God in Dvaita Vedanta

As described in Sarvamula and related texts

This paper describes the God and his nature as per Dvaita Vedanta described in Sarvamula by Sri
Madhvacharya and also covered in other Dvaita texts based on the purport of sadagamas, including Vedas
and Brahmasutras captured by applying the rules of samanvaya thoroughly.
CONTENTS

Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 3

The nature of Brahman............................................................................................................................. 3

Purvapaksha: Advaita's stand on Brahman's features ...................................................................................... 3

Dvaita Objections ........................................................................................................................................... 4

Dvaita stand on Brahman's features ............................................................................................................... 4

What is aprAkruta........................................................................................................................................... 5

Brahman is Vishnu and is supreme ............................................................................................................ 6

Characteristics (Laxana) of Brahman............................................................................................................... 6

Why Vishnu alone is Brahman ......................................................................................................................... 7

Vishnu in Itihas and Puranas .......................................................................................................................... 8

The need for gaining Vishnu's knowledge .................................................................................................. 8

3 kinds of vyApti, Infinity, svagata bheda vivarjita and dosha varjita ............................................................ 9

Vishnu's uncommon attributes................................................................................................................ 10

shaDguNas ........................................................................................................................................... 11

upAsya chaturguNa................................................................................................................................ 11

vishESha and Achintya-Adbhuta Shakti .................................................................................................... 12

Vishnu's color, gender, arms and jewellery .............................................................................................. 12

What does God do? ................................................................................................................................ 13

Dhyana of God ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 15

References ............................................................................................................................................ 15

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ABSTRACT

This paper describes the God and his nature as per Dvaita Vedanta described in Sarvamula by Sri
Madhvacharya and also covered in other Dvaita texts based on the purport of sadagamas, including Vedas
and Brahmasutras captured by applying the rules of samanvaya thoroughly.

The concise answer as per Dvaita is that "Brahman is none other than Vishnu and is supreme and the only
independent entity. He has all forms seen and unseen, thought and never thought of and present as indweller
in objects with those respective forms and in sentient as bimba-rupi. He has vyapti of 3 types - space, time
and infinite auspiciuous attributes (ananta kalyana guna porna) and hence he is saguNa. Neither are his
attributes nor form/shape is prakruta (made of trigunas), like the rest. All his forms and attributes are
aprAkruta and hence called nirguNa. He cannot be completely known, but he is not unthinkable. He has
Ashta-kartrutva and is the independent doer of all actions". This is in contrast with Advaita's treatment of
Nirguna Brahman as separate from Saguna Brahman and the superior Brahman as having no attributes
whatsoever.

THE NATURE OF BRAHMAN

The very first of the Brahmasutras authored by Badarayana Vyasa pointing out the importance of
understanding Brahmani. It is very critical from personal perspective to understand God towards the individual
sadhana for moxa and important from academic perspective to get the picture of God as per Dvaita Vedanta
described in Sarvamula by Sri Madhvacharya.

PURVAPAKSHA: ADVAITA'S STAND ON BRAHMAN'S FEATURES

Advaita's description of God is by using language of negationii. The nature of Brahman in Advaita is also put
forward by the well known passages and mahavakyas in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as neither gross nor subtle,
neither small nor bigiii. And finally the words that sum up Brahman in Advaita is "nEti nEti". Thus the nirguNa
nirvishESha Brahman is without this, without that and finally concluded to be without any features at all. The
Advaita view is that such nirguna nirvishesha Brahman cannot be known from shastra at all. Taittiriya
Upanishat line for undescribable unthinkable Nirguna Brahman is often cited iv . Even an outright positive
definition of Brahman's laxaNa (defining characteristics) is given negative spin accordingly. For e.g. Satyam
Jnanam Anantam Brahma is described as not unreal, not unwise not finite.

SAMANVAYA OF CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS IN SHASTRA

Most references in shastra are of Brahman with features i.e. saguNa Brahman. Samanvaya adhikaraNa of
Brahmasutra mandate that samanvaya (reconciliation) be achieved in shastra i.e. no divergent views but one
unified view from apparently contradictory statements in shastras. The mithyAtva-vAda is the Advaitin's way of
achieving samanvaya. The nirguNa brahman (also the higher Brahman) is associated with Maya and is seen as

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Saguna Brahman (the lower Brahman) with all the visheshas described in all agamas. The Nirguna Brahman is
hinted at via the Mahavakyas embedded in the otherwise "a-tattva-vedaka" vedas.

DVAITA OBJECTIONS

Certain objections to the nirvishesha brahman and classification into 2 brahmans are raised first.

OBJECTION TO NIRVISHESHA BRAHMAN

An interesting objection to the concept of nirguNa nirvishesha Brahman is cited in AnuVyakhyana by Sri
Madhvacharya. If a saguna brahman is to appear as a modification of nirguna brahman, then the nirguna
brahman should have some features (or vishesha) in itv. A mirror that irregularly reflects the subject is one
such example of modification of subject to form a distorted image. But if the subject is nirvishesha, if the
nirguna brahman doesn’t have any features, then which feature gets distorted? It is indeed a strong objection.

RULES OF SAMANVAYA IN DVAITA

An stated earlier, the samanvaya done by classification into 2 Brahmans to accommodate the conflicting
statements in shastras based on the concept of Maya. But the Maya as a samanvaya rule does not have backing
in shastra. Sri Madhvacharya quotes Bruhat Samhita and Padma Purana in Brahmasutra Bhashya (Samanvaya
adhikaraNa) to point out the rules of samanvaya.

1. Lingas for Tatparya Nirnaya from Bruhat Samhita - उपक्रमः उपसंहारः अभ्यासः अपर्
ू तव ा फलम अर्वर्ादः उपपत्ती
2. Shabda shakti nirnaya from Padma Purana (Latter stronger than former) – श्रुततः ललंगं समाख्या र्ाक्यं प्रकरणं

Thus the rules of samanvaya adopted by Sri Madhvacharya are not only logical but also have the backing of
shastra. They are logical because these aspects form the context of a statement altogether and mandate the
interpretation of that statement in that context. An example of application: The word Saindhava means both
horse and salt. If one were having food and asked for Saindhava, then it would be illogical to offer him a
horse.

Similarly the occurrence of the statement nEti nEti in Bruhadaranyaka Upanishat can be analyzed vi . The
statement starts with description of people desirous of attaing God renouncing everything. It describes the 3
eeshaNas (desires) – putra, vitta and lOka. Putraishana represents the attachment to all things chetana.
Vittaishana and lokaishana represents the attachment to all things jaDa, money included. But the God is
neither chEtana nor jaDa (nEti nEti - Not that, Not that). He is vilaxana from both (More later on his vilaxana
nature). Thus the word nEti nEti sounds like negating any random attribute from God, but shows his
uniqueness when applied in context. All mahavakyas when applied in context thus give a totally different
picture of God than Advaita.

DVAITA STAND ON BRAHMAN'S FEATURES

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As seen in previous section, Dvaita applies shastra based rules of samanvaya to arrive at a different picture of
Brahman.

ONLY ONE BRAHMAN

This one brahman and the reconcilation of his opposite features can be best described with one conclusive
statement in Shvetashvatara Upanishadvii. This statement descibes several attributes to the Lord. It finally says

Lord is nirguNa. This can be reconciled in 2 incorrect ways

1. All description of attributes from beginning to end can be ignored and the last word describing God
can be concluded as th only valid part. Hence God would be attributeless – nirvishesha
2. All of initial attributes can be taken to describe Saguna Brahman. The last attribute describes Nirguna
Brahman.

Conclusions in Dvaita from this

1. There are no two brahmans - eko devah – only one.

2. Discarding the list of attributes and accepting only the word nirguna is no solution.
3. The samanvaya of all the attributes and attributeless-ness needs to be done in this one Brahman. The
way this is done in Dvaita is
a. By treating all attributes as aprakruta and hence saguna.
b. Also as no triguna-driven prakruta attribute is present and hence is Nirguna. Padma Purana
supports this definition of nirgunaviii.

There are very many statements in Vedas describing God in both ways saguna and nirguna. More statements
of saguna than nirguna and their harmonious interpretation is to be based on the above specified rules itself.
For e,g, the following show attributes in Brahman

 Purusha sukta sahasra sheersha

 Yada pashyate rukma varnam
 Svabhaviki bala kriya

And the following attribute no qualities to Brahman

 Nishkalam nishkriyam
 Arupam asparsham

WHAT IS APRAKRUTA

aprAkruta in general means not from prakruti. Common misconceptions about aprAkruta tie it to various
things such as invisible, mental image or shuddha-sattva. None of these are correct.

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 1. aprAkruta is not avyakta. avyakta means inInvisible. Although God is invisibile, this invisibility is not
synonymous with aprAkruta. Even devatas are invisible. But devatas are vyakta (visible) by svabhava.
However their sthula sharIra is made of one or more of 24 tattvas rendering them invisible. However
God is invisible by svarupa. In Brahmasutra Bhashya for avyaktAdhikaraNa (3 rd adhyaya 2nd pada – 5
sutras starting with Om tat avyaktam Aha hi Om), Sri Madhcharya quotes Kauntaravya Shruti – arUpam
aksharam brahma sadA avyaktam. The adhikaraNa deals with how God becomes visible even though he
is invisible by svarupa. Shrutis quoted in BSB for that adhikaraNa tell us that he reveals himself after
one goes through the cycle of sacchastra shravaNa-manana-nidhidhyasana and finally his anugraha
leading to aparoxa. This revealed form is aprAkruta and yet it becomes visible to the jeevatma (and
not for the indriyas) due to his achintya shakti.
2. aprAkruta is not the mental image. aprAkruta is the representation of God that emerges in our mind
when attempting to meditate. The mind is nothing but combination of selected tattvas among 24
prakruta tattvas. Hence the end product of such mind is also prakruta. When one closes their eyes after
seeing a God's image for some time, the same image seems to persist in the mind for a while. This is
due to the vasanamaya samskara created and such vasanamaya image is also prakruta.
3. aprAkruta is not something made of shudda–sattva, i.e. the sattva that is never used in the creation
process.

The seekers on the path towards God reach a milestone called bimba-aparoxa and at that stage their jeevatma
sees the aprakruta form of God who reveals himself with all the requisite attributes that the jeevatma should
know as per their yogyata. Till then the concept of aprkruta is bound to remain hazy and is akin to describing
the sweetness of say mango etc. to a person that has never tasted any form of sweet or sugar. Madhvacharya
points this out explicitly in his Brahmasutra Bhashya that the aprakruta attributes are referred in Vedas with
the same prakruta terms of day-to-day use to give us some idea of the aprakruta attributes however limited
and inadequate it may beix. Of special interest to note is that Brahman's form, action and attributes all are
aprakruta and there is no bheda between them.

BRAHMAN IS VISHNU AND IS SUPREME

CHARACTERISTICS (LAXANA) OF BRAHMAN

Pramana Paddhati defines laxana as the defining characteristic present in nobody else by which an entity can
be located. Such laxana are described in Upanishads in various places.

1. Taittiriya Upanishad quotes an incident when sage Bhrigu asks Varuna about Brahman. Varuna
describes him as the one from whom all living and non-living things are born, sustain, grow, die and
are liberatedx. Thus the srushTi, sthiti, laya, niayamana and moxa are attributed to Brahman.
2. Taittiriya Upanishad also describes brahman as satya, jnana and ananta. (It however does not say
anywhere Brahman alone is satya).
a. The term satya can be mapped to all of three - srushTi, sthiti, laya.

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 b. The term jnana points out that he is the provider of jnana (and hence ajnana).
c. Anantam points out not only the infinite nature of God, but also as the provider of moxa (and
hence bandha before that) for ever.
d. Anantam also means the one that is spread everywhere – desha, kala and guna
3. Brahman is Ananda. Brahman is Vijnana and Ananda. Vijnana means the intricate end-to-end
knowledge of detailed nature. Ananda is bliss. Such possessor of bliss can alone give bliss in liberation.
Taittiriya Upanishad defines Ananda of Brahman is incomprehensible by mind and undescribable by
words.

In short the eight-fold doership (ashta-kartrutva) is a well defined characteristic of Brahman. In the following
section an attempt is made to scan through vedic literature to find out the God possessing these attributes.

WHY VISHNU ALONE IS BRAHMAN

Harivamsha says all of Vedas, Puran and Itihas laud Vishnu in the beginning middle and endxi. Krishna, avatar
of Vishnu says in Gita that he is God. But these references are drawn from Puran and Itihas respectively.
Objections of interpolations in Purans exist. Also for instance, one could easily raise the question of
supremacy of Shiva based on Linga puran. Explaining away these anamolies in their own right is tough. The
apaurusheya vedas on the other hand have resisted corruption due to the unbroken oral tradition of various
krama-paatas (at least in the samhita portion for the existing shakhas). Hence this section relies on Vedas for
identifying the unique characteristics (laxana) of Brahman are then shown to exist in Vishnu alone as per
Vedas hemselves and thus he is shown to be Brahman. It is well known that Vedas have more references to
Indra, Varuna, Agni etc. but Vishnu is referred sparingly. There are very few mantras dedicated to Vishnu.
However the key idea is that the answer paper by a student does not get marks based on the quantity of
papers but rather on quality of the answers. Similarly The Rigveda Samhita of shakala shakaha although having
very less references to Vishnu, but it can be used to prove that Vishnu alone is the Brahman described in
Upanishats based on the defining characteristics of Brahman attributed to Vishnu. Rigveda Mandala 1, Sukta
22 has several key mantras towards this.

Srushti-Stiti-Laya: Rigveda Mandala 1, Sukta 22, Mantra 18 uses the word gOpA to describe Vishnuxii. The
word gOpA primarily referes to stithi but also means srushti and laya. Hence

Moxa and Infinity: Rigveda Mandala 1, Sukta 22, Mantra 20 tells that the muktas always see the abode of
Vishnu xiii . For Vishnu's abode to be ever-existent, Vishnu himself has to be ever existent and has to be
provider of Moxa. Also as giver of Moxa he has to be giver of bandha too. As bandha is result of ajnana and
moxa is result of jnana, he gives them too as means to moxa.

Thus his ashta katrutva stands proven. In addition his sarva vyaptatva (mainly desha kala and guna) is proven
implcitly in the above riks and also explicitly in the 16th and 17th Riks of Rigveda Mandala 1, Sukta 22. These
two riks tell us that Vishnu has pervades all the seven lokas with three strides and exists beyond itxiv. This

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constant references to pervasion with three strides and existing beyond it not only refers to 3 lokas, but 3
kala, 3 vedas and 3 gunas. This Vishnu that is beyond all 3 grunas is Brahman.

Sarva-shabda-vachyatva: Sri Madhvacharya also has provided key references in Brahmasutra Bhashya to
references to nirNayaka (decisive) tatparya lingas in Vishwakarma Sukta of 10th Mandala of Rigveda. This set of
Riks tell us that the worlds end in one God to whom names of all other devatas apply. This unborn God
supports a thing in his navel in which all the worlds are supported xv. These Riks clearly establish all names in
Vedas primiarily apply to Vishnu as mukhya tatparya and then to others secondarily. These are key
niravakaasha riks aiding in harmonious interpretation (samanvaya) of Vedic Riks with apparent contradictions.

VISHNU IN ITIHAS AND PURANAS

There are ample of puranas that claim Rudra and not Vishnu as supreme. Similarly there are puranas claiming
Devi as supreme etc. Why then Vyasa who is Narayana himself wrote different puranas differently making it
hard for people to comprehend the purport of vedas? The answer lies in the usage of three styles of
presentation popularly known as bhasha traya – samadhi, darshana and guhya. Of these

Satvika puranas tell facts as is and are the source to know the supremacy of Vishnu directly

Rajasa Puranas tell facts as seen by an observer mostly in Darshana bhasha and not Vyasa's views

Tamasa Puranas convey totally incorrect information sometimes in guhya bhasha and not Vyasa's views

As seen earlier Vedas establish supremacy of Vishnu and only the puranas that uphold the same vedic views
are acceptable to understand God as is and are called Sadagama. Narayana is after all sadagamaika vijneyam.

THE NEED FOR GAINING VISHNU'S KNOWLEDGE

The following progressive series of questions lead us to the answer for the need of gaining Vishnu's
knowledge

1. What is the way to liberation: Yajurveda Purusha Sukta says that the jnani that knows the God gets
liberation. There is no other way to liberationxvi. Here vidwan means aparoxa jnani and not panditya
alone (although that is the precursor). Hence the question becomes how to gain knowledge about God.
2. How to gain knowledge about God leading to bimbAparoxa : Bruhadaranyaka Upanishat says - To
know him (see him as in bimba aparoxa), one has to hear about him (gurumukhEna) constantly analyze
and ruminate over such acquired paroxa jnana and meditate on it. This leads to aparoxa jnanaxvii. Next
the question becomes what is the source of such knowledge.
3. What is the source of knowledge about God: Vishnu Tattva Vinirnaya (VTVN) says Narayana can be
known from Sadagama alonexviii. Another niravakasha pramana about the source of knowledge about
Vishnu is Taittiriya Shruti quoted in VTVN. The one who does not gain jnana from veda (sadagama) will

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 not become jnani (and hence cannot be liberated) xix . Double negatives make affirmative. Next the
question becomes, can one gain liberation by gaining knowledge as specified in 2 above?
4. What else is needed apart from paroxa jnana and bimbAparoxa for liberation : Kathakopanishat says
He reveals himself only to those that he accepts as his – by means of his anugrahaxx. Note that this
holds before and after aparoxa leading into moxa as well. Hence the task of pleasing Vishnu becomes
paramount for liberation so that he accepts us. Also confirmed by anoter shruti vakya - Narayana
Shruti quoted in VTVN is that Lord's anugraha (prasada) is the continous solution for liberation xxi. Next
the question becomes how one gains his prasada (anugraha) i.e. the means to please him
5. What pleases Vishnu the most and gains his anugraha: Sauparna Shruti quoted in VTVN says No other
person gets Vishnu's anugraha as much as the person that understands vishnu's guNotkarShaxxii. Hence
next question is how do we understand Vishnu's guNOtkarsha
6. How do we understand Vishnu i.e his guNOtkarSha : Paingi Shruti quoted in VTVN says Tha
mahatatparya of all agamas is the Vishnu's supremacy and nobody else'sxxiii. Thus Vishnu's supremacy
is laid out by the gunOtkarsha in Agamas. Furthermore Vishnu and his form is not different from his
attributes, this itself is the knowledge of Vishnu. In conclusion since it is the knowledge of
guNOtkarsha that happens to please Vishnu most and leading to liberation, it is important to study
sadAgamas and understand guNOtkarsha.

Sri Madhvacharya also quotes in Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya that the following are also essential for moxa

 Mahatmya jnana of Vishnu in detail with as many attributes as one can comprehend
 Understanding all scriptures as Vishnu-para.
 taratamya, panchabheda
 Bhakti without Nava vidha Dvesha (Nava vidha dvesha is assuming Jeeva-Isha-abheda, God is nirguna,
his gunas are incomplete, thinking he is equal or lesser than Brahma-Rudra, thinking of bheda in his
Guna-kriya-rupa, his avatara has birth-death etc)

3 KINDS OF VYAPTI, INFINITY, SVAGATA BHEDA VIVARJITA AND DOSHA VARJITA

Vishati iti Vishnu. One who has very well pervaded everything is Vishnu. Aitareya Upanishat describes the
name Vishnu as the one with strength, prerakatva and vyapti. The vyapti is predominantly 3 fold – desha, kala
and guna.

Desha Vyapti: Taittiriya says he entered everything as soon as creating them. Narayana Sukta says he is
present inside and outside of everything seen and heard in this world. Such is his desha vypati. This has
interesting ramifications in the forms of his being present in things – sentient and insentient. In each of the
sentient things he is present as bimba rupi inside the atma. In each of insentient, he is present with a
aprakruta form matching the prakruta form of that object (including our body which is insentient).

Kala Vyapti: Not only he is present in past, present and future but also present inside the time, every instance
breakable until infinitesimally small. He can start new time at his wish and then consume it

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Guna vypati: The guna vypati subsumes other two kinds of vyapti. The guna vyapti implies that

 He is Sarvagunairudirnam
o He has all infinite auspicious attributes – sankhyaa parichheda rahitya
o Each of the infinite asupcious attributes are present in him to the fullest extent (infinite) –
Seema parichheda rahitya
 No doshas exist in him – dosha varjitam

Even Laxmi, Vayu have their attributes in infinity. But there is definite gradation in infinity. A set of whole
numbers is an infinite set, but nonetheless a discrete countable infinite set – This set is supposed tobe
sankhya parichheda rahita but has seema pariccheda. But a infinite set of rational numbers is not only infinite
in count but there are infinite rational numbers between any two numbers in the set say 1 and 2 – This set has
neither sankhya pariccheda nor seema pariccheda. Vishnu's infinite attributes are of this kind. Krishna tells
this to Uddhava – not only my attributes are infinite, but each attribute itself is infinite. Hence it is no wonder
that Laxmi who is only next to Vishnu in hierarchy (taratamya) hasn’t yet finished counting the attributes of
the toe nail of Narayana.

Svagata Bheda Vivarjita: It means there is no bheda between Vishnu's form, svarupa. his avatars, his attributes
and actions. Neha Nanasti Kinchana says the Vedas. There is absolutely no difference between his many forms
and thinking of one avatar as purna and other as apoorna itself is a way of hating Vishnu. More on this in the
Vishesha section. Vishnu Puran cites Krishna avatar is born out of krishna kesha of Vishnu. Such krishna avatar
contained Vishnu form in Vishwarupa and that Vishnu was no different from original Vishnu and each form
were complete and infinite as ever. Purnasya purna Madaya Purmam eva avashishyate.

Dosha Varjita: The display of doshas in Vishnu and his avatars is only for asura mohana and should never be
attributed to his svarupa.

VISHNU'S UNCOMMON ATTRIBUTES

As pratibimba of the God, all possess different attributes in their svarupa to some extent. But there are certain
attributes that nobody else has except Vishnu. These constitute his asadharana dharma. Sri Madhvacharya has
listed some of them in Gita Tatparya

Paramatvam: The attribute of being supreme is limited to Vishnu alone. Nobody else is equal or above him.

Svatantratvam: Independence is one of the most important attribute present in Vishnu alone. It is so important
that Sri Madhvacharya has used this as the basis of classification of tattva.

Sarvashaktim: Complete strength to do anything is Vishnu's realm alone. He is kartum akartum anyatha
kartum.

Sarvajnatvam: The complete knowledge of everything there is also found in Vishnu alone

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Paranandah: The epitome of bliss is his domain. Taittiriya calls his Ananda as undescribable and
unfathomable. It also says if he was not blissful as he is, who would have created the world and instigated
sentients in their karma.

Sarvasya tadadhinata : If everybody is dependent on somebody for all their existence and jnana-iccha-kriya
and even moxa, it is Vishnu

SHADGUNAS

The shadgunas are listed in Vishnu Purana are the six attributes which subsume any and all of the infinite
attributes. Calling Vishnu as Purna Shadgunya vigraha is thus equivalent of calling him ananta kalyana guna
paripoorna. The shadgunas are Aishwarya (prabhutva), veerya (saamarthya), yashas, shri (sampat and svarupa
soundarya) jnana and vairagya.

UPASYA CHATURGUNA

On Anandadaya Pradhansya Om says one of the Brahmasutra. The Brahmasutra Bhashya on this by Sri
Madhvacharya identifies four main attributes on which all humans should use in Upasana. They are

1. Sat (Sarvajna)
2. Chit (Nirdosha)
3. Ananda
4. Atma (Swami)

One becomes as he/she worships – Tam yatha yathopasate sa tadeva bhavati. If one were to worship God
through these attributes, we are bound to get them adequately for our eligibility.

Ananda: All activities of sentients are for one of the four reasons – Acquiring joy, removal of pain, reaction to
pain or spontaneous joy. Of these God's Ananda falls in the fourth category. There is simply no reason behind
the bliss and is part of his svarupa. We all derive joy from things around us. But as Krishna says to Arjuna
there is nothing that he doesn’t have. Hence his joy is not driven by things. In fact it is not even the same as
prakruta ananda as ours but only mapped to the closest comprehensible item for us. Only a tiny fraction of
such svarupa ananda will be available to us in moxa.

Sat : Sat means knower of everything there is to know. As the independent doer of everything including our
actions, it is quite natural that he knows everything. Tena vina trunamapi na chalati

Chit : God is nirdosha in mula rupa. Doshas of any sentient being from tiniest grass to Laxmi fall in one or
more of these categories – alpashaktih, asarvajnatvam, paaratantryam, apurnata, upajivakatva, nasha. God has
none of these.

Atma – Atma means master (swami) of myself and everybody else. As said in Anuvyakhyana "mama swamir
harir nityam sarvasya patirevacha". An interesting aspect here is that like everything else the swamitva itself is
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dosha rahita. Any other svamitva – of a boss, of a master lasts for a certain period, in a certain place for
certain time. But God's svamitva is continous, everlasting and unchallenged.

VISHESHA AND ACHINTYA-ADBHUTA SHAKTI

Vishesha is one tough but essential aspect brought forth by Sri Madhvacharya. As God has one form as in
Ekamevadvitiyo Brahma and also many forms as in ajayamano bahuda vijayate. It would then become hard to
determine whether the one form is real Brahman or all of them. The concept of vishesha explains this. As an
example, the mass of a matter is inseperable from the matter. But still we refer to the mass of the matter as if
separate from the matter itself. In anuvyakhyana Sri Madvhacharya says that the vishesha is part of all objects
and it is which enables us to converse as if there is bheda between the visheshana and visheshya. An object
can have as many visheshas that are part of its svarupa. In case of God all of his forms are part of his vishesha
and are inseperable from him in way. To add to the complexity, one guna/kriya of God can do the guna kriya
of another. For example ananda of god can create forms of himself – all of which are part of him all the time.
However in case of other things some viseshas might get created at different point of time. All the attributes
and thus God and his form itself are not different and separate from each other and hence God is his guna
kriya and the guna kriya is God by bheda vyavahara although there is perfect abheda between them.

Through this vishesha God displays often opposing attributes in him incomprehensible in others. Surprisingly
all those opposing attributes are part of him and inseperable from him. For e.g. Vishnu Sahasra namam says
he is aNu-brahat, krusha-sthula. This differing and conflicting features being part of his svarupa is no
surprise. Kathopanisat says all of his forms are tinier than tiniest and bigger than the biggest at the same
time! Such incomprehensible features fit in him perfectly by Achintya-Adbhuta Shakti and by no other means.

VISHNU'S COLOR, GENDER, ARMS AND JEWELLERY

Sri Madhvacharya tells in Bhagavata Tatparya Nirnaya that although God can technically be present in infinite
colors we mainly have to see him through 4 colors – white, golden, red and black. When he wants to bring
about sattva by means of knowledge enabling moxxa, he is white or golden as in Vasudeva or Hayagreeva.
When he wants to bring about rajas which he will destroy he takes red form like Bhargava Rama. When he
wants to bring tamas and destroy it, he takes black color as in Rama or Krishna.

TantraSara Sangraha tells about the arms of God. One can meditate on two to infinite arms in God – all of
which are his svarupa all the time.

Bruhadaranyaka Upanishat tells about his gender. Those who think he is male are not knowing him. Those
who think he is female have not understood him. Those who say hje is neither male of female also have not
understood him. God cannot be boxed in the gender framework befitting asvatantra sentients. He is vilaxana
by shruti, jati svarupa. He has forms of make and female and so he is both. He doesn’t have the defects of
male and female and hence he is neither.

12
As it comes as no surprise all of jewellery and weapons of Vishnu are part and parcel of his svarupa and not
separate from him. This is also said in NarayanaVarma. The ramifications of this are quite interesting. Anybody
holding a weapon of a jewellery are separate from the self, but not so with God. Only different abhimani
devatas are assigned to it at various times.

WHAT DOES GOD DO?

God is the independent doer of all things and actions even through us. Hence we can generalize as he is the
doer of everything. But for our purpose the focus is on ashta-katrutva. Srushti, sthithi, Laya, Niyamana, Jnana,
Ajnana, Bandha and Moxa. He does srushti by residing Brahma in Brahma's form and does destruction by
being in Shiva. In Gita also Krishna says he is creator and destroyer.

God's creation is unique. Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya gives details of such creation first starting with
creation of his own forms (shuddha srushti), followed by paradhina visheshavapti rupa srushti for Laxmi. Then
Tattva srushti (creation of tattvas and their abhimanis). And finally padma srushti. The navavidha srushti
described in Bhagavata that happens after this is done by Chaturmukha Brahma by Vishnu residing in him. The
mainly 3 types of srushti done by Vishnu are pointed out in the very first shloka of Bhagavatam. Knowledge of
such creation itself removes one's sins as is evident from aghamarshana sukta.

Stithi and Niayamana are closely tied. God's iccha that the person existing in this instant continue to exist in
the next instant causes the sthiti. Towards this he does niayamana (delegation) of tasks of maintaining the
apparatus for the jeevatma (i.e. human body) through various devatas, although he can do it independently. As
in the case of Dhruva, Agni the devata for vaak failed to stimulate it, the Lord independently stimulated his
speech

Pralaya is done by Vishnu by residing in Shiva. Then the laya of devatas at brahma pralaya happens in
svottamas followed by laya in Vishnu at the end.

Jnana and ajnana are also closely tied. It is not just the lack of jnana that is called ajnana. Instead it is
something called bhava rupa ajnana. It exists as svagunachadika and paramachadika – the thing that hides the
knowledge of one's own svarupa and also God's bimba svarupa.

Ajnana finally causes Bandha. And Jnana leads to Moxa with the anugraha of Lord. Any amount of jnana
without his anugraha cannot liberate a person.

DHYANA OF GOD

Different schools of thought promote different process as dhyana starting from thinking nothing to emptying
the mind to kriyas. Sri Madhvacharya is very clear based on the scriptures that dhyana cannot happen without
a dhyeya – an object of focus. Such object is God – his form for visualization and much more importantly his
attributes to ruminate in mind along with the corresponding mantra japa – all combined forms the dhyana
process. A clear cut dhyana occurs only after one reaches the stage of tattva-nischaya at which point the
13
person has had upadesha from svarupa uddharaka Guru and undersstands the God clearly through his
attributes and knows the attribues he/she has do dhyana. Before reaching such a stage of bimba-aparoxa it is
everybody's duty to acquire both paroxa shastra jnana to get clarity and also attempt to do dhyana by thinking
of his attributes

By using the example of Gayatri one can understand this process of thinking of God's attributes in dhyana.
This concluding part provides a practical application of this paper in applying to the Gayatri japa in everyday
sandhyavandanam. Sri Madhvacharya has described Gayatri in Rigbhashya as follows:

guNaistathaH prasavitA varaNIyO guNOnnatEH |

bhArati jnAna rupatvAd bhargO dhyEyO akhilairjanaiH | prErakO ashEShabuddhInAM ..

Although this sounds like slight reorg of the words in Gayatri, there is more to it. Each word of Gayatri is
explained in crisp and compact manner typical of Sri Madhvacharya.

gunaistataH : The term gunaistataH is the meaning of tat word in Gayatri. tat word indicates omnipresence.
Omnipresence is generally of 3 types - Space, Time and Attributes (desha, kaala and guna vyaapti). Here Sri
Madhvacharya has only pointed to the Guna Vyaapti as the other two (desha and kaala) are automatically
implied by the Guna Vyaapti. Thus the stress is on thinking about Vishnu that is infinite by his attributes.

prasavitA : The term prasavitA is the meaning of savitRu word. The word savitru in general indicates creation.
The "pra" upasarga indicates the following:

 Independent creation
 Creation with ease
 Creation without any personal benefit
 Creation for the benefit of devotees
 Creation through his devotees sometimes even though fully capable of creation himself, just so that his
devotees get the punya and fame.
 Creation of time, Prakruti and manifested creation of Vedas, varnas,
 Creation of many forms of self (EkamEvadwitiya brahma becomes ajAyamAnO bahudhA vijayatE)

varaNIyo guNOnnatE : This is the description for the term varEnyaM. Even though varEnyaM means great,
varanIyaM indicates that he is indeed worthy of adulation and worship. He is worthy of that because of his
attributes (gunOnnate) – Ananta Kalyana Gunas – where he has infinite attributes and each attribute is infinite
by itself. And since he is not different from his attributes (unlike anybody others), guna-anusandhana
becomes his worship itself

bhA rati jnAna rupa : This is the explanation for the term bhargO. Bharga means Rudra as per Kosha and also
means Tejas. Hence by extension it means the most illumined (prakasha), jnAna and Ananda. These are the
three specific attributes that are stressed by the word bharga that one should meditate (dhimahi) upon.

14
devakhyaM : One could use the explanation in Agnisukta for deva here. dEva indicates dyuti (light), vijaya,
stuthi, gati etc. It also shows the krida-guna, veda-pratipadyatva and srishTyAdi ashTa kartRutva.

prErakO asheSha buddhInAm : This explanation for dhiyO yO naH prachOdayAt signifies that the stimulation
should be done for all people. Thus this stimulation for good beings to do good things, bad people to bad
things and sometimes good people doing bad things due to prarabdha. Here nah is plural and thus indicates
the prayer is for stimualation to everybody, not just me/myself. Also dhiya is plural indicating that the dhi
stands for all the 12 indriyas – 5 sense organs, 5 karmendriya, mind and intellect (dhi). In general the last part
of Gayatri is used for several prayers to God and is pretty flexible.

CONCLUSION

The concept of God has become hazy in different schools of thought. Sri Madhvacharya has brought to the
forefront the God as described in Vedas and the way as he is. He also has laid out based on pramanas and
logic the status of God that we should all know and meditate upon.

REFERENCES

1. Sarvamula granthas
2. Philosophy of Madhvacharya – BNK
3. Brahman is Vishnu – D N Shanbhag
4. Brahmasutra – BNK
5. Harikathamrutasaara
6. Santatam Chintaye Anantam – Srikanth Shenoy

i
ओं अर्ातो ब्र्ह्मजिज्ञासा ओं

ii
न प्रज्ञं न अप्रज्ञं अदृष्टं अव्यर्हायं अग्रा्यं अलक्षणं अच त्ं यं अव्यपदे श्यं अद्र्ैतं

iii
अस्र्ल
ू ं अनणुं अस्स्र्ं अद्घं ….

iv
यतो र्ा े तनर्तंते अप्राप्य मनसा सह

v
तनर्र्वशेषे स्र्यंभाते ककमज्ञानार्त
ृ ं भर्ेत?

15
vi
एतमेर् प्रव्राजिनो लोकलमच्छं तः प्रव्रिंतत ।... ते ह स्मः पत्र
ु ष ै णायाश् र्र्त्तैषणायाश् लोकैषणायाश् व्यथ्
ु ठायार् बिक्षा यं रं तत ।
या्येर् पत्र
ु ष ै णा सा र्र्त्तैषणा । या र्र्त्तैषणा सा लोकैषणा । उभे ्येते एषणे एर्ा भर्तः । स एष नेतत नेतत । आत्मा ग्र्यो ना हह
ग्र्यते । ..

vii
एको दे र्ः सव्भूवतेषु गढ
ु ः सर्वव्यापी सर्वभूतांतरात्मा । क्रमावध्यक्षः सर्वभूताचिर्ासः साक्षी ेता केर्लो तनगण
ुव श् ॥

viii
यो सौ तनगण
ुव इत्यक्
ु तः शास्त्रेषु िगद्श्र्रः । प्राकृतैहेयसंयक्
ु तैगण
ुव ैहीनत्र्मुच्यते ॥

ix
अलौकककोर्प ज्ञानाहद तच्छब्दै रेर् भण्यते । ज्ञापनार्ावय लोकस्य यर्ा रािे र् दे र्राट ॥

x यतो र्ा इमातन भूतातन िायंते । येन िातातन िीर्ंतत । यत्प्रयंतत अलभसंर्र्शंतत । तत र्र्जिज्ञासस्र् । तत ब्र्म ।

xi र्ेदे रामायणे ैर् परु ाणे भारते तर्ा । आदार्ंते ा मध्ये र्र्ष्णुः सर्वत्र गीयते ॥

xii त्रीणण पदा र्र् क्रमे र्र्ष्णुगोपा अदाभ्यः । अतो िमावणण िारयन ॥

xiii तद्र्र्ष्णोः परमं पदम सदा पश्यंतत सूरयः । हदर्ीर्ा क्षुराततम ॥

xiv अतो दे र्ा अर्ंतु नो र्र्ष्णुर्र्व क्रमे । प्रचर्व्या स्प्तिामलभः ॥

xv यो दे र्ानां नामिा एकमेर् भुर्ना अंत्यन्या .. । अिस्य नाभार्ध्येकं अर्पवतं यजस्मन र्र्श्र्ातन भुर्नातन तस्र्ुः ॥

xvi
तमेर्ं र्र्द्र्ान अमत
ृ इह भर्तत नान्यः पंर्ा अयनाय र्र्द्यते

xvii
आत्मार्ारे दृष्टव्यः श्रोतव्यो मंर्व्यो तनचिध्यालसतव्यः

xviii
सदागमैक र्र्ज्नेयं

xix
नार्ेदर्र्त मनत
ु े इदं ब्र्मंतं ....

xx
नायमात्मा प्रर् नेन लभ्यः न मेिया न िहुना श्रुतेन यमेर्ष
ै र्ण
ृ ुते तेना लभ्यः

xxi
यस्य प्रसादात परमाततवरूपात अस्मात संसारात मुच्यते नापरे ण

xxii
ना तादृशी प्रीततर्डस्य र्र्ष्णोगण
ुव ोत्कषवज्नॅतरर यादृशीस्यात । ...

xxiii
सर्ोत्कषे दे र्दे र्स्य र्र्ष्णोः महातात्पयं नैर् अन्यत्र सत्यं

16