User:Chaipau/ekasarana

Worshipful god and goal of worship
The preceptors as well as later leaders of the Ekasarana religion focused mainly on the religious practice of bhakti and kept away from systematically expounding philosophical positions. Nevertheless references found scattered in the voluminous works of Sankardeva and Madhavdeva indicate that their theosophical positions are deeply rooted the Bhagavata Purana with a strong Advaita influence via it's commentary Bhavartha-dipika by Sridhar Swami. Even so these texts are not followed in toto and deviations are often seen in the writings especially when the original philosophical contents came into conflict with the primary focus of bhakti as enunciated in the Ekasarana-dharma.

Though it acknowledges the impersonal (nirguna) god, it identifies the personal (saguna) one as worshipful which it calls Narayana. The sole aspect that distinguishes the personal from the impersonal one is the act of creation, by which Narayana created everything. It considers Narayana as both the cause as well as the effect of this creation, and asserts Narayana alone is the sole reality. Unlike in Gaudiya Vaishnavism it claims no distinction between Brahman, Paramatman and Bhagavat, which are just different manifestations (not avatars) of the same supreme reality. Moreover, some of the characteristics of the impersonal god are attributed to Narayana with reinterpretations. Thus in its conception of the supreme being, the strong influence of Sankaracharya's advaitism, via Sridhara Swami, is clearly discernible.

Narayana as the personal and worshipful god is considered to be a loving and lovable god, who possesses auspicious attributes that attract devotees. He is nondual, omnipotent and omniscient; creator, sustainer and destroyer of all. He also possesses moral qualities like karunamaya (compassion), dinabandhu (friend of the lowly), bhakta-vatsala (beloved of devotees) and patit-pavana (redeemer of sinners) that make him attractive to devotees. Even though Narayana is sometimes used synonymously with Vishnu, the gods Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva are considered of lower divinity. Though it does not deny the existence of other gods, it asserts that Narayana alone is worshipful and the others are strictly excluded.

The embodied self, called jiva or jivatma is identical to Narayana, is shrouded by maya and thus suffers from misery, When the ego (ahamkara) is destroyed, the jiva can perceive himself as Brahma. The jiva attains mukti (liberation) when the jiva is restored to its natural state (maya is removed). Though other Vaishnavites (Ramanuja, Nimbarka, Vallabha, Caitanya) recognize only videhamukti (mukti after death), the Ekasarana preceptors have recognized, in addition, jivanmukti (mukti during lifetime). Among the five different kinds of videhamukti, the Ekasarana rejects the Sayujya form of mukti, where the complete absorption in God deprives jiva of the sweetness and bliss associated with bhakti. Bhakti is thus not a means to mukti but an end to itself, and this is strongly emphasized in Ekasarana writings——Madhavdeva begins his Namaghosha with a obeisance to devotees who do not prefer mukti.

Narayana often manifests through avatars, and Krishna is considered as the most perfect one who is not a partial manifestation but Narayana himself. It is in the form of Krishna that Narayana is usually worshiped. The description of Krishna is based on the one in Bhagavat Puran, as one who resides in Vaikuntha along with his devotees. Thus the worshipful form is different from other forms of Krishna-based religions (Radha-Krishna of Caitanya, Gopi-Krishna of Vallabhacharya, Rukmini-Krishna of Namadeva and Sita-Rama of Ramananda). The form of devotion is infused with the dasya bhava as opposed to the madhura bhava prevalent in these other religions but singularly absent here.