Brahman, Brahmajyoti, Narayana etc.,

[Guest guest]

Defining the nature of Brahman has been one of the challenges for our

purvacharyas - sankara, defines it as a undifferentiated consciousness, while

Ramanuja and his followers describe it as referring to Narayana, savisesa. If

Brahman, as the term used in Vedanta-sutras, in its ultimate meaning, is

actually referring to Narayana, where does brahmajyoti (I'm assuming, from my

limited study that except gaudiyas, no one else uses this term to denote a

feature of the absolute) fit in? the Gaudiyas quote brahman eti verse in SB and

14.27 in BG to establish their theory of absolute truth being

brahmajyoti-paramatma-bhagavan. But, even the SB verse only says different

seers call the absolute truth by one of these three names - it is my

understanding that it doesn't categorically establish the real existence of all

three features of the absolute. Also, in the Gita verse, brahman can also refer

to the individual self (Ramanuja's Bhasya), instead of the

impersonal brahman.

 

The visistadvaitins say that the advaitin's understanding of brahman as found in

upanishads is wrong, because he doesn't give same weightage to saguna and

nirguna srutis and thus is interpretation is faulty. On the other hand, Srila

Prabhupada, in the purport to the Bhagavatam verse says that the student of

upanishads realizes the absolute as impersonal brahman, adding credence to the

advaitin's viewpoint. If the upanishads are actually a deliberation on Narayana

(denoted as Brahman), then where is the question of realizing the absolute as

impersonal by studying all the srutis carefully!

So, as an objective outsider, I get the feeling that the Gaudiyas are trying to

appeal to the impersonalists by saying that the realization of Brahman as

impersonal is also valid, although incomplete, because it is actually only the

Lord's effulgence (although, the advatins don't consider it this way).

 

So, to summarize, does the term brahmajyoti appear in any of the sruti texts (I

think isopanishad alludes to this!)?

 

if brahman is actually denoting savisesa Narayana, then where is the need for an

impersonal feature of the absolute?

 

Looking forward to some thoughts,

 

in your service,

 

Aravind.

Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

[Guest guest]

On the discussion of this topic in CC Adi-lila, chapter two and in the

hiranmayena verse from Isopanisad a verse from the Mundaka Upanisad

(2.2.10-12) is cited:

 

hiranmaye pare kose

virajam brahma niskalam

tac chubhram jyotisam jyotis

tad yad atma-vido viduh

 

na tatra suryo bhati na candra-tarakam

nema vidyuto bhanti ktuo 'yam agnih

tam eva bhantam anubhati sarvam

tasya bhasa sarvam idam vibhati

 

brahmaivedam amrtam purastad brahma

pascad brahma daksinatas cottarena

adhas' cordhvam ca prasrtam brahmai-

vedam visvam idam varistham

 

"In the spiritual realm, beyond the material covering, is the unlimited Brahman

effulgence, which is free from material contamination. That effulgenet white

light is understood by transcendentalists to be the light of all lights. In

that realm there is no need of sunshine, moonshine, fire or electricity for

illumination. Indeed, whatever illumnination appears in the material world is

only a reflection of that supreme illumination. That Brahman is in front and in

back, in the north, south, east and west, and also overhead and below. In other

words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads throughout both the material and

spiritual skies."

 

This verse coupled with the hiranmayena verse from ISO would seem to establish

the existence of Brahman (brahmajyoti) as well as the person behind the

effulgence.

 

 

 

So, to summarize, does the term brahmajyoti appear in any of the sruti texts (I

think isopanishad alludes to this!)?

[Guest guest]

Please accept my humble obeisances. Its a very valid point for discussion.

Actually the Isopanishad and Mundaka upanishad refers to the brahmajyoti which

spans the entire spiritual sky. There is mention about Lord's effulgence in the

Svetasvatara and Katopanishads in the mantra "na tatra sUryo bhAti".In the

chandogya upanishad also when describing the travel of the liberated soul the

mantra says, "param jyotir abhisampadya svena rUpena nishpate'(Sorry I don't

have the sloka right now with me. The sloka no. is 8.12.3.It states that the

liberated soul enters the supreme light and there it manifests its own

spiritual form.So the Lord's effulgence is described in the sruti. However its

not described as an aspect of the absolute truth in the upanishads. However in

the Harivamsa there is a description of Krishna and Arjuna bringing back the

sons of Brahmana from Lord Vishnu's abode. While travelling to the abode, they

enter a glaring effulgence. Krishna tells Arjuna, "This

effulgence which is called brahman is verily me. Those who enter this spiritual

nature become muktas"(I'll send this sloka and full transaltion soon). And in

padama purAnA there is mention of infinite effulgence emanating from the

spiritual planets. In the book teachings of Lord Caitanya, in the chapter

explaining the arguments with prakasananada saraswati and Bhattacharya,

Mahaprabhu explains that the word Brahman refers to the Personality of Godhead

with all opulences in full measure. He states that the primary import of the

word Brahman is Bhagavan. And whenever the sruits use the word Brahman the

definition always point towards a personal God. For eg the taittriya up.

states, "yato va imAni bhutani.. tat vijinsasva tad brahmeti". And the

brahmasutras use the word brahman to denote the Supreme Lord. And the Sri

Vaishnvas agree that the jIvAs who meditate on their own self and those who do

not have information about the Vaikunta planets attain the fringe of vaikunta

which is

called, "Kaivalya". The vishnu purAnA talks about this kind of mukti. Such souls

enjoy the pleasure in their self by staying at the fringe of Vaikunta. This is

lower mukti than entering vaikunta. However this effugence is not accepted by

the Sri Vaishnavas as the aspect of the absolute truth.

 

Your servant,

L.Harikumar.

 

 

India Promos: Win a trip for 2 to Britain.