Guest guest Posted October 18, 1999 Report Share Posted October 18, 1999 >Mon, 18 Oct 1999 18:17:20 +0100 >RamakrishnaVedanta (AT) Onelist (DOT) com >Claude Laurent <claude.laurent >What is Brahman? -Brahma Sutras- > >OM SRI RAMAKRISHNAYA NAMAH! >=========================== > >BRAHMA SUTRAS >============= > >Chapter I. Section I. >--------------------- >Topic 2 Definition of Brahman. >------- > >2.Brahman is that omniscient , omnipotent cause from which proceed the origin, etc..(i.e. sustenance and dissolution) of this world. > >Expl.: In the previous Sutra it has etablished that an inquiry into Brahman should be as it helps Liberation. Knowledge of Brahman leads to Liberation. Now in order that we many attain this knowledge of Brahman, It must have some charasteristics by wich It can be known; otherwise it is not possible to have such knowledge . The opponent holds that Brahman has no such characteritics by wich. It can be defined, and in the absence of a definition there can be no knowledge of Brahman, and consequently no Freedom. >This Sutra refutes that objection and gives a definition of Brahman : " That which is the cause of the world is Brahman " - where the imaged " cause of the world " is indicative of Brahman. This is called the Tatastha Lakshana, or that characteristic of thing which is distinct from its nature and yet serves to make it know. In the definition given by this Sutra, the origin, sustenance, and dissolution are characteristics of the world and as such are in no way related to Brahman, which is eternal and changeless; yet these indicate Brahman , which is imagined to be the cause of the world , just as an imagined snake indicates the rope when we say, " that which is the snake is the rope ". >The scriptures give another definition of Brahman which describes Its true nature : " Truth, Knowledge, Infinity is Brahman " . This is called the Svarupa Lakshana , that which defines Brahman in Its true essence. These words , though they have different meanings in ordinary parlance, yet refere to the one indivisible Brahman, even as the words , father, son, brother, husband, etc. refer to one and the same person according to his relation with different individuals. >It must not however be thought that the First Cause of th universe is arrived at by this Sutra through mere reasoning , inference, and other means of right knowledge usually valid in this sense world. Brahman cannot be so etablished independently of the scriptures (Sruti). Though from the efect, the world, we can infer that it must have a cause, we cannot establish with certainty what exactly is the nature of that cause. We cannot say that Brahman alone is the cause and nothing else, as Brahman is not an object of the senses . The relation of cause and effect can be etablished where both the objects are perceived . Inference etc. may give only strong suggestions of Brahman's being the First Cause of the world. A thing etablished by mere inference , however well though out, is explained otherwise by greater intellects. Reasoning also is endless according to the intellectual capacity of people and therefore cannot go farin the ascertainment of Truth. So the scriptures ought to be the basis of all reasoning. It is experience that carries weight , and the scriptures are authoritative because they are the records of the experience of master minds that have come face to face with Reality (Aptaväkya). That is why the scriptures are infaillible. Hence in ascertaining the First Cause the scriptures alone are authority. > >...to be continued... > >God Bless You! Hari Om Tat Sat! > >Narendra > >====================================== > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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