[Advaita-l] Eternal Loka

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

Dear Shri Subramanian,

There is a fundamental fault in this analysis. You should not be looking at
the usage of brahmaloka in advaita texts or sastras to understand what
Sridhara means by Vaikuntha. Instead, you should see the usage of Vaikuntha
by Sridhara in other places to understand what he means by Vaikuntha
here. There are two usages of Vaikuntha by Sridhara and Bhagavatham - one
it refers to a loka and two to sarvajna Vishnu. If you can show any other
usage in sastras or advaita texts, it is worth a discussion.

Please answer a basic question. "If there is no sarvajna Ishwara after
pralaya, who will create as before and award rewards of karma in previous
kalpa?"

Best Regards
Rajaram Venkataramani

On Thursday, July 25, 2013, V Subrahmanian wrote:

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>
> On Sun, Jul 21, 2013 at 9:18 PM, Rajaram Venkataramani <
> rajaramvenk at gmail.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
> 'rajaramvenk at gmail.com');>> wrote:
>
>> Hare Krishna.
>>
>> *1. smrti and bhashya evidence that vaikuntha is eternal:*
>> grīvāyāḿ janaloko 'sya tapolokaḥ stana-dvayāt mūrdhabhiḥ satyalokas tu
>> brahmalokaḥ *sanātanah* (SBh 2.5.39) Sridhara comments for this verse
>> that Vaikuntha is eternal. Kadalangudi Natesa Sastrigal, who belongs to
>> advaita sampradaya, also translates it into Tamil as nityamana vaikuntamum
>> (eternal vaikunta).
>>
>
> Dear Rajaram,
>
> The above verse comes with the previous verse where the enumeration of
> seven loka-s that are familiar to us in our daily sandhyAvandanam (bhU,
> bhuva, suva, maha, jana, tapa and satya) for upasana purpose, as per
> Sridhara swamin.  The One that transcends these created seven is called
> 'brahma lokaH' which Sridhara comments as vaikunThaH.  This 'loka' is
> eternal and does not come within the created one.
>
> Now, let us see two more popular usages of this term 'brahmalokaH':
>
> In the Kathopanishad we have in 1.2.17:
>
> EtadEvAlambanaM shrEShTham.....brahmalokE mahIyatE
>
> bhAShyam:  jnAtvA brahmalokE mahIyatE parasmin brahmaNi. aparasmin cha
> brahmabhUtaH brahmavadupAsyo bhavati ityarthaH.
>
> Sw.Gambhirananda: The idea is this:  Getting identified with the Supreme
> Brahman or the inferior Brahman (as a result of meditation), he becomes
> adorable like Brahman.
>
> There itself in 1.3.16:
>
> nAchiketamupAkhyAnam.....brahmalokE mahIyatE
>
> Here the shankara bhashyam is: brahmaiva loko brahmalokaH..aatmabhUtaH
> upAsyo bhavati ityarthaH.  Sw.Gambhirananda:  he becomes adorable by
> becoming identified with Brahman, in the region of Brahman that is
> identical with Brahman Itself.
>
>
> There is yet another popular usage:
>
> The Br.up.4.3.33:
>
> ...sa Eko brahmaloka AnandaH.....ESha Eva parama AnandaH ESha  brahmalokaH
> samrADiti ...
>
> Here the bhashyam identifies the first usage of brahmaloka as
> hiraNyagarbha loka.  The second usage is Parabrahman, though the bhashyam
> does not mention it since the context is the calculus of bliss in various
> loka-s and the infinite bliss being Brahman Itself.  Sw.Madhvananda
> translates: // 'This is the state of brahman, O Emperor', said Yajnavalkya.
> // Here too, one can see the meaning as: brahmaiva lokaH brahmalokaH in
> line with the Kathopanishad / bhashyam usages.
>
> Thus, Sridharaswamin's comment for the term brahmalokaH as vaikunTha and
> as something outside the purview of created worlds, and therefore eternal,
> is quite in tune with the upaniShadic usage of the term brahmaloka in the
> context of the Ultimate Reality, Brahman, and shankara's commentary of this
> term.  In the bhAgavatam verse, the satyaloka could be equated with the
> brahmaloka (apara brahma loka/hiranyagarbha loka) of the upanishad.
>
> [Since I could not access the font converter, I am presenting the
> bhagavatam verses and the sridharI commentary as it is.  But one familiar
> with  Sanskrit can make out the words here.]
>
>>
>>
> *|| 2.5.38 || *
>
> * *
>
> bhür-lokaù[1] <#14015d458d9c731e_1401555e58fc34c4__ftn1> kalpitaù
> padbhyäà bhuvar-loko[2] <#14015d458d9c731e_1401555e58fc34c4__ftn2>‘sya
> näbhitaù |
>
> hådä svarloka urasä maharloko mahätmanaù ||
>
> * *
>
> *çridharäh, viçvanäthaù :* idäném upäsanärthaà loka-kalpanä-bhedän
> darçayan sapta-loka-pakñam äha dväbhyäm | bhür-lokaù pätälam ärabhya |
> padbhyäà kaöi-paryantäbhyäm ||38||
>
> * *
>
> *krama-sandarbhaù : **na vyäkhyätam.**
> *
>
>
>
>
>
> *|| 2.5.39 || *
>
> * *
>
> gréväyäà janaloko’sya tapolokaù stana-dvayät |
>
> mürdhabhiù satyalokas tu brahmalokaù sanätanaù ||
>
> * *
>
> *çrédharaù : *stana-dvayäd ity upäsanärthatväd
> ürdhvädho-bhäga-vaiparétyaà na doñäù | yad vä, stanac-chabdaà kurvad yad
> oñöha-dvayaà tasmäd ity arthaù | brahma-loko[3]<#14015d458d9c731e_1401555e58fc34c4__ftn3>vaikuëöhäkhyaù, sanätano nityaù, na tu såjya-prapaïcäntarvartéty arthaù
> ||39||
>
> * *
> ------------------------------
> [3] <#14015d458d9c731e_1401555e58fc34c4__ftnref3> ayaà ca satya-lokas
> tad-uparitanaù saptama ity arthaù |
>
>
>
>> *2. smrti evidence that there is no fear in vaikuntha:*
>> ātapatraḿ tu vaikuṇṭhaḿ dvijā *dhāmākuto-bhayam *tri-vṛd vedaḥ
>> suparṇākhyo (SBh 12.11.19).
>>
>
> Here is the verse/commentary:
>
> *||** 12.11.**19 ||*
>
> * *
>
> ätapatraà tu vaikuëöhaà dvijä dhämäkuto-bhayam |
>
> tri-våd vedaù suparëäkhyo yajïaà vahati puruñam ||
>
>
>
> *çrédharaù : *he dvijäù | eka-vacanänto vä päöhaù | akuto-bhayaà
> kaivalyaà dhäma gåham abhajat | yad vä, vaikuëöhasya viçeñaëam akuto-bhayaà
> yad dhämeti | tri-våt åg-yajuù-säma-rüpo vedaù, suparëo’si garutmäàs
> tri-våtte çiraù ity ädi mantra-liìgät | yajïaà yajïa-rüpaà puruñam, yajïo
> vai viñëuù iti çruteù ||19||
>
>
> Here The Lord is Himself called vaikunThaH who is Fearless [That is, there
> is no source from where fear can be for the Lord].  The alternative meaning
> is: the loka itself is called by that epithet of fearlessness.
>
>
> In any case, the meaning is not incompatible with popular meaning of
> Brahman as we have seen from the Katha, Br.up. and the bhashyam/s.
>
>
> Further, it will be interesting to see what kind of mukti did Parikshit
> get:
> SB 12.5.11-12
>  *ahaṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma
> brahmāhaṁ paramaṁ padam
> evaṁ samīkṣya cātmānam
> ātmany ādhāya niṣkale*
> *daśantaṁ takṣakaṁ pāde
> lelihānaṁ viṣānanaiḥ
> na drakṣyasi śarīraṁ ca
> viśvaṁ ca pṛthag ātmanaḥ*
>  Translation:
> You should consider, “I am nondifferent from the Absolute Truth, the
> supreme abode, and that Absolute Truth, the supreme destination, is
> nondifferent from me.” Thus resigning yourself to the Supreme Soul, who is
> free from all material misidentifications, you will not even notice the
> snake-bird Takṣaka when he approaches with his poison-filled fangs and
> bites your foot. Nor will you see your dying body
>
> In "mutthi neri
>
>