brahmasutra+3.3.51;+bhakti+is+the+essential+itikartavyata+of+all+sadhanas

7/30/2019 BrahmasUtra+3.3.51;+Bhakti+is+the+Essential+ItikartavyatA+of+All+sAdhanas

1/5

bhakti is the EssentialitikartavyatA

of allsAdhanas

31. anubandhAdhikaraNam (3.3.51)

This adhikaraNaarises by way of disposing of an objection that ifvidyA independent of karma leads to moxa, the need for bhakti asa necessary sAdhana for moxa as established in sUtras 3.2.19 - 20

can be altogether eliminated from upAsanA. As thesheshhatAtparyachandrikA points out, this adhikaraNa makes itclear that bhakti is the basic ' itikartavyatA' of all other sAdhanas.The term ' Adi ' in the sUtra (anubandhAdibhyaH) is to includeseveral other aN^gas like the cultivation of shama, dama and othervirtues and mental and physical disciplines like yama, niyama, etc..

pUrvapaxa

The pUrvapaxa is that bhakti is not at all necessary to attainjJNAna. It can be had through guruprasAda and gurupradAnaalone. For there is nothing which the guru's grace cannot achieve.This does not mean we can dispense with upAsanA too: for thereis a well - established anvayavyatireka relation between jJNAna and

gurupradAna. There is no such concomitance between bhakti anddhyAna. For dhyAna is possible even in the absence of bhakti orlove of God. For dhyAna understood in the sense of fixing themind on a given something is possible even if one loves or hatesthe person he is thinking of to the point of an obsession. There are


2/5

texts in the bhAgavata - purANawhich tell us in so many wordsthat men like shishupAla attained moxa by sheer hatred of God.Since mukti by jJNAna (attained through guruprasAda) cansomehow be attained by ' dhyAna ' even through ' hatred of God,there is absolutely no need to include bhakti within the orbit ofitikartavyatAof upAsanAs.

siddhAnta

The siddhAnta presents bhakti as the corner - stone of all

sAdhanas and their ' itikartavyatA. ' It is by virtue of bhakti thatother noble attributes which lie at the core of one's being getawakened by the grace of guru. Such awakened bhakti harnessed tothe active pursuit of upAsanAs leads to aparoxa. Mighty as may beguruprasAda, God - vision is NOT attained through shravaNa,manana and other forms of upAsanAs withoutbhakti towards theSupreme brahman.

The presumption that it is concentration of

thought alone that matters in dhyAna irrespective of love or hatredfor the object of meditation for purposes of moxa is utterlymisconceived. dhyAna founded on dislike or hatred of God as theobject of meditation is fraught with disastrous consequences. Theshrutis and smR^itis make this clear to the meanest intelligence.The stray references like dveshhAchchhaidyAdayo nR^ipaH arenot to be taken as approving of dveshha (dislike or hatred of God)

as a means of attaining moxa. They refer to cases of original andnatural bhaktas who act as haters of God while under the power ofa temporary disability of a curse or the like. A grave misconceptionof the ideology of bhakti and dhyAna has been responsible for theemergence of the socalled theory of dveshha - bhakti and itscoming to be read into some of our purANic stories and incidents.


3/5

Echoes of this supposedly mystic view are to be found in thewritings of some of the religio - philosophical schools of a popularbrand as embodying freedom from rigidity of means in theappoach to God - as in the opinion of these schools God attachesno value to man's motives or attitudes of love or hatred towardsHim and grants moxa to all as he has no friend or foe(SeejJNAneshvarI 9.467).

AnandatIrtha is the first and onlybhAshhyakAra of the vedAnta system to refute anti - Theisticheresies by way of preventing the infiltration of such misleadingideas into the body - politic of the genuine traditions of the

religious and philosophical doctrines of bhakti and dhyAna, in hisanuvyAkhyAna:

* * *

( ..)

* * *

( .. )


4/5

()

* * *

(.)

( .. )

The expression ' anubandha ' inthe sUtra has been explained by madhva in his bhAgavta -tAtparyanirNaya:

( ..)

With his insight into thesUtrakAra's choice of words, vAdirAja writes that the expression 'anubandha ' brings out the power of true bhakti to hold God as ifbound to the bhaktaso as to make God respond to his appeal to lifthim from the depths of transmigration.

jayatIrtha makes it clearthat bhakti which is at the core of one's being paves the way forthe guru's grace which in its turn makes the seed of bhakti sproutand develope into mellowed devotion which leads to aparoxa.


5/5

From the book The Brahmasutras and Their PrincipleCommentaries: A Critical Exposition Vol. 3 by B.N.K. Sharma()

brahmasutra+3.3.51;+bhakti+is+the+essential+itikartavyata+of+all+sadhanas

Documents