Today is the appearance day of Sripad Ramanuja Acharya..he was a exponent of vaishnava siddhanta wich was known as vishisthadwaita....he also extensively preached against impersonalim...and also showed the path of bhakthi as thought by great acharyas aka the 12ALWARS..The philosophy of Shankara stated that everything is Brahman and Brahman itself is absolutely homogeneous, undifferentiated, and without personality; individuality arose only due to illusion or maya. But this concept was staunchly opposed by Ramanuja. His philosophy stated that there can never be knowledge of an unqualified object; knowledge necessarily points to an object as characterized in some way. Ramanuja never admitted to an attributeless, undifferentiated Brahman, but rather a Brahman which is an attribute of a greater reality: Godhead Himself. He reasoned that as the living entities are individual personalities, so too is the Supreme also a personality—the Ultimate Personality. Ramanuja further reasoned that if illusion could cover the identity of the Supreme, then illusion was greater than Godhead. Therefore he asserted that we are eternally individual personalities and the Supreme is eternally the Supreme Personality, but due to our finite nature we are sometimes subject to illusion. Ramanuja also accepted the theory of transformation rejected by Shankara. According to Shankara the material world is false; it has no existence. Ramanuja, on the other hand, said that the material world is the energy of Godhead, and the subjective reality does not undergo any change of substance in the matter of material manifestation in the same way that a singer who creates a song out of his own energy is not diminished due to his creation; rather, he becomes more glorious. Neither the material world nor the living entities are conceived of as being independent of the Supreme Personality in the system of visishtadwaita philosophy. The living entities are a different manifestation of the Supreme due to their being endowed with free will, whereas the material energy is manifest directly under the will of the Supreme. The free will of the living entity is an all-important factor, since that free will is considered to be the basic principle of reciprocal relations between Godhead and the living entity. Ramanuja presented the living entities relationship with Godhead as being one of eternal service. According to Ramanuja, when the living entities are freed from the illusions produced by the material energy by the method of devotion and natural love of God-like the dealings between an affectionate servant and his master—then the soul enters the spiritual sky known as Vaikuntha. Once having reached the Vaikuntha world, the soul engages in eternal service to the Supreme Person, Narayana (Vishnu). This sublime message was daily imparted by Ramanuja to his listeners. Ramanuja remained on Earth for 123 years. To appease their afflicted hearts, Ramanuja spoke his last instructions to those who were most near and dear to him: Always remain in the company of and serve those souls devoted to Godhead just as you would serve your own spiritual preceptor. Have faith in the teachings of the Vedas and in the words of the great saints. Never become the slave of your senses; always strive to conquer the three great enemies of self-realization: lust, anger, and greed. Worship Narayana and take pleasure in uttering the holy names of God as your only refuge. Sincerely serve the devotees of Godhead; by service to the great devotees, the highest service is done and one quickly gains the supreme mercy. Remembering these things you should live happily in this world for the attainment of the next. With these departing words, Ramanuja, keeping his head on the lap of Govinda and his mind fixed in spiritual trance, relinquished his mortal body and entered the realm of Sri Vaikunta I would like to wish the Sri Vaishnavas happy Ramanuja Jayanthi... ys, Gopati Krsna Dasa (JPS) Braamha Madwa Gaudiya Rupanuga Saraswata Vaishnava Sampradya (ISKCON)
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:20:35 +0000
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