[Advaita-l] Eternal Loka

[V Subrahmanian]

On Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 12:22 PM, Rajaram Venkataramani <
rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> >
> > RV: We have digressed from the core question in to dhruva, gopis etc.
> partly because of me. The core question is whether an eternal loka albeit
> non-different from the lord is admissible in Advaita.


In Advaita the absolute, pAramArthika satyam, is the nirguNa nirAkAra
sakalavidha bheda rahita Brahman.  Anything other than this tattva is
simply naught in Advaita.  A personality or divinity called Shiva or Vishnu
is also kalpita according to Advaita, which are only upAya-s designed to
help the aspirant's upasana.  This upAsana is expected to culminate in the
upAsaka realizing that these forms/personalities are only appearances of
the nirguNa brahman and not therefore absolutely real.  So, an advaita
jnani is not expected to carry the notion that such divinities are
absolutely real and that they or others along with them will continue for
ever in any geographical, whether praakRta or aprAkRta loka.  If he carries
such a notion he is not considered to be an advaita jnani.

Shiva, Vishnu, etc. are admitted to be endowed with Advaita jnanam not with
a view to establish the possibility of they remaining in any loka and
engaging in worship of each other or being worshiped by others BUT with a
view to help the aspirant develop faith in those divinities and direct his
prayer to them so that, they being endowed with the Supreme Knowledge, will
bless him and help him in his sadhana and finally 'confer' that advaita
jnanam on him.  The Kanchi Periyava in his Advaita Sadhana series of
lectures makes a grand finale thus:  Ishwara is Thyagaraja.  He makes the
Supreme sacrifice of Himself by ceasing to be in the limelight the moment
the jnanam is conferred on the aspirant.  What this depiction means is: the
role of saguNa brahman ends on the dawn on the nirguna jnanam for the
aspirant.

The above alone is the purpose of Advaita admitting divinities and
projecting them as endowed with Advaita jnanam.  Reading beyond this will
result in endless confusion.

Regards
suibrahmanian.v


> 1. I brought up Siva
> - Vishnu devotion to show that it is possible. Both have no gaps in
> brahmajnanam and are not perishable. 2. I also referred to the usage of
> vaikuntha synonymously with the Lord and the Loka in SBh. 3. The reference
> to BG 8.9 was also to show Ishwara with inconceivable ETERNAL form exists
> according to Sankara. 4. The reference to eka jiva vada is also for the
> same reason.
>
> I would like to what you think about eternal loka in Advaita.
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