[Advaita-l] Why should Brahman be without form or attributes?

[V Subrahmanian]

One quick answer is:  Anything saguna is within or related to the world.
Anything related to the world, like 'brahman is jagatkaranam, karma phala
daataa', etc. is only in the relative realm.  But the Aupanishadic brahman
whose realization is required for moksha cannot be in the relative realm.
It has to be Absolute.  The best explanation of this is in the seventh
mantra of the Mandukya upanishad.  All non-advaitic systems accept a
brahman as supreme who is eternally related to the world.  There is always
a sa-apeksha between brahman and the world.  Hence their moksha is also
only relative and not absolute.  That is one of the  main reasons why
nirguna brahman alone will ensure Advaita.

regards,
subrhmanian.v

On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 10:59 AM, Suresh <mayavaadi at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Namaste,
>
> Let's say Brahman has form and attributes. In what way would it affect
> advaita? Why can't advaita still be right even if we admit Brahman to be
> saguna only and not nirguna? Is this nirguna concept indispensable?
>
> I can understand concepts like maya, avidya etc. as indispensable - they
> explain the wrong identification of self with not self, duality in this
> world, and so on. But I don't see how advaita would collapse by rejecting
> nirguna brahman concept.
>
> Please remember ... this thread isn't about whether nirguna concept is
> right or wrong (so please don't post a thousand posts on that and digress)
> but whether advaita would still be right without it.
>
> Regards,
> Suresh
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