Viśiṣṭādvaita of Rāmānuja |Conclusion
Viśiṣṭādvaita of Rāmānuja |Conclusion
The Viśiṣṭādvaita is a philosophy of religion which thinks out all things in their togetherness or the synthetic unity of Brahma-jñāna and at the same time seeks to realize the union between ātman and Brahman.
Brahman is the ground of all beings and also the goal of spiritual endeavour.
By its definition of revelation (Śāstra) as a body of eternal spiritual truths spiritually verifiable by each man, it bridges the gulf between revelation, reason and intuition and frees itself from the charges of dogmatism, agnosticism and eclecticism.
Its ontological view that Brahman is the soul of all beings and is their source, sustenance and goal brings out the divine purpose of creation. Prakṛti is a becoming, puruṣa is progressive and Paramātman uses prakṛti as an instrument for the perfection of the soul.
While material things exist, ātman lives as an eternal person and not as a thing and Brahman is the infinite interested in infinitizing the finite. This view sets aside the errors and evils of materialism, personalism and abstract monism.
The three spiritual paths of work, knowledge and devotion (karma, jñāna and bhakti) are a triple discipline of will, thought, and feeling and they avoid the pitfalls of moralism, intellectualism and sentimentalism.
The doctrine of surrender(prapatti) guarantees God to all jīvas without any distinction and offers an inspiring motive for spirituality and service.
Every jīva can intuit God directly and serve others by intuiting the truth that all beings are in Brahman and Brahman is in all beings. This view combines contemplative insight and activist view.
Viśiṣṭādvaita thus follows the way of synthesis and brings to light the working of divine love in humanity.
In the post-Rāmānuja period in the South, the two Schools of Śrī Vaiṣṇavism, namely, the Vaḍakalai and the Teṅkalai, became prominent
and doctrinal differences came to a head at the time of Pillailokācārya and Vedānta-Deśika and needless frictions and jealousy arose and tended to bring down the high level of spirituality realized in the earlier stages.
Progress is not always in a straight line and in the so-called mediaeval period of Indian history, especially in the North, great Vaiṣṇava reformers arose to check the proselytizing zeal of Islam and revitalize Hinduism.
A follower of Rāmānuja called Rāmānanda migrated to the North and became the pioneer of the Vaiṣṇavite movement there which influenced even the Punjab and Bengal:
He tried to re-establish God's kingdom (Rāma-rājya) on earth by spreading its triple truths of monarchy, monogamy and monotheism in the political, social and religious aspects of life and thus became the precursor of Mahatma Gandhi.
Of the followers of Rāmānanda, Kabīr, Dādu and Tulsidas were the most popular and of these Kabīr, born in 1398, did the greatest service to the cause of Hindu- Muslim unity both by precept and practice by stressing the common features of the Vedānta and Sufism.
Tulsidas has immortalized himself by the Hindi translation of the Rāmāyaṇa in the same way as Kambar has done in its metrical translation in Tamil.
The Śuddha-Advaita of Vallabha has affinities with Śrī Vaiṣṇavite mysticism especially in its teachings of Puṣṭi-bhakti or the intense love of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa which resembles the (nāyaka-nāyikā) love as experienced by Nammālvār and Āṇḍāl.
Bengal Vaiṣṇavism known as Acintya-Bhedābheda was founded by Śrī Caitanya born in 1485 in Nuddea and it was deeply influenced by Madhva's teaching of Vaiṣṇavism.
The leaders of the Brāhmo-Samāj were deeply touched by bhakti and they repelled the attack of Christianity by accepting Jesus as a great bhakta and rejecting Churchianity.
While Bengal Vaiṣṇavism is mainly emotional, that of the Mahāratha bhaktas like Jñānadeva and Nāmadeva was influenced by Rāmānanda and it laid great stress on jñāna and bhakti.
All the Schools of Vaiṣṇavism agree in their view of God as Love and compel comparison with the Śaivite theories of Śiva as love and with the teachings of Sufism and Christian mysticism.
The idea of God as the beautiful is on the whole peculiar to Vaiṣṇavism.
The Viśiṣṭādvaita has thus through the ages permeated Indian life and made its own contribution to philosophy by its synthetic insight into the whole of reality as the soul of the universe, and to religion by the intuitive realization of life, and the home of eternal values of truth, goodness and beauty.
It offers to every man the most inspiring motive for spirituality and service and enables him to attain the immortal bliss of communion with Brahman.