Ramanuja, on the contrary, upholds the authority of Pancharatra taking his stand on the fact that the sutra in question does not refer to the final view. He contends that utpatti or the origin of jiva is not to be taken as the birth of jiva. In his opinion, this term in the relevant statement is to be understood in the sense of manifestation (pradur-bhava). What the Pancharatra system teaches is that the Supreme Brahman, designated as Vasudeva, out of compassion towards the devotees, voluntarily manifests Himself in a fourfold form, so as to render itself accessible to the devotees. Ramanuja quotes in support of this view a statement from the Pauskara Sarhhita, one of the oldest Pancharatra Samhitas which enjoins the worship of the four manifestations of Para Vasudeva by the devoted Brahmanas. The Sattvata Sarhhita also affirms that the worship offered to the four manifestations of Vasudeva is the same as the worship of the Para Brahman. The Supreme Brahman called Vasudeva endowed with the six gunas manifests itself into the subtle forms of vyuha and the gross forms of vibhava and the same Brahman is attained by the devotees through meditation on any of these forms according to one's qualifications with the aid of karma (rituals) and dhyana (meditation). There are sufficient numbers of statements in the Pancharatra literature which point out that by the worship of each of the vyuha in an ascending order one can attain the Supreme Brahman. That is, from the worship of vibhava aspect, one reaches vyuha and from the worship of vyuha, one reaches the Supreme Brahman. Ramanuja, therefore, concludes that Saihkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are thus the mere bodily forms which the Supreme Being assumes. There is no question of their being born in the ordinary sense, because Sruti declares that though unborn He is born in many ways. These four forms are the manifestations of one Supreme Being out of His free will for the sake of devotees. Some of the Pancharatra treatises speak of sub-vyuhas. It is believed that from each vyuha descend three sub-vyuhas (vyuhan-tarri). From Vasudeva come Kesava, Narayana and Madhava; from Samkarsana descend Govinda, Vishnu and Madhusudana; from Pradyumna manifest Trivikrama, Vamana and Siridhara; and from Aniruddha arise Hrisikesa, Padmanabha and Damodara. Some of these names are common with the names of the vibhava manifestations such as Padmanabha, Madhusudhana, Narayana and Trivikrama. The names of Vishnu and Narayana are also common with the Supreme Deity designated with the same names. It is, therefore, difficult to say whether the twelve sub-vyuhas are different from the vibhava forms of Vishnu. As these twelve deities are regarded as presiding deities of the twelve suns ruling each solar month (avadasa adityas), they have to be taken as different vyuha manifestations. Each deity is described in the Pancharatra treatises with a specific complexion and certain ornaments for the purpose of meditation on them. The Vihagendra Samhita speaks of twelve additional vyuhas. It says that from vyuha-Vasudeva springs another Vasudeva, from the latter Purusottama, from him Janardana; similarly, from Samkarsana another Samkarsana, Adhoksaja and Upendra; from Pradyumna, another Pradyumna, Narsimha and Hari; and from Aniruddha another Aniruddha, Acyuta and Krishna. These twelve are enumerated after the twelve sub-vyuhas and together with the latter, the twenty-four forms (chaturvimsati murtayah). No convincing explanation for the further subdivision of the four major vyuhas is found in the Sarhhitas. Presumably, they have been conceived to look after some of the individual functions allotted to the major vyuhas. |
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