Saturday, May 13, 2006

Advaita, Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita

"Advaita" literally means "not two", and is often called a monistic or non-dualistic system which essentially refers to the indivisibility of the Self (Atman) from the Whole (Brahman). The key texts from which all Vedanta (literally, "end or the goal of the Vedas") texts draw are the Upanishads (twelve or thirteen in particular), which are usually at the end of the Vedas, and the Brahma Sutras (also known as Vedanta Sutras), which in turn discuss the essence of the Upanishads.
Adi Shankara's thoughts in a summary
Adi Shankara's treatises on the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras are his principal and almost undeniably his own works. Although he mostly adhered to traditional means of commenting on the Brahma Sutra, there are a number of original ideas and arguments. He taught that it was only through knowledge and wisdom of nonduality that one could be enlightened.
Shankara's opponents accused him of teaching Buddhism in the garb of Hinduism, because his non-dualistic ideals were a bit radical to contemporary Hindu philosophy. However, it may be noted that while the Later Buddhists arrived at a changeless, deathless, absolute truth after their insightful understanding of the unreality of
samsara, historically Vedantins never liked this idea. Although Advaita also proposes the theory of Maya, explaining the universe as a "trick of a magician", Shankara and his followers see this as a consequence of their basic premise that Brahman is real. Their idea of Maya emerges from their belief in the reality of Brahman, rather than the other way around.
Shankara was a peripatetic orthodox Hindu
monk who traveled the length and breadth of India. The more enthusiastic followers of the Advaita tradition claim that he was chiefly responsible for "driving the Buddhists away". Historically the decline of Buddhism in India is known to have taken place long after Shankara or even Kumarila Bhatta (who according to a legend had "driven the Buddhists away" by defeating them in debates), sometime before the Muslim invasion into Afghanistan (earlier Gandhara).
Although today's most enthusiastic followers of Advaita believe Shankara argued against Buddhists in person, a historical source, the
Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam, indicates that Shankara sought debates with Mimamsa, Samkhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika and Yoga scholars as keenly as with any Buddhists. In fact his arguments against the Buddhists are quite mild in the Upanishad Bhashyas, while they border on the acrimonious in the Brahma Sutra Bhashya.
The Vishistadvaita and Dvaita schools believed in an ultimately saguna Brahman. They differ passionately with Advaita, and believe that his nirguna Brahman is not different from the Buddhist Sunyata (wholeness or zeroness) — much to the dismay of the Advaita school. A careful study of the Buddhist
Sunyata will show that it is in some ways metaphysically similar as Brahman. Whether Shankara agrees with the Buddhists is not very clear from his commentaries on the Upanishads. His arguments against Buddhism in the Brahma Sutra Bhashyas are more a representation of Vedantic traditional debate with Buddhists than a true representation of his own individual belief. (See link: Shankara's arguments against Buddhism)

Dvaita, a school of
Vedanta (the most widespread Hindu philosophy) founded by Shri Madhvacharya, stresses a strict distinction between God and souls. According to Madhva, souls are not created by God but depend on Him to evolve or transform. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains dualism in his book, Dancing with Siva, by stating that in dualism, God is seen as the efficient cause of the universe and not as the material cause. He is the potter causing the clay to emerge, rather than serving as the source of the clay itself.
Dvaita philosophy
Like
Ramanuja Shri Madhvacharya espoused a Vaishnava theology that understands Brahman to be endowed with attributes and a personal God, Vishnu. By Brahman, he referred to Vishnu, as per his statement (brahmashabdashcha vishhnaveva) that Brahman can only refer to Vishnu. Madhva states that Vishnu is not just any other deity, but is rather the singular, all-important and supreme one. Vishnu is always the primary object of worship, and all others are regarded as subordinate to Him. The deities and other sentient beings are graded among themselves, with Vayu, the god of life, being the highest, and Vishnu is eternally above them.
Dvaita, or Dualistic philosophy, also known as Bheda-vâda, Tattva-vâda, and Bimba-pratibimba-vâda, is the doctrine propounded by Ananda Tîrtha (also known as Madhvacharya) that asserts that the difference between the individual soul or jîva, and God,(Îshvara or Vishnu), is eternal and real. Actually, this is just one of the five differences that are so stated -- all five differences that constitute the universe are eternal.
The Dvaita doctrine was summarized by Vyasa Tirtha as comprising nine tenets or prameyas.


Vishisthadvaita is a qualified
monism in which God alone exists but admits plurality. By holding such beliefs, Vishisthadvaita is midway between Advaita and Dvaita. The book, "All about Hinduism" by Swami Sivananda discusses aspects of Vishisthadvaita, a theological school whose most important proponent was Ramanuja.
The Philosophy
In more specific terms Vishishtadvaita conclusions may be briefly summarised as below.
The Absolute Supreme Reality referred to as
Brahman, is a Transcendent Personality with infinite superlative qualities. He is Lord Vishnu, also known as Narayana. He creates the other two members of the Trimurti, namely, Creator Brahma and Shiva, the Lord of Deluge.
Narayana is the Absolute God. The Soul and the Universe are only parts of this Absolute and hence, Vishishtadvaita is
panentheistic. The relationship of God to the Soul and the Universe is like the relationship of the Soul of Man to the body of Man. Individual souls are only parts of Brahman. God, Soul and Universe together form an inseparable unity which is one and has no second. This is the non-duality part.
Matter and Souls inhere in that Ultimate Reality as attributes to a substance. This is the qualification part of the non-duality.
Souls and Matter are only the body of God. Creation is a real act of God. It is the expansion of intelligence. Matter is fundamentally real and undergoes real revelation. The Soul is a higher mode than Matter, because it is conscious. It is also eternally real and eternally distinct. Final release, that comes, by the Lord's
Grace, after the death of the body is a Communion with God. This philosophy believes in liberation through one's Karmas (actions) in accordiance with the Vedas, the Varna (caste or class) system and the four Ashramas (stages of life), along with intense devotion to Vishnu. Individual Souls retain their separate identities even after moksha. They live in Fellowship with God either serving Him or meditating on Him. The philosophy of this school is SriVaishnavism, a branch of Vaishnavism.
The succession of great Master-Expositors and spiritual giants of Vishishtadvaita school starts with the twelve
Alwars, who left behind an imperishable legacy of Tamil devotional poetry in the form of 4000 songs, now called the Nalayira-prabandham.

Alochana-Deity, God or something more



Dear readers,

God is a hot topic around specially due to the recent burning controversy over the yet to release film "Da Vinci Code".

In this situation I would surely like to add my thoughts on this topic.

And ofcourse, my respect to the complete womankind on "Mother's Day".

Have fun!

Souvik

Who is Shiva? Did he live in flesh and blood on Earth? Was he an invading Alien who like a few other fellow astronauts (Vishnu , Brahma etc.) planned to help humans and then left back to his planet? Or is he God as we the Hindus believe and lives on Kailash mountain? Or is this whole God episode much bigger than this? Or was it the politics of the Aryan to include a Dravidian God?

Much more ideas crossed my mind when I sat to write this article. Some of them will be irrelevant here and some too technical but the conclusion is that the end still remains inconclusive and it will till eternity (or atleast I would think it should).

However, my point here is above all these. My point can co-exist with each of these theories. My point is that there is no need to debate over what history is and whether or not it is true, my point is that to all questions lie just one answer-the answer of faith.

If we believe in something and that belief is strong enough to give us some "miraculous" force in life, then it does not matter if there is truth (I mean historical) in that belief.

I have always said that Shiva is much more than kailash-vasi damrudhari Shiv, much more than Sada Shiva who spoke the vedas.

Shiva is us.

When we talk of deities then we can perceive the same Shiva in different forms-each being a deity-Rudra, Umashankar, Mahakaal, Nilakantha, Sarbeshwar.

When we talk of God-we mean Shiva as God. Shiva as the Almighty.

But in both the cases we separate Shiva from us and thus when any individual says something that shakes the foundation of His (Shiva's) existence, we rage up with anger, become sorrowful or critical of that individual or group.

Now if we remove that separation of Him being separate from us, this whole concept dissapears.

If every Hindu thinks himself to be a God (Hindu deity) then can any such criticism hit us?

If someone claims that there was no historical or archelogical evidence of Rama, the Rama bhakt will have laugh and say "So you mean I donot exist"?

Religion and beliefs can never be fought to defend. They are much superior than any one's claim.

I hope the church realises that Jesus himself said "The temple of God is within".

Regards,

Souvik

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Alochana-Nudity in religious paintings

Dear readers,
Nudity in religious paintings is a controversial topic.
This is what one of the controversial artists, MF Husain, has to say.
Please do post your views.
Thanks
Souvik
Link is from here.
Here nudity is not nakedness
M F Husain Sunday, May 07, 2006 01:50 IST

We Indians are proud to create a civilisation of art and culture, enshrined in the sanctity of the Ajanta and Ellora caves and temples for the last 5,000 years. Here the goddesses are pure and uncovered. Here the nudity is not nakedness, it’s a form of innocence and maturity. Take the monumental form of Mahaveera and the carvings of Khajuraho. They evoke spirituality.
We, the Indian painters of significance, are the direct descendants of that golden era of great vision which transcends mundane reality into eternity.

The ultimate presence of Shiva-Parvati exists in cosmic space not hedged in by boundaries of the tiny planet called Earth. Michelangelo’s Pieta, in marble, is a masterpiece in recreating reality but Shiva-Parvati in bronze go beyond reality.

For the last 50 years, an enlightened body of Indian painters has been engaged in reconnecting the reality of the ancient cultural heritage to our time. As in every human endeavour, Faith is at the core of it all. With great care and reverence for all faiths, the Indian sub-continent has evolved a unique secular culture.

I am a humble contributor towards the creation of a great Indian composite culture. I would like to pinpoint certain factors of my 70-year-long journey as a painter. A childhood fascination for the white horse of the Muharram duldul. And the Ashwamedha horse of Luv-Kush.
A panel on Indian village life titled Zameen at the Museum of Modern Art in New Delhi.
About 150 works painted on the versions of the Ramayana by Valmiki and Tulsidas, for a foundation in Hyderabad. Dr Dharamvir Bharati published this series under the title of Husain’s Ramayana.

29 works on the Mahabharat exhibited along with Picasso in Brazil in 1971. Painted Teorema, nine panels depicting various faiths including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. These panels were exhibited at the UN in New York.

Aanga Vadya


What instrument comes closest to the human voice? In the West, most people would say the cello, the violin or the guitar.
In India, traditionalists maintain it's the sarangi, a stringed instrument with a squat body and a soundboard of goat skin, played with a bow.
Sarangi is believed to mean "a hundred colours," reflecting its stylistic adaptability and huge emotional palette. But there is a good reason why this extraordinary instrument is rarely heard.
"The challenge is to be able to play it in tune," says Sultan Khan, a sarangi master. "This is not easy, because apart from the three main strings made of gut, there are 36 sympathetic strings made of metal. This gives the sarangi a built-in resonance chamber, and the sympathetic strings can be heard clearly. It becomes very obvious if the musician is out of tune."
Khan, originally from Rajasthan and now living in Mumbai, is a ninth-generation sarangi player who began learning the instrument at the age of 3. He comes to Vancouver with tabla legend Zakir Hussain's Masters of Percussion. The program features several virtuosic Indian artists, including dancing-drummers from Manipur.
Khan remained primarily an instrumentalist until a few years ago. Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali asked him to sing for one of his Bollywood movies. Soon after, Khan hit major commercial success with the resulting album, Piya Basanti.
"Since sarangi is the instrument used to accompany vocal music, many players have also become singers. In the concert, I will also be doing a vocal piece based on either a bhajan [Hindu devotional song] or a folk melody."

In one sense, Khan is returning to the roots of the sarangi -- the mythical ones, anyway. "It traces its origin to Ravana, a great worshipper of Lord Shiva. He is said to have made the instrument with strings from his own veins in order to sing hymns in praise of Lord Shiva."

Aakaar

From here
Ignorance dwarfs Asia’s largest Shiva Linga
Friday May 5 2006 11:35 IST
BALASORE: No travel or tourism website features it. No popular history book mentions Baba Bhusandeswar, claimed to be the largest Shiva Linga of Asia, which is being worshipped for years in a remote village in the district.Though nestled in dense forest, it has been drawing people from the State and outside for their belief in its miraculous prowess. On the banks of the river Subarnarekha in Kumbhirgadi village of Bhogarai block stands the unique Shiva Linga, named Bhusandeswar for its sheer size. Carved out of black granite, only half of the 12-foot linga is visible. The rest of it has remained buried for years.
Legend has it that Lord Shiva granted demon King Ravana the atmalinga after he invoked the deity for days. Afraid that he would misuse its divine power, other deities sent Lord Ganesh to snatch it away. And offering to hold it while Ravana quenched his thirst during his journey to Lanka with the linga, Ganesh placed it on the ground. As per Lord Shiva’s warning, it did not budge when Ravana tried to remove it. It only grew in size as he tried to uproot it. He stopped after Lord Shiva asked him to let it stay at the place. And that place happened to be Kumbhirgadi. But historians maintain that the linga was being carried on a ship and broke when it docked in the district. It could not be removed because of its size. For centuries it lay eight feet below the ground. Sukhal Jayram, a businessman of Jaleswar, attempted to pull it by crane in 1964, but the linga is still a little tilted.Despite its uniqueness, the linga was being worshipped in a thatched hut until the then MP of Balasore Kartikeswar Patra constructed a temple in 1984. But the dilapidated approach road has been an obstacle for tourists and devotees who flock during Shivaratri, Bisuva Sankranti and Chadak Jatra.Though the road work under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana connecting the temple is in progress, funds crunch comes in the way of performing temple rituals. Meanwhile, locals have pinned hopes on Balasore MP Kharabela Swain who has sought funds from the Centre for its development. Balasore district administration has also mooted a plan to develop it along with Talasari, Chandipur beaches and Panchalingeswar Shiva peetha.

Alochana-FAQs


Dear readers,

some FAQs on Shiva...

Thanks

Souvik


1) Why girls will pray to Lord Shiva for a husband?

Shiva rules Hara Sthana of human life-i.e astrologically, the 7th. House of the natal horoscope. Shiva is all about union. Shiva Ratri a "family" worship. Shiva ALWAYS worshipped with Shakti .

In Indian itihaas, Mahabharata, Draupadi (in the previous incarnation) worshipped Shiva to get a husband like Shiva (Panchamukhi). No one human can have all the great five tattwas in exact balance like Shiva, so Draupadi landed up having five husbands.

Bengali girls fast on this day to get a husband like Shiva.

Wouldn't a girl want a husband who is shava (corpse) without her? Shiva is the epitome of love? It is Shiva's selfless love that makes everyone want him as their "swamy" (master).

Can there be ANYONE so selfless, so loving as Shiva.

When one reaches a level of Bhakti, he/she becomes Parvati, Shiva cannot live without that soul.

2) What is specific name of Lord Shiva as a teacher?

Dakshinamurty. Teaches by mauna (silence). The soul knows all the answers. Shiva is all about discovering the soul.

3) Where can I find any pastimes of Lord Shiva as a young adult?

There is no Shiva when there is no Shakti. We all know the stories of Shiva from time of Sati's penance till Vishnu using the sudarshan to cut Sati's corpse into Shakti peeths.

We donot hear about what happened from then and till the time Parvati started her penance.

We only know Shiva was in mahasamadhi. There can be NO tales of Shiva before adulthood because Shakti-Shiva = Shava (corpse).

The story of birth of Rudra from the forehead of Brahma is symbolic of ignorance of man.