Introduction

Visistadvaita Theory is a non-dualistic school of Vedanta philosophy. The other major sub-schools of Vedanta are Advaita and Dvaita. It is a school of Hindu philosophy. Visistadvaita theory believes in non-dualism of the qualified whole in which the Brahman alone exists but is characterised by multiplicity. It is like a kind of qualified monism. It is a school of Vedanta philosophy which believes in all diversity subsuming to an underlying unity. The only reality according to them is Brahman as qualified by the sentient and insentient modes. The relationship of God to the Soul and the Universe is like the relationship of the Soul of Man to the body of Man. Individual souls are only parts of Brahman. God, Soul and Universe together form an inseparable unity which is one and has no second. This is the non-duality part. Matter and Souls inhere in that Ultimate Reality as attributes to a substance. This is the qualification part of the non-duality.

Philosophers of the Visistadvaita Theory

The theory of Visistadvaita theory is said to have been in existence for a long time, so long in fact that the earliest and most original works are no longer available. The names of the earliest philosophers who propounded the Visistadvaita Theory are only known through Ramanuja`s Veda Artha Sangraha. In fact one of the most prominent philosophers of the Visistadvaita theory is Ramanuja. He continued along the line of his predecessors while expounding the knowledge expressed in the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and Bhagavad Gita. Among the other philosophers who advocated the Visistadvaita system, the most prominent ones are Guhadeva, Kapardi, Dramida, Bodhayana, Tanka and Bharuci. Besides these philosophers, Ramanuja`s teacher Yamunacharya is credited with laying the foundation for what culminates as the Sri Bhashya. The disciples of Ramanuja, Vedanta Desika and Pillai Lokacharya, due to certain minor disagreements on the Visistadvaita theory, gave rise to the Vadakalai and Thenkalai schools of thought.

Principles of Visistadvaita Theory

There are three basic principles which underlie the theory of Visistadvaita theory, namely Tattva, Hita and Purushartha. Tattva refers to the knowledge of the three real entities, namely Jiva, (the sentient being), Jagat (the insentient one) and Ishwara (Vishnu- Narayana or Parabrahman). Purushartha is the goal to be attained, i.e. moksha or liberation from bondage. Hita is the means of realization, i.e., through Bhakti (devotion) and Prapatti (self-surrender).

Tattva
The belief of Visistadvaita theory centers around the concept of the relationship between the Ishwara (Parabrahman), the sentient beings, i.e., chit and Brahman and the insentient Universe (achit-brahman). The Ishwara is said to be the Universal Soul consisting of the Universe and sentient beings. The three entities are briefly discussed below.

Ishwara
Ishwara is said to be the Supreme Cosmic Spirit denoted by Vishnu Narayana. He is said to maintain complete control over the Universe and all the sentient beings, which together also form the pan-organistic body of Ishwara. The triad of Ishwara along with the universe and the sentient beings is Brahman, which signifies the completeness of existence. He is said to be the Parabrahman who is endowed with numerous qualities known as Kalyana Gunas. Ishwara is considered to have a 2-fold characteristic: he is the indweller of all beings and all beings also reside in Ishwara.

Chit
Chit is the world of sentient beings, or of entities possessing consciousness. The sentient beings are called Jivas and they are possessors of individual consciousness as denoted by "I". This is called Dharmi jnana or substantive consciousness. The sentient beings also possess varying levels of Dharma-bhuta-jnana or attributive consciousness. These jivas have three different types of existence, the Nityas or the eternally free jivas, the Muktas or the free jivas that were once in Samsara and the Baddhas or the jivas which are still in samsara.

Achit
Achit is the world of insentient entities as denoted by matter or more specifically the non-conscious Universe.

Brahman
There is a subtle difference between Ishwara and Brahman. Ishwara is the substantive part of Brahman, while jivas and jagat are its modes (also secondary attributes), and kalyana gunas (auspicious attributes) are the primary attributes. Brahman is the description of Ishwara when comprehended in fullness i.e. a simultaneous vision of Ishwara with all his modes and attributes.

Theory of Existence
Visishtadvaita adheres to a system of complete reality. The three ontological entities i.e. Ishwara, Chit and Achit are fundamentally real. It upholds the doctrine of Satkaryavada. Satkaryavada is pre-existence of the effect in the cause. It maintains that karya (effect) is sat or real. It is present in the karana (cause) in a potential form, even before its manifestation.

Purushartha
The purpose of human existence is said to be Purushartha. According to the Vedas, there are four goals namely Artha (wealth), Kama (pleasure), Dharma (righteousness) and Moksha (permanent freedom from worldly bondage). According to this philosophy, the first three goals are not an end by themselves but need to be pursued with the ideal of attaining Moksha.

Moksha
Moksha is the main goal and end to be achieved. It is a state where the jiva becomes one with the Brahman in terms of all knowership and possessing qualities free from all worldly evils and defects. The Moksha does not involve destruction of the self ("I") consciousness of the jiva.

Hita
Bhakti Yoga is the sole means of liberation in Visistadvaita. Through Bhakti (devotion), a Jiva ascends to the realm of the Lord, where it continues to delight in His service. Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga are natural outcomes of Bhakti, total surrender, as the devotee acquires the knowledge that the Lord is the inner self. A devotee realizes his own state as dependent on, and supported by, and being led by the Lord, who is the Master. One is to lead a life as an instrument of the Lord, offering all his thought, word, and deed to the feet of the Lord. One is to see the Lord in everything and everything in Him. This is the unity in diversity achieved through devotion.

Thenkalai and Vadakalai Schools of Thought
Vedanta Desika, one of the foremost learned scholars of medieval India, wrote more than a hundred works in Sanskrit language and the Tamil language. The Vadakalai sect of Sri Vaishnavism associates themselves with Vedanta Desika. Pillai Lokacharya is associated with the Tenkalai sect of Sri Vaishnavism. He was a contemporary of Vedanta Desika. Both were the followers of Ramanuja. Pillai Lokacharya confirmed the basics of the Sri Vaishnava system in his 18 works popularly known as Ashtadasa Rahasyangal ("the eighteen secrets") also called the Rahasya granthas ("doctrines that explain the inner meanings").

Thus discussed above are the basic tenets and belief system of the Visistadvaita system. It is a Pantheistic belief system since Narayana is said to be Absolute and the Soul and the Universe are only parts of this Absolute. The importance of the Visistadvaita philosophy can be understood from the fact that it provided the philosophical basis for the establishment of Sri Vaishnavism. It also gave a strong backing to the devotion of the Alwar saints and their beautiful compositions in praise of Lord Vishnu.

Visistadvaita Theory of Material Causality

The Visistadvaita Theory of Material Causality holds that the mere svarupa of Brahman cannot become the material cause of the universe since that would affect the immutable character of Brahman. Nor can the non-sentient prakriti by itself serve as the material cause of the universe for the reason already explained. It is Brahman as organically related to the cit (individual souls) and acit (the cosmic matter) in their subtle state (suksma-cid-acit-visista-brahma) that constitutes the material cause of the universe.

It is believed that Brahman is always, both in the state of dissolution and the state after creation, associated with cit and acit. In the state of dissolution, the cosmic matter as well as the individual selves exists in Brahman in an un-manifest form as devoid of name and form. When creation takes place, they are unfolded and given name and form. That is, when Brahman which exists prior to creation with cit and acit in a state of non-differentiation wills to be `many` as the Chandogya Upanishad says, the same becomes Brahman with cit and acit in a state of differentiation with an infinity of distinctions in name and form. What actually evolves or undergoes modification is the cit and acit but not Brahman directly. In the case of the acit the transformation is complete from one state to another, as the lump of clay changes to a pot. In the case of jiva, there is no change in respect of its svarupa which is immutable, but the change is only to the extent of its attributive knowledge which so far was dormant. As far as Brahman is concerned there is also no change in respect of its svarupa. The only change that can be spoken of for Brahman is that it was niyanta or controller of the subtle cit and acit prior to the creation and it now becomes a niyanta of cit and acit in manifested form.

A change in the attribute does not affect the substance, which is its asraya or substrate. Brahman as the adhara or ground of the cit and acit, remains unaffected by the change in the acit. Brahman is, therefore, regarded as the material cause by virtue of its being the adhara of cit and acit.

This theory is justified both on the strength of the scriptural texts and also on the logical ground. According to the theory of causality adopted by Visistadvaita, cause and effect are different states of the same substance. The effect is not a new product which comes into existence from what does not already exist, as the Naiyayikas believe (asat-karya-vada). It exists in the causal state in an un-manifest form and the same assumes a different state after causation. If we take the example of clay and pot, the lump of clay which is the cause becomes an effect when it is changed into a pot. Thus, the cause and effect are two different states (avasthas) of the same one substance. Upadanatva or material causality consists in the association of an entity with a different state (avasthantara-yogitvani).

That which serves as the ground for the changed states is regarded as the material cause. The clay is the upadana-karana for pot, vase etc., since these are made of the same substance. A piece of gold is the material cause of ear-ring, necklace, bangles etc., made of gold. Thus the cause and effect are not distinct (ananya) because the two are different states of one common substance. The same one substance assumes different names as cause and effect due to the two changed states. It is in this sense that Brahman as cause and the universe as effect are spoken of as ananya or non-distinct in the Vedanta-sutra which is based on the Chandogya text. Thus the association of the Brahman with the cit and acit in their subtle states serves as the upadana karana for the universe.

The Upanishads also support the existence of Brahman in the state of dissolution with subtle cit and acit. The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad says, "Now all this was undifferentiated; it became differentiated by name and form." The word `this` in this statement, taking the context into consideration, refers to the universe of cit and acit. Existence in an undifferentiated form implies existence without name and form. This interpretation is further supported by the Subdla Upanishad, describing the process of dissolution in the reverse order, when it says that tamas (prakriti) becomes united with Paramatman. The Chdndogya passage dealing with the creation of the universe states that the word `this` (idarit) meaning the physical universe was in the beginning only sat. The implication of this statement, as interpreted by Ramanuja, is that the universe of cit and acit existed with sat or Brahman in an undifferentiated form If this meaning were not accepted, it would not be possible to explain how Brahman could become `many` (bahusyari) after it wills to create for the obvious reason that which does not already exist cannot be produced according to the principle of satkaryavada accepted by Visistadvaita.

It should also be noted in this connection that the universe of cit and acit constitutes the body (sarira) of Brahman as stated in the Antaryami Brahmana. As sarira and sariri are organically related and are eternally inseparable, Brahman as sariri remains always associated with cit and acit. The changes taking place in the body do not affect the svarupa of the soul within. This is explained on the analogy of the bodily changes taking place in a personality. A boy grows into youth, a youth attains manhood and from this state he becomes an old man. But these different states which actually belong to the physical body do not affect the svarupa of the jivatman within. In the same way, Brahman as the adhara of the universe is not affected by the evolution of the universe which is its body. In the light of these explanations Brahman is admitted as the material cause of the universe.