United Theological College, Bangalore.

Topic: Hindu Theologians of Bhakti and Metaphysical Foundations

a) Ramanuja b) Madhava

Felicitator: Asst. Prof. Dr. John V. Mathew Presenter: Rev. K. Ravikumar

Introduction
Hinduism is a religion with shifts (constant developments) and shapes (consist of divine-
iconic figurines and anthropomorphic elements). There were many great theologians,
philosophers, and thinkers, who have shaped the Hinduism as a unique and major religion among
all religions. The beauty of Hinduism has based on its nature and its relational essence. The
concept of God and the devotion of Him /Her had developed over the period of time from
personal experience to a philosophical understanding of the divine, through the Hindu
theologians and Philosophers. Their contextual interpretation of bhakti and experiential thought
of relation to the divine brought a new beginning in the Hinduism, with focus on Meta physical
thought. There were some theologians who have brought a new dimension of thought of
philosophy for the response towards the contextual religious phenomena, were known as
‘Metaphysical thinkers’; and ‘pioneers of transcendence.’ This paper is an attempt to study about
the Hindu Theologians of Bhakti and Meta Physical Foundations in the light of Ramanuja and
Madhav.

Defining- the Bhakti

As love: The word Bhakti derives from the root “bhaj” and that signifies love. In the Gita
Bhagavan Krisna says: ‘As one loves me, so do I love him’, (4.11). Here the word “bhajami” can
have no other meaning than I love, says Swami Narendranand.1

As devotion: According to Gavin Flood, “Devotion (bhakti) to deities meditated through icons
and holy persons provides refuge in times of crisis and even final liberation (moksa) from action
(karma) and cycle of reincarnation (samsara).2

As attitude: E. J. Sharpe explained that bhakti is a special kind of attitude towards istadevata.
According to him, “Bhakti in religion is the worship and devotion shown to a bhagavan, but it is
also the attitude which the devotee shows to a spiritual master or guru as the personal and
immediate manifestation of the deity.”3

1
Swami Narendranand, Hindu Spirituality (Sultanapur: Jyothi Ashramam, NY), 2.
2
Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism (New York: Cambridge University, 1996), 11.
3
E. J. Sharpe, “Bhakti,” in Hinduism, edited by John R. Hinnells and Eric J. Sharpe (England: Oriel Press,
1972), 34.

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As seva (service): Klostermaiermaier brought out the explanation of the bhakti as a service or
seva. Vallabha, the sixteenth-century founder of the pustimarga explains that the suffix-kti
means love and the root bhaj-service. Bhakti thus means the action of service (seva).4

The Concept of the Bhakti

The term Bhakti itself has a rich philosophical and spiritual connotation. K.T.
Pandurangi rightly explains the concept of bhakti. “It is love of God based on the understanding
of the greatness of God. The more one loves God the more one knows Him. Thus knowledge and
love are interwoven in the concept of bhakti.”5

Context of the Bhakti Movement

Spiritual and Cultural Factors: According to Wendy Doniger, there was a synthesis between
North Indian and South Indian cultural forms, active interaction between several religious
movements and powerful political patronage of religion.6

Economical and Linguistical(ly) Factors: During the Mouryan reign (around fourth century)
there was constant contact and trade between South and North India. Over the period of time the
geographical divide matched by a major linguistic shift from Sanskrit and the North Indian I
(Hindi, Bangla, Marathi etc), to Tamil (Dravidian language) and its South Indian cultures
(Telugu, Kannada, Kerala), says Doniger.7

Political Factors: Mouryan dynasty (c.300 BCE), Chola dynasty (985-1014 BCE), Chalukya
dynasty (543-566 BCE), Pallavas, all these dynasties one way or the other instrumental for
emerging and spreading of the Bhakti movement.

Bhakti as a Movement
The bhakti movement increasingly imagined a god who combined awesome powers of a
supreme deity. According to Axel Michaels, “Bhakti as a movement arose in South India in the
seventh century and spread into Northern India from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.”8
According to Gavin Flood, from about 500 BCE through first millennium BCE there was a
sectarian worship of particular deities, and Vedic sacrifice, though never dying out gave way to
devotional worship (puja). Performing puja is a way of expressing love (bhakti) or devotion to a

4
Klaus K. Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, 3rd ed. (Albany: State University New York Press, 2007),
181
5
K. T. Pandurangi, “Vedanta as God-Realization,” in Hindu Spirituality Vedas through Vedanta, edited by
Krishna Sivaraman (New York: The Cross Road Publishing Company, 1989), 312.
6
Wendy Doniger, The Hindus: An Alternative History (England: Penguin Books, 2009), 339
7
Doniger, The Hindus…, 341.
8
Axel Michaels, Hinduism Past and Present, translated by Barbara Harshav (Hyderabad: Orient Longman
Pvt. Ltd, 2005), 252.

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deity in some form, and became the central religious practice of Hinduism.9 Bhakti to a personal
God (bhagawan) or Goddess (Bhagawati) became a central all-pervasive movement. This
growth of Hindu theism and devotionalism is reflected in the Sanskrit narrative traditions of the
Epics (itihasa) in mythological and ritual treatises known as the puranas.10

Understanding –Meta-Physics
Hinduism has no founder, but it has a strong foundational believes, precepts, stories,
myths and philosophical, metaphysical, and many more logical, thoughts. Time to time there
were continuous religious shifts in these areas of Hinduism. Those are: a) understanding faith, b)
practicing believes, c) following customs, d) understanding concepts, e) performing the rituals.
All these essentials are core factors in Hinduism. One of such understanding, about God, human
and the world made foundations for Metaphysical thought.

What is Metaphysics?

According to oxford dictionary of World Religions, the term Metaphysics understood as

“The study of the most fundamental constituents of reality.”11

Metaphysics and its Foundational Factors

Meta Physics is a scientific and philosophical thought. It consists of four important areas
as its foundation. Those are: a) The world, b) The soul, c) Moksa or liberation, and d) Iswara or
God.

The World: According to metaphysics, this world comprises the living bodies including the
various indriyas or the sense organs where in the souls resides temporarily reap the effects of
their karma.

The Soul: There are infinite numbers of souls. They are eternal but undergo transmigration due
to their karmas (good or bad deeds). The soul has no consciousness of its own, consciousness
rises in it, due to association with the mind.12

Moksa: It is also known as liberation. The highest good (nissreyas) for a person is to get moksa
or liberation, total cessation of transmigration existence. Mimamsa also explains that ultimate
goal is the attainment of the unalloyed bliss in heaven.

Iswara or God: Since all the materials that make up the physical world is an eternally existing
since the adrstas or the karmas of the souls impel these in the process of creation, there is no

9
Flood, An Introduction…,103.
10
Flood, An Introduction …,103.
11
John Bowker, ed., Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 638.
12
Swami Harshananda, A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2, (Bangalore: Ramakrishna Math, 2008),
139.

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need to accept any God as the agent or author of creation. 13 All these are very fundamental truths
of metaphysics.

Context of the Bhakti Theologians for the Metaphysical Foundations

The early medieval period saw the rise of regional kingdoms and the popularization of
the brahmanical ritual and mythologies. In response, to their supremacy and dominant extreme
cultic rituals of the Brahmins are one of the source behind the rise of new traditions in the
concept of Bhakti, resulted a number of traditions developed in the Vaisnavism during the
medieval period. Many of these traditions are associated with a particular individual saint, as
their follower. The patterns of Bhakti, one can observe that, such as the association of local and
regional deities with the deities of the great Sanskritic tradition and establishing the orders by
saints.

The Vedantic thought is said to have originated from the Vedas and Upanisads. A proper
systematization of thoughts which lay isolated in the Upanisads came later in the form of
treatises called Sutras (clues) written in short aphorisms. The Sutras being too brief and often
ambiguous even on fundamental questions, the commentator was free to give his own
interpretation according to his preconceived ideas. Thus from one and the same Braham Sutra
(composed by Badarayana, 200 C.E.), where originated divergent systems with different
philosophical views.14

Ramanuja
Brief History: Ramanuja was born in Sri Perumpadur in South India in the first part of the
eleventh century (probably 1017 AD). He received his early training from Yadavacharya whom
he deserted on account of the latter’s monistic tendency. Later he became an ascetic (sanyasi)
and happened to come in to contact with a certain Yamunacharya the leader of a religious sect
called Vaisnavas. When Yamunacharya was dead, Ramanuja, though still young took his masters
place and became the religious and intellectual head of Vaisnavas. By extensive tours, deep
studies of the earlier Vaisnava writers and doctrinal controversies with other religious sects such
as the saivaite, Buddhists and Jains he gained much knowledge and wide popularity.15

He was also an organizer and religious reformer who preached social equality to every
caste of people. He organized a religious order and founded monasteries (Asramas) in many
places where men were trained to carry on the social and religious reform he began. 16 According
to John Bowker, Biographies of Ramanuja are atleast a hundred years later than his death and
contain many inconsistencies. Initially he lived in a temple based ascetic and then travelled all

13
Harshananda, A Concise Encyclopaedia of Hinduism, 139.
14
Antony Manalapuzhavila, Nature and Origin of the World: According to Ramanuja (Alwaye: St Joseph
Pontifical, 1966), 1-2.
15
Manalapuzhavila, Nature and Origin of the World…, 1-2.
16
Manalapuzhavila, Nature and Origin of the World…, 1-2.

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over the India, engaging in disputation especially with advaitins. He retired eventually to
Srirangam in South India where he died.17

His works: Ramanuja wrote nine works in Sanskrit. None of his Tamil works is available so far.
The following are his important philosophical works in Sanskrit. a) Vedanta Samgraha (a
summary of teachings of Vedanta), b) Sri-Bhasya (a commentary on the Brahma-Sutra of
Badarayana), c) Gita-Bhasya (a commentary on the Bhagvad-gita), d) Vedanta-Sara (essentials
of Vedanta), e) Vedanta-dipa (a concise commentary on the Brahma-Sutras), f) Sarengagati –
gadya, g) Vaikuntha-gadya, h) Sriranga-gadya, and i) Nitya-grantha.18

Advaita Vedanta: According to Srinivasa Rao, “Advaita as a philosophical school of thought

distinguishes between reality that is accessible to the senses and the mind (reality) and the reality
that is not accessible (Reality).”19 M. Hiriyanna explains the ultimate reality of Advaitic
philosophy. According to him, “The Advaitic absolute or Brahman is the non-phenomenal
ground (nirvisesa-vastu) for the unity and diversity.20

Visistadvaita Vedanta: Ramanuja’s interpretation of Vedanta is called ‘Qualified non-dualism’

(Visistadvaita). S. S. Raghavachar argues that, Ramanuja’s Visistadvaita- literally, Advaita par
excellence or Advaita qualified as (theism), Visistadvaita- is Vedantic in sense that it accepts the
ultimate reality of a single supreme Self Brahman and its attainment constitutes the supreme goal
for the finite individual.21 According to Gavin Flood, “like Sankara, the Mimamsakas, Ramanuja
is concerned with exegesis, the careful reading of the scriptures in order to arrive at an
understanding of God and His relation to the plural world.22 Ramanuja rejects the Sankara’s two
level operation concerned with the text, a higher level truth (i.e. Brahman), and lower level
(which representing Brahman as a personal Lord) because that scripture testifies to a Supreme
soul the Brahman as the essence of the universe and the inner soul of all finite souls, who is yet
also a personal being, explains Flood.23 John Bowker says that, Ramanuja agreed with Sankara
that Brahman is that which truly is without distinction but he did not agree that there is nothing
else that is real and that all else is maya (appearance) the perfection of Avidya (ignorance).24

He held that individual selves and the world of matter are real but that they are always
dependent on Brahman their existence and functions. According to Ramanuja, there are two

17
John Bowker, ed., Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, 797.
18
Manalapuzhavila, Nature and Origin of the World…,1-2.
19
Srinivasa Rao, Advaita: A Critical Investigation (Bangalore: The Indian Philosophy Foundation, 1985), 1,
cited by John. V. Mathew, Advaita Vedanta Re-explored towards Ecological and Dalit Theology (New Delhi:
Christian World Imprints, 2015), 3.
20
M. Hiriyanna, Outlines of Indian Philosophy (London: George Allen and Alwyn, 1964), 369, cited by
John. V. Mathew, Advaita Vedanta Re-explored towards Ecological and Dalit Theology (New Delhi: Christian
World Imprints, 2015), 3.
21
S. S. Raghavachar, “The Spiritual Vision of the Ramanuja,” in Hindu Spirtuality: Vedas through Vedanta,
edited by Krishna Sivaraman (New York: Cross Road Publishers, 1989), 262
22
Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism,103.
23
Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism, 244.
24
Bowker, ed., Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, 797.

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means of Mokas (liberation). a) Bhakti- is devotion to God which requires, b) Viveka -
discernment in the matter of food purity. He also emphasizes Vimoka (non-attachment), Abhyasa
(constant meditation), kriya (performance of religious duties such as the five great sacrifices),25
Kalyana (performance of auspicious moral duties such as openness and truthfulness), Equanimity
(in the sense of transcend in sorrow), Anuddharsa (joy), Prapati (submission of the complete
self).26

His Contributions: Ramanuja contributed a lot to field of research. a) In fact Ramanuja’s

philosophy marks a new era in the religio philosophic thought or India. It was not merely a
restatement of the philosophy of the Absolute contained in the Upanisads, but a new system
which can very well stand independently of the Upanisads. b) Ramanuja deserve credit for
attempting to reconcile the opposites such as spirit and matter, subject and subject, finite and
infinite and unity and popularity says Antony Manalapuzhavila. 27 According to him, c)
Ramanuja’s theory of knowledge, which is entirely proper to him, is a notable contribution to
Hindu philosophy, d) Ramanuja was a monotheist. He fought vigorously against all forms of
anti-religious doctrines such as materialism, monistic pantheism and polytheism, e) Ramanuja’s
description of the afterlife of man is often said to be too picturesque of an ideal realm, f) this
ancient Hindu philosopher readily recognized his total dependency on the supreme being whom
he acknowledges as his creator and last end.28

Madhva
Brief History: Dates uncertain, ranging from 1199-1278 CE to 1238-1317. Madhva was born in
A.D. 1238 near a small town called Udipi, became a renouncer. As a young man he entered into
a Vaisnavas order of a monastic renouncer tradition, known as Ekanti Vaisnava, where his guru
Acyuta Preksa, was very impressed by Madhva’s skill in interpreting the sacred scriptures.
Madhva went on a tour of South India with his preceptor and then on a pilgrimage to the source
of the Ganges in the North, disputing with Buddhists, Jains and Advatins along way. Madhva
eventually became the hierarch of his monastic community and established a reputation with his
commentary on Brahma Sutra.29 He established a monastic centre on his birth-place at Udipi.
After a full life of study, sadhana, teaching and the writing of definitive treatises, he departed
this world in A.D. 1317.30 Madhva accepted in his writings the authority of the Vedas.

His Works: Madhva wrote some books which also known as Madhva’s writings. a) Madhva
wrote (before Sayana) a commentary on the first forty hymns of the Rg Veda b) He wrote the
digest of the Mahabharata and Ramayana c) His thirty-seven works systematically seek to bring
out the Samadhi-basa of the Vedas, Upanisads, the Gita, the Epics, and also the Vaisnava
25
Bowker, ed., Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, 797.
26
Bowker, ed., Oxford Dictionary of World Religions,797.
27
Manalapuzhavila, Nature and Origin of the World…, 81.
28
Manalapuzhavila, Nature and Origin of the World…, 82.
29
Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism, 245.
30
Pandurangi, “Vedanta as God-Realization…, 299.

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Agamas, and d) He wrote a special work entitled Trantrasara on worship and spiritual
symbolism.31

Dvaita Vedanta: In complete contrast to the advaita of Sankara, Madhva maintains that the
correct interpretation of the sacred scripture is dualistic. The scripture maintains the eternal
distinction between the individual self and the Lord. Whereas the Advaita tradition emphasizes
the non-difference (abedha) between the self and the Absolute, Madhva insists on their complete
distinction.32 Difference or Bheda is a cornerstone of his theology and scriptural interpretation.
Each thing in the universe is itself and unique cannot be reduced to something else. Each
phenomena in the universe is uniquely itself made unique by the power of particularity (visesa),
there are nevertheless five categories of difference (bhedha).33 The five distinctions are between
a) God and the Soul (Jivatman), b) God and the matter (Prakriti), c) The individual soul and
matter, d) between the Souls, and e) between individual components of the material.34 It is the
third of the three major related philosophical schools, and because it was opposed to the Non-
dualism of Sankara, and Qualified non-dualism of Ramanuja. Madhva maintains five irreducible
dualities. This proposed philosophy is known as Dvaita-Vedanta.

His Contributions: Madhva’s work has been highly regarded by all the philosophical schools .a)
His establishment of the temple, which is dedicated to Krisna brought more reverential
consciousness towards personal deity (Istadevata), b) The idea of God as a carpenter and disciple
as a agent thought, made his philosophy more accessible to common people, c) His view of ‘self’
and ‘Lord’ and their mutual relationship with interdependency has made a clear path to
understand the ultimate reality in common terms without any ambiguity .

According to John Bowker, “Mythologically Madhava is held to be an avatara of Vayu,

one of the loka-palas associated with the wind and with inspiration. The association may be
because Madhava believed that God cannot be approached directly but only through Vayu as
mediator.35 Some writers have suggest that may be Syrian churches or Christian influences upon
him.

Uttara Mimamsa: The Vedanta (Veda’s end) philosophy is also called Uttara Mimamsa. The
Vedanta is divided into three main schools with distinctive nature of philosophical thought. a)
The great philosopher of strict ‘non-dualism’ (Advaita or monism) was Shankara (788-820), b)
Two centuries later Ramanuja (11th century) taught a modification of the Upanishadic doctrine in
‘qualified non-dualism’ (Visist-Advaita) or ‘difference non-difference’ (bhed-abheda), c) Thirdly

31
Pandurangi, “Vedanta as God-Realization…, 300.
32
Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism, 246.
33
Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism, 246.
34
Bowker, ed., Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, 594-595.
35
Bowker, ed., Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, 594-595.

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came Madhva (1197-1276), who taught frank dualism (Dvaita).36 These philosophical schools
are an examples of Metaphysical foundations from Bhakti theology.

Founders of Separate branches of the Vedanta Philosophies: Among the widely recognized
vedantacaryas are Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Vallabha, Bhaskara, Yadavaprakasa, Kesava,
Nilkantha, Vijnabhiksu and Baladeva, says Klostermaier.37

Conclusion
Bhakti is a rich philosophy in Hinduism meaning love, devotion, service, etc. Over the
period of time this idea has been put into higher level of understanding of God and its relation to
human and world. The effort of this understanding is known as Vedanta philosophy. Sankara,
Ramanuja and Madhva were pioneers of this metaphysical thought. It has brought an impact in
the social, political and religious life of Indian society as well as the world.

36
E.G. Parrinder, “Vedanta,” in Hinduism, edited by J. R. Hinnells and Eric J. Sharpe (England: Oriel Press,
1972), 49-51.
37
Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, 566.

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