Unlimited Nature: A Śaivist Model of Divine Greatness

Abstract

The notion of maximal greatness is arguably part of the very concept of God: something greater than God is not even possible. But how should we understand this notion? The aim of this paper is to provide a Śaivist answer to this question by analyzing the form of theism advocated in the Pratyabhijñā tradition. First, I extract a model of divine greatness, the Hierarchical Model, from Nagasawa’s work Maximal God. According to the Hierarchical Model, God is that than which nothing could be greater by virtue of being better suited than all other beings in relation to certain great-making properties (§1). I then offer an analysis of the form of theism advocated in the Pratyabhijñā tradition by discussing passages from the works of Somānanda, the founder of the Pratyabhijñā school, and of Utpaladeva, the most prominent of Somānanda’s disciples. I argue that the Pratyabhijñā theist cannot account for divine greatness in terms of the Hierarchical Model. My argument is that the Hierarchical Model requires a comparison between God and other beings that cannot be made with the Pratyabhijñā God (§2). Finally, I develop an original alternative model, the Unlimited Nature Model, that accounts for God’s maximal greatness in a way that suits Pratyabhijñā’s theism. According to the Unlimited Nature Model, the nature of all ordinary beings is metaphysically limited as a result of realizing only a small portion of the potential of what could be, and God is maximally great because only he has a completely unlimited nature (§3).

Full text

Vol.:(0123456789)
Sophia (2024) 63:553–569
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-024-01005-1
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Unlimited Nature: AŚaivist Model ofDivine Greatness
DavideAndreaZappulli1
Accepted: 17 January 2024 / Published online: 23 February 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024
Abstract
The notion of maximal greatness is arguably part of the very concept of God: some-
thing greater than God is not even possible. But how should we understand this notion?
The aim of this paper is to provide a Śaivist answer to this question by analyzing the
form of theism advocated in the Pratyabhijñā tradition. First, I extract a model of divine
greatness, the Hierarchical Model, from Nagasawa’s work Maximal God. According
to the Hierarchical Model, God is that than which nothing could be greater by virtue
of being better suited than all other beings in relation to certain great-making proper-
ties (§1). I then offer an analysis of the form of theism advocated in the Pratyabhijñā
tradition by discussing passages from the works of Somānanda, the founder of the
Pratyabhijñā school, and of Utpaladeva, the most prominent of Somānanda’s disci-
ples. I argue that the Pratyabhijñā theist cannot account for divine greatness in terms of
the Hierarchical Model. My argument is that the Hierarchical Model requires a com-
parison between God and other beings that cannot be made with the Pratyabhijñā God
(§2). Finally, I develop an originalalternative model, the Unlimited Nature Model, that
accounts for God’s maximal greatness in a way that suits Pratyabhijñā’s theism. Accord-
ing to the Unlimited Nature Model, the nature of all ordinary beings is metaphysically
limited as a result of realizing only a small portion of the potential of what could be, and
God is maximally great because onlyhe has a completely unlimited nature (§3).
Keywords God· Perfect being theology· Divine greatness· Śaivism· Pratyabhijñā
Introduction
The intuition that God must be an incredibly great being is deeply rooted in our
thinking about the divine. In fact, many would say that it is part of the very idea of
God that he is maximally great. Something greater than God is not even possible.
We can find evidence of how rooted this intuition is in our thinkingby looking at its
* Davide Andrea Zappulli
zappulli.davide@gmail.com; zappulli@student.ubc.ca
1 Department ofPhilosophy, University ofBritish Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T1Z1, Canada
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