Ishvara
Ishvara is a concept in Hinduism, with a wide range of meanings that depend on the era and the school of Hinduism. In ancient texts of Hindu philosophy, depending on the context, Ishvara can mean lord, ruler, king, husband, queen, soul or the Supreme Self. In medieval-era Hindu texts, depending on the school of Hinduism, Ishvara means God, Supreme Being, personal God, or special Self.
In Shaivism, Ishvara is an epithet of Shiva. In Vaishnavism, it is synonymous with Vishnu, like in his epithet of Venkateswara. In traditional Bhakti movements, Ishvara is one or more deities of an individual's preference from Hinduism's polytheistic canon of deities. In modern-day sectarian movements like Arya Samaj and Brahmoism, Ishvara takes the form of a monotheistic God. In the Yoga school of Hinduism, it is any "personal deity" or "spiritual inspiration". In Advaita Vedanta, Ishvara is the manifested form of Brahman.
Etymology
The root of the word Ishvara comes from meaning "capable of" and "owner, ruler, chief of". The second part of the word Ishvara is , which means depending on context, "best, excellent, beautiful", "choice, wish, blessing, boon, gift", and "suitor, lover, one who solicits a girl in marriage". 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'.
The word Īśvara does not appear in Rigveda. However, the verb īś- does appear in Rigveda, where the context suggests that the meaning of it is "capable of, able to". It is absent in Samaveda, is rare in Atharvaveda, but it appears in Samhitas of Yajurveda. The contextual meaning, however as the ancient Indian grammarian Pāṇini explains, is neither god nor supreme being.
The word Ishvara appears in numerous ancient Dharmasutras. However, there Ishvara does not mean God, but means Vedas. Ishvara in Dharmasutras could alternatively mean king, with the context literally asserting that the Dharmasutras are as important as Ishvara on matters of public importance".
The term is used as part of the compounds Maheshvara and Parameshvara as the names of Vishnu and Shiva. In Mahayana Buddhism it is used as part of the compound "Avalokiteśvara", the name of a bodhisattva revered for his compassion. When referring to divine as female, particularly in Shaktism, the feminine Ishvari is sometimes used.
In Advaita Vedanta school, Ishvara is a monistic Universal Absolute that connects and is the Oneness in everyone and everything.
Schools of thought
Among the six systems of Hindu philosophy, Samkhya and Mimamsa do not consider the concept of Ishvara relevant. Yoga, Vaisheshika, Vedanta and Nyaya schools of Hinduism discuss Ishvara, but assign different meanings.Ishvara is a metaphysical concept in the Yogasutras. The book does not mention a specific deity or describe any devotional practices, nor does it provide characteristics of Ishvara typically associated with a deity. In the Yoga school of Hinduism, states Ian Whicher, a professor of religion at the University of Manitoba, Ishvara is neither a creator God nor the universal Absolute of Advaita Vedanta. Whicher also notes that some theistic sub-schools of Vedantic philosophy of Hinduism, inspired by the Yoga school, explain the term Ishvara as the "Supreme Being that rules over the cosmos and the individuated beings". Angelika Malinar, a professor of Indian studies at the University of Zurich, too, writes that, among the Samkhya-Yoga schools of Hinduism, Ishvara is neither a creator God nor a salvific God.
Bhakti sub-schools refer to Ishvara as a divine lord or the specified deity of the Bhakti sub-school. Some contemporary sectarian movements have emphasised Ishvara as a supreme lord—for example, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness theology is monotheistic, with Krishna being the universe's supreme divinity. In traditional theistic sub-schools of Hinduism, such as the Vishishtadvaita of Ramanuja and Dvaita of Madhva, Ishvara is identified as Vishnu and/or Narayana, who is distinct from the prakṛti and purusha.
The diversity in interpretations of Ishvara aligns with theistic Hinduism's notion of a personal God. Thus, Hinduisms also allow practicing individuals choice in their conceptualisations of Ishvara, whether that be in the form of a specific deity or the formless Brahman of ultimate reality.
In Samkhya
is commonly considered an atheistic school of Hindu philososphy. However, some, such as Norwegian scholar Knut A. Jacobsen, consider Samkhya to be more accurately described as a form of nontheism. Still others, including State University of New York Indologist and professor Andrew J. Nicholson, argue that Samkhya was originally theistic but transitioned to atheism during the Middle Ages. Ishvara as a being is occasionally affirmed—but more often denied—in the Samkhya school. For example, arguments are advanced in the Samkhya Pravachana Sutra and its commentaries against the existence of Ishvara, chiefly that a being that is both a creator and free cannot exist.In Yoga
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the foundational text of the Yoga school of Hinduism, uses the term Ishvara in 11 verses: I.23–I.29, II.1, II.2, II.32 and II.45. Since the Sutras were compiled, Hindu scholars have debated the identity and purpose of Ishvara, with beliefs ranging from Ishvara-as-"personal god" to it being "special Self", and to "anything that has spiritual significance to the individual". Whicher explains that while Patanjali's terse verses can be interpreted both as theistic or nontheistic, the compiler's concept of Ishvara in Yogic philosophy functions as a "transformative catalyst or guide for aiding the yogin on the path to spiritual emancipation".Patanjali defines Ishvara in verse 24 of Book 1 as "a special Self ",
– Yoga Sutras I.24
This sutra adds the characteristics of Ishvara as the special Self which is unaffected by one's obstacles/hardships, one's circumstances created by past or one's current actions, one's life fruits, and one's psychological dispositions/intentions.
Patanjali's concept of Ishvara is neither as a creator God nor the universal Absolute of Advaita Vedanta.
In Vaisesika
The Vaisheshika school of Hinduism, as founded by Kanada in the 1st millennium BCE, neither required nor relied on Ishvara for its atomistic naturalist philosophy. To it, substances and paramāṇu are eternal; they move and interact based on impersonal, eternal adrsta laws of nature. The concept of Ishvara, among others, entered into the Vaisheshika school many centuries later in the 1st millennium CE. 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 added Ishvara as another 'eternal'—albeit one who is also omniscient and omnipresent. Vaisheshika scholars posited that Ishvara 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. Thus, Vaisheshika's Ishvara mirrors the Deus otiosus of deism. Klaus Klostermaier, in a 2007 survey of Hinduism, writes that Ishvara 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".In Nyaya
Early Nyaya school scholars considered Ishvara 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. Over time, the Nyaya school became one of the most important defenders of theism in Hindu philosophy.Nyayasutra's Book 4, Chapter 1, examines what causes the production and destruction of entities in the universe. It considers many hypotheses, including Ishvara. 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.
Centuries later, the 5th-century CE Nyaya school scholar Prastapada revisited the premise of Ishvara. He was followed by Udayana, who in his text Nyayakusumanjali, 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. In developing his arguments, he inherently defined Ishvara 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 the karma doctrine work.