Bhagavad kr^pa (grace of God)

[Gummuluru Murthy]

I am grateful to Shri Sadananda, Ram Chandran, Vaidya Sundaram and others
for discussion on this topic. I have one more query on this (and a
related) topic. This is related to concept of karma and jeeva's actions
vis-a-vis bhagavad kr^pa (grace of God).

1. We all know bhagavad kr^pa (whatever that parameter) is the same toward
   all jeevas. If not, that is not God (as Shri Sadananda said). Yet, the
   karma concept says that depending on jeeva's past actions, the jeeva's
   future lives and actions are determined. This, I would assume, in spite
   of the bhagavad kr^pa toward all jeevas ? Does it mean that the jeeva's
   past action has a stronger impact than bhagavad kr^pa ? Can it be
   possible ? Isn't there a contradiction negating the sameness of
   bhagavad kr^pa ? The explanation, that we are seeing different jeevas
   at various stages of their spiritual evolution, and bhagavad kr^pa is
   the same for all, does not hold either. Thus, the only explanation is
   that the duality we see, and the whole (concepts of karma, and
   bhagavad kr^pa) all belong in the realm of mAya. Anyone, care to
   comment ?

2. In more or less analogy to this, there is another concept on which I
   seek clarification. A few months ago, I was attending a lecture by a
   swamiji belonging to viShishhTa-advaita tradition. At the end of the
   lecture, I asked a general question concerning mAya. The swamiji's
   response (of course completely disregarding the concept of mAya)
   included a statement to the effect "How can mAya be there ? Is mAya
   so powerful as to completely mask the Brahman ? Or is Brahman so weak
   as to be masked by mAya ? Thus mAya cannot explain what we see."
   Any elucidation on this point, which I would assume is a standard
   vishishhTa-advaita argument against the concept of mAya ?


Regards
Gummuluru Murthy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
... aham bhAvodayAbhAvo bodhasya paramAvadhih ...
                        Shri Shankara in Viveka ChuDAmaNi (verse 424)

The end of the rise of the sense of "I" of the ego is the culmination
of knowledge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

>From  Mon Jan 12 10:04:23 1998
Message-Id: <MON.12.JAN.1998.100423.0500.>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 10:04:23 -0500
Reply-To: chandran at tidalwave.net
To: "Advaita (non-duality) with reverence" <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ram Chandran <chandran at TIDALWAVE.NET>
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Subject: Re: Rig Veda
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Chandran, Nanda (NBC) wrote:

> I'm not sure whether I asked this on the list before :
> Can somebody suggest a good translation of the Rig Veda?

I recommend the translation : Vedic Experience, By Professor Raimon
Panikkar. This is one of the finest translations to the English
Language, done by Professor Raimon Pannikar, who now lives in a small
mountain village in Spain. Himalayan Academy has been commissioned to
publish his 1000-page anthology of the Vedic Experience in a special
edition in the West, while Motilal Banarsidas has produced the Indian
edition. This book has been reviewed and highly recommended by Vedic
Scholars in India.  In July of 1995 Professor Pannikar gave permission
to the Himilayan Academy to publish the translation on the World Wide
Web. All the seven parts of Vedic Experience are currently on line at
the website:

http://hinduismtoday.kauai.hi.us/HimalayanAcademy/Publications/VedicExperience/VEIndex.html

Those who would like to acquire a copy of the Indian English edition may
write to:

Motilal Banarsidass
Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar
Delhi, 110 007
INDIA

Those who wish to acknowledge or communicate with the translator can
write to him at:

Raimon Panikkar
Can Felo,
E-08511 Tavertet
Catalunya, Barcelona
SPAIN