Ishvara (Sanskrit:ईश्वर,romanized: Īśvara) is a concept inHinduism, with a wide range of meanings that depend on the era and the school of Hinduism.[1][2] In ancient texts ofHindu philosophy, depending on the context,Ishvara can mean lord, ruler, king, husband, queen, soul or the Supreme Self (Paramatman).[1] In medieval-era Hindu texts, depending on the school of Hinduism,Ishvara meansGod, Supreme Being,personal God, or specialSelf.[2][3][4]InShaivism,Ishvara is an epithet ofShiva.[5][6][7][8] InVaishnavism, it is synonymous withVishnu, like in his epithet ofVenkateswara.[9] In traditionalBhakti movements,Ishvara is one or more deities of an individual's preference (Iṣṭa-devatā) from Hinduism's polytheistic canon of deities. In modern-day sectarian movements likeArya Samaj andBrahmoism,Ishvara takes the form of a monotheistic God.[10] In theYoga school of Hinduism, it is any "personal deity" or "spiritual inspiration".[11] InAdvaita Vedanta, Ishvara is the manifested form ofBrahman (Saguna brahman).[12]
The root of the word Ishvara comes fromIsh (ईश्īś-) meaning "capable of" and "owner, ruler, chief of".[13] The second part of the wordIshvara isvara (वरvara), which means depending on context, "best, excellent, beautiful", "choice, wish, blessing, boon, gift", and "suitor, lover, one who solicits a girl in marriage".[14] The composite word,Ishvara literally means "owner of best, beautiful", "ruler of choices, blessings, boons", or "chief of suitor, lover".
As a concept,Ishvara in ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts variously means a ruler or king, a husband, God, Supreme Being, Supreme Self, Shiva, the god of love, one of the Rudras and the number 'eleven'.[5][6][15]
The wordĪśvara does not appear inRigveda.[16] However, the verbīś- does appear in Rigveda, where the context suggests that the meaning of it is "capable of, able to".[16] It is absent inSamaveda, is rare inAtharvaveda, but it appears inSamhitas ofYajurveda. The contextual meaning, however as the ancient Indian grammarianPāṇini explains, is neither god nor supreme being.[16]
The wordIshvara appears in numerous ancientDharmasutras. However, thereIshvara does not mean God, but meansVedas.[17]Ishvara in Dharmasutras could alternatively mean king, with the context literally asserting that the Dharmasutras are as important asIshvara (the king) on matters of public importance".[17]
The term is used as part of the compoundsMaheshvara ("The Great Lord") andParameshvara ("The Supreme Lord") as the names ofVishnu andShiva. InMahayana Buddhism it is used as part of the compound "Avalokiteśvara" ("lord who hears the cries of the world", but seeetymology section there), the name of abodhisattva revered for his compassion. When referring to divine as female, particularly inShaktism, the feminineIshvari is sometimes used.[18]
InAdvaita Vedanta school, Ishvara is a monistic Universal Absolute that connects and is the Oneness in everyone and everything.[19][20]
Among the six systems ofHindu philosophy,Samkhya andMimamsa do not consider the concept ofIshvara (i.e., a supreme being) relevant.Yoga,Vaisheshika,Vedanta andNyaya schools of Hinduism discussIshvara, but assign different meanings.
Ishvara is a metaphysical concept in theYogasutras.[21] The book does not mention a specific deity or describe any devotional practices (Bhakti), nor does it provide characteristics ofIshvara typically associated with a deity.[21] In theYoga school of Hinduism, states Ian Whicher, a professor of religion at theUniversity of Manitoba,Ishvara is neither a creator God nor the universal Absolute ofAdvaita Vedanta.[3] Whicher also notes that some theistic sub-schools of Vedantic philosophy of Hinduism, inspired by the Yoga school, explain the termIshvara as the "Supreme Being that rules over the cosmos and the individuated beings".[3][22] Angelika Malinar, a professor ofIndian studies at theUniversity of Zurich, too, writes that, among the Samkhya-Yoga schools of Hinduism,Ishvara is neither a creator God nor a salvific God.[23]
Bhakti sub-schools refer toIshvara as a divine lord or the specified deity of the Bhakti sub-school.[24] Some contemporary sectarian movements have emphasizedIshvara as a supreme lord—for example, theInternational Society for Krishna Consciousness's theology is monotheistic, withKrishna being the universe's supreme divinity.[25] In traditional theistic sub-schools of Hinduism, such as theVishishtadvaita ofRamanuja andDvaita of Madhva,Ishvara is identified asVishnu and/orNarayana, who is distinct from theprakṛti (material world) andpurusha (Self).
The diversity in interpretations ofIshvara aligns with theistic Hinduism's notion of a personal God.[26] Thus, Hinduisms also allow practicing individuals choice in their conceptualizations ofIshvara, whether that be in the form of a specific deity or the formlessBrahman of ultimate reality.[4][2][27][28]
Samkhya isa commonly considered an atheistic school of Hindu philososphy.[11][29][30] However, some, such as Norwegian scholarKnut A. Jacobsen, consider Samkhya to be more accurately described as a form ofnontheism.[31] Still others, includingState University of New YorkIndologist and professorAndrew J. Nicholson, argue that Samkhya was originally theistic but transitioned to atheism during theMiddle Ages.[32]Ishvara as a being is occasionally affirmed—but more often denied—in the Samkhya school.[33] For example, arguments are advanced in theSamkhya Pravachana Sutra and its commentaries against the existence ofIshvara, chiefly that a being that is both a creator and free cannot exist.[34]
TheYoga Sutras of Patanjali, the foundational text of theYoga school of Hinduism, uses the termIshvara in 11 verses: I.23–I.29, II.1, II.2, II.32 and II.45. Since theSutras were compiled, Hindu scholars have debated the identity and purpose ofIshvara, with beliefs ranging fromIshvara-as-"personal god" to it being "special Self", and to "anything that has spiritual significance to the individual".[11][35] Whicher explains that while Patanjali's terse verses can be interpreted both as theistic or nontheistic, the compiler's concept ofIshvara in Yogic philosophy functions as a "transformative catalyst or guide for aiding theyogin on the path to spiritual emancipation".[36]
Patanjali definesIshvara (Sanskrit: ईश्वर) in verse 24 of Book 1 as "a special Self (पुरुषविशेष,puruṣa-viśeṣa)",[37]
Sanskrit:क्लेश कर्म विपाकाशयैरपरामृष्टः पुरुषविशेषईश्वरः ॥२४॥
–Yoga Sutras I.24
This sutra adds the characteristics ofIshvara as the special Self which is unaffected (अपरामृष्ट,aparamrsta) by one's obstacles/hardships (क्लेश,klesha), one's circumstances created by past or one's current actions (कर्म,karma), one's life fruits (विपाक,vipâka), and one's psychological dispositions/intentions (आशय, ashaya).[38][39]
Patanjali's concept ofIshvara is neither as a creator God nor the universal Absolute ofAdvaita Vedanta.[3][22]
TheVaisheshika school of Hinduism, as founded by Kanada in the 1st millennium BCE, neither required nor relied onIshvara for itsatomistic naturalist philosophy. To it, substances andparamāṇu (atoms) are eternal; they move and interact based on impersonal, eternaladrsta (अदृष्ट, invisible) laws of nature.[40][41] The concept ofIshvara, among others, entered into the Vaisheshika school many centuries later in the 1st millennium CE.[40][42] The evolution in ideas aimed to explain how and why its so-called "atoms" have a particular order and proportions. Later ancient Vaisheshika scholars retained their belief that substances are eternal, and addedIshvara as another 'eternal'—albeit one who is also omniscient and omnipresent (but not omnipotent). Vaisheshika scholars posited thatIshvara did not create the world; he created laws that operate the world before becoming passive and letting those universal laws affect reality without divine intervention .[40] Thus, Vaisheshika'sIshvara mirrors theDeus otiosus ofdeism.Klaus Klostermaier, in a 2007 survey of Hinduism, writes thatIshvara can be understood as an eternal God who co-exists in the universe with eternal substances and atoms, but only to the point that he "winds up the clock, and lets it run its course".[40]
EarlyNyaya school scholars consideredIshvara a creator God with the power to grant blessings, boons, and fruits. However, the early Nyaya scholars rejected this hypothesis, though not the existence of God itself, and were non-theistic.[contradictory][43][44] Over time, the Nyaya school became one of the most important defenders of theism in Hindu philosophy.[45]
Nyayasutra's Book 4, Chapter 1, examines what causes the production and destruction of entities (life, matter) in the universe. It considers many hypotheses, includingIshvara. Verses 19–21 postulate that Ishvara exists and is the cause, state a consequence of the postulate, then present contrary evidence, and from the contradiction conclude that the postulate must be invalid.[46]
सिद्धान्तसूत्र :ईश्वरः कारणम्, पुरुषकर्माफल्यदर्शनात्
पूर्वपक्षसूत्र : न, पुरुषकर्माभावे फ्लानिष्पत्तेः
सिद्धान्तसूत्र : तत्कारितत्वादहेतुःProposition sutra:Ishvara is the cause, since we see sometimes human action lacks fruits (results).
Prima facie objection sutra: This is not so since, as a matter of fact, no fruit is accomplished without human action.Conclusion sutra: Not so, since it is influenced by him.
— IV.1.19 – IV.1.21[46]
Centuries later, the 5th-century CE Nyaya school scholar Prastapada revisited the premise of Ishvara. He was followed byUdayana, who in his textNyayakusumanjali, interpreted "it" in verse 4.1.21 of Nyaya Sutra above, as "human action" and "him" as "Ishvara", then he developed counter arguments to prove the existence of Ishvara.[47] In developing his arguments, he inherently definedIshvara as efficient cause, omnipotent, omniscient, infallible, giver of gifts, ability and meaning to humanity, divine creator of the world as well as the moral principles, and the unseen power that makes thekarma doctrine work.[47][48]
Mīmāṃsā scholars of Hinduism questioned whatIshvara (God) is.[49] They used theirpramana tools to cross-examine answers offered by other schools of Hinduism. For example, when Nyaya scholars stated that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and infallible, that the world is the result of God's creation, which is proved by the presence of creatures, just like human work proves human existence, Mimamsa scholars asked, Why does this God create the world, for what reason? Further, they added, it cannot be because of Ishvara's love for human beings, because this world, if Ishvara created it, is imperfect, and human souls suffer. Mimamsa scholars of Hinduism raised numerous objections to any definition of Ishvara and its premises. They deconstructed justifications for the concept ofIshvara and considered it unnecessary for a consistent philosophy and moksha (spiritual liberation).[49][50]
TheAdvaita Vedanta school of Hinduism proclaims that at the empirical level, Ishvara is the cause of the universe and the one who awards the fruits of every action. He is defined as the one without likes and dislikes, as well embodied with compassion (vaiṣamya Nairgghṛṇya doṣa vihīnaḥ). Ishvara is that which is "free fromavidyā (ignorance), free fromahaṃkṛti (ego-sense), free frombandhana (bondage)", a Self that is "pure, enlightened, liberated".[19][20] Having accepted and established Ishvara, Advaita Vedanta proclaims that the fundamental nature of Ishvara (existence, consciousness, and bliss) is non-different from the fundamental nature of an individual. This gives room in Advaita Vedanta to show the nature of Ishvara as both the material and instrumental cause of this universe and the individual who is limited in his own capacities as unreal, and declare that there is oneness between the two, having negated the qualities. This establishes Ishvara as 'saguṇa' or with attributes from the empirical existence and 'nirguṇa' from the absolute sense. This oneness is accepted only at the 'mukti' or ultimate realization level and not at the 'vyavahara' or empirical level. At the absolute level, there is no otherness nor distinction betweenJiva (living being) andIshvara, and any attempts to distinguish the two are a false idea, one based on wrong knowledge, according to Advaita Vedanta.[51]
ईश्वरः अहम्
Ishvara, I am.
— Adi Shankara, Upadesasahasri 2.3.1, 2.10.8[19]
Other Advaitin Hindu texts resonate with themonist views of Adi Shankara. For example, Isa Upanishad, in hymn 1.5-7, states Ishvara is "above everything, outside everything, beyond everything, yet also within everything"; he who knows himself as all beings and all beings as himself – he never becomes alarmed before anyone. He becomes free from fears, delusions, and the root cause of evil. He becomes pure, invulnerable, unified, free from evil, accurate to truth, liberated like Ishvara.[52][53]
When the universe is not manifest, Shankara conceives of Ishvara as abiding in a state of dreamless sleep. The universe's manifestation occurs when Ishvara is in a dreaming state, wherein Ishvara is visualizing the universe owing to its memory of previous creations. Just as the state of dreaming is dependent on memory (not separate from the mind), the universe does not have an existence separate from Ishvara. Ishvara's knowledge is thus a necessary condition for the universe's existence.[54]
Ishvara, inVishishtadvaita Vedanta sub-school of Hinduism, is a composite concept of dualism and non-dualism, or "non-dualism with differentiation".[55] Ishvara, Vishishtadvaitin scholars such as the 11th centuryRamanuja state, is the supreme creator and synonymous withBrahman.[56] Equated with Vishnu in Vishishtadvaita or one of hisavatar,[57] he is both the material and efficient cause, transcendent and immanent.[55] Ishvara manifests in five forms, according to the Vishishtadvaitins:para (transcendent),vyuha (emanations),vibhava (incarnations),antaryamin (dwells inside), andarca (icons).[58] According to this sub-school, states John Grimes, Ishvara possesses six divine qualities:jnana (knowledge),bala (strength),aisvarya (lordship),sakti (power),virya (virility) andtejas (splendor).[58]
Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita concepts provided the foundation for several Bhakti movements of Hinduism, such as those bySri Aurobindo[59] and has been suggested as having influenced Basava'sLingayatism.[60]
The Dvaita (dualism) sub-school of Vedanta Hinduism, founded by 13th 13th-century Madhva, definesIshvara as the creator God that is distinct fromJiva (individual Selves in living beings).[61]Narayana (Vishnu) is considered to beIshvara, and theVaishnavism movement arose on the foundation developed by Dvaita Vedanta sub-school.[9]
Ishvara (God) is a complete, perfect, and the highest reality to Dvaitins, and simultaneously, the world is a separate reality for them, unlike competing thoughts in other sub-schools of Vedanta.[9] InDvaita sub-school,Jiva (individual Self) is different, yet dependent onIshvara (God). Both possess the attributes of consciousness, bliss, and existence, but the individual Self is considered atomic, while God is all-encompassing. The attributes ofJiva struggle to manifest, while God fully manifests them.[61]
Madhva states there are five permutations of differences betweenJiva (individual Self) andIshvara (God): between God and Self, between God and matter, between Self and matter, between one Self and another Self, and between one material thing and another material thing. The differences are both qualitative and quantitative.[62] Unlike Advaita Vedantins who hold that knowledge can lead to Oneness with everyone and everything as well as fusion with the Universal Timeless Absolute, to the state ofmoksha in this life, Dvaita Vedantins hold that moksha is possible only in after-life if God so wills (if not, then one's Self is reborn). Further, Madhva highlights that God creates individual Self, but the individual Self never was and never will become one with God; the best it can do is to experience bliss by getting infinitely close to God.[62]
The world, calledMaya, is held as the divine will of Ishvara.[61]Jiva suffers, experiences misery and bondage, state Dvaitins, because of "ignorance and incorrect knowledge" (ajnana). Liberation occurs with the correct knowledge and attainment unto Lord Narayana.[61] It is His grace that gives salvation according to Dvaita sub-school, which is achievable by predominance ofsattvaguna (moral, constructive, simple, kindness-filled life), and therefore Dvaitins must live adharmic life while constantly remembering, deeply lovingIshvara.[61]
Acintya bhedābheda is a sub-school ofVedanta representing the philosophy ofinconceivable one-ness and difference, in relation to the creation, Prakriti, and the creator, Ishvara (Krishna).[63][64]
InSanskritachintya means 'inconceivable',bheda translates as 'difference', andabheda translates to 'one-ness'. Self (their English phrase for the Sanskrit word:jiva) is considered a part of God, and thus one with Him in quality, yet at the same time different from Him in quantity. This is called acintya-bheda-abheda-tattva, inconceivable, simultaneous oneness and difference.[65]
Caitanya's philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva is understood to be part of a progression to devotionaltheism.Rāmānuja had agreed withŚaṅkara that the Absolute is one only, but he had disagreed by affirming individual variety within that oneness.Madhva had underscored the eternal duality of the Supreme and thejiva: he had maintained that this duality endures even after liberation. Caitanya, in turn, specified that the Supreme and the jīvas are "inconceivably, simultaneously one and different" (acintya-bheda-abheda).[66]
Cārvāka, another atheist tradition insramana, was materialist and a school ofphilosophical scepticism. They rejected all concepts ofIshvara and all forms of supernaturalism.[67][68][69]
Hence, he called his philosophy Achintya Bhedabhed vad, or Inconceivable Simultaneous Oneness and Difference.
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