Fwd: creation - an adhyArOpa on brahman

[Guest guest]

Namaste, This from the Advaitins. I find it summarises the system of

giving some validity to creation as a teaching tool and then ending

up with the Truth or Nirguna Brahman. A very interesting

post...ONS..Tony.

 

advaitajnana, "Tony OClery" <aoclery>

wrote:

 

 

 

praNAms

Hare Krishna

 

The concept of creation and brahman as its efficient & material

(upAdAna &

nimitta) cause etc. have been discussed at length at various places

by

shankara. While refuting sAnkhya, vaiShEshika-s pradhAna-paramANu

theories

shankara vehemently argues that there cannot be any insentient cause

to

this universe...as this creation is systamatically arranged in an

order...so this can be possible only to a sentient being that is

Ishwara

who is omniscient & omnipotent. In the second sUtra *janmAdasya

yatha*

this is the main topic which has been discussed in pages...shankara

writes

elaborated commentary to prove his point that Ishvara can only be

the cause

of this creation not any insentient thing like pradhAna of sAnkhya or

paramAnu of vaishEshika.

 

But, point to be noted here is, the context in which our AchArya

saying

this. Without knowing this it would be very difficult to arrive at a

conclusion that which should not affect a bit to ultimate nirguNa,

nirvikAra nature of brahman. For this the term creation (srushti)

demand

clarification strictly from the vEdAntic view point.

 

First we should see what shruti gives us with regard to creation. In

prashnOpanishad it's been said that first he created life from life

faith

then ether, air, light, water earth etc. ( sa praNamasrujata praNaM

shraddhAM kham vAyu, jyOti, ApaH..) Secondly, ItarEya says this was

indeed

Atman alone in the beginning and nothing else...sentient or non-

sentient.

He thought..Let me create the worlds..he created these

worlds..ambhas,

marEchies, mara and ApaH..(AtmA vA idamEka yEvatra Asit....sa

imAnlOkansrujata ...ambE marichimArmApaH etc.). Thirdly, muNdaka

says just

as the spider exudes and withdraws the web just as plants are botn

out of

the earth etc. so comes out all this universe from the imperishable

one...Finally, chAndOgya says, Atman was one without the second & it

thought let me become pletenous..let me be born as manifold ...then

it

created light!! Likewise, taitirIya too gives some different account

with

creation.

 

If you see the above, it is clear that shruti is not so particular

about

giving the correct account of creation....if the creation is real,

Ishwara

is really its creator...how can our shruti mAta gives incorrect

information

about it?? Prashna says that the purusha created prAna etc. but it

is not

clear out of which substance he created them...and ItarEya says

differently

that all this universe was Atman before creation!! mundaka says

Atman

himself became all this in the process of creation...and it seems

all the

created things appeared at a stretch like hair out of a person!! and

chAndOgya saying Atman itself modified and transformed into the

universe...though we know that this sort of self transformation is

repugnat

to the shruti-s & its siddhAnta of nirvikAri Atman ...It is also to

be

noted that with regard to jIva also shruti gives different

description at

different places...we shall take that in a separate mail.

 

Now, it is clear that shruti is not giving us the *correct* order &

process of this creation to attribute the same to Ishwara...then

what would

be the intention of shruti in advocating creation, jIva etc.

etc. ?? Since

both jIva & jagat are easily accessible to us, shruti adopting a

method to

teach us the *reality* which is beyond this nAma rUpAtmaka jIva-

jagat. All

these things comes only under the device for the purpose of teaching

the

absolute non dual reality...using the traditional method of

superimpostion

(adhyArOpa) and rescission (apavAda)..that is the reason why shruti

has

never taken seriously that in explaining creation order/process and

brahman

is really the cause of it. It would not be out of context if I

repeat here

the paramArtha in advaita as said by Sri gaudapAdAchArya's in his

kArika :

 

" there is neither creation nor dissolution no one bound nor one who

undergoes spiritual discipline no one who intensely desires to be

released

nor one who is released...this is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH..."

 

If we understand the above declaration properly, it is not difficult

for us

to discern that the method of creation is presented in all the

shruti texts

as a variety of the adhyArOpa and apavAda method. All apparent

differences

in srushti, jIva svarUpa, brahma svarUpa can easily be reconciled

once we

know how this method works in all through the prasthAna trayi.

 

For example in gIta first lord says sarvataH pAni pAdam ...and in

the very

next moment he says it is sarvEdriya vivarjita!! why?? if this

brahman

has really multiple limbs then lord would have stopped then & there

....there was no need for him to clarify that *the tattva* is

sarvEndriya

vivarjita & sarva guNAtIta....shankara calls first verse as

adhyArOpa and

second one as apavAda...not vice versa to prove that these names

and forms

themselves brahman....elsewhere krishna says in gIta, all these

beings rest

in me but I do not rest in them... this is adhyArOpa coz. somewhere

else

krishna clarifies that nor are the beings really in me ...just look

at the

yOga belonging to be ...this is apavAda.

 

Still plenty of evidences can be found in the shruti & smruti texts

to

justify how this method of adhArOpa apavAda effecively works & leads

us to

ultimate reality of nirguNa, nirvishEsha brahman...but this mail has

already become lengthy... I'd like to conclude this mail by quoting

another

gem from kArika (3-15):

 

" The creation which is taught in various ways by means of

illustrations

like that of clay, metal and sparks is only a *device* (upAya) for

the

purpose of leading the mind to the truth....there is no diversity on

any

account..."

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar