[Advaita-l] RE: Dasa Avatars(In response to Shri B. Shankar)

[kalyan chakravarthy]

Namaskaaram,


>In this list, we are interested in
>discussing advaita VedAnta as taught by Shankara, not
>"Kalyan VedAnta" or any other kind.


Cut the irrelevant stuff. That would help a lot.


>I will be using the aitareya upanishhad
>(AU).(Translation by Swami Gambhirananda)
>
>AU 1.1.1: AtmA vA idameka evAgra AsIt . nAnyat.h
>kiMchana mishhat.h . sa Ikshata lokAnnu sR^ijA iti ..
>
>"In the beginning this was but the absolute Self
>alone. There was nothing else whatsoever that winked.
>It thought, 'Let me create the worlds.'"
>
>Note: It is clear that the Supreme Self is being
>talked about. After a brief description of creation,
>we come to

>AU 1.3.11: sa Ikshata ... yadi shrotreNa shrutaM ...
>yadi manasA dhyataM ... koahamiti ..
>
>"He thought ... if hearing is by the ear... if
>thinking is by the mind ... then who (or what) am I?"
>Note: The Supreme Self is Itself deliberating on the
>question "Who am I?" -- clear ignorance of the Self!
>After a deliberation of the Self, the answer comes:
>
>AU 1.3.13: ... sa etameva purushhaM brahma
>tatamamapashyat.h . idamadarshamitii ..
>
>"... He realized this very Purushha as Brahman, the
>most pervasive, thus: 'O! I have realized this.'"


This does not show that brahman is deluded. If you however maintain that 
brahman is deluded, then you have the explicit word of the Katha upanishad 
against you.

Ka. 5.11. na lipyate loka dukhena  (unaffected by the miseries of the world) 
Note that misery can be either physical or mental.

If you maintain that brahman is ignorant of Itself, then you have the 
explicit word of the bRhadAraNyaka upanishad 1.4.10 against you, which says 
that brahman knew Itself.

If you still maintain that brahman is deluded, then Sri Krishna being 
brahman, you have to accept that Sri Krishna is deluded. If you accept that 
Sri Krishna is deluded, then you have to accept the bhagavad gIta as 
*avidya* or ignorance, as it is the word of Sri Krishna. If you accept the 
bhagavad gIta as ignorance, then you cannot claim to be one who follows 
vedanta.

If you still maintain that brahman is deluded, since brahman is advitIyam,  
you should explain to me why the world which is a product of superimposition 
due to ignorance is not disssolved after a single jIva achieves liberation.


Best Regards
Kalyan

_________________________________________________________________
Bridge gaps. Reconnect with old friends. http://www.batchmates.com/msn.asp 
On batchmates.com