Preceptors of Advaita

by T. M. P. Mahadevan | 1968 | 179,170 words | ISBN-13: 9788185208510

The Advaita tradition traces its inspiration to God Himself — as Śrīman-Nārāyaṇa or as Sadā-Śiva. The supreme Lord revealed the wisdom of Advaita to Brahma, the Creator, who in turn imparted it to Vasiṣṭha....

NISCHALADASA

by

V. L. Sethuraman

M.A.

Niśchaladāsa, a veteran saint and Vedāntic scholar of the early period of the Nineteenth Century, has written a remarkable and beautiful treatise on Advaita philosophy, by name Vichāra-sāgara. This has been written by him in Hindi, the language of the place where he lived. This work deals with all the topics relevant to the realization of the real nature of Ātman. All the tenets of Advaita have been propounded in strict conformity to the texts on Advaita Vedānta, particularly the Pañchadaśī.

The work has become popular not only because its exposition of difficult themes in Advaita is both lucid and facile; but also because it is useful to those who are not conversant with Sanskrit language, grammar, and literature and who know only Hindi. Its style is also elegant. Further one of the best ways of bringing home the truth of Vedānta, namely, the conversational method has been adopted by the author in this work. The work has seven divisions called taraṅgas or waves, appropriately to the title Vichāra-sāgara.

Sādhu Niśchaladāsa composed the Vichāra-sāgara in verse form. It contains 527 Kārikās or verses divided into seven taraṅgas. Śrī Pītaṃbaraji has written a ṭīkā, being a commentary on the Kārikās of Śrī Niśchaladāsa. The ṭīkākāra himself has written detailed notes called ṭippaṇa on the Vichāra-sāgara along with the ṭīkā. The Lahore edition (1938) of the Vichāra-sāgara contains three parts. The first is the original work, namely the Kārikās of Śrī Niśchaladāsa. The second is the ṭīkā written on the original Kārikās, and the third, namely ṭippaṇa being the detailed notes on the original Kārikās of Vichāra-sāgara and its ṭīkā .

True to his name, Niśchaladāsa wrote this monumental work out of a firm and unshakable conviction about the one and only reality of Brahman.

Not many details are available of the life history of Niśchaladāsa. A short and beautiful account of him given in the Lahore edition of the text (1938) with its ṭīkā and ṭippaṇa reveals that he was a great saint and a sound scholar in Advaita Vedānta. He was well versed in the Vedas, and had a clear knowledge of Vyākaraṇa, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, and other philosophical systems. Niśchaladāsa has himself stated in this work that he composed it in Hindi to enable laymen who did not know Sanskrit to understand Advaita easily. He composed this work at Kihadouli, a village which is situated 18 krośas from Delhi. He is also the author of the great work called Vṛtti-prabhākara. Till his 70th year, he was said to be moving in all the nooks and comers of India and leading the life of a student, philosopher, teacher and expounder of the tenets of Adhyātma Śāstra. He died in 1864 A.D. in a village near Delhi. His family preceptor was the great Dādhuji.[1]

The contents of the Vichāra-sāgara can be summed up as follows. The first taraṅga or wave, starts with the benedictory verse extolling the unity of jīva and Brahman. The greatness of the work, the four-fold essentials of a work, namely the adhikāri the saṃbandha, the viṣaya and the prayojana, the three means of realizing Ātman, namely śravaṇa, manana, and nididhyāsana, the indirect means to obtain the real knowledge, the direct means to know Brahman, are all dealt with in the first wave.

The four-fold essentials which are mentioned in the first wave are once again established in the second wave, after meeting satisfactorily the incidental doubts. The pūrvapakṣin here raises an objection. Since each and every type of misery can be removed by a distinct means, there will be no necessity for the knowledge of Brahman to nullify miseries. Further the desire for an object comes to one only when the object is already known to him, and since Brahman is not at all known previously, one could not have any desire at all to know about it. The difference between jīva and Brahman is well-known, and so they are two distinct things. Bondage is true, since there are no valid reasons to admit the idea of superimposition, and bondage can be removed by karma alone. So what is the use of studying this Vedāntic text? This objection is answered thus: misery cannot be uprooted by anything except the knowledge of Brahman. Bondage is unreal, and this cannot at all be removed by any karma, but only by Ātmajñāna. So the prayojana or the usefulness of the work is established. And, thus anubandha-chatuṣṭaya is established fully in the second wave.

The qualifications and characteristics of preceptor and pupil are given in the third wave. A student must go in search of the preceptor, obey his commands, do the utmost service to him, and propitiate him by all means. This alone will be the means of getting the true knowledge of the Ātman. The methods of propitiating the preceptor are laid down in this chapter. The knowledge of Ātman may also come from the Vedas and works based upon them, even though they are not real. These are all dealt with in this wave.

The best and the most commendable method of infusing the difficult tenets of philosophy into the minds of the pupils is to convey them in the form of dialogue set in the background of a story. This method has been adopted in the succeeding waves. For example, knowledge of Brahman is imparted through the following story. A king by name Śubhaśānti, desirous of seeking the knowledge of the Ātman, wanted to entrust the kingdom to his three sons, Tattvadṛṣṭi, Tarkadṛṣṭi and Adṛṣṭi, and go to the forest. When the three sons came to know about his intention, they themselves started first in quest of real learning. They roamed in several places and finally came to the vicinity of a great sage who was teaching his disciples on the banks of the Ganges, and became his disciples. Thereupon they obtained the true knowledge from their preceptor.

In the fourth wave, the Uttamādhikāri, Tattvadriṣṭi, got his doubts cleared by the preceptor. There is a detailed exposition of the identity between jiva and Brahman, the knowledge of which is the destroyer of sorrow and the cause of the attainment of bliss. The world is not real just like the serpent appearing in a rope. How does a rope appear as snake? This has been clearly explained in this wave. The theory of error (khyātivāda) also has been explained here. As regards the non-difference of jīva and Brahman several objections have been raised and answered. The author finally establishes in this wave that the knowledge of Brahman can be attained directly from the Vedas and the instructions of a teacher.

The fifth wave starts with the conversation between the Madhyamādhikāri by name Adṛṣṭi and the preceptor. He starts by raising this point that the teach i ngs of the preceptor and Vedas are false, and by means of these false things, how will the universe disappear? This has been answered thus. A person who has been seemingly affected by poison in his dream or obsession which is not real, really feels pain and gets also the aftereffects. From letters which are not real, we get the real knowledge. From the reflection of the image which is not real, the knowledge of the real object i.e. the original is obtained. In the same way we can get the real knowledge of Brahman from the Vedas even though they are not real. Further, a good dream as well as a bad one, even though they are not real come true at times.[2] So the knowledge of Brahman can be got from the Vedas and the teachings of the, preceptor. The nature of jīva, Īśvara, and māyā, sūkṣma dṛṣṭi, sthūla dṛṣṭi, the nature of the five kośas, the creation and destruction of the universe, praṇavopasānā, etc., are all dealt with in this wave.

In the next wave Tarkadṛṣṭi, the kaniṣṭādhikāri raises objections regarding the identity of the two states, namely, the waking state and the state of dream. The preceptor establishes the similarity of the two states. The other points that are dealt with in this wave are: the individual soul is identical with Brahman which is free from birth and death and which is of the nature of existence, consciousness, and bliss; Brahman associated with avidyā is the source of the universe; the intuitive knowledge of Brahman alone is the means to liberation.

In the seventh wave, the characteristics of a person who has obtained the knowledge of Brahman are described. The eight limbs of yoga, namely, yama, myoma, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna and samādhi are all defined and described in detail. The Vedas and Purāṇas are the means of realising the one and only reality, namely, Brahman. The Vedas, the Upavedas, the Purāṇas, the Upapurāṇas, the ṣaḍaṅgas, and other śāstraic texts have non-dualism as their main theme, and these works are mentioned so that they may be treated as authority in establishing this system of philosophy. In this wave, Tarkadṛṣṭi after having asked a number of questions, comes to the conclusion that all Śāstraic texts are the means to obtain the intuitive knowledge. Finally he becomes the preceptor of his father Śubhaśānti and clears his doubts. Thus all of them attain to the supreme human end.

Thus the tenets of Advaita philosophy are conveyed in these seven waves of this work with charm and elegance. This work has been translated into Sanskrit and Tamil, and it is indeed very useful to the students of Advaita philosophy.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Vichāra Sāgara, Lahore Edition (1938), p. 6.

[2]:

See Śānkara-bhāṣya on the Brahma-sūtra, ii, 1-14.

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