[Advaita-l] Atman the Infinite Brahman

[V Subrahmanian]

On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 11:24 PM, V Subrahmanian
<v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>wrote:

> In the  srImadbhAgavatam 11th Canto occurs the delineation of the 24
> teachers a sage derives inspiration from.  One such teacher is 'space':
>
> अन्तर्हितश्च स्थिरजङ्गमेषु ब्रह्मात्मभावेन समन्वयेन ।
> व्याप्त्याऽव्यवच्छेदमसङ्गमात्मनो मुनिर्नभस्त्वं विततस्य भावयेत्॥
>
> srImadbhAgavatam
> || 11.7.42 ||
>
> antarhitash ca sthira-ja~NgameShu
> brahmAtma-bhAvena samanvayena|
> vyAptyAvyavacchedam asa~Ngam Atmano
> munir nabhastvaM vitatasya bhAvayet ||
>
> The sage should contemplate on the space-like nature of the omnipresent
> Atman, understanding that the Atman which is Brahman, though present within
> all moving and non-moving objects, is all-pervasive and detached.
>
>    - In other words, if guNa-s are admitted as one's svarUpa, then one is
>    nothing but anAtman, jaDa, (kShetram of the Bh.Gita 13th Ch.) and not the
>    Atman, cahitanyasvarUpa (the kShetrajna)  This is because any guNa has to
>    be a product of sattva, etc. of prakRti, which is jaDa, paratantra,
>    dependent, on Brahman.
>
> It may also be appreciated that in the dualistic systems there is no
freedom from prakRti for both the jIvAtman and the paramAtman.  They admit
the jiva-s to be saattvika or rAjasika or tAmasika as the very svarUpa.
That shows that these jIva-s can never be free from the guNa-s of prakRti
which the scripture enjoins upon the jiva to work for.  Also the paramAtman
too is endowed with the guNas since He is admitted to be the
sRShTi-sthiti-samhAra kartA and named LakShmInArAyaNa.  There is no way the
Lord is free from prakRti named Lakshmi.  In  some vaishnavite sampradayas
it is a sin to separate Lakshmi from Narayana.  Rajas, sattvam and tamas
are the guNa-s that enable paramAtman to engage in creation,sustenance and
dissolution. And this function is inalienable from the paramAtman as it is
His svarUpalakShaNa.  Thus in the dualistic systems both the jIvatman and
the paramAtman cannot be admitted to be free from prakRti.  It is only in
Advaita the jIva and Ishwara are guNa-attributed  in an aupAdhic manner and
not at the svarUpa level.  When the ajnAna/mAyA-born upAdhis are negated
what remains is the One Pure Consciousness that is ever free of any of the
guNa-s of prakRti.  The scriptural exhortation to remain free from prakRti
is possible in Advaita alone. There is no room for aprAkRtha guNa-s
either.  For, any guNa is invariably a product of either one or the
combination of  sattva, rajas and tamas of mAyA/prakRti. And it is crucial
for those systems to be so as duality/difference can be retained/maintained
at all states, in bondage as well as in liberation, only when guNa-s are
admitted and not otherwise.

regards,
subrahmanian.v


>
>    -
>    - The scripture is not teaching one to know oneself as the anAtman but
>    as the Atman which is infinite and free of all guNa-s.
>    - Realization on these lines alone will ensure mukti/moksha in the
>    true sense
>
> Regards
>
> subrahmanian.v
>
>
>
>