Matam Vishishtadwaitam Mae Goloko Dhaama Chepsitaam |
Vishishtadvaita is accepted as the Lord’s philosophy. From the various philosophies - Advaita, Kevaladvaita, Shuddhadvaita, Vishishtadvaita etc. the Lord accepts Ramanuja’s philosophy of Vishishtadvaita (special theory of non-dualism) as accurate.
Shatanand explains Ramanuja’s philosophy to include the fact that God is animate, endowed with redemptive qualities, devoid of ordinary qualities (he has supra-ordinary qualities) and he is with divine body. One should refer to Ramanuja’s various works such as Shree Bhashya to get a better understanding of his philosophy. Thus our Uddhava Sampradaya has its roots within the Ramanuja Sampradaya.
From the various Dhaamas - Vaikuntha, Swetadweepa etc, the Lord has chosen Goloka as his fondest of abodes. One should refer to Brahmvaivrata Purana and Vasudeva Mahatmya for a description of Goloka Dhaama.
‘Go’ means light and ‘Loka’ means heavenly abode. Therefore Goloka is the enlightened heaven. It is said that Goloka is illuminated with the brilliance of millions of suns. Lord Swaminarayan in Vachanamrut explains, ‘In the centre of Goloka lies Akshardhaam. From the other heavens, one is again reborn upon the Earth, but Goloka is such that once there, one is never again sent back upon this Earth.’
Goloka or Akshardhaam is the greatest of heavens, where one is in constant service to Shree Krishna. Thus once in Goloka, attaining the state of Brahmanrupa, we are able to serve the Lord with supreme consciousness - this is simply Mukti. Just the right or opportunity to serve God is considered as salvation.
Ekantika Bhaktas (realised souls) have asked only to serve God and not for Salokya and other types of Mukti. Narsaiyo wrote in Gujarati: ‘Hari na janto mukti na mange, mange janmo janam avatara re’, because through birth as a man, one is able to worship and serve God.
Shreemad Bhagwat says, ‘My non-desirous devotees have not asked for the four types of Mukti - Salokya, Sarshti, Saroopya and Sayujya, which are devoid of service to Me.’ ‘Those that love to serve my feet and who perform acts for me only, do not wish for even Sayujya Mukti.’ (Sayujya Mukti is the best of the four types of Mukti and involves ‘merging’ of the soul with God).
‘Those with love for God find even Moksha insignificant.’ Indra has also said, ‘O Lord Narsinha! Thy devotees do not believe that much in Mukti, then how can the fact that they don’t believe in heaven cause despondency.’ Thus devotees do not care much for Mukti or for the bliss of heaven - they strive only to serve God in any way, shape or form.’
‘Those who are dedicated to me do not wish for the heavens, political power, the post of Indra, emperorship, special Yogic powers nor for Moksha; they simply have love for me.’ ‘They please God and ask for nothing except Bhakti.’
The Lord only gives such blessing (to serve him) to those Ekantik Bhaktas who are dedicated to him. Sukhdevji explains, ‘Those that perform Bhakti of Shree Krishna are readily given Moksha, but very few are blessed with the fruits of Bhakti Yoga.’ Such Bhakti Yoga is the state of Brahman Roopa where one can have constant service to God at such a high or supreme level. To some degree, such a state is becoming one with God. Such state is achievable only after man relinquishes all desires from his mind. That is the greatest of Mukti. Only then can we serve God at the supreme level devoid of all attachments.
God is one and the only. Brahman Roopa does not imply that we become God but implies that we develop closeness or intimacy to God that is over and beyond the ordinary association. It is a state that is free from influences of Maya (illusion).
Earlier it was explained that the Lord’s accepted philosophy is Vishishtadvaita. As a footnote, I have added briefly the other Vedantic Schools of thought of present time. These are five in number: Advaita of Shankracharya (sixth century AD.), Vishishtadvaita of Ramanujacharya (1027 AD.), Shuddhadvaita of Vallabhacharya (1401 AD.), Dvaitaadvaita of Nimbarkacharya (eleventh century AD.) and Dvaita of Madhavacharya (1199 AD.).
Shankara’s Advaita is absolute monism and maintains that Brahman (aspect of God) is without parallel, has no form and exists as abstract consciousness or knowledge. Maya is the ignorance or an illusory principle responsible for the appearance of the universe and souls. Shankara explains that what is eternal is real and vice-versa and so the world which isn’t eternal cannot be real. He proposed that an emanation of God - Ishwara or Saguna Brahman could be offered worship. Shankara’s philosophy is confused as it accepts God as absolute abstraction - neither real nor unreal and thus rendering the existence of God as tangible.
Ramanuja’s philosophy of qualified monism maintains that God is real and independent of the souls and the world, which are also real. God is one and unparalleled as in Advaita. He exists in five forms: (i) Para - the highest reality with the body; (ii) Vyuha - Vasudeva, Shankarshana, Pradyumna and Anniruddha, who are the form of worship, destroyer, sustainer and creator respectively; (iii) Antaryami - the in-dweller of the soul, witnessing all acts; (iv) Archa - dwelling within idols or images of worship; and (v) Vibhavas - incarnations upon the earth. Ramanuja claims that God is full of compassion for those Jivas who wish to be redeemed and so can become free from the cycle of births and deaths through devotion.
Vallabhacharya proposes pure Advaita and claims that Brahman is both God and Jiva - thus God can be compared to fire and the Jiva a spark from the fire. Where Shankar claims the world to be an illusion, Vallabha believes that manifestation is divine will, and so is God’s Lila or sport. He emphasises the divinity of Krishna. Those Jivas who serve him with intense devotion are liberated and sport with him in Goloka.
Nimbarka propounded dualistic non-dualism, who claimed that Jiva, Ishwara and Jagat (the world) are distinct in attributes and nature, yet Jiva and Jagat are also identical with Brahman in as much as they could not exist independently. Thus Jiva is compared with Purushottam as the waves to the sea or the radiance to the sun. Nimbarka also stresses that emancipation comes to the Jiva through dedicated devotion.
Madhavacharya propounded absolute dualism, the opposite point of view to Shankara’s Advaita. He stresses that the three eternal entities - Jiva, Ishwara and Jagat are different from each other, although Jiva and Jagat depend upon God. He also stressed that the distinct nature of Jiva and Brahman are real, which do not disappear even in the state of liberation.
In this way Lord Swaminarayan accepted the basic doctrine of Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita.