The following are some of the new moon
observances: (1) In the month of Bhadrapada
(August–September) the 15 days of the dark half
of the Moon are for worshipping ancestors. (2)
During the month of Magha (January–February) a
day of silence is observed on the new Moon day; it
is one of the important days of the Maha KUMBHA
Mela (festival) at ALLAHABAD.
Further reading: Swami Harshananda, Hindu Festivals
and Sacred Days (Bangalore: Ramakrishna Math, 1994);
Hindu Festivals (Bombay: Central Chinmaya Mission
Trust, 1989).
Nimbarka (c. 12th century) Vedanta
philosopher
Nimbarka was a philosopher of the VEDANTA,
who founded a sect of VAISHNAVISM centered in
Mathura, North India, that focused on RADHA and
KRISHNA.
Nimbarka was born in Andhra Pradesh; his
name has been traced by some to the village
Nimba or Nimbapura in the Bellary District. One
myth explains his name more colorfully: once
a wandering mendicant visited Nimbarka, who
offered him food. Because the Sun had already
set, the ascetic refused, saying that he had vowed
not to eat after the Sun had set. Thereupon the
philosopher took the last rays of the Sun (arka)
and put them up in a neem tree (nimba tree) until
food could be prepared and the ascetic could eat.
Formally, Nimbarka’s Vedantic philosophy is
called dvaitavaita, “both dualist and non-dualist,”
which makes it quite similar (but not identical) to
the philosophy of RAMANUJA and his VISHISHTAD-
VAITA, “non-dualism via differencing.” Dvaitad-
vaita, as does non-dualism, understands that all is
the divinity. All souls and all matter are the stuff
of the divine. In this sense there is non-duality
between the selves, between materiality and the
ultimate. At the same time no individual soul (let
alone matter) can ever be as supreme or sublime
as the divine, so in that sense there is duality (a
difference) between the divinity and the world.
Unlike SHANKARA’S VEDANTA, Nimbarka saw the
world as real and not an illusion.
Less scholarship has been done on Nimbarka’s
philosophy than on several of the other major
Vedanta philosophers. Eight major works in SAN-
SKRIT are attributed to him but only three are
available in published form: Vedanta-parijata-sau-
rabha, his commentary on the Vedanta Sutra; a
work called Dasasloki, which has only 10 verses;
and Krishna-stava-raja, a devotional work. Several
subcommentaries have been written on his work
on the Vedanta Sutra.
Nimbarka’s system took Krishna to be god,
while the devotee took the role of Krishna’s con-
sort, Radha, in adoring him and serving him.
Nimbarka is perhaps best known to modern India
through the Vaishnavite sect named after him,
the Nimbarki sect, which is also referred to as the
Sanakadi or Hamsa sect of Vaishnavites, centered
in Mathura.Further reading: M. M. Agarwal, The Philosophy of Nim-
barka (Varanasi: Chaukhamba Surbharati Prakashan,
1983); Unmesha Mishra, Nimbarka School of Vedanta
(Allahabad: Tirabhukti, 1966); Swami Tapasyananda,
The Bhakti Schools of Vedanta (Madras: Ramakrishna
Mutt, 1990).Nirankari movement (est. 1851)
The Nirankari movement developed within the
larger Sikh community as an effort to revive a
faltering SIKHISM. The founder, Baba Dyal (1783–
1855), denounced new rites and rituals being
introduced into Sikhism at the time, which he
said were an indication that Sikhism was being
absorbed into the more dominant Hinduism. The
movement gained its name from his emphasis on
Nirankar, or God the formless one.
In 1851, Baba Dyal formally organized his
small following as the Nirankari Darbar. He was
succeeded four years later by his son, Baba Dar-K 312 Nimbarka