Thread by @shrikanth_krish

This kind of a revisionist view of Hinduism goes against the grain of much of the Bhakti movement over the past 1500+ years

https://twitter.com/kryocken/status/1198524157417283584

In fact even in the Hinduism of the pre Common era, there is a strong contemplative streak in much of the so-called "Jnanakand" - which is not transactional, not worldly at any rate

Much of modern Vedanta stems from those roots. Roots that emphasize the reflected, examined life

Many "Trads" on twitter lionize Shankaracharya

But hey...Shankara was a Vedantin. Someone who championed the examined life

Not a transactional ritualist seeking sons and riches from the "Gods"

The great Vedantin Ramanuja was even further down the road of Bhakti

Someone who advocated unconditional love of the supreme being

SharaNAgati is a central theme in Sri-Vaishnavism

In this view of the world, you love the supreme being because any other kind of attachment is spurious. And cheap

Not because you seek riches and strength

In fact Ramanuja in his Vedartha Sangraha tackles with this point precisely

The point of "slave morality" raised by the tweeter above (though obliquely)

The questions he addresses are -

1. Is Bhakti and service to God consistent with the ideal of Freedom?

2. Why is service to God superior to serving one's senses?

First he gives the pUrvapaksha by citing Manu

Who famously said - "All dependence is painful"

"सर्वं परवशं दुःखं सर्वमात्मवशं सुखम् ।
एतद् विद्यात् समासेन लक्षणं सुखदुःखयोः"

Manu also said -

"सेवा श्ववृत्तिराख्याता तस्मात् तां परिवर्जयेत्"

"Service has been declared, to be the “living of dogs;” hence one should avoid it"

So -

Dependence is painful
Service is dog's life...

Pretty unequivocal...right?

So how do we reconcile Bhakti with this?

He cites

""The individual self's nature is to be subservient to the Supreme being (Mahanarayana Upanishad)

So how do we explain Manu's assertion that "All Dependence is painful"?

It merely means- "Dependence on anyone other than the Supreme Person(Parama Purusha) is painful"

Next comes Manu's assertion - "Service is a Dog's life"...

As per Ramanuja, it means -

"Service of one who is unworthy of service is a dog's life"

This is a radical interpretation of Manu

Then Ramanuja quotes the Gita to drive home his point -

"मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते |
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते "

"He who serves Me with undivided Bhakti transcends the qualities of material nature and will attain self realization"

But he doesn't quite stop there. He also takes pains to illustrate why it is only Brahman who has intrinsic value, and the value of everything else is due to Karma and hence trivial and transitory

This is argued again using verses from Vishnu Purana, a text he leverages heavily

"The same object which pleases at one time, comes to cause pain at another time. The same causes anger at one time, and tranquility at another time"

"There is nothing pleasant or painful in its inherent nature"

Objects are pleasurable and painful due to infuence of Karma

This is a v strong argument against the sensual life, while upholding the absolute, non-transitory bliss offered by Brahman

"Anando Brahma" (Chandogya Upanishad)

Whereas the bliss of material things is not consistent even w.r.t a single person at different points in time

In this view of the world (not uncommon among other Vedantins), the love of God is not conditional

It is not conditional on the acquisition of material riches

And this has been the dominant strand in Hinduism for at least 1500 years if not more

This is not to suggest that the "Jnanakand" literature has no worldly aspect to it.

There are instances where specific worldly goals (like having a son) are sought with certain actions even in the Upanishadic literature

But broadly the emphasis over time has shifted to self realization, and seeking mOksha

Which is not possible without the "examined life". Or by merely engaging in transactional demands with the divine

An earlier thread on Vedartha Sangraha is here -

https://twitter.com/shrikanth_krish/status/1080761105209651202