[Advaita-l] Help required to understand the Bhashyam

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

In the midst of the spirited discussion going on currently, the following 
post has not seen any response. So also with another post from Annapureddy 
Siddhartha, on the term prajnAvAda in gItA 2.11. I have been meaning to 
respond, but found very little time over the last few days.

The intention of this post is just to draw the attention of other list 
members to these questions on the gItAbhAshya, so that a discussion may get 
going.

Best regards,
Vidyasankar

>From: br_vinayaka <vinayaka_ns at yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: A discussion group for Advaita 
>Vedanta<advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>To: advaita <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>Subject: [Advaita-l] Help required to understand the Bhashyam
>Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2007 19:45:32 -0800 (PST)
>
>Dear Advaitins,
>
>Namaste,
>
>I am going through acharya's gita bhashya. I have some difficulty to 
>understand the bhashyam for the 27th sloka in the 14th Chapter which seems 
>to be very abstruse.
>
>The sloka is:
>
>For I am the abode of Brahman-the indestructible and immutable, the 
>eternal, the dharma and the absolute bliss.
>
>Last two paragraphs of the bhashya are as under:
>
>The purport is this: Indeed, that power of God through which brahman sets 
>out, comes forth, for the purpose of favouring the devotess, etc., that 
>power which is brahman itself, am I. For, a power and the possessor of that 
>power are non different. or, brahman means the conditioned brahman, since 
>it (too,) is referred to by that word. 'Of that brahman, I myself, the 
>unconditioned brahman-and none else-am the abode.
>
>(Abode of brahman) of what qualities? Of that which is immortal; of that 
>which has the quality of deathlessness; of that which is immutable; so 
>also, of that which is the eternal; which is the dharma having the 
>characteristics of steadfasteness in knowledge; of that which is the 
>absolute, unquestionably certain bliss born of that steadfastness;-'I am 
>the abode' is understood.
>
>In the first paragraph is acharya referring to incarnation of god or 
>Ishwara in the first case by telling- 'Indeed, that power of God through 
>which brahman sets out, comes forth, for the purpose of favouring the 
>devotess, etc.' and secondly, is he referring to Hiranyagarbha? by 
>referring his as 'or, brahman means the conditioned brahman.'
>
>What is exact definition of dharma given by acharya in the present context?
>
>Swami Tapasyanandaji of Ramakrishna Order has made a very interesting 
>observation here which is worth quoting.
>
>He defines brahman in this context in the following manner:
>
>What is important here is is that brahmi-sthiti, brahma bhuyam etc. do not 
>seem to be the intution of the supreme being, but a state mid-way, through 
>which alone true intutuion is attained. It is stated in Gita 14.26 that 
>this state of brahmi stithi of brahma-bhuyam is attained through steady 
>devotion to lord. For the lord, it is decalred here is the support of 
>brahman, 'the state of a steady mind free from cravings and passions and 
>established in a sense of unruffled stillness.' On such a mental state only 
>can true intuition can arise. The intuitions of persons who have not struck 
>this dimension of their being, are the projections of  the impressions and 
>desires with which their minds are full. That dimension of boundless peace, 
>free from passion and cravings, which the buddists accepted as 'the final 
>state is, according to  the declaration of the Gita here, only the state 
>nearest to the lord, having its support in him. He quotes a sloka from pali 
>scripture- nicehAto nibbUto sukha-patismvedi brahma-bhUtena Attana-without 
>craving, appeased, cooled, experiencing joy, with his self brahman (Digha 
>NikAya III.233) translated by Zaehner, who maintains that like sankhya gita 
>absorbed the then prevailing  buddhistic ideas too by making due 
>corrections.
>
>Tapasyanandaji further says that this idea is made very clear in the last 
>or the 18th chapter of the gita. There from verse 49 to 53 are given the 
>disciplines to attain to the state of brahma-bhUyam-the state of being 
>brahman. If this were the culmination of spiritual attainment, the Gita 
>must have stopped with it. But it definitely puts it as an intermediary 
>state of attainment, and then proceeds to present the still higher steps in 
>verses 54-56. The brahma-bhUta, it is said, becomes peaceful, without 
>sorrows and fears, and is established in an attitude of equality towards 
>all beings. he then gains supreme devotion to the lord and through 
>devotion, comes to have an intimate understanding of him and his majesty. 
>Knowing him thus in truth and in reality he enters into him.
>
>Hoping to get some inputs from the learned members of the forum.
>
>Yours in Sri Ramakrishna,
>
>Br. Vinayaka
>

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