[Advaita-l] Omnipresence

[V Subrahmanian]

Thanks Sada ji, for your words of wisdom.

regards
subbu

On Fri, Jul 31, 2020 at 9:17 PM Kuntimaddi Sadananda <
kuntimaddisada at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Subbuji -PraNAms
>
> Just a simple answer here.
>
> Brahman means infiniteness - Tai Up also indicates the anantam aspect of
> Brahman.
> Infinite cannot be defined nor can have a form since it is infinite. The
> infinite word also is only to negate anything that is finite. Hence in
> principle - it cannot be defined - na vaack gacchati, na manaH. yato vaacho
> nivartante apraapya manasaa saha.
> All descriptions are lakshyaarthaas only or indicatory definitions for the
> mind to contemplate in that direction.
> The same applies to the Self, the subject too - that which cannot be
> objectified.
> Hence both the self and Brahman are aprameyam.
>
> Just my 2c
>
> Hari Om!
> Sadananda
>
>
>
>
> On Friday, July 31, 2020, 09:08:54 PM GMT+5:30, V Subrahmanian via
> Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>
> About the 'form' that is attributed to Brahman, here are my thoughts:
>
> The Upanishads clearly say that Brahman is devoid of shabda, sparsha, rupa,
> etc. It is also not long, short, etc.
>
> The Upanishad also clearly states that न सन्दृशे तिष्ठति रूपमस्य न चक्षुषा
> पश्यति कश्चनैनम् । हृदा मनीषा मनसाभिक्लृप्तो य एतद्विदुरमृतास्ते भवन्ति ॥ ९
> ॥ in the KaTha and other Upanishads.  This means: Brahman has no form and
> therefore is not available to the eye for anyone. One has to 'know' It
> through the special vritti of the manas. They get liberated by this
> realization.
>
> Now, why does Brahman not have any form? The reason is, rUpam, is a unique
> guNa of the bhUta thejas. Of the Panchabhutas, thejas (fire) is the first
> one to have this unique guNa, rUpam (which is both color and form), and the
> next ones like jalam and prithvi inherit this rUpam from thejas. Brahman is
> not paanchabhautika and hence cannot have rUpam.
>
> That is why the above Upanishad states that Brahman does not have a form
> and cannot be seen by the eye. RUpam is the viShaya for the
> chakShurindriyam. The other statements say that Brahman is beyond the reach
> of any other indriya that grasps shabda, sparsha, etc.
>
> Even if someone were to say that Brahman has a-prAkruta rUpam, etc. still
> such rUpam, etc. also should be perceptible only to the indriyas. When
> someone is told that Brahman has aprAkruta rUpam, the human can only
> imagine it as a viShaya for the eye and likens it to whatever he has seen.
> Thus, unless one employs the eye he cannot grasp even the aprakruta rupam
> that might be taught to him.  But since the Upanishads have precluded any
> form to Brahman and the possibility of It being an object of perception, we
> can only conclude that any form to Brahman that the Upanishads specify, are
> only for upasana and not Jnana. (..hiraNya smashru, bhArUpah, etc.) And the
> Upanishads do not offer any pramana for the humans gaining aprAkruta
> indriyas to objectify the aprAkruta rUpa of Brahman. The divya chakShus
> granted to Arjuna is not made mandatory for all in the Vedanta to have a
> darshana of Bhagavan and nor is such a darshana the direct cause for
> Jnana/liberation.
>
> To contemplate on the input provided in the 11th chapter is, no doubt,
> necessary in the progress in Vichara. That everything is only 'in' Brahman
> and that Brahman is 'everything' is eminently brought out by this Darshana.
> One can vizualise this and that is the purpose of the chapter to the
> sadhaka. Swami Paramarthananda ji has put it succinctly: the sadhana is an
> evolution from eka-rUpa Ishwara bhakti to vishvarUpa bhakti culminating in
> arUpa Ishwara Bhakti.
>
> Thus both logically and scripturally, there cannot be any niyata, default,
> rUpam, for Brahman. The vishvarupa too is preceded by Arjuna's question:
> केषु
> केषु च भावेषु *चिन्त्यो**ऽसि* भगवन्मया ॥ १७ ॥ in the 10th chapter, whose
> extension is the 11th where the vishvarupa darshana occurs. This is
> followed by the 12th chapter where the Upasaka (of the form and guNas of
> Brahman) is placed opposite the Jnani, the Tattvadarshii.
>
> Om Tat Sat
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: https://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> https://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>