Bhartrprapancha

(7th c. C.E.) In Indian philosophy, the
first exponent of the Bhedabhada
(“identity-in-difference”) philosophical
school. The period during which
Bhartrprapancha flourished is uncertain, but he precedes the eighth-century
Bhedabhada commentator Bhaskara.
The Bhedabhada position identified
three levels of being: the Ultimate
Reality known as Brahman, the “witness” consciousness (sakshin) in the
human being, and the world. This
school paradoxically asserted that these
three levels were identical, yet different.
Thus the world is identical to Brahman
but subject to change and decay, unlike
Brahman. In the same way, while each
human soul is identical to Brahman, it is
also subject to bondage and reincarnation (samsara), unlike Brahman. The
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Bharavi
An image of the god Vithoba. Bharud poetry was
composed by poet-saints in the Varkari Panth,
a religious community devoted to Vithoba.
bondage of the soul was caused by the
primal ignorance known as avidya, but
it could be erased by a combination of
action and awareness (jnanakarmasamucchaya). The basic philosophical problem for Bhartrprapancha
and his followers came from their belief
that Brahman was actually transformed
into both the world and the Self, a
philosophical outlook known as parinamavada. Since they believed that
Brahman underwent real changes, it
was subject to bondage and ignorance.
This position was untenable and unacceptable from a religious perspective
because Brahman was deemed to be
perfect and unchanging. This difficulty
may account for the school’s relatively
short life.