[Advaita-l] Fwd: Concept of Īśvara according to Sureśvarāchārya

[V Subrahmanian]

Re-posting an old post for a revision of an important concept of Advaita.

regards
subbu

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 6:33 PM
Subject: Concept of Īśvara according to Sureśvarāchārya
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>, Advaitin <advaitin at yahoogroups.com>


Concept of Īśvara according to Sureśvarāchārya

In the 'Siddhāntabindu' (a commentary on the Daśaślokī of Shankaracharya)
by Madhusudana Saraswati, for the 8th verse, the concept of Iśvara
according to Sureśvaracharya is stated

वार्तिककारमते त्वीश्वर एव साक्षीति द्वैविध्यमेव जीवेश्वरभेदेन दृशः ।
तत्रेश्वरोऽपि त्रिविधः । स्वोपाधिभूताविद्यागुणत्रयभेदेन
विष्णुब्रह्मरुद्रभेदात् । कारणीभूतसत्त्वगुणावच्छिन्नो विष्णुः पालयिता ।
कारणीभूतरजउपहितो ब्रह्मा स्रष्टा । हिरण्यगर्भस्तु महाभूतकारणत्वाभावात् न
ब्रह्म, तथापि स्थूलभूतस्रष्टृत्वात् क्वचिद्ब्रह्मेतुपचर्यते ।
कारणीभूततमउपहितो रुद्रः संहर्ता । एवं चैकस्यैव
चतुर्भुजचतुर्मुखपञ्चमुखाद्याः पुमाकाराः श्रीभारतीभवान्याद्याश्च
स्त्रयाकाराः, अन्ये च मत्स्यकूर्मादयोऽनन्तावतारा लीलयैवाविर्भवन्ति
भक्तानुग्रहार्थमित्यवधेयम् ।

 चिन्मयस्याद्वितीयस्य निष्कलस्याशरीरिणः ।
उपासकानां कार्यार्थं ब्रह्मणो रूपकल्पना ॥

In the above text Madhusudana Saraswati brings out the view of
Sureshvaracharya: One Brahman alone takes on the forms of the trimūrtis for
the purposes of creation, sustenance and annihilation. Not just that, it is
this Brahman alone that appears as the shakti-s, consorts of these
trimūrti-s as well. He sums up the discussion with a verse which means: One
Pure Consciousness, without a second, devoid of parts and body, with a view
to bless the devotees, takes on forms. This is in tune with Shankara's
statement in the BSB 1.1.20:

यत्तूक्तं हिरण्यश्मश्रुत्वादिरूपवत्त्वश्रवणं परमेश्वरे नोपपद्यत इति, अत्र
ब्रूमः — स्यात्परमेश्वरस्यापीच्छावशान्मायामयं रूपं साधकानुग्रहार्थम् ,
‘माया ह्येषा मया सृष्टा यन्मां पश्यसि नारद । सर्वभूतगुणैर्युक्तं मैवं मां
ज्ञातुमर्हसि’ इति स्मरणात् ।

Thus, there is no basis at all in the claims of some misguided elements
that 'Sureshvaracharya was a vaishnava'. The above text of Madhusudana
Saraswati can be seen to confirm the Vārtika-based article:


http://www.mediafire.com/file/gg27uyd2mh869r9/Sureshvaracharya_a_Trimūrti_aikya_vādin_F.pdf

and another article on the feminine version of trimurti-s:

https://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/trimurti-aikya-the-feminine-version/

regards
subrahmanian.v