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History of Vaisnava Thought

History of Vaisnava Thought. Gopal Hari dasa. Course aims.

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History of Vaisnava Thought

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  1. History of Vaisnava Thought GopalHaridasa

  2. Course aims • 1) To provide an introduction to the study of the Vaisnavatradition, especially the tradition of Vedanticdiscourse in response to AdvaitaVedanta. To encourage students to think carefully about the theological/philosophical issues as articulated within this discourse, in relation to the concept, practice, and experience of bhakti. • 2) A detailed, systematic, and schematic overview of the four Vaisnavasampradayas and an understanding of the similarities and differences in their philosophies and practice. • 3) To study the writings of VaisnavaAcaryas

  3. Course objectives • 1. Articulate general contours and themes in Vedanticdiscourse, especially as presented by Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva. • 2. Articulate the acintya-bhedabheda-vadain basic terms in relation to the positions of Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha and Nimbarka. • 3. Articulate some of the major issues raised in the Brahma-Sutras and its commentaries by Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka and Baladeva. • 4. Appreciate the devotional poetry of the Vaisnava tradition, such as the songs of the Alvars

  4. Course Outline • Session 1: Overview of the Four VaisnavaSampradayas • Session 2: The Problem of Evil and the History of VaisnavaThought • Session 3: The VaisnavaCommentorial Tradition • Session 4: The Philosophy of RamanujaAcharya • Session 5: The Philosophy of Madhva, Vallabha, NimbarkaAcharyas and Sri ChaitanyaMahaprabhu

  5. Course Requirements and grading Paper: For this paper, you are to select a primary text written by a Vaisnava Acharya and do a “religious analysis” of it, using the categories/tools/concepts provided in this course for exploring its expression of “ultimate concern.” The student must identify “what matters most” to the text, and then discuss how the text tries to establish that. The student must quote three secondary academic sources on the chosen text. Further details will be discussed. Thesis-based Writing: A thesis presents your key “point”; in many ways, it is the “conclusion” or “argument” toward which you are driving, but it is stated concisely and clearly at the beginning of the paper; it answers the assigned question.

  6. Overview • Influential Teachers: • Samkara– (788-820) – Vivartavada • Ramanuja – (1017-1137) – Visuddhadvaita • Nimbarka – (1162-unknown) – Dvaitadvaita • Madhva – (1238-1317) – Dvaita • Vallabha (1473-1531) – Suddhadvaita • Jiva-Goswami (1513-1598) – Acintya-bhedabheda

  7. Sankara’sAnirvacaniya (Philosophy of incomprehensibility) Sankara says: “Let us observe a reflection” “Is a reflection real?” “Surely it is not, it is simply an appearance.” “Is a reflection unreal?” “Surely it is not, for if it was unreal it could not be an object of experience.” Therefore, Sankara concludes, “The reflection is neither real, nor unreal.” This is known as Sankara’s doctrine of anirvacaniya“incomprehensibility.”

  8. Sankara’s world • Brahman is the sole Reality, paramartha • Consequently the world of duality, multiplicity and change is aniryvacaniya • The world is like a reflection, it is neither real (sat) nor unreal (asat) • It is not real, because it has no substantiality • It is not unreal, because it is an object of experience • The world is vyavayara, it is a lower/practical reality

  9. Sankara’s god • Brahman is pure unqualified consciousness. Brahman means nirgunaBrahman, qualityless reality. • Brahman may, for the purposes of directing one’s mind towards it, be designated as sat (being), cit (awareness) and ananda (bliss). • In its status of pure being, however, no attribution can be made with respect to Brahman. It can simply be pointed to as netineti, not this, not this. • Isvara is sagunaBrahman, Brahman with qualities. He is the creator. However, from the standpoint of Reality, though, there is no creation and no creator god.

  10. Sankara’s self • Most people consider themselves to be individual person, jivas. But in reality, the jiva is Brahman • The jiva is seen to be separate from Brahman, the one and only Atma, because of the limitations (upadhis) which it falsely imposes upon itself due to ignorance (Avidya) • The jiva fails to realize the true identity between itself as a reflection (pratibimba) and Brahman as its prototype (bimba) • Sankara distinguishes between three types of illusion: • Waking perception • Dream perception • Something altogether non-existent, such as a hare’s horn or a square circle

  11. Ramanuja’s Summary of Sankara’s Philosophy

  12. Ramanuja’s Response (1017-1137) • Ramanuja points out, however, that proposition number five is in direct contradiction with proposition number one.

  13. Ramanuja’s Response to Sankara’s world

  14. Next time we will continue with Ramanuja’s thought….

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