained, or it would cease to exist. It was one with God, but yet separate, and for this reason the system of Ramanuja is called Vishishtadviata or '(qualified monism or qualified non-dualism)'.

Madhvacharya (circa 1238-1317 C.E.) distinguished himself by breaking completely from the Upanishads doctrine of the unity of God and the human soul. He preached that God, individual soul and matter were eternally and completely different. Liberation is the individual soul's innate bliss and this is the final emancipation (moksha or mukti). He also belonged to the Vaishanva School but was different from Ramanuja's school of Sri- Vaishnavism. Hence it is called Sad- Vaishnavism. Madhvacharya was born in a village near Mangalore and Udupi in Karnataka, to a poor Brahmin family. He undertook the study of Vedanta and entered the monastery of Achyutaprajna, who espoused the views of monism of Advaita philosophy. He argued dualistic and theistic interpretations of the Upanishads and became a great scholar and preacher. As a student he was known as Purnaprajna and later was given the name Madhva by his teacher Achyutaprajna, whom he eventually converted to believe in dualism. He was responsible for the establishment of eight matts in Udipi. Even today, these matts remain the hub of Madhva philosophy. He possessed a physique that was dignified and muscular. He had varied interests including music, weight lifting and wrestling. He also claimed that he was the third avatar of Vayu (the first two being Hanuman and Bhima). At age 79, he took his final pilgrimage to Badri and was never seen again (it is also reported that he disappeared in the midst of a discourse on the Upanishads in the Anantheshwar temple in Udupi). Madhva's philosophy is called Dvaita. The main tenets are as follows:

1. Vishnu is the Supreme Being. ( Vishnusarvothamattva ).
2. Vayu is supreme among the Jivas. ( Vayusarvothamattva ).
3. The universe is real ( satya ). The phenomenal world is real and eternal (unlike Shankara's everyday world which is an illusion or maya ).
4. Absolute difference or distinction (Atyanta-bheda). Five real and eternal distinctions are mentioned ( pancha-bheda ). They are namely
   

   a) the distinction between the Supreme Being and the individual soul ( Jiva ),
   b) between spirit and matter,
   c) between one Jiva and another Jiva,
   d) between the Jiva and matter, and
   e) between one piece of matter and another. This is different from Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita.

5. Devotion ( bhakti ) is a sure route to God, to attain liberation ( moksha )

Knowledge can be obtained through perception, inference and the Vedas. (Pratyaksha, Anumana and Pramana). The universe is as real as God. Difference and diversity are the central characteristics of Reality. Maha Vishnu is the Supreme Being. All the other deities are subordinates in a strictly organized hierarchy. Vayu is the mediator between God and individual souls. God is the creator, sustainer and the destroyer of the universe. He also is the governor of moral and natural laws of the universe and is the remover of ignorance and giver of enlightenment. He can dissolve the bondage of cycle of births and rebirths (samsara) and grant eternal salvation. He causes the eternal cosmic cycle of dissolution of the universe and creation of a new one.

Each soul is a unique spiritual entity and retains its individuality forever. Each soul has its own unique karmic history and the difference among the souls is fundamental and permanent. A bound soul (not liberated) may 'move towards God from birth to birth and eventually be liberated by their goodness (sattvic ) or may be condemned to eternal damnation due to their pursuit of evil and vice (tamasic ) or forever rotate in the cycle of births and deaths due to their mediocrity (rajasic). 

Collectively these are the three gunas. Salvation is to be attained through a process of combining rigorous study of scriptures, performance of ordained scriptural rites in a selfless manner, good secular deeds and devotion to God. In the state of salvation all the souls are eternally under the protection and care of God. They are forever free from the worldly miseries. They experience spiritual bliss and divine glory according to their individual spiritual capacities. However they do not merge with God and they retain their individuality from each other and God. Madhva was unwavering in these beliefs.

April 28, 2002

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