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The Systems of Rāmānuja
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Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
559
different from them in virtue of His independent and extraordinary nature. Thus, bheda or difference means the possibility of existence which is separate, at the same time dependent ( परतन्त्र सत्ताभावः ); while a-bheda or non-difference means the impossibility of an independent existence (:). Thus, in the text 'Tattvamasi' the word 'tat' signifies the Brahman which is omniscient, omnipotent, independent and the Self of all; the word 'tvam' signifies the individual soul which depends for its existence upon the Brahman; and the word 'asi' is the copula signifying the relation of the two which is difference, not inconsistent with non-difference, and which can be illustrated by the relation between the fire and its sparks or by that between the sun and its lustre.' Thus, the Brahman or Paramātman is bhinnābhinna different and non-different at the same time with the souls and the world. Nimbārka assigns equal reality and importance to the difference while Rāmānuja gives primary importance to the unity of the Brahman by reducing the differences to its adjectives (विशेषण). Rāmānuja lays more emphasis on the unitary aspect of the Brahman which is only qualified by the parts or the souls and the world; while Nimbārka puts both on equal par and calls both real in the same sense.
For Private And Personal
Nimbarka discards the illusoriness of the world being caused by superimposition (adhyasa-) as S'amkara says. He argues that the world which is superimposed out of ignorance upon the Brahman must exist somewhere as a real object; it cannot be
1 Ghate V. S.: Vedanta, pp. 31, 32,
