[Advaita-l] 'Ishwaro'ham' and 'IshwarabhAvaH'

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 6:35 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>wrote:

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> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 1:08 PM, <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:
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>> When Sringeri periyava identified with Narasimha etc. did he realise "I
>> am Bhagavan Narasimha"  or that "I am Nirguna Brahman"?
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> It was neither.  On the day of the sannyasa, when He was 14, the Swamiji
> was being initiated into the Narasimha rAja  mantra.  Here is the account
> of the central part of the incident which is relevant here:
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> p. 68 of the book 'Yoga, Enlightenment and Perfection':  AcharyaL says:
> The moment AcharyaL (HH Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Swamiji) chanted the
> mantra once and , following Him, I too did so, an amazing event occurred.
> AcharyaL withdrew His hand from My head, joined His palms and gazed at Me
> silently with deep reverence.  My breathing stopped.  The form of
> Lakshmi-Narasimha that I was seeing within Me vanished.  However, I began
> to experience the Lord as My antaryAmin (Inner Controller), refuge and
> intimate well-wisher as clearly as one can see a fruit in one's open palm.
> I ceased to regard the body, prANa, organ, mind and intellect as MIne;
> everything was just His.  I do not know how long I remained thus,
> motionless and immersed in bliss.  All along I did see Acharyal keeping His
> palms joined and looking in My direction.
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> Then, the form of Narasimha reappeared and My breathing resumed.....I now
> felt extremely intimate with Narasimha.  At the same time Acharyal lowered
> HIs hands...After completing the initiation He said, 'After You had said
> the mantra once, I saw just Narasimha in Your place. That is why I jerked
> back My hand from Your head and offered My salutation to Him.  When His
> form disappeared and You reappeared, I proceeded with the initiation.
> Dedicate everything to Him.''
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> End of quote.
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> It is clear that the Acharya did not realize Himself to be Narasimha.  It
> was only His guru that saw Narasimha in the disciple's place for a short
> while.  It is another matter that in Advaita there is no realization of
> absolute identity with a saguNa mUrthy possible in the manner ' I am Lord
> Narasimha, and my consort is Lakshmi.'  And the event was not any
> realization of NirguNa Brahman for the actual aparoksha jnanam for the
> Acharya happened much later, which too is described in a subsequent chapter
> of the same book.
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> RV: I never said that you realise I am Narasimha, the consort of Lakshmi.
Sankachuda tried to think that he is the consort of gopis and Krishna
enacts the pastime of killing the demon. Transcendence is for those who
have gone past nishidda and kamya karma from whose heart anarthas such as
lust, greed, anger, envy, pride etc. have completely gone. In this
anecdote, the three stages of devotion (I am He, He is Mine and I am His)
are on display and let me show how.

1. He attains the first stage of I am He (Lakshmi Narasimha), which is why
the form that was in front of Him disappeared. <quote> ...  amazing event
occurred. AcharyaL withdrew His hand from My head, joined His palms and
gazed at Me silently with deep reverence. My breathing stopped. The form of
Lakshmi-Narasimha that I was seeing within Me vanished. </quote>
2.  He then comes down to the second stage of He is mine. <quote> However,
I began to experience the Lord as My antaryAmin (Inner Controller), refuge
and intimate well-wisher as clearly as one can see a fruit in one's open
palm.  </quote>
3. He then comes down to the third stage I am His. <quote>I ceased to
regard the body, prANa, organ, mind and intellect as MIne; everything was
just His. </quote>

Mahaperiyava sees all the states of Bhakti as non-different from Ishwara.
<quote>All along I did see Acharyal keeping His palms joined and looking in
My direction.</quote>

Once his mind comes back to normal from the state of devotion, the form
re-appears.  <quote>Then, the form of Narasimha reappeared and My breathing
resumed.....I now felt extremely intimate with Narasimha. </quote>

Mahaperyava explains that he saw the lord in the place of his disciple when
he was in trance. <quote> At the same time Acharyal lowered HIs
hands...After completing the initiation He said, 'After You had said the
mantra once, I saw just Narasimha in Your place. That is why I jerked back
My hand from Your head and offered My salutation to Him. When His form
disappeared and You reappeared, I proceeded with the initiation. Dedicate
everything to Him.'' </quote>


> Sankara says in 7.18 that a paroksha jnAni is imbued with the thought I am
>> Bhagavan Vasudeva. You interpret on the lines I expected that a paroksha
>> jnani thinks "I am nirupadhika brahman referred to by the term Bhagavan".
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> He is not a paroksha jnani but an aparoksha jnani.  Shankara having
> declared in the BSB 2.1.14 that Ishwara's
> Ishwaratvam/sarvajnatvam/sarvashaktitvam are all in the realm of
> avidyA/relativity, and dispelled by right knowledge [...na paramArthato
> vidyayA apAsta-sarvopAdhisvarUpa Atmani
> IshtR-IshitavyasarvajnatvAdivyavahAraH upapadyate. =  right knowledge
> dispels all upadhis in Atman and in such Atman the vyavahara involving
> ruled jvas and the ruler Ishwara with omniscience etc.do not exist]  would
> not be teaching such an erroneous state as a jnani's realization.
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RV: Please read carefully what Sankara says. He is a paroksha jnani who is
on the path to the supreme brahman. <quote> 'I am verily Vasudeva, the
Lord, and none else', that man of Knowledge asthitah, *is set on the path
leading to*, he is engaged in ascending to, going to; mam eva, Me alone, *to
the supreme Brahman;* who am the anuttamam gatim, super-excellent Goal to
be reached. </quote>

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