[Advaita-l] Advaita and Bhagavad Gita

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at 1:18 AM, Rajaram Venkataramani <
rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:


> Ravisankar, being the self of all is one of the vibhutis of the lord like
> being the sun or dhananjaya. Please see the previous verse (bg 10.19) where
> the lord sets the context. Also, as you said, it could refer to paramatma
> not jivatma for those who dont accept both are one. Hence this cannot be a
> verse to unambiguously establish advaitam.
>

Namaste.

In 10.17 Arjuna had asked:  In what all bhAva-s can I/one contemplate upon
You, O Lord?

To this The Lord started giving the reply listing His Glories.  In 10.19 He
said this List is by no means an exhaustive one -  praadhAnyataH...And as
the very first of His Glories, in 10 .20 He says अह्मात्मा गुडाकेश
सर्वभूताशयस्थितः  ...I am the Atman, Self, O Arjuna, established in the
interior mind (cave of the intellect) of all beings.

Bhagavatpada comments:  I am the pratyagAtmaa, nityam dhyeyaH.  I am the
innermost Self of all, worthy of being ever-contemplated.  And those who are
unable to do this, are to meditate upon Me in the bhAva-s listed
subsequently.  For, I alone am the primary cause, the middle and the ground
of resolution:  sriShTi, sthiti and laya kAraNam.

>From the above bhashyam we conclude:


   1. Atman, Brahman, is the svarUpa lakshaNam of every jiva. (सत्यं ज्ञानं
   अनन्तं ब्रह्म)
   2. That is the one that is really the 'dearest'.
   3. This is not known already.
   4. Knowing That is the parama puruShArtha.
   5. As a means to know this, one has to be rivetted to It always, nityam
   dhyeyaH.
   6. It is no doubt difficult.
   7. In case one finds this chintanam difficult, one is asked to
   contemplate upon the other glory, that the Lord, Brahman, is the sriShTi,
   sthiti and laya kAraNam. (जन्माद्यस्य यतः, यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते, येन
   जातानि जीवन्ति, यत्प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति....तद्ब्रह्म .)
   8. This is the taTashta lakshaNam of Brahman.
   9. The other glories listed are far removed from the jiva.
   10. The first glory of Brahman being the very pratyak svarUpa is the
   closest, nay, oneself, for, even to say something is the closest, we have to
   admit two entities that are placed very close to each other.  The Lord, to
   ward off this defect, affirms that He is the very Atma of everyone thereby
   teaching abheda.
   11. TaTastha lakshanam teaches:  That is Brahman.
   12. svarUpa lakshanam culminates in giving the experience: I am Brahman.
   13. We can see these last two actually demonstrated in the Taittiriya
   Upanishad:  In the Ananda Valli, the teaching began:  .....सत्यं ज्ञानं
   अनन्तं ब्रह्म, यो वेद निहितं गुहायां परमे व्योमन्....In the Bhriguvalli, the
   Father taught his son that Brahman is to be enquired into thru the doorways
   of annam, praaNam, ...etc. roughly the kosha-s and also gave the lakshaNam:
   यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते, येन जातानि जीवन्ति,
   यत्प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति....तद्ब्रह्म (Thtat is Brahman).  This helped the
   aspirant Bhrugu to conduct the vichara.  However, it culminated in his
   realizing himself as the very essence of the whole world:
   अहमन्नमहमन्नमहमन्नं....  This is the sarvAtmabhAva:  Aham Brahna asmi.
   14. Bhagavatpada, in the commentary to the BG verse: 10.20 gives these
   two sadhana-s as being taught by the Lord.  The first chintanam, ahamAtmaa,
   is the closest to the realization; the second: tat brahma, is next best.

The question arises:  Is being one's very Atman the/a Glory, vibhUti,  of
Brahman?  Actually, since Brahman is the only, adviteeya tattvam, in
absolute terms, to say that something/s is/are glory/ies of Brahman is not
very appropriate.  When we consider gold as an entity, there is no need to
refer to it as the cause/essence of ornaments.  Only in relation to
ornaments gold gets the appendage of being the  'essence' of ornaments.
Brahman, in relation to the jiva-s / world alone gets the appendage of its
being the essence, atman, self, of 'these'.  Even this is only relative when
we consider the scriptural teaching of the Absolute nature of Brahman, the
Turiya, prapanchopashamam.  All relativity ends with the third paada.  It is
*Brahman only *in absolute terms.

Seen thus, this chintanam, that the Lord/Brahman is the Atma of all is a
sadhana, chintanam, to culminate in the jnanam, realization:  I am no
different from He/It.  Jnanee tu aatmaiva.   This is the teaching of
'aikyam' in the Lord's own words.

Regards,
Om Tat Sat



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