[Advaita-l] Meditation on the Nirguna Brahman results in Parama Ananda

[V Subrahmanian]

On Mon, Nov 11, 2024 at 5:49 PM Govindan V via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Sir,
> With reference to the following quote -
>
> निर्गुणे ब्रह्मणि मयि धारयन्विशदं मनः।
> परमानन्दमाप्नोति यत्र कामोऽवसीयते १७।
>
> One who fixes his pure mind on Me in My manifestation as the *impersonal
> Brahman* obtains the greatest happiness, wherein all his desires are
> completely fulfilled.
>
> IMHO, nirguNa and manifestation are contradiction in terms. In my opinion,
> nirguNE should be translated as 'beyond the three guNas'. It seems to mean
> ISvara who is beyond the operation of mAyA - consisting of three guNas.
>

Actually NirguNa has been explained by Shankara in the Gita bhashya, for
instance, as free of the three gunas. What it means is:  For SaguNa
Brahman, for executing the cosmic functions of srishti, sthiti and laya,
the three gunas are mandatory. The Veda and Puranas testify to this. All
the 'auspicious' guNas of Ishwara accrue from the three gunas only. Thus,
Nirguna means 'Brahman not related to the world/jivas'.

warm regards
subbu

>
> With regards,
> V Govindan
>
>