BraHman........ is it One Or Two?

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Our most sincere SAdhak Chitta writes ....

 

( Sir, is that our understanding of Advaita? Are there really two

Brahmans in Advaita? :-) What is the context in which the great Sri

Shankara Bhagavadpada, the greatest exponent of Advaita, could

actually speak of two Brahmans? )

 

I have heard of Two Brahmans ....

 

1)SaDguna BrAhMan ( BraHman with attributes or gunas)

2)Nirguna BraHman (BraHman without attributes or gunas)

 

The very first verse of Adi Shankara's GOVINDASHTAKAM describes Lord

Krishna thus ....

 

satyaM jnAnam anantaM nityam anAkAzaM paramAkAzaM,

goSTha prAGNariGNa lolam anAyAsaM paramAyAsam<br>mAyA

kalpita nAnAkAram anAkAraM bhuvanAkAraM kSmAyA nAtham

anAthaM praNamata govindaM param Anandam !!

 

 

Worship Govinda who is supreme bliss, real, knowledge, infinite, and

eternal, who is free from Ákása (and other upádhis), who is the

highest light, who was eager as a child to crawl in the cow-pen, who

is really free from difficulties, but who appears to be in

difficulties (or who is the abode of máyá, cause of all), who appears

manifold due to máyá, who appears as the world, who is the Lord of

the earth and sri, and who has no Lord to control him.

 

yES, ADVAITINS !

 

OUR OWN BELOVED SHANKARA BHAGVADAPADA DESCRIBES Lord Krishna as

 

Supreme Bliss , REal, Knowledge , infinite and ***ETERNAL****

 

and did i hear someone say that Adi Shankara say Sadguna brahman is

not Eternal?

 

also,

 

Sri Vishnu Sahasaranama describes Sriman Narayan as

 

(659.) ANANTAH.

 

..One who pervades everthing, who is eternal, who is the soul of all,

and who cannot be limited by space, time, location etc.

 

and WHAT ABOUT THIS STATEMENT FROM TAITTRIYA UPANISHAD ?

 

Tait. Up. 2.1. says..

 

'Satyam jnanam anantam brahma..

 

Brahma is Truth, Knowledge and Ananta.' Vis. Pur. 2.5.24 says..

 

 

Our Beloved Chiita goes on to assert rather forcefully ...

 

(There is no second entity called Ishvara; Ishvara is Brahman

Himself.)

 

 

The SHIVA PURANA WTITTEN BY SHRI VEDA VYASA SAYS "SHIVA IS ISHWARA"

AND ISHWARA IS BRAHMAN.

 

Mandukya Upanishad says that

 

`Shantam Shivam Chaturtham Advaitam Manyante', i.e. the peaceful, non-

dual, fourth state of Consciousness is Shivam – extremely auspicious

& fulfilling. This is the Shiva Tattva. It is not something which is

objectifiable but is realised as our very subjective essence. He is

realised as our very Self. The word Shiva in its most fundamental

meaning is a synonym of Brahman.

 

(http://www.vmission.org/hinduism/gods/shiva.htm - 25k - Cached )

 

AND WHAT ABOUT DEVATMA SHAKTI ?

 

The qualities of Shakti (Divine Power) -devatma shakti

 

The Svetashvatara Upanishad describes the qualities of the manifest

creation inhabited by the divine power of God (devatma-shakti).

 

Unlike the Prakriti of the Samkhya school, the Shakti that is

described here is not independent of Brahman but an aspect of Him.

 

The Upanishad describes the qualities of the manifested creation in

the following manner (I.4):

 

" We know Him with one hub, three divisions, sixteen ends, sixteen

supports (spokes), six sets of eight each, whose one noose has

innumerable forms, whose paths are distinguished as three and whose

delusion arises out of two causes."

 

 

The symbolism is explained below:

 

One hub: The One Creative Principle, called Iswara

 

Three Divisions: The three qualities namely sattva, rajas and tamas

(Vishnu, Brahma and Mahesa)

 

Sixteen Ends: The five gross elements ( mahabhutas), the five sense

organs (jnanedriyas), the five organs of action (karmendriyas) and

the mind (manas).

 

Fifty supports: They are the five viparyayas (ignorance, infatuation,

love, anger and fear), the 28 weaknesses , nine opposites of

happiness (tushti) and eight opposites of perfections ( siddhis).

 

Twenty counter supports: They are the five sense organs, five organs

of action and their objects.

 

Six sets of eight each: They are 1. Prakriti with its eight

principles of gross elements, mind, buddhi and ego-sense, 2. eight

types of minerals (dhatus) found in the body, 3. eight types of

wealth or abundance (aisvarya), 4. eight types of feelings or mental

states (bhava), 5. the eight types of gods (devas), and 6. eight

qualities of the self (atma guna).

 

The one noose with innumerable forms: It is the desire or kama which

manifests itself in many forms and holds the beings in bondage.

 

The three paths: These are the three paths to salvation namely, the

path of knowledge (gnanamarg) , the path of devotion (bhaktimarg) and

the path of action (karmamarg).

 

The two causes of delusion: They are the good actions and bad actions

performed with desire which lead to delusion only.

 

The subsequent verse speaks of Brahman as a river of five streams

flowing from five terrifying and crooked sources, whose vital breaths

are five, who is at the root of the five perceptions, five whirl

pools, five pains that are divided into five branches of fifty each.

The five streams are perceptions flowing from the five sensory

organs, the five vital breaths are the five types of prana that flows

in the body, the five whirlpools are the five types of mental

afflictions caused due to ignorance, desire etc."

 

courtesy v, jayaram's hindu website

 

so as our beloved shri ramakrisha says 'brahman and shakti are

inseperable like the fire and its power to burn.'

 

AND,

 

can you really describe 'brahman'? is it not something that needs to

be realized? (anubhooti- or experience)

 

because, brahman is beyond reason - beyond mind and beyond intellect

and beyond the senses and even beyond language... ..

 

so how can we describe something (brahman) that is beyond

description?

 

how can we understand something (brahman) that is beyond

understanding?

 

how can we know something (brahman) that is beyond knowledge?

 

"Even after prolonged spiritual practice and meditation, one cannot

even conclude whether one knows it or not. If a person thinks that he

knows It, he does not know that he does not know. To whomsoever It is

not known, It is known to him. But to whomsoever it is known, is not

known to him. It is not understood by those who understand it and

understood by those who do not understand it. It can be known only

when one experiences directly at all levels of consciousness."

 

can we really take sides while discussing 'brahman' ? -

 

" the right way to approach brahman is to worship both the formless

and the form and realize one through the other."

 

 

HARI AUM TAT SAT!