[Advaita-l] Advaita and Bhagavad Gita

Vidyasankar Sundaresan svidyasankar at hotmail.com
Thu Jun 24 14:42:42 CDT 2010


 

Assuming that this is a genuine question, please see, 

 

udArAs sarva evaite jnAnI tv Atmaiva me matam
Asthitas sa hi yuktAtmA mAmevAnuttamAM gatim - 7.18


bahUnAM janmanAm ante jnAnavAn mAM prapadyate 
vAsudevas sarvam iti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhaH - 7.19

 

bhagavAn kRshNa here explicitly says that the jnAnI is his own
AtmA. The true advaitin jnAnI is someone for whom vAsudeva is
indeed ALL. He does not exclude his own jIva from this sarvam.
He knows that even when he says "I", in relation to something
that is not "I", all of it is only vAsudeva. Because of this, he is
the dearest to bhagavAn. Please note in this connection, the
bRhadAraNyaka reference where the AtmA is indeed the dearest.
The so-called jIva-brahma-aikya should not be understood as
misrepresented by Gaudiya Vaishnavas. Where there is aikya
realized, there is no more jIva! There is only brahman.


The advaitin jnAnI is the one who truly realizes the insignificance
of the jIva, unlike those other self-proclaimed bhakta-s who
loudly trumpet their insignificance but cling to it for dear life
when it comes time to obliterate their own self-identification
with this insignificant entity.


To see the advaitic import of these verses, one has to really 
read the bhagavadgItA as it is, and step away from the polemics
in the book that carries the title "The Bhagavadgita as it is".
Sorry, couldn't resist that!

 

Regards,

Vidyasankar 



 
> Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:50:51 +0100
> From: rajaramvenk at gmail.com
> To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
> Subject: [Advaita-l] Advaita and Bhagavad Gita
> 
> In Bhagavad Gita, there are many verses where Lord Krishna says I am the
> supreme Lord, I am everything, every thing emanates from me and I am
> distinct from every thing. I am omniscient and you are not. I should be
> worshipped by falling at my feet and you should surrender to me for which I
> will reward you with moksha etc. There are also many verses where Arjuna
> glorifies Lord Krishna as the Supreme Lord and his transcendental form.
> Sanjaya also glorifies Lord Krishna's form but neither of them talk about
> even a theoretical understanding jiva-brahma aikya. Lord Krishna's direct
> students do not understand his nirguna aspect but worship his transcendental
> form in the mood of an insignificant bhakta.There are direct statements
> saying that the jivatma is an energy of the paramatma, whereas the paramatma
> is distinct from jivatma and material energy (bhumir apo). There are clear
> statements which say that jivatma is an amsa of the paramatma (mamaivamso).
> Is there at least one verse in Bhagavad Gita which can be interpreted
> unambigously as evidence for advaitam?
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