[Advaita-l] Fwd: Omnipresence

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

> Namaste ji
>
> On Thu, 30 Jul, 2020, 3:23 AM Srinath Vedagarbha, <svedagarbha at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 29, 2020 at 1:15 AM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> >
>>> > The bhakti experienced (as an emotion/bhAva) and bhakti practised (as
>>> > specific worship through japam and archana etc.), to either Maheshvara
>>> and
>>> > Vishnu are very similar in spirit and every practitioner knows this
>>> > empirically. This is such a no-brainer that offering a tulasi leaf or
>>> > offering a bilva leaf can be imbued with the same feeling of love for
>>> that
>>> > particular form of Ishvara.
>>> >
>>>
>>
>> I am not at all denying there are great bhaktas in advaita sampradaya,
>> however what is the real knowledge of such bhakta? Does he consider his
>> upAsya devata really out there with all such kalyana guNas? or such guNas
>> are mere adhyAropa on NB? If former, he is not 'sampradayavit'. If later,
>> such bhakti  cannot be comparable with dvaitin's
>>
>
> We could examine two stages of bhakti.
> One a novice smArta who has not done shravanam. He only has some general
> belief or vague information that Brahman is 'nirgunam'. (Without shravanam
> that word anyway will not be relatable to.) Such a Bhakta may have his
> iShTa devata (say Sri Krishna) and say with great devotion that, Krishna is
> supreme etc., and will relate to Krishna with deep devotion as a Supreme
> being and he (Bhakta) feels small and separate. No difference whether he is
> a smArta or a dvaitin - the mere shraddhA regarding the words of Advaita
> sAmpradAya has no tangible influence on the intensity of bhakti at this
> stage
>
> Then after completing shravanam etc. with adequate adhikAritvaM,  he
> appreciates that the svarUpa of AtmA and Ishvara is identical. The question
> should be - will such exposure to Advaita necessarily dilute or reduce the
> earlier bhAva felt for Ishvara as upAsya? The answer is no. The example of
> numerous advaitic krishna bhaktas and Rama bhaktas is testimony enough.
>
> (In fact this is a puzzle for many dvaitins ad to how this happens - but
> happen it does...)
>
> In modern times, the examples of Sri Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi are
> also documented in detail - how or if their love for Ishvara got
> reduced/diluted. (It did not) . They continued to show the attitude of love
> for Ishvara even though they were GYAnis - they were clearly not pretending
> it. It's not as if they felt sheepish or embarrassed or disillusioned about
> their earlier bhakti (prior to Advaita GYAnam). They themselves attest to a
> deepening or at least continuation of the same bhAva/prema towards Ishvara
> that was there earlier. Understanding Ishvara svarUpa does not negatively
> impact outward feeling and expressing bhakti towards him. First we have to
> respect/acknowledge this pratyaxa fact of countless advaitic devotees  that
> devotion does not go away or get diluted due to Advaita. Only then we can
> look at how come this happens etc.,.given that Ishvaratvam is understood as
> mithyA etc.?  A deep bhakti towards even upAsya Ishvara can very well
> continue, since it (expression of bhAva/love for an upAsya) is unopposed to
> Advaita GYAnam. Such a bhAva/emotion for Ishvara is not dependent on a
> notion that dvaita is absolute.  In vyavhAra, GYAnis show compassion/love
> for devotees (that being their nature) and there is no reason for an even
> deeper love for Ishvara continuing in their heart. We know this from their
> own recorded words and life accounts.
>
> (in the above particular context I am using the word 'bhakti' to refer to
> the bhAva/rasa or emotion ;  there are other valid meanings but i am
> focussing on this particular meaning here).
>
>
>
>> I can only assume (please note I say I assume)  -- given the fact that
>> late HH was a great social reformer (along with being a great scholar in
>> Dvaita vedanta) and true to His leadership in social reforming task, He
>> could have said that in the spirit of unifying thri-mathastha sampradaya
>> folks.
>>
>
> That's a noble endeavour.
>
>
>
>> /SV
>>
>
>
> Om
> Raghav
>
>>
>>
>>
>