Prasthanatrayi Swaminarayan Bhashyam (Study)

by Sadhu Gyanananddas | 2021 | 123,778 words

This page relates ‘Upasana (Introduction)’ 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.

7. Upāsanā (Introduction)

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The Sanskrit word Upāsanā is a compound of two words: upa–meaning near; and āsanam–meaning to sit. Thus, upāsanā is how an aspirant endeavors spiritually to forever reserve a seat near Parabrahman. More specifically, it is one’s way of worshipping Parabrahman, the mode in which one offers devotion to Him.

Bhadreśadāsa provides a simple definition of upāsanā:

bhagavadupāsanaṃ bhaktiviṣeśarūpam |
taddhi samāhātmyaṃ paramānucintanaviśeṣarūpam |^[1]

“Upāsanā is a type of devotion. In this devotion, there is constant remembrance of Parabrahman with the glory of Him.”

Thus, upāsanā means ‘upāsanam syād dhruvānuSmṛtirdarśanānirvacannacca, ’ i.e.,

“Scriptures proclaim the importance of the word upāsanā as constant, incessant remembrance of the Lord.”

‘Vedanamupāsanām syād tadvisaya śravaṇāt’ i.e.

“Upāsanā also means knowledge of Parabrahman: The Highest Reality, because śrutis also state so clearly. Here, the word ' upāsanā implies knowledge because śrutis use it in the sense of knowledge.

‘Tailadhārāvat avicchinna smṛti’ is described as dhyāna, i.e., ceaseless meditation-contemplation. And on the attainment of the (smṛtilambhe sārve granthinām vipramokṣa) stage of constant remembrance of Parabrahman, all the self-entangling knots (granthi) perishes, and the self attains emancipation. Here, ‘smṛti' (thinking-remembrance) is equated with ‘darśana’ because the Śruti says; ‘ātmā vā are dṛṣṭavya śrotavya and nididhyāsavya be seen, heard and meditated upon. When mind exceedingly keeps remembering Parabrahman with the perfect intensity of love (Bhāvanāprakarṣaṇa), it culminates into direct vision realization (darśana) of Him.^[2]

According to Svāminārāyaṇa:

“Many people become great yogis, many become realized omniscient and many become deities, and thus attain countless types of greatness, including the supreme state of enlightenment. All this is acquired through the force of the upāsanā of Parabrahman. Without upāsanā though, nothing can be accomplished.” (Vacanāmṛta Gadhadā I/56, pp.133-134)

In this way, all spiritual significance and the accomplishment of the supreme goal (namely-paramapada) are attainable through firmness in upāsanā. No spiritual advancement is possible without firm standing in upāsanā, whether a man has realized self-knowledge (ātmaniṣṭhā) or not, death (and cycles of birth and death) cannot be overcome without absorbing the essence of upāsanā. Besides, self-realization (ātmadarśan) and brahman-realization are unattainable without the commitment to the upāsanā of Parabrahman. Thus, there should not be any omission in upāsanā.

The reward of upāsanā cannot be gained by a mere stock of merits, nor by rigorous efforts solely, and not even by mere learning and meditation, but by the redemptive mercy of Parabrahman, the supreme protector (rakṣaka) and liberator (tāraka). Upāsanā suggests the devotional worship born of conviction and knowledge of His perfect personality and ultimate glory. Thus, upāsanā has the utmost worth in the path of spirituality. Upāsanā means cognitive devotion to Parabrahman, who is eternally divine and with a form.

Bhadreśadāsa discloses the contains of upāsanā:

sarvakartā samutkṛṣṭaḥ sākṛtiḥ prakaṭaḥ sadā |
ityadigurulabdhā dhīrjñeyā harerupāsanā ||^[3]

Thus, the term ‘upāsanā’ encompasses the following:

-) Parabrahman is all doer and uppermost entity;

-) Firm faith and conviction that Parabrahman eternally has a form, and He is the only substratum and shelter to seek refuge;

-) Metaphysical knowledge of Parabrahman’s essential nature at the same time with the knowledge of essential nature of Akṣarabrahman;

-) Proper knowledge of Parabrahman's transcendental glory, divinity, and superiority; Parabrahman always manifests on earth through the Brahmasvarūpa Guru.

-) Refuge at His feet with one-pointed ardent devotion (ekāntiki-bhakti) unto Him, with the resolute apprehending (niścaya) that He alone is my supreme guard, protector, liberator, mentor and the consolation of myself in this life and after-life (i.e., in life eternal).

-) This understanding is attained through the immense grace of the Guru.

In the Svāminārāyaṇa Vedanta, upāsanā consists in realizing with a firm conviction that, Parabrahman is the divine Lord, always possesses a form. He can never be conceived as a formless and impersonal being. He is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the countless number of universes (brahmāndas). He eternally dwells in His highest abode, and as the manifest (incarnate) Parabrahman, becomes perceptibly visible to the devotees on earth through His divine descent.^[4] Parabrahman can never be considered as a mere infinite mass of worship or realization. For us, It is indeed tough to make Him an object of worship or realization, but through the immense grace of the Guru, upāsanā becomes fruitful.

The Bhāṣyakāra reveals:

“svātmabrahmaikyena yadupāsanabalād upāsakopi... kalyāṇamayaguṇayogaṃ bhajate” (Brahmasūtra 3/2/25, p.301)

“Through the oneness with the Brahmasvarūpa Guru, a seeker (aspirant) can attain the liberative qualities.”

When a person is committed to the upāsanā with form (sadāsākāra), Parabrahman is never realized, appealed or satiated as the experience just a mass of light to Him, (the formless light of consciousness). If He sees only light in his meditation as a first step of realization, he feels extremely sorrow at his failure to visualize the beautiful form of Parabrahman. Only when he visualizes beyond this light the all satiating most beautiful form of Parabrahman, he feels exceptionally blissful and fulfilled.^[5] For an aspirant, if upāsanā is unchangeable, he does not engage himself in the devotion to a deity of lower order. He cannot circumvent or neglect his duties (dharma) and cannot give up his servitude (sevākabhāva/ dāsabhāva) to Parabrahman.^[6]

Though a long term sādhanā (spiritual endeavor) of a seeker on one’s ātman or on impersonal (nirakaar Brahman) may be, it is of no avail, for it does not carry anywhere beyond the merger in the formless cidākāśa form (aspect) of Akṣarabrahman. It does not empower one to acquire similitude with the formful Akṣarabrahman to eternally serve Parabrahman-Puruṣottama and enjoy His ultimate bliss. Thus, the upāsanā (knowledge-cum-worship) of Parabrahman as the supreme Parabrahman is the prima facie requirement for the highest achievement and accomplishment. According to the Svāminārāyaṇa Vedanta, upāsanā-bhakti is a perfect blend of devotion and intellect. Love and knowledge are amalgamated together to engage both the heart and head in the service of Parabrahman. It is neither mere sentimentalism, nor mere emotionalism, nor even dry intellectualism. It is a consequence of reflective study and metaphysical knowledge and triguṇātīta ātmic love. He persists in the purity of conduct and moral perfection from a devotee of Parabrahman. He incorporates moral, philosophical, religious, emotional, and aesthetic aspects of devotion in his conception of upāsanā.^[7] Svāminārāyaṇa, in Vacanāmṛta Gadhadā II/27 hints that the path of excessive self-restraint is dry, puritanical, and upāsanā-corrosive. Thus, asceticism is diluted and made it practicable to protect, promote and perpetuate the ‘Upāsanā’ through upbringing mandirs, installing murtis therein, and promulgating the bhakti-rituals.