[Advaita-l] Ishwara Turiya?

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

On Tuesday, March 13, 2012, ShankaraBharadwaj Khandavalli <
shankarabharadwaj at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 5. What are Avyakta, Hiranyagarbha and Isvara, and where do they belong
to the gross-subtle-causal? What is the relevance/function of Isvara? Is it
vyavaharika or paramarthika?

Virata is the cosmic gross body. Hiranyagarbha is the cosmic mind. When
Hiranyagarbha is in deep sleep, He is is called Avyakta (the unmanifest).
The collection of gods is also described as Hiranyagarbha. Lord Brahma is
also called Hiranyagarbha. Hiranyagarbha is also called karya Brahman. When
Hiranyagarbha sleeps, It is called Avyakta, the karana Brahman. Virata,
Hiranyagarbha and Avyakta are all mithya. They represent wakeful, dream and
sleep states at cosmic level.

However, Ishwara is beyond Avyakta (avyakto paro Narayana). He is turiya.
He is non-different from Brahman as there are no multiple entities beyond
Avyakta. While Avyakta, Hiranyagarbha and Virata can be negated, Ishwara
cannot be. He is the Self, beyond all names and forms.  The difference
between Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman is that the latter is in
association with maya. However, Maya is one with Ishwara or Brahman. They
are multiple terms for one entity based on the role we see from a vyavahara
perspective. Saguna Brahman is not apara Brahman because by definition
apara Brahman is one which has a particular form. Saguna Brahman is beyond
names and forms.

Happy to be corrected