Modification, Emanation, and Pariṇāma-Vāda in Medieval Theistic Vedānta and Kabbalah

Medieval Vedānta has been divided into two major worldviews: pari?āma-vāda and vivarta-vada . The pari?āma-vādins maintain that the world is a transformation or development (pariṇāma) of ultimate reality (Brahman), whereas the second group, the vivarta-vādins, hold that the world is a false appearance (vivarta) of ultimate reality. In many ways Kabbalah is similar to pariṇāma-vāda as it holds a similar concept according to which divinity descends into the world through transformation, thus enabling human beings to encounter the divine reality through mind and matter. This chapter highlights two such similarities, in the realm of ontology and in the realm of ethics. In the realm of ontology, a central concept of Kabbalah is that of the sefirot which are often depicted in anthropomorphic terms; this concept is similar in various ways to the " Virāṭ Puruṣa,” a Vedic concept of a Universal Person, which receives a theistic interpretation by the Bhāgavata Purāṇa . In the realm of ethics, the ethics of Mesilat Yesharim by the Ramhal is compared to the Bhagavad-gītā‘s ladder of ethical actions, as depicted by Viśvanātha.