Shakti Vishishtadvaita, the name for Virashaiva metaphysics, suggests that it is a school of Vedanta, like Advaita and Vishishtadvaita. But a close examination proves the contrary. Normally, the word ‘Vedanta’ refers either to the philosophy of the Upanishads or to that system of philosophy which is enshrined in the commentaries on ‘the triple foundation’, prasthana-traya — the principal Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and Badarayana’s Brahma Sutra. The Vedanta Acharyas, commentators on the triple foundation, like Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, and others draw support from these three foundational sources in order to prove their Advaitic or Vishishtadvaita theses. However, no Virashaiva or Lingayat has written a commentary on these three — not even the Brahma Sutra, from the Virashaiva standpoint.
This definition, therefore, excludes Lingayatism from the
group of Vedanta schools. Some scholars claim that one Sripati Pandita of the
eleventh century has written the Srikara-bhashya, a commentary on the Brahma Sutra
from the Virashaiva point of view. But others contend that this work is not
genuine on the following three grounds:
It contains references to Madhvacharya, who lived in the
thirteenth century, both by name and by doctrine. It appears to have been
authored by some scholars in 1891 and ascribed to Sripati Pandita, who actually
lived in the eleventh century, with the sole intention of pushing the date of
Virashaivism to a pre-Basava period.
The book abounds in plagiarism, for commentaries of more
than one hundred and thirty sutras have been copied fully or partially from the
Sri Bhashya of Ramanujacharya.
Moreover, the doctrines advocated in this work are
diametrically opposed to those advocated by Lingayatism as enshrined in the
Kannada Vachanas. For example, it upholds the doctrine —contained in the
‘Apashudra’ (Pseudo Shudra) section — that the shudras, untouchables, and women
in general are not eligible for moksha, because they are not authorized to
study the Vedas as they do not wear the sacred thread whereas the Lingayats
have been advocating that all those who wear the ishtalinga —the linga that all
Lingayats wear on their person—are equally eligible for moksha, whether they
are men or women, shudras or brahmanas.
Although the Virashaiva metaphysics can be constructed
purely on the basis of the Vachanas, it can still be called Shakti Vishishtadvaita
Vedanta, because its doctrines of God, soul, world, and liberation are
comparable to those of the Vedanta schools and some of them are based on the Upanishads.
Source – excerpts from article titled ‘Lingayat Philosophy and Vedanta’ by Prof. N G Mahadevappa in the 2010 issue of Prabuddha Bharata Magazine.