[Advaita-l] A Vishnu stuti authenticated by Shankara bhagavatpAda

[Sujal Upadhyay]

--- Thought this copy was not send to Advaita-L, hence sending it once
again ---

Namaste Raghava ji

|| OM ShI rAmachandrAya namaH ||

Please do not consider chanting auspicious name of SrI hari or SrI Siva as
an insult to Brahman. They are indeed Brahman, but have manifested for sake
of us in a form by using mAyA. IMHO advaita does not ask one to drop
everything from day one. yoga, karma KANDa, chanting holy names of SrI
hari, etc are equally important. However advaita maintains that having
darshan of any form of Ishvara is not the final destination.

The journey of a bhakta and advaitin has many common points. Both have to
change their presupposed opinion about jagat. Do dosha darshan and must
have burning desire for liberation. bhakta has intense desire for darshan
of IshTa devatA. Mind needs any vishaya i.e. object to think about, to
visualize, to focus upon. Mind cannot stay without any vishaya. Either mind
longs or clings to worldly objects or with Ishvara. Staying immersed in
lIlA-s (Leela) of bhagavAna, will help remove all worldly thoughts, and
their attachments in mind. Mind can either think of samsAra or Ishvara.
When it thinks or contemplates on any form or one absolute Brahman, in
either case, one forgets oneself as a separate identity. The attraction of
a bhakta towards Ishvara is so intense that it can no longer bear
separation from beloved Ishvara. Finally Ishvara gives darshan. Since
samsAra is already been uprooted from the mind of bhakta, it is very easy
for such pure mind to enter into nirvikalpa samAdhi. Since bhakta is
unconditionally surrendered to IshTa devatA, bhagavAn will himself take his
devotee to the highest plane of consciousness and abide him/her into his
formless nirguNa aspect. bhakta has not to do anything. It is by the grace
of Ishvara that bhakta either finds a guru or Ishvara himself abides him to
non-dual state.

In case of an advaitin, one has to stay focused on the goal of abiding in
one's true nature. But since one is not aware of it i.e. does not
experiences himself as Brahman, one has to accept duality and must
surrender to a higher authority i.e. Brahman with abheda bhAvanA. Though
one often talks about merging, uniting, etc with Brahman, in reality, one
simply negates non-self and finally the 'I' is left alone. This 'I' is none
other than supreme Self - Brahman. Wise say, knower of Atman is Atman
itself.

When one has to shift from sAkAra to nirAkAra bhakti, certain statements
like form is finite, etc are made so that one can cross the ocean of mAyA.
Just like vedic rites and rituals are important and bring inner purity, but
still upon reaching certain purity are to be dropped, so also a smArta or a
bhakta has to drop sAkAra upAsanA and proceed ahead to contemplate on
absolute Brahman.

My own journey was from Asana + prANAyama (to get good marks in exam :) )
--> Asana + prANAyama + KuNDalini yoga --> kuNDalini yoga + rAma nAma japa
(and hanumAna bhakti and japa) --> rAma bhakti --> OM chanting

Be it worshiping or doing japa of any form of Ishvara or be it
contemplation on nirguNa Brahman, in either case, losing one's individual
identity and merging in Brahman and staying in peace is what is important
says Sri Ramana Maharshi.

IMO, shAstra-s are to be diligently studied until one has attained dhyeya
siddhi. One is very near to Brahman and has no interest in samsAra. viveka
and strong vairAgya are very important along with mumukshutva. More the
vairAgya, less are problems in our spiritual progress.

Hence one must study shAstra- with the intention of them giving us clarity,
establishing mithyAtva of samsAra, destroying jIva-shRSTi and progress in
meditation. If one can easily contemplate on Brahman without must
interference of thoughts or power of thoughts is fickle, not strong enough
to push mantra or neti-neti aside and take center stage and drag our mind
into it, then one is progressing. As one progresses, quality of meditation
increases and the blank state is experienced, initially for fraction of
seconds, then the time frame increases. Also the sleep hours decreases, we
one does not dream, afterall why mind thinks of that which is not real?
Mind is at peace with no impulse to do anything for society or get involved
in anything that is not necessary.


OM

Sujal

"To disconnect from the self and to become Aware of anything else is
nothing but unhappiness" - Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi

He who has faith has all
He who lacks faith, lacks all
It is the faith int he name of lord that works wonders
FAITH IS LIFE, DOUBT IS DEATH - Sri Ramakrishna

OM

Sujal Upadhyay

"To disconnect from the self and to become Aware of anything else is
nothing but unhappiness" - Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi

He who has faith has all
He who lacks faith, lacks all
It is the faith int he name of lord that works wonders
FAITH IS LIFE, DOUBT IS DEATH - Sri Ramakrishna

On Sun, Aug 14, 2016 at 8:37 PM, Raghav Kumar <raghavkumar00 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Sujal ji
> Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
> Your questions are very relevant. Most of us start sAdhana with japaM of
> bhagavAnnAma and that devotion only grows deeper upon advaita adhyayanam.
>
> In vedanta sAmpradAya we accept that different pramANas have mutual
> abAdhitatvaM  - they should not contradict each other. So wherever a given
> scriptural text clashes directly with yukti or reason, we have to either
> find some flaw in the reasoning or suitably reinterpret the scriptural
> verse.
>
> We have the yukti-s such as
> sAvayavatvAt anityatvaM vRkShavat
> That which has parts is non-eternal like a tree
>
> sAkaratvAt anityatvaM jaDatvaM ghaTavat
> That which has a form is non-eternal, inert like a pot.
>
> An advaitic bhakta would consider it an insult to BhagavAn nArAyaNa to
> look upon His svarUpam or his tattvaM to be a form with four arms and
> sleeping on SeshanAga or even all-forms. His glory is diminished thereby
> and He is reduced to being inert and non-eternal. To imprison Him to one
> particular form as special and denying his other equally blessed forms is
> also a diminishment of His power. A genuine bhakta would not be parochial.
>
> As you correctly pointed out advaita vAsana needs sAdhana whereas dvaita
> is our starting point for any human being. This basic ignorance or
> stupidity of dvaita is the basic capital we all start with.  It does not
> need any teaching or sAdhana to conclude that there are so many objects and
> beings some higher and some lower. But to arrive at advaitic understanding
> that the many are One who is the Self needs especial grace.
>
> But statements such as Rudra-Shiva was the son of BrahmA the first born,
> etc are useful since they help us develop titikShA and also gratitude that
> nArAyaNa has saved us from first reaching a conclusion based on some
> emotion and then trying to find logic to justify the a priori conclusion. I
> wish to thank Sri Subramaniamji for his lucid posts and loads of patience.
>
> I am reminded of the shvetAshvatara upaniShad 4.12 which says that Rudra
> was prior to the birth of hiraNyagarbha or brahmA ji.  The rough
> translation is - May He, who created the gods and supports them; who
> created the cosmic soul BrahmA; who confers bliss and wisdom on the
> devoted, destroying their sins and sorrows, and punishing all breaches of
> law – may He, Rudra, the great seer and the lord of all, endow us with good
> thoughts !
>
> The next verse beginning yA te rudra shivA is also part of Rudraprashna
> too  IV-13: Let us offer our worship with oblations to that blissful Divine
> Being who is the lord of the Devas, who governs the bipeds and the
> quadrupeds and in whom the worlds rest.
>
> The same Rudra is also mentioned in kaivalyopaniShat as umAsahAyam and it
> should put to rest any speculation.
>
> Om namo nArAyaNAya
>
> Raghav
>
> On 14-Aug-2016 6:43 pm, "Sujal Upadhyay via Advaita-l" <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> Pranams,
>>
>> Gayatri ji, I have a few questions. Please can you answer them.
>>
>> According to you, is Brahman a person?
>>
>> If viShNu is praised, then does it mean Siva is naturally denigrated?
>>
>> According to you, who is Brahman as per Adi Sankara. When bhagavadpAda
>> says
>> nArAyaNa, is it a person or is it nirAkAra tatva i.e. nArAyaNa tatva?
>>
>> Do you consider viShNu sahasranAma bhAshya as genuinely written by Adi
>> Sankara himself?
>>
>> What is your opinion about Siva sahasranAma present in mahAbhArata?
>>
>> How do you judge if any upanishad or in general any verse is an
>> interpolation?
>>
>> Do you consider anything that is not quoted as an interpolation or
>> possible
>> interpolation and it is a weak proof?
>>
>> Lastly, do you adhere to or are inclined to any philosophy like dvaita,
>> advaita, etc or are you studying scriptures with analytical approach?
>>
>> Lastly, do you meditate? if yes, then how and on what? I know that you may
>> ask it is not necessary and irrelevant question to ask, as you are merely
>> pointing out what you have read and to read and understand, there is no
>> need to meditate. However, meditation makes one's mind subtle and broadens
>> understanding. shAstra-s and words of bhagavadapAda are not just dry
>> philosophy, but experiences. Saints speak from direct experience and the
>> very point of scriptures is to raise our consciousness to th highest level
>> and be free from birth and death i.e. achieve moksha.
>>
>> I know that some questions may be private and you may not wish to answer.
>> I
>> will respect your privacy. Hence it is left upto you to answer these
>> questions.
>>
>> Hari OM
>>
>>
>>
>> 2016-08-14 18:29 GMT+05:30 D Gayatri via Advaita-l <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>:
>>
>> > Namaste
>> >
>> > Here, I will present another Vishnu stuthi in the Mahabharata that is
>> > authenticated by Shankara bhagavatpAda himself (and I am not talking
>> > of BG here). In this stuti, Vishnu is again praised as the vedAntic
>> > brahman and Shankara authenticates this in his BSB.
>> >
>> > The topic in BSB is that in the chhandogya upanishad, Vaisvanara
>> > should be taken to mean brahman and no other mundane meaning should be
>> > attached to it. Shankara gives some reasons why this should be so and
>> > in BSB 1.2.25, Shankara quotes the Mahabharata again -
>> >
>> > ​<message clipped>
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
>> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>>
>> To unsubscribe or change your options:
>> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>>
>> For assistance, contact:
>> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>>
>