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Sripada Visnusvami
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Sripada Visnusvami
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From: nparker@crl.com (Nathan Parker)
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Date: 17 Mar 1995 08:53:37 -0800
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From nparker@crl.com Fri Mar 17 11: 43:49 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [Login: guest]
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VISNUSWAMI
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Both Jiva Goswami in his Bhagavata Sandarbha and Krsnadasa
Kaviraja in his Caitanya-caritamrta look to Sripad Visnuswami for
inspiration to establish the essential difference between God and the
individual souls and quote from his Sarvajnasukta, his commentary on
Vedanta.
Visnuswami is the founder-acarya of the Rudra sampradaya and is
the oldest of the four recognized sampradayas. It is even said that
Visnuswami was born in the Dravida country after the completion of the
sacrifice of Janamejaya around the beginnining of Kali-yuga.
Although most scholars are only able to find scanty and
conflicting information on Sripada Visnuswami, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Thakura gives us a authoritive biographical account of
Visnuswami which we accept to be authoritive.
There were three Acaryas bearing the name of Visnuswami in the
Rudra sampradaya. The first is called Adi Visnuswami who is said to have
been born about the third century B.C. in the Pandyan country.
Visnuswami's father Devesvara was the royal priest and minister. Devatanu,
as he was known before he took the sannyasa name of Visnuswami, was
trained by his father in a vigorous theistic eduacation, to fight
Buddhism. The Pandyan king exerted all his influence to crush Buddhism in
particular and other non-va isnava sects in general. King Pandyovijaya and
his minister, Devesvara, went to Puri and recovered the Deities of
Jagannatha, Balarama and Subhadra, which had been turned into the Buddhist
Dharma by Buddha and Samgha by the Buddhists. King Padyovijaya and
Devesvara removed the deities from the main temple to sundaracala about
two miles away by cart. This is said to be the origin of the Rathayatra of
Jagannatha. Now the ceremony of conveying the Deities from the temple to
the car is named Pahandi or Panduv ijaya. The word Panda is applied to the
priests of Jagannatha and is said to be derived from the "Pandya". The
Deities were again brought back to the temple after Buddhism had been
supressed to some extent.
Visnuswami was the first to adopt tridandi sannyasa which he
brought into practice among his seven hundred sannyasa disciples. It was
he who introduce the Astottara satanami sannyasa (108 designations of
sannyasis) including the dasanami which was adopted by sankara in his
sect. It was not sankara who originated it as some scholars think.
Vyasesvara was the last in the line of Sannyasis, after whom the line
became almost extinct, until it was revived by Raja Gopal who also assumed
the name of Visnuswami in the beginning of the 9th century. His main
follower was Bilvamangala.
Raja Gopala Visnuswami revived the old Visnuswami line and began
the active propaganda with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. He installed the
Varadaraja temple in Kanci, Ranchorlal in Dwaraka and many other Deities
in different places of pilgrimage. He converted many of Sankara's
prominant disciples after Sankara's death.
After the disappearance of the second Visnuswami a great feud took
place between his community and that of Saiva sivaswami who regards Rudra
as an independant God while the former holds Rudra as Guru and the
intimate associate of Visnu. The Saiva opposed it vigorously and people
failing to appreciate the subtle point of theism in the Suddhadvaita
system of Visnuswami, became inclined to Saivite monism, which soon became
embraced by the population in general. The Saivaite community taking
advantage of the situation, tried to misappropriate Visnuswamis
Sarvajnasukta and modified it to a great extent to suit their system.
The third revival came under Andhra Visnuswami in the 13th century
whose successors included Laksmana Bhatta, the father of Vallabhacarya.
This Visnuswami is said to have been the son of a minister of a Dravidian
prince under the Emperor of Delhi.
Visnuswami's philosophy is visuddhadvaita. Brahman as Visnu,
Narasimha, non-dual and having no second. Brahman has all contradictory
qualities. The soul is part of Brahman like spiritual sparks, real,
eternal, atomic and dependent. Creation has no motive , it is like a
cosmic game and it directly emanates from Brahman. The cause of bondage is
ones attachement to karma. The process of release is devotion based on
Bhagavata. The goal of life is to attain uninterupted contact with Krsna,
Vaikuntha salokya where there is no return.
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