Vedanta in Dikshitar kritis - Extracts from an article by N.Seshan for the guruguha gana vidyalaya.
Bases of Advaita:
The entire Advaita Vedanta has
been summarised in half a verse by Sankara Bhagavatpada
as 'brahmasatyaM jaganmityA jIvo brahmaivanAparaH'. ie 'Brahman is the only
Relaity,
the world is unreal and the individual soul(jIva) is non-different from Brahman.
What prevents the direct
Realisation of these three concepts for anyone is the innate
erroneuous concept of the world as real and the non-apprehension of Real
Brahman.
This juxtaposition is due to the effect of error in realising called avidya,maya
or nescience.
The method of how the world appeared on the Brahman is known as adhyAropa.
- Superimposition and the method
of removal of the empirically Real world and knowing
the substratum(Brahman) is known as apavAda (De superimposition)
Every advaitin in his own style therefore seeks to prove -
(i) The eternally Real Brahman
which is Existence, Knowledge ,Infinite through Sruti Texts and
reasoning evidenced by experience;
(ii) the Unreality of all other objects which have origin and cessation and which appear to be real.
(iii) the error
of perceiving the Unreal as Real and vice versa. Sri Dikshitar
the true Advaitin that he was,
gives the above
concepts of Advaita in this Kriti.
Vedanta in the Kriti:
The song begins
with "The Supreme Srinatha Guru Guha
shines in glory. Ever mediate 'I am Sacchidananda'
in your heart". While the Pallavi deals with
the Reality of Brahman in this manner, the Anupallavi
deals with
the concept of the Unreality of the world and creation as explained
in Advaita.
The first sentence 'nAnAprapaMca vicitrakaro'
explains the 'anirvacana' or describableness
of the world a
product of Maya through the word 'vicitrakaro'
and can be compared to Sankara's 'mAyAkalpita
deshakAla
kalanA vaicitrya citrIkR^itam'(Dakshinamurthy Stotra
Verse 2). The second sentence 'nAmarUpa panca
bhUtAkaro' explains
the same idea that this Brahman which is the Atman
created the five elements namely
space, air, fire
water and earth expressed by Taittriya Ananda
Valli as 'tasmadvA etasmAdAtmanaH AkAshaH
sambhUtaH'.Both
the sentences read together explain the concept of Brahman
qualified by Maya being the 'abhinnanimittopAdhAnakAraNa'
(non-different material and efficient cause) of creation.
Creation — Avacceda:
The subject of creation and Isvara's
status is again referred in the second Kriti 'mAnasa guruguharUpam
bhajare' (Anandabhairavi).
Since Brahman is attributless and impersonal it
is indiscribable. To make it an
object of our
thought, through names and forms it is made personal. However, pure the form and
attribute
bestowed on it, these however, condition it and such Brahman
conditioned by Maya is Isvara. So Dikshitar
says 'satvaguNopAdhi sahita sadAshivam'. (Sadasiva
has the limiting adjunct of purity or goodness
attached
to Him). He follows it with the second line 'svAvidyAsameta jIvotbhavam' i.e.. Brahman conditioned or limited
by Avidya is Jiva.
The 'Ahamkara' and 'Idamkara'
due to the Rajoguna causes Jivatva
and the idea gets
completed with the sentence 'tat tvaM tAmasa yuta vishva vaibhavam' i.e.. i.e., the Isvara Chaitanya
(conditioned by Sattva Guha and the Jiva Chaitanya
(conditioned by Rajoguna) conjoined with the
Tamasa
Guna make up this Universe (of cetana and jaDA)
Bimba — Pratibimba:
While the Avacceda
or limitation theory is enunciated above, the Pratimba
or reflection theory is given
through "bimbapratibimba rUpiNyA' & 'AtmarUpa
pratibimba' in kritis s
Ambhikaya Abhayambikaya
(Kedaram)
and the Abhayamba Jagadamba
(Kalyani).
The Abhasa theory, a variation
of the reflection theory, is hinted
in the Kriti hATakeshvara(Bilahari) in the line 'cidvilAsa
koTi koTi cidAbhAsa'.Thus it is interesting
to note
that Dikshitar like Sankara
and unlike most post-Sankara Ve'cdanlins
accepted all and to his mind there was
no conflict between them.
The error in perception
and the final stand of the Advaitin
that the changeless
Brahman is the substratum
on which the illusory world is superimposed (like
snake perceived on rope) is brought out beautifully
'mAyAmaya vishvAdhiShTAno' Dikshitar through
these words condenses the Advaitin's view of superimposition
(refer Sankara's 'smR^iti
rUpaH paratra pUrvadR^iShTAvabhAsaH' in Brahmasutra
Adhyasa Bhasya)
and
catches the entire beauty of Anirvacaniya
Khyati and Vivarta Vada
(apparent modification theory) in
literally four words. Comparison can also be made with the nAmAvali
in "Lalitha Sahasranama"
where Devi is
extolled as 'mithyAjagadadhiShTAnA'.
The truth
that the Jiva is non-different from
Brahman is brought out with the help of Upanisad
Mahavakya
'tat tvaM asi' (That Thou Art). The 'tat' or
"That" indicates Brahman,'tvaM' or
"Thou" indicates Jiva and 'asi'
indicates "Art" representing their identity,
of one being not different
than the other. But
the terms "That"
and "Thou" in their ordinary senses signify
two different spheres
of notion and therefore how is their
identity possible? The Advaitin resorts to the
method of "Explanation-by-implication" as it is done in
respect of sentences
like "he is that Devadatta" (same
Devadatta seen years ago
in Benaras),
The person seen then was physically and mentally etc. a totally different
person from the one seen now.
However, we leave from the direct meaning of the
word 'He' the idea of
past time and from the word "This"
the idea of present time and get one indivisible
person i.e., Devadatta.
This method of leaving one part of the direct
meaning of each of the words
"He" and "This" is known as
'bhAgatyAga lakshaNa' or 'jagadajagallakshanam'. This entire concept
is succinctly explained
by Dikshitar
through the words 'jagadajagallakshaNyA jIvaikyAtmano' in the Kriti Guru Guhad
Anyam (Balahamsa)
whereby he praises the Lord as representing
the oneness of Jiva in Himself on the basis of
'Jahadajahallakshana'. Similarly
the other Mahavakya
'ahaM brahmAsmi' (I am Brahman) is expressed by
Dikshitar in quite a few Kritis.
In the Kamalamba Navavarna
Kriti in Sankarabarnam
he sings "By the grace-filled glances of Sri
Kamalamba,
I am the Brahman that is Truth. Knowledge,
Bliss". Similar passages occur in the kritis
'Anandesvarena Samrakshitoham'
and Sri Guruhasya Daso-ham'.
In the latter kriti he says "I am the Dasa
of Guruguha or
rather I am Guruguha".