Commentaries upon the brahma-sUtra
Owing to its importance, the brahma-sUtra has spawned a rather large
number of bhAshhya-s (commentaries) which seek to amplify bAdarAyaNa's
very terse writing. Some of the more important bhAshhyakAra-s upon the
brahma-sUtra are shaMkara, rAmAnuja, AnandatIrtha, nimbAraka,
vallabha, baladeva, etc. Each of these scholars has given his own
interpretation of what bAdarAyaNa really means to say. Since the two
entities jIva, or the individual self, and brahman, can either be (i)
identical; (ii) identical with specialty; (iii) non-identical; (iv)
identical and non-identical, one has four basic schools of thought
within vedAnta upholding these views.
* shaMkara, the bhAshhyakAra of the advaita school, argues that
the individual soul and the brahman are in fact one and the same, and
that the world of experience is illusory; the purpose of one's
existence is to obtain release from the unreal world and attain
complete union with the brahman, who also has no attributes.
* rAmAnuja, the bhAshhyakAra of the vishishhTAdvaita school,
argues that a state of qualifed non-duality obtains between the
individual self and the brahman, who is identified with vishhNu, and
that release from the non-illusory world consists of obtaining a state
of bliss similar to that of the ever-liberated brahman, who is endowed
with many good qualities.
* AnandatIrtha, the bhAshhyakAra of the dvaita school, is a
thorough dualist who claims a complete and eternally-unchanging
difference between the individual self, and brahman, which is due to
their own immutable natures; brahman is identified with vishhNu, and
release from the cycle of repeated births and deaths in the world is
obtained by service to vishhNu, who alone is the Giver of mukti
(liberation).
* vallabha, the bhAshhyakAra of the shuddhAdvaita school, also
holds that the jIva and brahman are identical, but his brahman is a
personal Deity who is to be worshipped with devotion.
* nimbAraka, the bhAshhyakAra of the dvaitAdvaita school, tries to
reconcile the views held by scholars of dvaita and advaita into one
framework.
* baladeva, the bhAshhyakAra of the bhedAbheda school, also argues
for simultaneous oneness and difference, but rejects the advaitic view
completely.
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