[Advaita-l] Whether the question of creation from Brahman is valid

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Sudhanshu Shekhar prabhuji
Hare Krishna

This is more or less your unresolved earlier riddle between change & changeless...is it not??

Anyway, in short if you want to accept the srushti, Ishwara is the srushti karta...and that is what vedAnta maryAda.  We cannot run away from this truth and say entire srushti is kevala bhrame, avidyA kalpita by the tiny jeeva just to maintain the nirvikAri, nirvishesha brahman intact.  Srushti order is not in order and uniform in shruti and somewhere else bhAshyakAra says shruti intention is not to standardize the order of srushti and that jnana ( knowing the order of srushti) is of no use for the jignAsu.  Srushti prakriya is one of the  upAya-s to teach the ultimate says kArika.  And ultimately fact remains : satyaM naiva vAchA na manasA na chakshushA nAnyairapi indriyaiH prAptuM shakyate, tathApi sarvavisheharahitOpi 'jagatO mUlaM ityavagatatvAt astyeva brahma clarifies bhAshyakAra.  

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar

----- 
Hari Om,

"How can the world come about from nishkriya Brahman" - is it a valid question in Advaita VedAnta? The confusion arises because this process of "coming about" - in whichever manner - must necessarily involve change which will contradict the nishkriyatva and changelessness of Brahman.

So my doubt is - whether this question itself is permissible to be asked in Advaita VedAnta. My point is that this question is impermissible.

Why?

Because when we ask this question, it implies that we have got certain "idea" about Brahman. We are imputing the dharma of "nishkriyatva" and "changelessness" to Brahman whereas Brahman is stated as nirdharmaka. When Shruti uses the word nishkriya or satya for Brahman, then it is not state satyatva or nishkriyatva as the dharma of Brahman, but as lakshana of Brahman with at intent to withdraw our vision from kriyavaan and asatya-vastu (which can pretty well be understood).

Therefore, the very question as to how of creation from Brahman should be impermissible in Advaita VedAnta because without having "some understanding" of Brahman, this question is not possible AND no understanding is possible about Brahman.

I would appreciate the views of learned members here.