Ramanujacharya – Biography - ebooks - ISKCON desire tree

For the devotees, Hi manifests His grace by generatingwithin them such desires that they adopt actions by whichthey may easily win Him. Within those who are particularlyopposed to Him, He generates desires that lead to actionsthat take the individual further away from Him. Thoughoriginally pure, the self becomes afflicted with worldlydesires through contact with matter. Ignorance of one'sreal nature, which gives rise to so many material desires,is a result of association with matter. When this ignoranceis removed, then the soul can be liberated from the bondageof material existence.Sankara had contended that all religious duties aredependent upon a perception of variety and, therefore,ultimately illusory. Ramanuja refuted this argument bystressing that devotion is the only true path to liberation.All religious duties should be seen as a means to increaseone's devotion to God; they are never to be given up. In thestate of liberation, the individuality of the self is notnegated as Sankara had contended. What is negated is thefalse sense of independence from God, which is the essenceof the individual's illusion. This can be achieved only bythe grace of God, which is realized by the practice ofbhakti, or devotion. Knowledge alone, without devotion, isinsufficient to free the soul from material bondage. Thestate of pure devotion is one in which the mind is fixedconstantly on the Lord in a mood of profound love. Surrenderto the will of God (prapatti) is essential for theachievement of His grace. In the context of devotion andsurrender to the will of God, considerations of caste andsocial status are irrelevant; devotion is enacted from theplatform of the soul.Ramanuja differed from Yamunacarya by stating thatthe existence of God cannot be demonstrated by inference inobserving the cosmic manifestation. Although the universemust certainly have a cause, it cannot be presumed that thecause is God. It could equally be accepted that the universewas created in different parts at different times bydifferent personalities. When we see a large number of pots,it is certain they have a creator; it cannot be presumedthey were generated simultaneously by a single personality.From observing the universe one can conclude it is a productof intelligence, but there is nothing to show whether it wasbrought about by one creator or many. As God is by naturetranscendent and beyond the range of the senses, it isimpossible to find proof of His existence through the methodof observation.Having thus disposed of the ascending processes ofacquiring knowledge of God, Ramanuja concludes that theexistence of God can be known by the testimony of thescriptures alone. All other proofs of the existence of Godmay be countered by opposing logical arguments. Because thescriptures are of divine origin, their version must beaccepted as absolute. On this basis Ramanuja states that8