"Need and Purpose"

The Need and Purpose

 

 

Sutras are concise aphorisms. They give the essence of the arguments on a topic. Maximum of thought is compressed or condensed into these Sutras in as few words as possible. It is easy to remember them. Great intellectual people only, with realisation, can compose Sutras. They are clues or aids to memory. They cannot be understood without a lucid commentary (Bhashya). The commentary also is in need of further elaborate explanation. Thus the interpretations of the Sutras gave rise to various kinds of literary writings such as Vrittis (gloss) and Karikas. The different Acharyas (founders of different schools of thought) have given their own interpretations of the Sutras to establish their own doctrines. The Bhashya of Sri Sankara on Brahma Sutras is known as Sareeraka Bhashya. His school of thought is Kevala Adwaita. The Bhashya of Sri Ramanuja who founded the Visishtadwaita school is called Sri Bhashya. The commentary of Sri Nimbarkacharya is known as Vedanta Parijata Saurabha. Sri Vallabhacharya expounded his system of philosophy known as Suddhadwaita (pure monism) and his commentary on the Brahma Sutras is known as Anu Bhashya.

 

 

 

Sanskrit is very elastic. It is like Kamadhenu or Kalpataru. You can milk out of it various kinds of Rasas according to your intellectual calibre and spiritual experiences. Therefore different Acharyas have built different systems of thought or cults by interpreting the Sutras in their own ways and became founders of sects. Madhva founded his own system of Dwaita. The cults of Vishnu known as Bhagawat or Pancharatra and those of Siva, Pasupata or Maheswara have interpreted Brahma Sutras in accordance with their own tenets. Nimbarkacharya interpreted the Vedanta system from the standpoint of Bhedabheda-Dwaitadwaita. He was largely influenced by the teachings of Bhaskara who flourished in the first half of the ninth century. The theory held by Bhaskara and Nimbarka was held by the ancient teacher Audulomi. Badarayana himself refers to this theory in his Brahma Sutras.

 

 

 

There are more than fourteen commentaries on the Brahma Sutras. Sri Appayya Dikshita rendered the commentary of Sri Sankara more clear by his Parimala, Sri Vachaspathimisra by his work Bhamati and Sri Amalananda Samswati by his Kalpataru.

 

 

The erroneous identification of the body with the pure Atman is the root cause for human sufferings and miseries, for births and deaths. You identify yourself with the body and say: "I am fair, dark, stout or thin. I am a Brahmin, I am a Kshatriya, I am a doctor." You identify yourself with the senses and say: "I am blind, I am dumb." You identify yourself with the mind and say: "I know nothing. I know everything. I became angry. I enjoyed a good meal. I am suffering from this disease." The entire object of the Brahma Sutras is to remove this erroneous identification of the Soul with the body which is the root cause of your suffering and miseries, which is the product of Avidya (ignorance) and help you in the attainment of the final emancipation through knowledge of Brahman.

The Upanishads seem to be full of contradictions at first. They do not contain consistent system of thought. Sri Vyasa systematised the thoughts or philosophy of the Upanishads in his Brahma Sutras. The Sutras reconcile the conflicting statements of the Upanishads. In reality there are no conflicts for the thinker. The different views expressed in the Upanishads represent the different stages of the development of thought. Audulomi and Asmarathya also did this work in their own way and founded their own schools of thought.