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[nanda chandran]

>I have a question>
>      Swami Vivekananda has said that before creation there was prakriti in
>unmanifested state called 'Avyaktam'
>      where all three forces 'tamas,Rajas ans sattva' are  held in perfect
>equilibrium.>      Is this avyaktam same as brahman?

In Advaita all manifestation is only in the vyavahAra. In its absolute
sense, Brahman has no manifestations.

>No.  Even in its unmanifest state, matter is maya, a false >superimposition
>on changeless Brahman.  This is in contrast to Samkhya/Yoga which >teaches
>a kind of dualism where Prakrti is equal and completely distinct from
>Purush (their equivalent of Brahman) which is just an inert observer.--

Again in its vyavahAra logic, Advaita teaches the distinctness of prAkriti
and individual purushas. But it also teaches that they're all contained in
Brahman. This is pretty similar to VisishtAdvaita theory.

It should also be understood that mAyA doesn't mean illusion in the normal
sense. SamsAra is mAyA only because it is ultimately unintelligible (so
there's a lot of logic behind mAyA and it's not a mere dogmatic assertion).
As it is unintelligible SamsAra is neither real nor non-real.

>An interesting view is that of Sri Aurobindo. The prakriti-maya in
> >potential
>is intrinsic in Brahman. It is not some external veil for there could >be
>nothing 'other'.-----Original Message-----

For Advaitins, Aurobindo should be touched with a long stick and very
carefully at that. Ultimately we hold that only knowledge can liberate,
while Aurobindo thinks it is only some pseudo psychological release and not
the real release (see his "synthesis of yoga"). By this he's totally
undermined the jnAna tradition which preceded the bhakti movement by more
than two thousand years.

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>From  Fri May  5 06:50:43 2000
Message-Id: <FRI.5.MAY.2000.065043.0700.>
Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 06:50:43 -0700
Reply-To: anandn at myworldmail.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG>
From: Anand Natarajan <anandn at MYWORLDMAIL.COM>
Organization: MyWorldMail  (http://www.myworldmail.com:80)
Subject: Re: Manifest and unmanifest
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        <ADVAITA-L at braincells.com>
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This is in regard to the discusiion on the unmanifest state and whether it is Brahman.

Srimad Bhagavad Gita says,
"Avyakthadeeni Bhuthani Vyaktha Madhyani Bharatha.
 Avyaktha Nidhana yeva, tatraka paridevana"

" O, Bharatha ,All beings are unmanifest in the beginning, manifest in the middle
   and again unmanifest in the end .... "

Swamiji might have been refering to this. This state of unmanifestation is again explained in the 15th chapter by Sri Bhagavan as

"Dwavimo Purusha loko, Kshaya Akshayamevacha.
 Kshayaha sarvaani bhuthani , Kutashtokshara uchyathe ".

"There are two types of Purusha in this universe, the perishable and the imperishable,
 All the beings , these are perishable, Kutastha is the imperishible".

Therefore by the unmanifest state , this Kutastha is being refered, This is a word that
has been interpreted differently by different commentators. However this unmanifest state may not be a state of realization, it is the Mula Prakrithi, Prakrithi after pralaya or before creation.

Again Sri Bhagavan says,
"Yasmaksharam athithoham, Aksharath api chothamaha.
 Athosmi loke vedecha prathithaha purushothamam "

"Since I am higher than the perishable and even higher than the imperishable.
  I am declared in all the worlds and in the Vedas as Purushothama, the supreme Purusha"

I believe this is the state of Brahman. It is beyond manifestation and unmanifestation.
Coming into being and ceasing to be do not take place in it.

Om,
         Anand



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