Bhartrprapanca is a pre-Shankara Vedantin whose views are criticized by Adi Shankaracharya. His works have not come down to us and hence his theories have to be gleaned only from the criticism by philosophers like Adi Shankara.
Bhartrprapanca advocates the combined discipline of jnana
(knowledge) and karma (ritualistic action) to achieve deliverance, in contrast
with Adi Shankara, who thinks that jnana is the only means to moksha (liberation
from the cycle of birth and death) and that it cannot be combined with karma. Bhartrprapanca
seems to think, on the contrary, the jnana knowledge and karma are not opposed
to each other and have equal power to bring about deliverance.
Bhartrprapanca argues that the two broad sections of Vedas,
namely karma and jnana are equally valid and authoritative. Ritualistic portions
of Vedas presuppose difference between the acts and the agent of those acts along
with their results. The portions dealing with jnana, called Upanishads, speak
of the oneness of all, particularly of the individual soul and Brahman (the
Ultimate Reality). So, argues Bhartrprapanca, Vedic scriptures as a whole
declare bheda (difference) and abheda (oneness) as equally real.
Another interesting feature of Bhartrprapanca’s Vedanta is
that Brahman transforms itself into the world of plurality, through it does not
thereby lose its unity and self-identity. This means that Brahman and the world
are real.
This is made plausible by Bhartrprapanca holding that
Brahman has a two-fold nature – general and specific. In its general aspect it
is identical with the world of objects and individual souls, while in its
specific aspect it distinguishes itself from them. Thus identity-in-difference
is the relation among all categories. This can be illustrated by the tree and
its branches, the sea and its waves, and the like, which exhibit identity-in-difference
in their mutual relation.
Bhartrprapanca insists that the individual should, without fail
or flaw, perform the obligatory duties cast on him by the scripture. He should
also refrain from doing wicked deeds prohibited by the scripture and acts prompted
by selfish motives.