Shuddhadwait

Shuddhadwait is a philosophy propagated by Vallabhacharya in the Hindu Vaishnavism. It describes the attributes of the Brahm, the summum bonum of everything that is. The term is a combination of two words; "Shuddha"— Pure, and "Adwait"— non-dual.

In the ancient Vedic tradition of knowledge and understanding of reality, the central topic would be describing the Supreme Entity or Brahm. Vedas primarily contain references to the "adwait" nature of Brahm. However, depending on how a scholar perceives those verses, s/he might see duality— "dwait" aspect as well. This ambiguity has led to several philosophical traditions in the Indian history, such as:

*Adwait vaad or Mayavaad of Shankaracharya
*Dwait vaad or Bhedvaad of Madhvacharya
*Vishistadwait vaad of Ramanujacharya
*Dwaitadwait vaad of Nimbarkacharya
*Achintya Bhedabhed vaad of Krishna Chaitanya
*Shuddhadwait vaad of Vallabhacharya

Shuddhadwait is defined more thoroughly in verse 27-28 from Shuddhadwait Martand:

शुद्धाद्वैतापदे ज्ञेय: समास: कर्मधारय: I

अद्वैतं शुद्धयो: प्राहुः षष्ठी तत्पुरुषमं बुधा: II

मायासंबंधरहितमं शुद्धमित्युच्यते बुधै: I

कार्यकरणरूपमं हि शुद्धं ब्रह्म न मायिकम़् II [Shuddhadwait Martand, verse 27-28]

Relationship between Brahm and Souls and Objects

In all the philosophical traditions, it is common practice to describe how the Supreme Entity Brahm is related to us and our surroundings. In the system of Suddhadwait Vedant, otherwise known as Brahmvaad, the One, secondless Ultimate Reality is the only category. Every other thing has proceeded from it at the time of creation, is non-different from it during creation and merges into it at the time of dissolution. The two other well known categories namely the animate souls and the inanimate objects are respectively its parts and modifications. The animate souls are its parts because they retain to some extent the essential qualities thereof namely consciousness and joy. The inanimate objects are its modification because the above said qualities are absent therein. [PhD thesis, [http://www.pushtimarg.net/newPushti/pushti_vidhanam/book/english/bramhavaad.pdf "The system of Shuddhadwait Vedant of Vallabhacharya"] by Goswami Raghunathji]

References

Related Links

* [http://www.pushtimarg.net Pushtimarg]
* [http://shuddhadwait.blogspot.com Shuddhadwait Blog]