[Advaita-l] Eternal Loka

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

Srauta Karma clearly restricts meat eating. If we dont stop putting on a
pedetal people who eat meat, flouting dharma, we will not have proper
knowledge because we partake of their sinful disposition. There are sri
vaishnava, gaudiya, madhwa, saiva and smarta bhaktas around the world who
are able to control their senses and live a selfless life of compassion.

BTW, in Dahara VidyAdhikaranam, Sankara clearly says that the way to
understand Brahman is to consider that all the worlds are present in it -
of course - as Brahman. This is how it should be taught, he asserts.


IMO, "It is not because it is devoid of all qualities, it is called nirguna
brahman. It is full of all qualities and hence it is called nirguna brahman
because when something has all qualities it is actually devoid of it also
because there is nothing to delimit it. We call white light colourlessbut
when put through a prism, it shows all colours. For this reason, it can
also be called full of colours by one jo sees colours. Nirguna Brahman is
like white light. Thorugh the prism of maya it is able to manifest all
attributes"








On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 7:06 PM, V Subrahmanian
<v.subrahmanian at gmail.com<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
'v.subrahmanian at gmail.com');>
> wrote:

> Dear Shrinivas,
>
> Thanks for your response.  Pl. see my replies between [ ] below.
>
> regards
> vs
>
> On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 7:19 PM, Shrinivas Gadkari
> <sgadkari2001 at yahoo.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
> 'sgadkari2001 at yahoo.com');>>wrote:
>
> > Dear Shri Subrahmanian,
> >
> >
> > So coming back to another way of looking at nirguNa brahma:
> > The entire creation already exists in nirguNa brahma, and
> > Adi mAyA, only projects what already exists in brahma.
> >
>
> [This view, in my understanding, tallies with the sAnkhya view.  Their view
> is similar to Vedanta's view, called 'satkArya vAda' where the effect,
> kAryam, is admitted to be in the kAraNam.  But the crucial difference
> between the two views is: in sAnkhya, the kAryam exists, prior to
> manifestation, AS KARYAM, in the kAraNam.  In Vedanta, on the other hand,
> the kAryam exists, prior to manifestation, AS KAARANAM, in the kAraNam.
> Thus, the kAryam, the world is real in the sAnkhyan view and it is unreal
> in the vedantic view.  To elucidate, the creation exists in nirguNa brahman
> as non-different from nirguNa brahman according to vedanta.  By saying
> this, vedantins only ultimately understand that the creation does not
> really exist in brahman.  Just like the superimposed snake never exists in
> the rope at any point of time.  If the creation were to exist, even in
> unmanifest form, in nirguNa brahman, then brahman will be a
> receptacle/resting place/support for the creation.  But such is not the
> case.  Pl. refer to verses 4.b and 5.a of the 9th ch. of the bh.gita. I am
> giving just a part of the commentary of Shankaracharya in translation; you
> can read the full form in the gitasupersite:
>
> English translation by Swami Gambhirananda (on Sri Sankaracharya's Sanskrit
> Commentary)
> // 9.5 Na ca bhutani, nor do the beings, beginning from Brahma; matsthani,
> dwell in Me. Pasya, behold; me, My; aisvaram, divine; yogam, Yoga, action,
> performance, i.e. this real nature of Myself. The Upanisadic text, too,
> similarly shows the absence of association (of the Self) due to Its being
> free from contact: '...unattached, for It is never attached' (Br. 3.9.26).
> [asango na hi sajjatE  //
>
> Since nirguNa Brahman is free from any attachment (because there is no
> matter in It that can stick to something else and that there is nothing at
> all that is different from It), creation, even in its unmanifest form,
> cannot really inhere/exist in Brahman. So vedantins do not admit of the
> creation existing in nirguNa brahman.  One can, by concession, say,
> 'creation exists as a superimposition in brahman'.  ]
>
>
> > The need to project arises, because, the creation that exists
> > in brahma is very very abstract, made of connections between
> > "abstract thought processes". Adi mAyA through successive
> > steps of AvaraNa-vikshepa projects, amplifies and colours this
> > abstract creation. This is the phenomenon of vimarsha.
> >
> > Bhaktas refer to Adi mAyA as Adi mAtA. Based on this view of
> > creation and brahma, it becomes increasingly clear that the
> > upAsanA of Adi mAtA is that precious upAsanA that will give one
> > both the worlds - manifested vishva and increasing proximity
> > to the cause of the world - nirguNa brahma.
> >
> > gAyatrI, chaNDikA, shrI vidyA are some of the names of the
> > approaches to the upAsanA of Adi mAtA. From paurANika accounts
> > we learn that even the trinity are what they are because
> > of their devotion to Adi mAtA.
> >
>
> [ all this is not denied, as sAdhanA. As Sri Ramakrishna paramahamsa says:
> 'mAyA is both vidyA mAyA and avidyA mAyA.  By propitiating the former thru
> prayers, etc. She will confer true knowledge of Brahman.  The latter is
> binding in nature and hence one should eschew all evil
> characters/associations.]
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