[Advaita-l] Discussion on Saguna Brahmopasana

[srikanta at nie.ac.in]

Dear Srinivas
I went through your earlier postings on the above topic.Certainly there is
a discriminatory difference between Saguna Brahman which is also called
apara Brahman and Nirguna Brahman,which is the Paramartha.In Saguna
Brahmopasana there is the difference between the Upasaka(worshipper) and
the Upasya(the worshipped).The seeker is still in the lower stage.The
Upanishads say that at the end of his upasana,the seeker takes the form of
the deity he worships.As is clear,Nirguna Brahman is without attributes.
For the Saguna Brahmopasaka there is "krama mukti",and it is for him that
the various rituals,dhyana etc.are prescribed.Shankaracharya in his
Bhashyas clearly states that it is not the intention of the Upanishads to
direct the aspirant to krama mukti(For ex.see the discussion at the end of
Ishavasyopanishad).In the beginning of 'Adwaita prakarana",Gaudapada
states:Upasanashritasya dharmasya jate brahmani vartate!
       pragutpatterajam sarvam tenasau krpanah smrtah!-AD.P:III-1.
"The being(Dharma) which is in worship(Upasana) holds that on  its birth
it remained in "Hiranyagarbha"Brahman.Before its creation,it holds that
everything(sarvam) is Unborn,hence it is considered to be miserly."

I wonder how one can have i)adwaita-dwaita ii)adwaita-adwaita views like
having 50-50.The moment we speak of Adwaita,dwaita is out.Many
Bheda-abheda theorists came after Shankara like Bhaskara,from whom
Ramanuja has derived quite a lot.Even before Shankara there were
Bheda-abheda vadins like Bhatrprapanca,Brahmanandi,but none of them were
dualists.
                                                     N.Srikanta.