History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.149

v7.c91.149

In the Vedāntasūtra¹⁵⁴⁷ there are four sūtras dealing with the Bhāgavata or Pāñcarātra system. The great Ācāryas are not agreed upon their interpretation, Śaṅkara saying that all the four sūtras refute some tenets of the Bhāgavatas, Rāmānuja saying that the first two sūtras (out of four) contain refutation of the Bhāgavata doctrine and the other two do not. Śaṅkarācārya makes it clear that the doctrines of the Bhāgavatas that the Supreme God Vāsudeva is the Highest Truth, that He assumes four forms, that the worship of Vāsudeva consists in continuous single-minded contemplation of Vāsudeva are not the targets for attack, that what is refuted is the doctrine of the Bhāgavatas that the individual soul called Saṅkarṣaṇa by them springs from Vāsudeva, that Pradyumna (mind) arises from Saṅkarṣaṇa and that Aniruddha (ahaṃkāra) arises from Pradyumna. It appears from Śaṅkara's remarks¹⁵⁴⁸ on II. 2. 45 that in his day Śāṇḍilya was supposed to have promulgated the Bhāgavata or Pāñcarātra śāstra, because he did not find the highest bliss in all the four Vedas. In the Dronaparva (29. 26-29) there is another and different reference to the four mūrtis of the Supreme for the benefit of the worlds viz one performs tapas (asuterities) on the earth, the 2nd has an eye on the world's good and evil deeds; the third comes to the world in a human form and does such acts as men perform; the 4th slumbers for a thousand years and when it arises from slumber confers the highest boons on those who deserve them.