[Advaita-l] dva suparNA

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Nov 13, 2015 at 2:26 PM, Venkatraghavan S via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On 13 Nov 2015 07:41, "Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l" <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> I just want to concur that the second bird is not nirguNa brahman in the
> munDakopaniShad context because both birds are in the "samAna vR^ikSha"
> i.e. the sharIra.
>
>
> Sri Jaldhar,
> I have no problems if you prefer to call the second bird as sAkshi instead,
> but sAkshi is nirguNa brahman, so I don't agree with your statement saying
> it is not nirguNa brahman.
>
> The lakshyArtha of tat and tvam have to be the same.
>

What should clinch the issue whether the entity indwelling the jīva, that
is the 'second' bird, is nirguna brahman or not, is the very same mundaka
set of verses.  The 'paramam sāmyam', absolute identity, the mantra teaches
that the jiva bird 'attains' with the 'other bird' is sufficient to tell us
that in Advaita that sāmyam is with nirguna brahman only and not with any
other.  Shankara's clarification, emphasis, there that 'this sāmya is not
any dvaita type but the absolute advaitic type of identity' too confirms
this.

Over and above this, the Taittiriya 2nd ch. statement: yo veda nihitam
guhāyām parame vyoman so'śnute sarvān kāmān saha brahmaṇā vipaściteti' - He
who realizes the One that resides in the heart-cave attains to Brahman
alone...' and the famous Br.up antaryāmi brāhmalna mahā vākya: 'eṣa te ātmā
antaryāmi amṛtaḥ' 'This antaryām, impeller, is verily your Self, immortal'
where Shankara very specifically clears the situational doubt as to who
this antaryāmi is: He says this is a mere witness, pure consciousness.  So
such an identification with the jiva is surely the absolute one, with the
attributeless brahman.  There are many BG verses too with the special
identification: hṛdi sanniviṣṭam, hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati, etc. which are
also about this nirguna chaitanyam which alone is the real self of all.

This input from Mundaka:

अनश्नन् अन्यः इतरः ईश्वरो नित्यशुद्धबुद्धमुक्तस्वभावः सर्वज्ञः
सत्त्वोपाधिरीश्वरो नाश्नाति । is to be connected with the first few mantras
of the Kenopanishat.  There the question is: impelled by which Power do the
mind, senses etc. function? The word used there is 'kena īśitam' The
bhashya sentence crucial here is: : देहादिसंघातादनित्यात्कर्मकार्याद्विरक्तः
अतोऽन्यत्कूटस्थं नित्यं वस्तु बुभुत्समानः पृच्छतीति सामर्थ्यादुपपद्यते ।
The questioner wants to know that entity which is beyond, distinct, from
the five kośas which is kūṭastha.  This chaitanyam is the one that impels,
in the sense of being merely present, an epithet Shankara uses in the
Br.up. I cited above. In the Kena Shankara says further: केन प्राणः युक्तः
नियुक्तः प्रेरितः सन् प्रैति गच्छति स्वव्यापारं प्रति । प्रथम इति
प्राणविशेषणं स्यात्, तत्पूर्वकत्वात्सर्वेन्द्रियप्रवृत्तीनाम् । केन इषितां
वाचम् इमां शब्दलक्षणां वदन्ति लौकिकाः । तथा चक्षुः श्रोत्रं च स्वे स्वे
विषये क उ देवः द्योतनवान् युनक्ति नियुङ्क्ते प्रेरयति ॥  One can see how
everything falls in place. I can't resist citing a famous Bhāgavatam prayer
by Dhruva to the Lord who appeared before him, pleased with his tapas:

*योऽन्तःप्रविश्य मम वाचमिमां प्रसुप्तां*
*संजीवयत्यखिलशक्तिधरः स्वधाम्ना ।*
*अन्यांश्च हस्तचरणश्रवणत्वगादीन्*
*प्राणान् नमो भगवते पुरुषाय तुभ्यम् ।।*
*- श्रीमद् भागवतम् ४.९.६*
*yo'ntaḥ-praviśya mama vācam-imāṁ prasuptāṁ*
*saṁjīvayaty-akhila-śaktidharaḥ svadhāmnā |*
*anyāṁśca hasta-caraṇa-śravaṇa-tvagādīn*
*prāṇān namo bhagavate puruṣāya tubhyam ||*
*- Śrīmad bhāgavatam 4.9.6*
Translation:
Prostration to You, O Bhagavān, the supreme Consciousness, possessor of all
powers, who, having entered my being, has activated my dormant speech, and
likewise has empowered the other organs such as the hands, feet, ears, skin
and all the vital forces, by virtue of His mere Presence.
See a fine article on the above:
http://cirdna.narayanashramatapovanam.org/verses-for-introspection/810-shloka-34
One can also read, to one's heart's fill, the next two mantras of the Kena,
with the bhashyam.  Extremely revealing.
regards
vs


regards
vs

>
> Regards,
> Venkatraghavan
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