[Advaita-l] Shankara authenticates Shiva as the son of Brahma

[Sujal Upadhyay]

Namste,

This topic is discussed at length at various times. In the same
mahAbhArata, there is mention of brahmA and viShNu being born from rudra

It is said in Mahabharata 13.14.183-184 that

183 यॊ ऽसृजद दक्षिणाद अङ्गाद बरह्माणं लॊकसंभवम
वामपार्श्वात तथा विष्णुं लॊकरक्षार्थम ईश्वरः
युगान्ते चैव संप्राप्ते रुद्रम अङ्गात सृजत परभुः

184 स रुद्रः संहरन कृत्स्नं जगत सथावरजङ्गमम
कालॊ भूत्वा महातेजाः संवर्तक इवानलः

*Thou art he that hadst created from thy right side the Grandsire Brahma,
the Creator of all things. Thou art he that hadst created from thy left
side Vishnu for protecting the Creation. Thou art that puissant Lord who
didst create Rudra when the end of the Yuga came and when the Creation was
once more to be dissolved. *That Rudra, who sprang from thee destroyed the
Creation with all its mobile and immobile beings, assuming the form of Kala
of great energy,...

(condt)

"The blessed Vishnu said, 'I saluted Mahadeva, saying,--Salutations to
thee, O thou that art the eternal origin of all things. The Rishis say that
thou art the Lord of the Vedas. The righteous say that thou art Penance,
thou art Sattwa, thou art Rajas, thou art Tamas, and thou art Truth. Thou
art Brahman, thou art Rudra ...

The same is said in Siva purANa, linga purANa and viShNu purANa. From Siva
ji's left and right side, brahmA ji and viShNu ji emerged.

In skambha sUkta of atharvaveda, it is said the same.

Verse – 23: Atharva Veda (X:8:23)

“sanātánam enam āhur utā́dyá syāt púnarṇavaḥ |
ahorātré prá jāyete anyó anyásya rūpáyoḥ ||”23
“Him they call eternal; he may become new again to-day.Day and Night
reproduce themselves, each from the form the other wears”.

The one who is eternal is never born. Hence birth of rudra is nothing but
manifestation of formless. Same is the case with brahmA jI, he is said to
be unborn in viShNu purANa.

Adi Sankara never tried to denigrate status of Siva, as both Siva and
viShNu as same as brahman as said in ViShNu sahasranAma Sankara bhAshya #27
Siva and #114 rudra. In #505 soma, the meaning of given as the one who is
with umA (sa-umA). viShNu purANa says that trinity are shakti-s.

linga purANa has story of birth of brahmA and viShNu from skambha -
infinite pillar of consciousness which is also known as rudra / Siva.

advaita does not consider Brahman as person.

There is no problem whatsoever to praise viShNu. Infact no advaitin, no
smArta will denigrate status of either viShNu or Siva. But trying to
'prove' superiority of any one of Ishvara, unfortunately, in most cases,
denigration of other deities happen.

Pl. refer
http://www.advaita-vedanta.in/adi-shankara-preached-smarta-dharma
http://www.advaita-vedanta.in/vishnu
http://www.advaita-vedanta.in/authenticity-of-puranas


OM

Sujal

On Sat, Aug 13, 2016 at 6:04 PM, Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste
>
> It is like arguing and worrying what colour is the horse in a dream
> you have seen. The horse may be white or black. Who cares? It is only
> a dream. Your imagination. From the Supreme Ishwara down to a tiny ant
> everything is existing in your imagination. Why fight on some
> imagination? Nothing is real except your Self. That Self is Brahman.
> The Vedantic Brahman is not Vishnu not Siva or other. It is the Self.
>
>