Jai Lalithamba
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India has been a guide and example for all other nations of the world. The lifestyle of Indians was called "Hinduism" by the Moguls & the British successively. In spite of the ruins caused by the invaders , the Divine Spiritual Thoughts of all the Indians continue to exist up to this date!!.
Most of the other religions of the world have originated from the ideas or thoughts of a single man. Unlike those religions, "Sanathana Dharma" or Hinduism fits exactly into the definition of a religion -"A way of life .". Only this religion speaks about different paths of attaining salvation, as were discussed by Lord Krishna in Bagavad Gita.(Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, MokshaKarmaSanyasa Yoga..) Starting from Kashmir to Cape Comorin, the ancient, prosperous Vedic religion still continues to live. Even in Afghanistan,Pakistan,Bangladesh,Arabia(the whole of the Gulf),Cambodia,Indonesia,& several other countries the superior,divine Vedic tradition was existent before it was ruined by others.
There are innumerable saints & prophets right from Kashmir to Cape Comorin like Saibaba from Maharastra, Haridasas of Karnataka,Mira Bhai from Rajasthan, Swami Narayan from Gujarat,Adi Shankara from Kerala,64 Nayanmars & 12 Alvars from Tamilnad,etc.. Starting from Veda Vyasa who had been traveling in the lengths & breadths of India,Agasthya - the divine light of "Dravida desa" or Southern India(mainly Tamilnad), the saptha rishis(7 saints) to the recent Sankaracharyas & the Jeeyars, Mother India ,the "Karma Bhoomi" for all the 100 Million Indians has given birth to a lot of knowledgeable,divine,& spiritual people.All the Indians are very proud of their rich heritage and for being born in a nation, where such Mahathmas have lived. In fact calling one's country as "Mother Land" & one's language as "Mother Tongue" is itself a Vedic tradition. Even Lalitha Sahasranamam(Bhramanda Puranam) describes the Divine Mother as "Basha Roopa", which means that she is in the form of all the languages.
Among various Rishis Veda Vyasa is considered to be the most revered one. Vishnu Sahasranama says,
There are different Philosophies, existent in India. Although their postulates are slightly different, they all are centered at the "Bhraman" or Wisdom , preach "Ahimsa" ,& the Ways to attain Salvation or "Mukthi". It was the way in which, different people interpreted the Bhramha Sutras of Veda Vyasa Maharishi.They are all based upon the Four Vedas.
The three different schools of philosophies are as follows:
Advaitha
VisistaAdvaitha
Dvaitha
Advaitham or Non-Dualism
The theory of Advaitham states that," The form-less Bhraman or the Supreme God & the Athma are same". The acharyas or masters of Advaitham start from Lord Vishnu or Narayana himself & continues to Adi Shankara & his disciples. Adi Shankara is remarkable for his universal thoughts. He says that " All the three worlds are my country & all the Devotees of Shiva are my friends".It is the pinnacle of Secularism, which India adapts even today.It was Adi Shankara, who categorized the Hindus into six different groups, following six different cults or religions.The six religions are
Advaitham accounts for Polytheism or worship of multiple Gods, by taking those Gods as the representation of the Formless Almighty or Nirguna Bhramhan. Worship of these Deities is called Saguna Upasana. Meditating on the Formless Almighty is called Nirguna Upasana.
Saints belonging to this cult(Advaitham) are called "Eka Dandi", which means that, they have a single stick(Yoga Dandam), which represents the Athman & Bhraman.More details could be found in Advaitha Vedanta Site.
VisistaAdvaitham or Customized Non-Dualism
Unlike Advaitha, this philosophy talks of thri-bedhas or three differences. According to this theory, which was propogated by Sri Ramanujacharya, the Man-God-Matter relationship has three entities. Chetana- human beings, Achethana - matter & Ishwara - God are the three things & those three remain as such & dont transition from one state.All human beings are Jeevas & Sriman Narayana & his divine consort Sree Lakshmi are Paramathma.The following are the five different forms of Lord Narayana:
As the name suggests this talks about the concepts of "Jiva Athma" & "Paramathma". Saints belonging to this group are called "Thri Dandi" or three sticked as their "Yoga Dandam" has three sticks tied together.Each of the sticks represents Athma,Bhraman & the material world respectively.Although, the worldly creatures merge with the divine or supreme soul(Vishnu), Jeevas are inferior to the Paramathma. This originated from Ramanuja & his followers. More details can be found in: Vaishnava Site & Ramanuja Acharya's site. This philosophy narrows it's views to Vishnu or Vasudeva.
Dvaitham or Pure Dualism
This philosophy introduces 2 more dimensions or differences (pancha bedha). In addition to the three differences stated by Sri Ramanuja's philosophy, Dvaitha introduces two more differences. The 5 differences are:
This is similar to Visistadvaitham & mainly of Vaishnavite origin, initiated by Srimad Anantha Thirtha.This school preaches that,Man always remains as a servant to God & never merges with God.See
Dvaita Home Page
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