Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Indian Philosophy v2.c27.s8: The World of Nature

Indian Philosophy v2.c27.s8

Language
English

The World of Nature

v2.c27.s8.1

Material products are the objects of the inanimate world and form the bodies and organs of all beings. They all originate from the primary matter, prakṛti, and return to it in course of time. Though prakṛti appears to be homogeneous, it is really composed of different principles in a subtle state. It develops into the perceptible universe when worked up by God and the souls. God moulds forms out of prakṛti, which is the material cause and in which he exists himself in various forms.¹ Before we get from the unmanifested prakṛti to the well developed forms of creation, we have twenty-four transitional products of creation which are mahat, ahaṃkāra buddhi, manas, ten senses, five sense-objects and the five great elements. These exist in the primordial prakṛti in subtle forms before their evolution.

v2.c27.s8.2

¹ i. 4. 25.

v2.c27.s8.3

The three aspects of prakṛti are presided over by the three forms of Lakṣmī, Śrī, Bhū, and Durgā. Avidyā is a form of prakṛti of which there are two kinds, jīvacchādika, or that which obscures the spiritual powers of the jīva, and paramācchādika, or that which screens off the Supreme from the jīva's view. These two forms of avidyā are positive principles formed out of the substance of prakṛti.

v2.c27.s8.4

GOD AND THE WORLD

v2.c27.s8.5

Madhva rejects all attempts to reduce the world of souls and nature to a mere illusion or an emanation of God, and sets forth an absolute dualism. The individual soul is dependent (paratantra) on God, since it is unable to exist without the energising support of the universal spirit, even as the tree cannot live and thrive without its sap. Even Lakṣmī, the consort of Viṣṇu, though supreme and eternal, is dependent on God. She is the presiding deity over prakṛti, which is the material cause of the world. Īśvara somehow energises prakṛti, which forms no part of his being. Prakṛti somehow lends itself to the control of Īśvara.

v2.c27.s8.6

Madhva comes into conflict with many scriptural passages, which he strains to make them yield a dualism. Taking the great text, " Tat tvam asi " (" That art thou "), Madhva argues that it does not declare any identity between God and the soul. It only states that the soul has for its essence qualities similar to those of God.¹ This is also the meaning of passages which declare that the soul is a portion of the Lord.² He sometimes reads the passage in a different way. Sa ātmā tat tvam asi, is read as sa ātmā atat tvam asi. " That ātman, thou art not."³ Regarding the text, " ayam ātmā Brahma," Madhva says that it is either a simple eulogy of the jīvātman or it is a subject for meditation. It is also suggested that it is a pūrvapakṣa to be overthrown. Madhva uses the etymological meanings of Ātman and Brahman to explain away the passages which identify the individual and the universal self. The Ātman is Brahman, since it grows (vardhanaśīlaḥ) or since it penetrates everywhere (atanaśīlaḥ).

v2.c27.s8.7

¹ ii. 3. 29.

v2.c27.s8.8

² B.G., xv. 7.

v2.c27.s8.9

³ S.B.H., Bṛh. Up., p. 114. See also Chān., vi. 8. 7. This passage is also regarded as equivalent to tvam tadīyo 'si, or tvam tasyāsi. See also Tattvamuktāvali, J.R.A.S., N.S., xv.

v2.c27.s8.10

The supremacy of God introduces order and unity into the universe, in spite of ultimate differences. Through the category of viśeṣa, which distinguishes a quality from a substance, a part from whole, the one and the many are brought into relation.⁴ Viśeṣa or particularity is numerically infinite, since it abides in eternal and non-eternal things and belongs to positive and negative being. One kind of negative being is distinguished from another by means of viśeṣa. But how can one viśeṣa be distinguished from another ? If it is through another viśeṣa, then we are faced with infinite regress. So viśeṣa is said to be self-determined. By means of the category of viśeṣa, it will be possible for us to account for the world of distinctions without assuming the latter as ultimate. It is through the functioning of viśeṣa that we have difference or bheda. If viśeṣa is different from the Supreme, it breaks the integrity of the Supreme; if it is non-different from it, we cannot call it viśeṣa.

v2.c27.s8.11

⁴ Nyāyāmṛta, vol. iii, p. 137.

v2.c27.s8.12

ETHICS AND RELIGION

v2.c27.s8.13

It is knowledge that produces the feeling of absolute dependence on God and love for him.¹ A correct knowledge of all things, material and spiritual, leads to a knowledge of God, which naturally results in the love for God. Towards the close of his *Tattvaviveka*, Madhva says: "Surely he finds release from saṃsāra who understands that all this limited existence is ever under the control of Hari."

v2.c27.s8.14

¹ iii. 3. 49.

v2.c27.s8.15

A sound moral life is a preliminary for salvation. The moral rules are to be obeyed and obligations fulfilled without any desire or claim for fruit. A virtuous life helps us to win insight into truth. We can gain true knowledge from a study of the Vedas, which must be carried out under the guidance of a proper teacher. Each individual has in him the capacity for the perception of a particular aspect of Brahman. The wise teacher will have to take account of these differences, for it is said "by the perception for which one is fit, final release is obtained, not by any other means."² Only gods and men of the three upper classes are allowed to study the Vedas, while women and Śūdras may draw the requisite knowledge from the Purāṇas and the Smṛtis. Madhva allows to all who can understand it the right to study the Vedānta.³ Meditation, or the act of absorbing oneself as often and as intensely as possible in the glory of God, is advised. In the act of meditation the soul can by divine grace arrive at a direct intuitive realisation of God (aparokṣajñāna). When the soul has this vision, as steady as the sun and not merely as swift as lightning, its fetters fall off and it is said to be redeemed.

v2.c27.s8.16

² M.B. iii. 3. 53.

v2.c27.s8.17

³ i. 1. 1.

v2.c27.s8.18

God cannot be approached directly. Vāyu is the mediator. The theory of grace adopted by Madhva reminds us of the Augustinian view. A man can never deserve to be saved. It is only through grace that he can be redeemed. God is not forced by any considerations of merit. He simply elects some for salvation and others for the opposite state. The divine will sets men free or casts them into bondage. But the Hindu tradition does not allow Madhva to hold that God's choice is arbitrary, unconditioned and groundless. Though, in a sense, the states of the soul are brought about by Brahman,¹ it is also admitted that the grace of the Lord is proportioned to the intensity of our devotion.² Our conduct cannot by itself lead us to freedom; God must co-operate. The Supreme who is non-manifested cannot be made manifested by the force of our efforts. He reveals himself when pleased with our devotion.³ The grace of God responds to the faith of the worshipper. Different sects of the followers of Madhva emphasise, in different degrees, divine predestination and human freedom. Insight, devotion, performance of rites and ceremonies, are insisted on. Service of the Supreme consists in branding the body with Viṣṇu's symbols, giving the Lord's names to sons and others and worshipping him in word (veracity, sacred study), act (charity) and thought (mercy and faith). Worship of God is the indispensable, preliminary condition for obtaining divine grace. Works done with knowledge help us in the upward progress. Rites and sacrifices, as well as pilgrimages, are recommended. Animal sacrifices are forbidden, and those who undertake sacrifices are called upon to substitute animals made of flour for the living ones.

v2.c27.s8.19

¹ iii. 2. 9.

v2.c27.s8.20

² iii. 2. 20-21.

v2.c27.s8.21

³ iii. 2. 23-27.

v2.c27.s8.22

The soul may continue the bodily existence so long as its prārabdhakarma is operative, but when it departs from the body, it is freed absolutely. Absolute liberation and embodied life are not compatible. The author of the Nyāyāmṛta argues that he who has the vision of the truth but not the grace of God necessary to effect freedom, continues to live in the flesh. This is jīvanmukti. Complete freedom can be achieved only through the grace of God.

v2.c27.s8.23

Release, according to the Bhāgavata, consists in a restoration to the pure spiritual existence (svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ), after casting off the unessential forms (anyathārūpam).⁴ It is fellowship with God, and not identification with him. If the distinction between the jīva and the Lord is not perceived, as in deep sleep or destruction of the world, it is not a state of release.¹ The freed retain their consciousness of individuality both in pralaya and creation. In the state of release, we have the absence of pain as well as the presence of positive enjoyment. But the soul is not capable of rising into equality with God. It is entitled only to serve him. If salvation is said to be becoming one with Brahman, it is only in a qualified sense that it has a vision of Brahman. Absolute one-ness is not intended by the passages which declare that “he who sees Brahman becomes Brahman.”² The released are all of one will and purpose.³ They have, no doubt, real desires; but their desires are one with those of the supreme Lord. They perform meditation at their pleasure.⁴ They realise their wishes without any effort.⁵ They assume a body of pure matter (śuddhasattva) of their own accord, though this body is not the product of karma; nor do they develop any attachment to the bodies they assume. Even if they do not assume such a body, they can experience bliss as we do in the case of dreams.⁶

v2.c27.s8.24

⁴ i. 1. 17. According to Madhva, mukti is svasvayogyasvasvarūpānandābhivyakti.

v2.c27.s8.25

¹ S.B.H., Bṛh. Up., p. 118.

v2.c27.s8.26

² Tattvamuktāvali, p. 55-56.

v2.c27.s8.27

³ iv. 2. 16.

v2.c27.s8.28

⁴ iii. 3. 27.

v2.c27.s8.29

⁵ iv. 4. 8.

v2.c27.s8.30

⁶ iv. 4. 10-16.

v2.c27.s8.31

While those who attain release escape from the world of saṃsāra, others pass on at death to a different existence, which is determined by the law of karma. At death the coarse body dissolves into its component parts, while the soul, clad in a body of fine imperceptible matter, together with the senses, goes either to the celestial regions, temporary hells, or gets into the luminous regions of the moon, where it stays for a time in accordance with its merit. Then it gets into the womb of the mother, where the soul's new earthly body is produced.⁷ Thus rebirth continues till the soul develops love or hatred for God to the fullest extent, when it is released or cast into hell.

v2.c27.s8.32

⁷ iii. 1. 29.

Linked texts (7)