Prasthanatrayi Swaminarayan Bhashyam (Study)

by Sadhu Gyanananddas | 2021 | 123,778 words

This page relates ‘Spiritual Endeavor (Sadhana)’ of the study on the Prasthanatrayi Swaminarayan Bhashyam in Light of Swaminarayan Vachanamrut (Vacanamrita). His 18th-century teachings belong to Vedanta philosophy and were compiled as the Vacanamrita, revolving around the five ontological entities of Jiva, Ishvara, Maya, Aksharabrahman, and Parabrahman. Roughly 200 years later, Bhadreshdas composed a commentary (Bhasya) correlating the principles of Vachanamrut.

Spiritual Endeavor (Sādhanā)

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We already discussed that the Svāminārāyaṇa School accepts the existence of five eternally ontological entities.^[1] Among this, the jīvas and īśvaras are bound by māyā. By practicing spiritual endeavors and through the grace of Brahman and Parabrahman, jīvas and īśvaras are able to free themselves from māyā and attain utmost mokṣa. All the efforts that an aspirant does by thought, word and deed to achieve the final goal of his life is called sādhanā or disciplined and dedicated spiritual endeavor.

After mentioning the importance of Brahmasvarūpa Guru, Bhadreśadāsa elaborates:

kāryā tatraiva bhaktyā prakaṭaharisudhīrdivyabhāvaṃ nidhāya |
sevyo brahmasthadevo bhavabhayataraṇe svāminārāyaṇoyam || Svāminārāyaṇa Siddhāntasudhā Kārikā-M p.306 ||

“To overcome and become free from the fear of māyic samsāra, one should worship the manifest Svāminārāyaṇa, who resides within the Brahmasvarūpa Guru with intense divinity.”

The decisive aim of life is the ultimate liberation of one’s ātman and attainment of Parabrahman. To accomplish this ultimate aim of life, an aspirant performs spiritual endeavors according to the precepts of the manifest form of Parabrahman.^[2]

The Svāminārāyaṇa School of Vedanta aims to give an articulate system of philosophy combined with the tradition which satisfies aspirants to sustain their faith and attain the spiritual goal. This goal can be realized during one’s life-time through the Guru-directed discipline enlivened and enlightened by brahmavidyā. Brahmavidyā encompasses dutifulness (dharma), (vairāgya), knowledge (jñāna) and devotion (bhakti), which is crowned by the grace of Parabrahman earned through the devotion in its truly cognitive spirit.^[3]

Moreover, Svāminārāyaṇa’s philosophy is realistic. In it, man, the world, and Parabrahman are all real. Man’s stance on life and the world is real. The values, spiritual endeavor, bondage, and liberation are real. The rejection of these things would downgrade the whole spiritual efforts into a sort of mock-battle. The degrading of all these would lead to spiritual anarchy of virtues and values; and would cause apathy, inactivism, and a loss of inspiration and enthusiasm for self-ascent and freedom. Svāminārāyaṇa, therefore, holds that without assiduous spiritual endeavor (sādhanā), the jīvas cannot attain the highest goal.^[4] Svāminārāyaṇa philosophy is centralized to Parabrahman, yet it emphasizes on spiritual endeavor. Therefore it includes ‘puruṣārtha śāstra’ (pathway of endeavor to spiritual goal) in addition to being ‘adhyātma-śāstra’ (the science of metaphysics) and ‘pramāṇa-śāstra’ (the science of epistemology). It elaborately deliberates the sādhanā-mārga, the pathway to Parabrahman realization. The spiritual regulation, therefore, includes knowledge of reality, the goal, and the means. The supreme goal to be realized is mokṣa, and thus, also called ‘paramapada’. This designation signifies the attainment of communion with the Parabrahman as well His supreme abode.^[5]

Parabrahman is both the goal and the means. He is the Summum Bonum. He is the first and final reality without whom no devas (iśvaras), no worlds, no selves, and no spiritual efforts can ever be considered. Karma can find its fruition because He maintains the law of causation. Impartiality and retribution are there because He reigns supreme as the moral governor. He perceives to it that fortune is determined according to deeds. By His will and power, the values are preserved. Therefore, Parabrahman, in His plenitude with infinite bliss, glory, and power, is the highest goal for all seekers.^[6] Additionally, Akṣarabrahman, by Parabrahman’s eternal will, is the unavoidable means to attaining Parabrahman for all seekers.^[7] In this chapter, we will be exclusively analyzing the Svāminārāyaṇa sādhanā explored in the Svāminārāyaṇa Bhāṣya in light of the Vacanāmṛta.