[Advaita-l] Does one really have to come back from the Brahmaloka?

[sriram]

Dear member
I will give my understanding of Srimad Bhagavat Gita where Lord Krishna says
that even Brahma Loka gets dissolved in pralaya paving way for  creation of
a new Brahma loka as it were after a kalpa and those who reach Brahmaloka
reside there and does not return till the final dissolution -the duration of
a kalpa -.As per Chandogya Upanishat the person described is  a knower of
Brahman and He becomes Brahman and there is no question of Brahman again
being born etc.Brahma lokam abhisampadyathe is to be costrued as -he reaches
the world of Brahman and not the world of Brahma.And Lord Krishna is
Brahman/Athma-If the other verses of the same chapter are taken to gether I
think you will be able to reconcile both.
Krishnamoorthy.
----- Original Message -----
From: <sidha at omkarananda-ashram.org>
To: <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 10:03 PM
Subject: [Advaita-l] Does one really have to come back from the Brahmaloka?


> Does one really have to come back from the Brahmaloka?
>
> In the BhagavadGita Lord Shri Krishna says (8-16), "All worlds, including
> BrahmaLoka, have the feature of recurrence, O Arjuna! but on reaching Me,
> there is no more rebirth."
>
> To me this particular statement of Lord Shri Krishna seems to be against
> the Shruti. Can anyone clarify this doubt? How to reconcile both
> statements?
>
> Let me tell you the stand of the Shruti on this!
> Chandogya Upanishad finishes with the following statement (8-15-1), "He
> reaches BrahmaLoka, He never comes back, He never comes back".
> The double statement emphasizes that HE NEVER COMES BACK.
>
> In one other place Chandogya Upanishad mentions (4-15-5), "A super-human
> takes them to BrahmaLoka, this is the Divine path (devapatha), this is the
> greatest path (brahmapatha), whoever tread this path, never come back to
> this human body, they never come back."
> As you can see, here also the Shruti emphasizes the phrase "they never
> come back" by saying it twice.
> The last Sutra in the BrahmaSutra "anaavrittih shabdaadanaavrittih
> shabdaat" also very clearly proves that there is no coming back from the
> BrahmaLoka.
>
> Even in the Rig-veda it is mentioned (8-48-3), "We have imbibed Soma (the
> divine nectar of knowledge given by the Holy Teacher), we became immortal,
> we obtained light (of self-realization), thus we came to all the radiant
> beings (Devas, sine they are just various manifestations of that Divine
> Light which we have obtained). How can now my enemies (lust, anger, hatred
> etc.) harm me anymore?"
>
> For me this statement is a "vedaanuvacana", a statement of bliss that
> occurs after one imbibes the Divine Nectar of knowledge and enters the
> trance of Self-realization.
> Let me also make it clear that "Soma" had a very mystical and spiritual
> significance in the Rig-veda, it was very clearly not a plant, as
> understood by the Yajnikas. This is very very clearly stated in the
> following Mantra of the Rigveda (10-85-3), "Some people think they have
> drank Soma after they grind a plant and drink its juice, but the Soma
> which is known to the Mantras (or the seers of the Rig-veda), isn't
> imbibed by anybody".
> Shatapatha Brahmana provides a very clear spiritual interpretation of
> "Soma", "All this is my own self, this realization is called Soma" (sva
> vai ma eSha iti tasmaat somo naama, Shatapatha Brahmana)
>
> In this case how does Bhagavan Shri Krishna say that one has to come back
> from the BrahmaLoka?
> Love and respect,
> Siddhartha Krishna
>
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