[Advaita-l] Ekadashi

[Kaushik Chevendra]

On the auspicious day of ekadashi a few statments of shankaracharya from
the gita bhasya -
li

2 स च भगवान् ज्ञानैश्वर्यशक्तिबलवीर्यतेजोभिः सदा सम्पन्न त्रिगुणात्मिका
वैष्णवी स्वा माया मूलप्रकृति वशीकृत्य अजः अव्ययः भूताना ईश्वर नित्य-
शुद्धबुद्धमुक्तस्वभावोऽपि सन्, स्वमायया देहवान् इव जातः इव च लोकानुग्रहं
कुर्वन् लक्ष्यते । स्वप्रयोजनाभावेऽपि भूतानुजिघृक्षया वैदिकं धर्मद्वयं
अर्जुनाय शोकमोहमहोदधौ निमन्नाय उपदिदेश, गुणाधिकैः हि गृहीतः अनुष्ठीयमानश्च
धर्म प्रचयं गमिष्यतीति तं धर्मं भगवता यथोपदिष्टं वेदव्यासः सर्वज्ञः भगवान्
गीताख्यैः सप्तभिः श्लोकशतैः उपनिबबन्ध ॥

2. The Lord is in eternal possession of knowledge, lord- liness, executive
power, strength, energy and splendour. He has under His control His
all-pervasive Māyā (Illusive Power) or material Nature, whose essence is
the three constituents. Thus, though unborn, immutable, Lord of beings,
and, in essence, eternally pure, conscious and free, He appears, by virtue
of His Māyā, to be embodied and born as man, for ensuring the welfare of
the world. Though he has no private end of His own to promote, in order to
further the well-being of all living beings, He imparted to Arjuna,
submerged in a sea of grief and delusion, the two-fold Vedic law of
righteous- ness, for, when espoused and practised by men rich in
excellences, it is bound to flourish. The Vedic Dharma, as it was imparted
by the Lord, has been set forth by the omniscient and venerable Vedavyāsa
in seven hundred verses, celebrated as the Gītā.

Commenting On 4.6 slokha acharya says-
6.1. अजोऽपि इति ॥ अजः अपि जन्मरहितः अपि सन्, तथा अव्ययात्मा
अक्षीणज्ञानशक्तिस्वभावः अपि सन्, तथा भूतानां ब्रह्मादिस्तम्बपर्यन्तानां
ईश्वर ईशनशीलः अपि सन् प्रकृति स्वां मम वैष्णवीं मायां त्रिगुणात्मिकां
यस्याः वशे सर्वं [इदं] जगत् वर्तते, यया मोहितं जगत् सत् स्व आत्मानं वासुदेव
न जानाति, तां प्रकृति स्वां अधिष्ठाय वशीकृत्य सभवामि देहवान् इव भवामि
आत्ममायया आत्मनः मायया, न परमार्थतः लोकवत् ॥ . इव

6.1. Though I am the unborn and immutable Self, i.e.. though My cognitive
power never wanes and I am the master of all beings from Brahma down to a
tuft of grass, resorting to, i.e. mastering, 'My power of becoming', I take
birth or appeari to become embodied. My power of becoming is all-pervasive;
it consists of the three constituents. The entire world is subject to it.
Deluded by it, the world does not know its own Self, Vasudeva. Thus am I
born, as it were, by virtue of My power of becoming and not in fact, as is
the case with the world.

Thus the divine nature of Vishnu

Namo narayana