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XXXVIII] Srīpati Pandita's Ideas The whole idea is that, in whatsoever form the world may appear, it is in reality nothing but Sival.
When Bādarāyaṇa says that the world cannot be distinguished as different from Brahman, it naturally means that the manifold world, which has come out of Brahman, is one with Him. The world cannot be regarded as the body of Brahman, and the scriptures declare that in the beginning only pure being existed. If anything else but Brahman is admitted, then the pure monism breaks. The two being entirely opposed to each other, one cannot be admitted as being a part of the other, and the two cannot be identified in any manner. So the normal course would be to interpret the texts as asserting both the duality and the non-duality of the Brahman. Thus the Brahman is both different from the world and identical with it.
Śrīpati thinks that on the evidence of the Sruti texts a Brahmin must take initiation in Saiva form and bear with him the Saiva sign, the linga, as much as he should, being initiated into Vedic rites. It is then that the person in question becomes entitled to the study of the nature of Brahman, for which the Brahma-sūtra has been written. The inquiry into the nature of Brahman necessarily introduces to us all kinds of discussions regarding the nature of Brahman.
Though Srīpati emphasises the necessity of carrying the linga and of being initiated in the Saiva form, yet that alone cannot bring salvation. Salvation can only come when we know the real nature of Brahman. In introducing further discussions on the nature of Brahman, Srīpati says that wherever the scriptural texts describe Brahman as differenceless and qualityless, that always refers to the period before the creation. It is Siva, the differenceless unity, that expands His energy and creates the world and makes it appear as it
i vācārambhanam vikāro nāmadheyam mrttikety eva satyam iti śrutau apavāda-darśanād adhyāso grāhya iti cen na vācārambhana-śrutīnām sivopādānatvāt prapañcasya tattādātmya-bodhakatvam vidhiyate na ca mithyātvam. Srikara-bhāşya, p. 6.
Srikara-bhāsya, p. 8. Sripati takes great pains to show on the evidence of scriptural texts the indispensable necessity of carrying the insignia of Siva, the linga in a particular manner which is different from the methods of carrying the linga not approved by the Vedas, pp. 8-15.
Sripati points out that only the person, who is equipped with the four accessories called the sādhana-sampad consisting of sama, dama, titikṣā, uparati, mumuksutva, etc., is fit to have the linga.
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