Nimbarka’s Dvaitadvaita
Nimbarka (late 12th/13th Century)
Bhaskara
• Bhaskara (late 9th century, post Sankara)
advocated a doctrine of identity in
difference, bhedabheda – difference and
non-difference.
• Brahman has innumerable auspicious
attributes but no form. He is not a person.
• Consequently, Bhakti is relatively
unimportant as a means of liberation. He
emphasizes karma yoga and jnana yoga.
Brahman and the Universe
• Brahman is transformed into the universe
of duality and change, yet without
alteration of his essential being.
• Bhaskara affirms the reality of the physical
universe and therefore rejects the two-tier
view of reality (as Paramartha and
Vyavahara) held by Sankara.
Brahman and the Jivas
• Jivas are in their real nature one with
Brahman but is differentiated from
Brahman through the state of bondage,
entanglement in the material world.
• In moksha the jiva is liberated from the
material world and its differentiation from
Brahman.
• In moksha the jiva is liberated from the
material world and its differentiation from
Brahman.
• The Jiva is destined for a real dissolution
or merging into Brahman, as the rivers of
water empty into the ocean.
• The Jiva is thus different (bheda) from
Brahman in bondage but not different
(abheda) from Brahman in liberation.
Nimbarka affirmed dualism in non dualism
Bhedabheda
Absolute Brahman
Relative Brahman
Impersonal
Personal
Without Attributes
With Auspicious Attributes
Transcendental
Greater than the
Universe
Immanent
Universe Comes out of
Personal Brahman
The individual jiva soul is to Brahman what a wave is to the
ocean.
The wave is a part of the ocean, but it is not the whole of the
ocean. The essence of the wave is water, as is also the ocean. But
the wave is contained within the ocean.
Like Brahman, the jiva is eternal consciousness, but the jiva is
only a part of Brahman, not the whole. There is an identity of
nature, but a distinctness of being.
Nimbarka said that the jiva is to Brahman
what a ray of sunlight is to the sun.
The ray of sunlight is distinct from the sun.
Although the sunlight is dependent on the sun,
neither exists without the other. The sun is greater
than the ray of sunlight, but the ray of sunlight is the
essence of the sun.
Nimbarka emphasized meditation on Brahman in the
personal form of Krishna and his consort Radha, as
embodying the divine will and supreme devotion.
Caitanya’s Gaudiya Vedanta
Caitanya Mahaprabhu (16th Century)
•Born in Bengal (India)
•Studied under well-known
logician and grammarian
Vasudeva
•Established himself as a
master logician and debater
well-versed in Vedic texts and
philosophy
•Spiritual transformation at
age 22 at Gaya, under the
guidance of guru Ishvara Puri
•In state of ecstasy, which
became his regular practice,
engaged in worship of
Krishna
Like Madhva, Caitanya affirmed that Brahman is
ultimately personal, and jivas are really distinct from Him.
Like Sankara, Caitanya affirmed an identity between
Brahman and jivas.
His metaphysics is a middle position between dvaita
(duality) and advaita (nonduality).
Acintya Bhedabheda Tattva
the principle (tattva) of inconceivable (acintya)
difference (bheda) and non-difference
(abheda) between the self and God.
1. The Justification of Brahman
with Attributes
(Saguna Brahman)
Scriptural Argument
Like pre-existing vedanta traditions (other
than advaita), Caitanya and his followers
argued on the basis of the shastras that
Brahman has attributes.
Philosophical Argument
They also argued this point philosophically
against Advaita Vedanta from the very
premises of Advaita Vedanta.
(1) Brahman alone is real.
Therefore:
(2) Brahman alone is the cause of all
phenomena.
Therefore:
(3) Brahman is the cause of superimposition.
(4) Nothing can be a cause without having a
quality or attribute (namely the attribute
of “being the cause of x”).
Therefore:
(5) Brahman has attributes.
2. The Justification of
Brahman as Personal
(Bhagavan)
Scriptural Argument
The shastras (especially the Bhagavad Gita
and Srimad Bhagavata Purana) teach that
Brahman has attributes and is a personal
being (Bhagavan).
Krishna is the
Supreme personality
of the Godhead.
“I am the basis of
Brahman, the
immortal, the
imperishable,
everlasting dharma,
and absolute bliss.”
~Krishna (Gita
14:27)
While all schools of Vaishnavism regard Krishna as an
avatar of Vishnu, Gaudiya Vaishnavism regards
Krishna himself as the Supreme Personality of the
Godhead and Vishnu is one of Krishna’s emanations.
Philosophical Argument
The philosophical
argument for
personal Brahman
relies on the concepts
of absoluteness or
perfection, each of
which – it is argued must contain within it
the notion of
“personhood.”
(1) The Absolute is perfectly complete.
Therefore:
(2) The Absolute must contain within itself
every aspect or order of existence.
(3) The personal is an aspect or order of
existence.
Therefore:
(4) The Absolute is personal.
(5) Brahman is the Absolute.
Therefore:
(6) Brahman is personal.
3. The Justification of Bheda
(Difference)
Personal Brahman must be distinct (bheda)
from the jivas and material nature.
Theological/Philosophical Argument:
If personal Brahman is not different from
jivas and material nature, then either
avidya is unreal or it is real and located it
in the being of God.
(Both consequences contradict the shastras)
4. The Justification of Abheda
(Non-Difference)
The sastras affirm that Brahman is “one
without a second.”
Hence, in some sense, jivas (and material
nature) must be non-different (abheda)
from Brahman.
Jivas and the entire realm of material
nature are powers or energies (shaktis) of
Brahman.
G.V. affirms that God and shaktis are
different in one respect and non-different
in another respect, as indicated by the
following analogies and metaphors:
sun/sunlight
ocean/waves
fire/sparks
The metaphors suggest:
One thing’s possessing the nature of another
thing in a dependent and limited manner.
Jivas possess the nature
of Brahman/Krishna
(satchitananda) in a
dependent and limited
way.
For example, jivas are
distinct centers of
consciousness (cit),
with finite knowledge,
action, and bliss.
Krishna and his energies are abheda in much
the same way that the burning property of
a fire is non-different from fire.
5. The Meaning of “Acintya”
• Acintya means “inconceivable” or
“incomprehensible,” not necessarily
contradictory.
• What is contradictory is inconceivable, but
not everything inconceivable is
contradictory.
• “Acintya” may simply mean what cannot
be fully comprehended or explained by
the finite intellect through analytical
reasoning. It may appear contradictory.
Divine Omnipotence
G.V. appeals to divine omnipotence to
justify the acintya character of the relation
between God and souls.
An omnipotent being will be able to do
what seems impossible to finite minds.
6. Bhakti and Bhedabheda
The principle of acintya bhedahbeda tattva
is theologically required for the
realization and intensification of bhakti.
Bhakti can only be properly cultivated and
perfected if there is both intimacy and
separation between the self and God.
Elements of Bhakti
Where there is attraction, there is a desire for
closeness, but where the attraction is blissful:
(A) The desire for closeness is satisfied (union).
(B) The desire for closeness is not fully or
maximally satisfied (separation).
The intimacy of love is actualized in (A). Its
potential for persistence and further
development is grounded in (B).
What are the ontological preconditions for
the efficacy of bhakti?
God and individual souls must remain
distinct (bheda) and yet share a common
life (abheda).
The common life is sat-chit-ananda
Being, Consciousness, and Bliss
Bhakti and Krishna
GV regards
Krishna as the
most perfect object
of Bhakti since
Krishna embodies
the qualities that
engender both
“intimacy” and
“separation”
between the self
and God.
Krishna’s “Madhurya” Qualities
Madhurya (Sweetness)
Human Qualities Engendering “Intimacy”
Krishna’s “Aishvarya” Qualities
Aishvarya (Lordship)
Divine Qualities Engendering “Awe and Reverence”
Stages of Bhakti
• Vaidhi Bhakti: External actions/rituals
done for the sake of Krishna.
• Raga-nuga Bhakti: Spontaneous internal
remembrance of Krishna’s person and
activities on earth, as well as the desire to
serve Krishna.
• Bhava Bhakti: awakening of feeling of love
for and intimacy with Krishna.
• Prema Bhakti: Bhava cultivated in the
mood of ecstasy.
Cultivation of Bhakti
• Hearing the name, form, and attributes,
and lilas (past times) of Krishna
• Speaking and singing about Krishna
• Meditating on and remembering Krishna
• Serving the feet of Krishna
• Worship of Krishna
• Doing what pleases Krishna
• Developing friendship towards Krishna
• Compete Surrender to Krishna
Bhakti as Conjugal Mood
Among the moods
of intimacy that
express bhakti,
the conjugal
mood is the
most important
in GV.
• In Vaishnava bhakti literature, the young woman
Radharani was Krishna’s consort and highest
caliber devotee in Krishna’s lilas (past times) in
Vrindavana.
• Krishna could not fathom the depth and intensity
of Radha’s love, so he eventually incarnated
himself again on earth (as both Krishna and
Radha) so he could experience the highest degree
of devotion to himself.
Gauidya
Vaishnavism
maintains that
Caitanya is the
combined
incarnation of
Krishna and
his female
consort
Radharani.
Caitanya is thus
regarded as the
manifestation
of God on earth
in the mode of
a devotee so
that He might
taste the
sweetness of
human love for
Him.
Hare Krishna
Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna
Hare Hare
Hare Rama
Hare Rama
Rama Rama
Hare Hare
Power Point Sources
• A.K. Majumdar, Bhakti Renaissance (Bharatiya Vidya
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bhavan, 1979)
Swami Prabhavananda, The Spiritual Heritage of India
(Vedanta Press, 1979)
R.C. Zaehner, Hinduism (Oxford University Press, 1972).
P.T. Raju, The Philosophical Traditions of India (University
of Pittsburg Press, 1971)
Swami Tapasynananda, Bhakti Schools of Vedanta (Sri
Ramakrishna Math, 1984)
Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life
and Precepts (Gaudiya Press, 1987).
Steven Rosen (ed), Vaishnavism: Contemporary Scholars
Discuss the Gaudiya Tradition (Folk Books, 1992).