[Advaita-l] Jiva and jagat - Brahman alone

[V Subrahmanian]

Namaste

Here is a fine commentary that substantiates the Advaitic doctrine ‘Brahma
satyam, jagan mithyA jIvo Brahmaiva nAparaH’.


From the bhAShyam for the Sri Rudram:


The commentary on the srIrudram by Sri abhinava shankarAchArya (printed as
second edition in 1963 at the Sri vANIvilAs press, Srirangam) says for the
portion ‘namaH kulAlebhyaH…namaH shvabhyaH….’ the following:


•       ....तदेतत् ’इषुमद्भ्यः’ इत्येतदन्तैः षड्विंशतिमन्त्रैः
प्रपञ्चान्तर्गतैकैक-वस्त्वात्मकत्वप्रदर्शनेन ’विश्वरूपेभ्यः’ इति
साक्षात्कण्ठरवेण च भगवतश्चेतनाचेतनात्मक-सकलप्रपञ्चरूपत्वमुपवर्णितम् । तथा च
श्रुतयः ....’विश्वं भूतं भुवनं चित्रं बहुधा जातं जायमानं च यत् । सर्वो
ह्येष रुद्रः...’ । स्मृतयश्च ’भूतानि शंभुर्भुवनानि शंभुर्वनानि
शंभुर्गिरयश्च शंभुः’  इत्याद्याः ।  तत्र चेतनाचेतनात्मकानां चेतनस्वरूपैक्यं
’तत्त्वमसि’, ’अहं ब्रह्मास्मि’ इत्यादिप्रमाणसहस्रानुरोधात् । अचेतनात्मकत्वं
तु आरम्भणाधिकरण न्यायेन तदध्यासाधिष्ठानत्वम्; अध्यस्तस्य
अधिष्ठानव्यतिरेकेणासत्त्वस्य शुक्तिकारजतादौ दृष्टत्वेन रजताध्यासाधिष्ठानस्य
शुक्तिकाया रजतात्मकत्ववज्जगदध्यासाधिष्ठानस्य ब्रह्मणो जगदात्मकत्वादिति
ब्रह्ममीमांसायां प्रपञ्चः । एतेन ’श्वभ्यः श्वपतिभ्यश्च’ इत्यतिनिकृष्टैः
श्वादिभिः सह भगवतः कथमैक्यं श्रुत्या प्रतिपाद्यत इति शंका निरस्ता; न हि
श्वशब्दवाच्यदेहविशिष्टाभेदः श्रुत्योच्यते, किन्तु तल्ल्क्ष्यं
निष्कृष्टोपाधि यज्जीवचैतन्यं उच्चनीचभावापन्नेषु शरीरेष्वनुस्यूतं
तदात्मकत्वम् । तदेतद्गीतायां स्पष्टीकृतं भगवतैव – ’विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने
ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि । शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ’ (५.१८) ।
इति । न चैतावता परमेश्वरस्य तदुपाधिगुणदोषसम्बन्धलेशोप्यस्ति; न हि गङ्गायां
तटाके सुरायां मूत्रे वा प्रतिबिम्बमानस्यादित्यस्य तदुपाधिगुणदोषसंबन्ध इति
सर्वमनवद्यम् । इति ॥

•       By the 26 mantras ending with ‘iShumadbhyaH..’ it was shown that  Lord
Rudra is the indwelling principle in each and every object in the creation.
Also by the term ‘vishvarUpebhyaH’ explicitly the veda declares that the
entire creation is the form of the Lord as the sentient and insentient
beings.  The supporting shruti passages are, for example, ‘vishvam bhUtam
bhuvanam chitram…..sarvo hyeSha rudraH..’ (mahAnArAyaNopaniShat) and the
smRti passages such as ‘bhUtAni shambhuH  [the beings are Shambhu, the
worlds are shambhu, the forests are shambhu, the mountains are shambhu….’]
etc.  That the sentient and insentient beings are fundamentally one with
the Consciousness that is Brahman is taught by thousands of shruti passages
such as ‘tat tvam asi’ and  ‘aham brahmAsmi. ‘The insentient objects of the
world, however, upon the method determined in the ‘ArambhaNAdhikaraNa
bhAShyam’ [of the brahmasutras], Brahman is the substratum of the
superimposition of the insentient beings.  It is experienced in the world
that the superimposed silver etc. are non-existent in the substratum shell,
etc. Here, it can be easily seen that the substratum shell, etc. are the
fundamental content of the superimposed silver etc.   In the same way the
substratum Brahman is the fundamental content of the superimposed world.  By
such a study the (possible) objection ‘how can the veda teach the oneness
of the extremely lowly things like a dog, etc. with the Lord/Brahman?’
stands brushed aside.  Nor does the shruti teach the oneness of the
body-mind complex of the dog, etc. with Brahman.  On the other hand, the
eminent  Consciousness that is defined by the jIva that pervades in all the
high and low creatures in the creation is what is identified with the
Brahman-Consciousness.  This has been clarified by the Lord Himself in the
Bh.GitA 5.18: 5.18 ‘The Self-realized ones look with equanimity on a
Brahmana endowed with learning and humility, a cow, an elephant and even a
dog as well as an eater of dog's meat.’  Nor by this much there is the
slightest defect of the tainting of the Lord by the connection with the
positive and negative attributes of the beings.  Never indeed the Sun that
reflects in the various loci such as the Holy river GangA, or a pond, or
toddy, or urine is touched by the qualities of these loci.  Thus the Vedic
hymn on Rudra praising Him as dog, etc. cannot be faulted. One cannot
possibly come across a more lucid exposition of the Veda or the Advaita
doctrine in a concise manner than in the foregoing.


regards

subrahmanian.v