[Advaita-l] Accounting for Brahman appearing as the world

[H S Chandramouli]

Namaste Sri Subrahmanian Ji,

I  would not have written this but for the possibility of  misunderstanding
of your post. Unfortunately it has happened even before my posting. Your
post does not mention about the jagat being a vivarta in Brahman. I do hope
it is not your understanding that jagat is not a vivarta in Brahman. If you
agree, you may like to clarify your post.

Please do not misunderstand. If you disagree with my post, it is fine by
me.

Regards

On Thu, Sep 7, 2017 at 5:19 PM, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Accounting for Brahman appearing as the world
>
> Advaita holds that the world is an appearance of Brahman. All the entities
> in the world are Brahman alone ultimately, appearing through  upādhi-s.
> These upādhi-s are none other than the various forms of Māyā.
>
> In the Taittiriya Upanishad bhāṣya, Shankara while delineating on the
> mantra portion 'बहु स्यां प्रजायेयेति’ 'I shall become many', explains as
> to what really means Brahman's becoming many? It is not like a man becoming
> many by begetting children. This will involve vikāra in the man and thus
> Brahman will be subject to vikāra,etc. Since this is not the way Brahman
> becomes many, the answer to the question is: Brahman, through the medium of
> the nāma-rūpa combine, which is non-different from Brahman and remaining in
> Brahman in unmanifest form, becomes manifest in creation, and thereby there
> is the manifoldness in the world:
>
> ताभ्यां च उपाधिभ्यां ज्ञातृज्ञेयज्ञानशब्दार्थादिसर्वसंव्यवहारभाग्ब्रह्म ।
> Tai.Up.Bhā.2.6.1
>
> Through these two upādhis of nāma and rūpa, Brahman comes to be looked upon
> as knower, known, knowing/knowledge, word, meaning, etc. and all vyavahara
> involving these.
>
> Elucidating this, the commentary 'Vanamālā' by Sri Achyutakrishnananda
> Tirtha, gives a fine account:
>
> तत्रायं विभागः - बुद्ध्युपाधिकं ब्रह्म ज्ञातृव्यवहारभाक्,
> बुद्धिवृत्त्युपाधिकं ब्रह्म ज्ञानमिति व्यवहारभाक्, विषयोपाधिकं ब्रह्म
> ज्ञेयव्यवहारभाक्, नामोपाधिकं ब्रह्म शब्दव्यवहारभाक्, सामान्यतो जडोपाधिकं
> ब्रह्म अर्थव्यवहारभागिति । आदिपदं कर्मादिसङ्ग्र्हार्थम् । एवं
> सर्वव्यवहारभाग्ब्रह्मेत्यर्थः ।
>
> Through the buddhi, intellect, as upādhi, Brahman is the knower (pramātṛ).
> With the buddhivṛtti, mode of the intellect, as upādhi (pramāṇam), Brahman
> is knowledge (knowing), with the object as upādhi, Brahman is the
> known/knowable (prameyam), with name 'nāma' as upādhi, Brahman is all the
> words in creation. With the overall inert, jaḍa, as upādhi, Brahman is the
> meaning of all the words.  The 'etc.' of the bhāsya means 'karma, etc.'
>
> In the above everything in the creation is accounted for.
>
> Om Tat Sat
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