[Advaita-l] Supreme Brahman - the Ruler in Advaita?

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

That is agreed. Is Ishwara mithya? The following is to show that is not the
case.

On Wednesday, April 10, 2013, Swami Sarvabhutananda wrote:

> MithyA is accounted for Sadasat cognizable creation and Brahma as absolute
> TRUTH.
> On Apr 10, 2013 3:40 AM, "Rajaram Venkataramani" <rajaramvenk at gmail.aracom<javascript:;>
> >
> wrote:
>
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > We had discussions on whether Ishwara is Turiya based on Gaudapada  as
> well
> > as BhG 8th and 15th chapters.  When I first read Sankara bhashya, it was
> > clear to me that he did not differentiate between Brahman and Ishwara. It
> > became much clearer when I read Madhsudana Saraswati. However, the
> popular
> > opinion on this forum seems to be that Ishwara is mithya (a-brahman) in
> > Advaita. We have to examine and understand truths rather than blindly go
> > with an opinion based on its popularity alone because we have a duty to
> > understand what Gaudapada, Sankara, Madhusudana etc. had to say. For
> > example, one of the famous swamijis quoted often on this forum talks
> about
> > gopis as bhaktas - not atma jnanis - who will attain brahma-loka. I
> > discussed offline with a scholar and pointed out that such an opinion
> > contradicts what Madhusudana Saraswati says in Gudarthadipika 18.66 and
> > 7.17. Even great scholars can make mistakes and sometimes quite
> fundamental
> > ones especially when they get in to simplifiied pedagogy.
> >
> > In BhG 15th Chapter, Sankara explicitly talks about nirupadhika brahman
> as
> > Ishanashila or Narayana. The following should make it very clear.
> > Madhsudana says in BhG 15.7, "Of what nature is He? He is immutable, free
> > from all kinds of transformations; He is the isvarah, the ruler of all,
> > Narayana. He who is the supreme Purusha is called the transcendental
> Self.
> > This follows from the Shruti, 'He is the Supreme Purusha (Ch. 8.12.3)"
>  He
> > continues in BhG 15.8, "He is refered to in the Vedas "He is the Supreme
> > Person (Ch.8.12.3)" and in poetical works "Hari alone is known as the
> > Supreme Person".  The glory of Narayana, the supreme Purusha, whose body
> is
> > made of existence -  knowledge - bliss, who out of compassion, acting
> like
> > a human being taught to Partha supreme realities and His own Godhood,
> > indeed baffles comparison." .... In BhG 15.19 "O you who are conversant
> > with good works, worship again and again the Light which is by nature
> > Consciousness and Bliss, which has the colour of a rain cloud, which is
> the
> > quintessence of the Vedic utterances, which is the necklace of the women
> of
> > Vraja, which is the other shore of the sea of the world to the wise and
> > which repeatedly incarnates to remove the burden on earth!". ... In Bh
> > 15.20, "I do not know any reality othern Krsna whose hands are adorned
> with
> > a flute, whose lustre is like that of a new rain cloud, who wears a
> yellow
> > cloth, whose lips are reddish like the bimba fruit, whose face is
> beautiful
> > likee the full moon and whose eyes are likee lotusses. The mind that is
> > ever engaged in the state of constant bliss removes all mental
> > modifications and by eradicating the sorrows consequent on repeated
> births
> > and deaths it attains at once reality transcending cause and effect. I am
> > that supreme auspicious one in whome get identified the followers of
> Siva,
> > Surya, Ganesa, Vishnu and Sakti. Those fools go to hell who cannot
> tolerate
> > the wonderful glory of Krishna which is ascertained through valid means
> of
> > knowledge as well"
> >
> > In BhG 8.3, Madhusudana says "By the word brahman here is meant the
> > unconditioned brahman alone, not the conditioned. .... 'Under the mighty
> > rule of this Immutable, O Gargi, the sun and moon are held in position
> (Br.
> > Up. 3.8.9)'. .. 'There is no other witness but This'. ... 'By this
> > Immutable, O Gargi, is the akasa pervaded'. *That which is free from all
> > limiting adjuncts, which is the ruler of eveything, the support of the
> > entire phenomenal world up to the unmanifested akasa, which is the knower
> > in the aggregate of body and organs and is the absolute Consciousness is
> > what is meant by brahman here. ... the characteristics or ruling over and
> > supporting the entire gamut of insentient things becomes justifiable with
> > regard to That alone" *
> > **
> > Clearly, there is no room for any difference between Brahman and Ishwara.
> > This Ishwara or akshara is different from akshara Om or pranava as
> > clarified by Madhusuda. However, this akshara is the same as Lord Vishnu.
> > In BhG 8.4 Madhsudana says, "Adhiyajnah ... is the God called Vishnu, who
> > identifies Himself with all sacrifices as it is statef in the Sruti,
> > 'Sacrifice is indeed Vishnu' (Tai Sam. 1.7.4). And that Vishnu, who
> exists
> > in sacrifice is aham eva who am Vasudeva, not any one other than Myself.
> > ... The adhiyajna has ot be understood as absolutely non-different from
> the
> > supreme Brahman".
> >
> > Best Regards
> > Rajaram Venkataramani
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