[Advaita-l] ***UNCHECKED*** Extremely powerful reasoning for 'Aham Brahmasmi' in the Bh.Gita

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Namaste V Subramanian ji.

JIva is Kshetrajna can be understood in two ways:

1. JIva is kshetra. And there is bAdha-sAmanAdhikaraNya resulting into jIva
being stated kshetrajna.

Just as "world is Brahman", similarly "jIva is Brahman".

Here, jIva is AbhAsa which is mithyA and is sublated completely through the
statement "jIva is Brahman".

2. JIva is pratibimba. Pratibimba is Satya. Here, "jIva is Kshetrajna" is
mukhya-sAmAnAdhikaraNya.

Here, the vAchya-artha of jIva is NOT within kshetra. In the previous
model, vAchya-artha of jIva (the AbhAsa) will come within the purview of
kshetra.

========

Thus, when jIva is stated to be Kshetrajna, depending on the model of
AbhAsa and pratibimba, we have to take as to whether the vAchya-artha of
word jIva will be kshetra (mithyA) or non-kshetra (Satya).

Regards.

On Sat, 21 Oct, 2023, 12:06 am V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> In the Bh.Gita 13th chapter, at the end, we have this verse:
>
> यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविः ।
> क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३३ ॥
>
> 13.34 As the single sun illumines this whole world, similarly, O descendant
> of the Bharata dynasty, the Knower of the field illumines the whole field.
>
> The 1st  and 2nd verses of this very chapter say:
>
> इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते।
> एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः।।13.1।।
>
> The Blessed Lord said O son of Kunti, this body is referred to as the
> 'field'. Those who are versed in this call him who is conscious of it as
> the 'knower of the field'.
>
> क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत।
> क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम।।13.3।।
>
> And, O scion of the Bharata dynasty, under-stand Me to be the 'Knower of
> the field' in all the fields. In My opinion, that is Knowledge which is the
> knowlege of th field and the knower of the field.
>
> The Kshetram, the Field, has been defined by the Gita thus:
>
> महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च।
> इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः।।13.5।।
> इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतनाधृतिः।
> एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम्।।13.6।।
>
> The great elements, egoism, intellect and the Unmanifest itself; the ten
> organs and the one, and the five objects of the senses;
> Desire, repulsion, happiness, sorrow, the aggregate (of body and organs),
> sentience, fortitude- this field, together with its modifications, has been
> spoken of briefly.
>
> Thus, the Kshetram is decidedly inert, Prakriti, jaDa.
>
> If one were to say that the 'Knower of the field, kshetrajna' is Brahman
> only, then we have to ask ourselves the question: Who am I, the jiva? This
> question is very important because this chapter of the Gita accepts only
> two categories: Kshetram (field, inert, jaDa) and the Kshetrajna, the
> 'Knower
> of the field', the sentient, Chaitanya.  The answer to the above question
> has to be Kshetrajna, Brahman because if I deny that I am Brahman, the only
> alternative I have is to declare myself the inert Kshetram, jaDa. The 33
> verse, cited first above solves the problem by clinching the issue:
>
> The One Kshetrajna, on the analogy of the Sun, is the illumining principle,
> Prakashaka, and the Kshetram, the inert, jaDa, Prakriti, is the illumined,
> prakAshya.   So, if I the jiva is not the Kshetrajna, there is no way I can
> avoid being the Kshetram, inert, jaDa.
>
> Thus, by default, the jiva has to be Brahman, the Kshetrajna.  In Advaita
> alone the jiva is logically too, admitted to be Brahman. In other systems,
> since the Kshetrajna is Brahman and not the jiva, there is no way the jiva
> can be saved from being jaDa. This is because the BG 13th chapter affords
> no third category where the non-Brahman jiva can be placed.
>
> Thus it is the 33rd verse of the 13th chapter that clinches the issue of
> whether the jiva is Brahman or not. This verse provides the solution: the
> jiva is none other than Brahman.
>
> शिव इत्यहमित्युभौ न भिन्नौ शिव एवाहं अहं शिवः स एव ।
> यदि नैवं अनात्मता शिवस्य प्रसरेत् अशिवत्वमात्मनोऽपि ॥
>
> ~ स्वराज्यसिद्धि टीका ३.३९
>
> " The two, Shiva and I, are never different. I am Shiva Himself and Shiva
> is I myself. Otherwise, अनात्मता / जड़त्व, not-self, inertness,  will
> pervade Shiva and अशिवत्व (inauspiciousness), the Atman."  No one would
> like to see himself as inauspicious, a-Shiva.
>
> It is this same logic that is found in the BG 13.33: If I am not Shiva, I
> am a-Shiva, jaDa. If Shiva is not me, the Atman, Shiva will have to be
> anAtman, jaDa.
>
> Om Tat Sat
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