Nimbarkacharya

Nimbarkacharya
An icon of Nimbarkacharya at Ukhra Mahanta Asthal, West Bengal.
Personal
Born	Niyamananda 620 CE[1] Pratiṣṭḥāna, India[2]
Died	690 CE[1]
Religion	Hinduism
Parents	Jagannath and Sarasvati or Aruna Rishi and Jayanti devi[3]
Organization
Order	Vedanta
Founder of	Nimbarka Sampradaya
Philosophy	Svabhavika Bhedabheda Vedanta
Religious career
Disciples Srinivasacharya[4]
Influenced Caitanya[5]
Honors	Jagadguru, Pravakta acharya

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Nimbarkacharya (Sanskrit: निम्बार्काचार्य, romanized: Nimbārkāchārya) (c. 620 - 690^[1]), also known as Nimbarka, Nimbaditya or Niyamananda, was a Hindu philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent of the theology of Dvaitādvaita (dvaita–advaita) or dualistic–non-dualistic sometimes known as Svābhāvika bhedābheda. He played a major role in spreading the worship of the divine couple Radha and Krishna, and founded Nimbarka Sampradaya, one of four main traditions of Hindu sect Vaishnavism.^[6][7]

Nimbarka is believed to have lived around the 12th century,^[8] but this dating has been questioned, suggesting that he lived somewhat earlier than Shankaracharya, in the 6th or 7th century CE.^[9] Born in Southern India in a Telugu Brahmin family,^[7] he spent most of his life in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. He is sometimes identified with another philosopher named Bhaskara,^[10] but this is considered to be a misconception due to the differences between the spiritual views of the two saints.^[4][11][12]

The word 'Nimbārka' (निंबार्क) is derived from two Sanskrit words — nimba (निम्ब) and arka (अर्क). It is believed that Nimbarka was given the name 'Niyamananda' at his birth. According to a folk tale, Niyamananda achieve the name Nimbarka because he trapped some rays of sunlight (arka) in the leaves of Neem (nimba). He was also referred as Nimbaditya by his followers.^[13] Sometimes Bhaskara is also considered his epithet because of the identification of Nimbarka with the philosopher Bhaskara.^[14] The tradition which he founded is named after him.

Nimbarka's traditional followers believe that he appeared in 3096 BCE, but this dating is controversial as historians believe that he lived between 7th and 11th century CE.^[13] According to Roma Bose, Nimbarka lived in the 13th century, on the presupposition that Nimbarkacharya was the author of the work Madhvamukhamardana.^[11] Meanwhile, Vijay Ramnarace concluded that the work Madhvamukhamardana has been wrongly attributed to Nimbarkacharya.^[15] This view is also supported by traditional scholars, who hold a similar perspective.^[16] Bhandarkar places Nimbārka after Rāmānuja, suggesting 1162 CE as the approximate date of his demise,^[17] though he acknowledged that this estimation is highly speculative.^[18] S.N. Dasgupta, on the other hand, dates Nimbārka to the mid-14th century.^[19] Dasgupta bases this dating on the absence of Nimbārka's mention in the Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha, a doxography by 14th-century author Mādhava Vidyāraṇya.^[20] However, it is important to note that none of the Bhedābhedins—whether Bhartṛprapañca, Nimbārka, Bhāskara, or Yādavaprakāśa—are referenced in the Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha.^[21] While S. A. A. Rizvi assigns a date of c.1130–1200 CE.^[22]

According to Satyanand, Bose's dating of the 13th century is an erroneous attribution.^[23] Malkovsky, following Satyanand, notes that in Bhandarkar's own work it is clearly stated that his dating of Nimbarka was an approximation based on an extremely flimsy calculation; yet most scholars chose to honour his suggested date, even until modern times.^[6] According to Malkovsky, Satyanand has convincingly demonstrated that Nimbarka and his immediate disciple Srinivasacharya flourished well before Ramanuja (1017–1137 CE), arguing that Srinivasacharya was a contemporary, or just after Sankaracarya (early 8th century).^[6] According to Ramnarace, summarising the available research, Nimbarka must be dated in the 7th century CE.^[24]

Little is known about Nimbarka's life. He is said to have been born into a Telugu Brahmin family^[7] on the 3rd bright half of the month Vaisakha and his parents were Jagannath, a Bhagavata saint, and his wife Sarasvati, who lived in Pratiṣṭḥāna, which is in present-day Paithan, Maharashtra.^[2] However, some other versions suggest that the name of his parents were Aruna Rishi and Jayanti Devi,^[3] who lived in a place near the river Godavari, which may be in Maharashtra. Nimbarka's followers believe him as the incarnation of Vishnu's weapon, Sudarshana Chakra.^[13][25]

It is believed that Nimbarka was given the name Niyamananda at his birth, but sometimes Bhaskara is considered as his birth name.^[14][26] During Nimbarka's early years, it is described that his family moved to Vrindavan, but there is no historical recorded account.^[27]

Nimbarka's Dvaitadvaita philosophy emphasizes a dualistic non-dualism where the soul is both distinct and non-distinct from God. His teachings emphasize devotion to Krishna and Radha.^[28]

According to Nimbarka, the ultimate reality or Brahman is Krishna, recognized by various names such as Purushottama, Hari, and Bhagavan. He is accompanied by Radha. Brahman, as described by Nimbarka, is flawless, possessing auspicious qualities and transcending the influence of karma, and with attributes such as knowledge, power, and compassion; Brahman is also both the material and efficient cause of creation, likened to a sovereign emperor engaging in playful activities without specific outcomes in mind.^[29]

Nimbarka considered the jiva to possess inherent knowledge (jnana), which distinguishes it from non-sentient elements such as the body, sense organs, and mind. This inherent knowledge permeates every state of the jiva, including waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. Nimbarka explains that the jiva is both knowledge and knower, likening their relationship to that of a gem and its radiance, where they are distinct yet inseparable, existing in a relationship of substrate and attribute.^[30]

Nimbarka's philosophy distinctively outlines the differences between jiva and Brahman by emphasizing their intrinsic relationship as cause and effect, part and whole. Brahman is portrayed as the ultimate cause and the whole, whereas jiva, the individual soul that experiences pleasure and pain, is seen as an effect or a transformation of Brahman. This relationship is analogous to clay transforming into pottery or a tree bearing leaves and fruits, showing differences between the source material and its derivatives. Using scriptural references, Nimbarka asserted that jiva, as a part of the omnipotent Brahman, lacks independence and fullness of power.^[31]

Like Nimbarka, acharyas of other Vedanta schools also accept the concepts of difference and non-difference between Jiva and Brahman as real, but they explain and reconcile these ideas in various ways:^[32]

• Nimbarka asserts that the relationship of both difference and non-difference between Jiva and Brahman is natural (svabhavika) and fully compatible, meaning these aspects coexist without conflict.
• Ramanuja and Srikantha explain the relationship using the analogy of the soul and body (sariri-sarira), where non-difference is principal and difference is subordinate.
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu considers the concepts of difference and non-difference to be inconceivable (acintya), implying that human understanding is limited in fully grasping how both can be true simultaneously.