Community Information
-
Questions about Bhakti Yoga and Nyaya~Vaisheshika Darshans.
I am a Wikipedia guy, and encounters such topics while surfacing many things. So if anything I quote is wrong, please feel free to correct me. There are described to be 5 Bhavas(affective essence) by which you can have a personal relation to God. One of bhava is called Madhurya Bhava in which a person sees himself as a lover of their deity. One example people often state is how Srimati Radharani loves Lord Krishna as God or how Sant Mirabai viewed Lord Krishna as her lover. **My question is, why God is being always representated as male figure and devotee is a female figure. Is Madhurya Bhava only confined for females ? But if it is possible, is there any reason for it not being much popular than its opposite ?** I asked ChatGPT a bit about it, and it replied as : "**In Tamil Bhakti, poet-saints like** **Tirumangai Alvar (one of the 12 Alvars), in some of his hymns, imagined himself as a male devotee and Vishnu as his bride.**" So feels like idea was there and but was not popularized possibly due to societal issues. Also I have heard that certain Avatars are limited for certain bhavas. So one can certainly not pursue a Madhurya Bhava with Lord Rama because of Him having Ekapatnivrata or one-wife vow. And I am guessing certain bhavas would not be similarly possible with, lets say Lord Matsya(I am guessing at this point). I don't know if Goddess Mohini, as being only female avatar of Lord Vishnu, is a suitable deity for it or not. And also many Shakti tradition transcends Shakti as Goddess, but my question is not that, just to clarify, I am literally asking of treating God or Goddess as one's wife just as we observe in opposite of treating God as their husbands. And before it confuse you anyhow what I mean by treatment here. Whatever duties of a Husband is to her wife would be now performed by the Bhakti Yogi for their deity that is caring providing and whatever it is the generic stuff. It is particularly important to mention, since many devotees treats themselves as female despite being male and treats God as male counterpart despite if God is a feminine figure. So I am trying to be precise about what Bhava such bhakti yogi will have in mind while praying. Now about something I am most fascinated with, is Nyaya\~Vaisheshika Darshan. Their system of logic is finest for its time and I think at least in realm of physics it is pretty much applicable even today(if not in mathematics). But question is, they claim their method of inspection by 4 main components of 1) perception (*pratyakṣa*) 2) inference (*anumāna*) 3) comparison (*upamāna)* 4) word/testimony of reliable sources (*śabda*) and Vaisheshika Darshan further only accepting first two of methods. Now school have offered different views upon existence of God but is still often put in theistic school of Hinduism. Claim is that Vedas are accepted by School as authority though if we go by these 4 methods of inspection it doesn't seem that Vedas would hold unquestionable authority. May be it is some foundational premise I am unknown of. **My main question is, does Nyaya\~Vaishesikha Darshan permits one to question existence of God(and refute if proven) and to question the authority of Vedas or any scriptures based on logic ?** Lets not get into how would I prove it, just wanna know if it is even in consideration or not. You can answer on any of points you feel yourself able upon. Would love to hear any opinions you have to offer on subject. Thank you.2
© 2025 Indiareply.com. All rights reserved.