Advaita in Srimad Bhagavata

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Advaita Vedanta in Srimad Bhagavatam

 

 

 

It is well known that Srimad Bhagavatam, considered to be the greatest

among the eighteen Puranas attributed to Sage Veda Vyasa, is devoted to the

exposition of the path of Bhakti and that the various episodes described

therein are intended to strengthen devotion in the minds of people. It is

however not so well known that it also expounds the path of Jnana or

knowledge by conveying the essence of the Upanishads in a very lucid and

attractive manner. Such expositions of the path of Jnana are found in almost

every chapter. Here a few verses from the tenth Skandha are taken and

explained to illustrate this.

 

The tenth Skandha of Srimad Bhagavatam describes Krishna Avatara in

detail. In chapter 14 of this Skandha it is said that once Brahma, the

Creator, wanted to know the extent of Krishna's power. He therefore took

away the cowherd boys and calves who were with Krishna in the forest and hid

them. Krishna, who knew what Brahma had done, took the form of all the

cowherd boys and calves as well as of all the things which the boys carried

such as slings, staff etc. In the evening Krishna, in the form of all these,

went back to Gokula. There each boy went to his own house and each calf went

to its mother. The mothers and fathers of the boys did not see any

difference between their own sons and these boys. The cows also accepted the

calves as their own. The next morning Krishna and all these boys went to the

forest along with the calves as usual and returned in the evening. This went

on for a year. Then Brahma came to the forest to find out what was

happening. He was astonished to see all the boys and calves there, though

the boys and calves he had taken away were still in the place where he had

hidden them. As he was looking on in utter amazement, he saw each one of the

boys assuming the form of the Lord Himself, with four arms bearing a conch,

discus, mace and lotus, adorned with a diadem and a necklace of pearls and

clad in yellow silk. Then all of them became cowherd boys again and Krishna

was standing in their midst, holding a morsel of cooked rice in his hand,

exactly as he was at the instant when Brahma took away the calves and the

boys. Realising that Krishna was the Supreme Brahman Himself, Brahma

prostrated before him in great humility and began to extol him with hymns.

The gist of the Upanishads is brought out in these hymns. Some of these

verses are taken and explained below.

 

Bh. X.14.22:-

 

"The universe appears by Maya in you, the Infinite, the eternal

Bliss-consciousness. Though the universe is only like things seen in a dream

(and so unreal), and is devoid of consciousness and ever full of misery, it

appears as real (and also conscious and blissful)".

 

In Vedanta Reality is defined as that which does not undergo any change

whatsoever in all the three periods of time, i.e., past, present and future.

Brahman is the only Reality. Because of Maya, Brahman appears to us as the

universe of names and forms. Maya conceals Brahman and projects the

universe. Just as everything seen in dream ceases to exist as soon as the

dreamer wakes up, the universe ceases to be real when Brahman is realized.

The universe appears to be real only as long as we are under the spell of

Maya (or Avidya or ignorance). The fundamental principles of Advaita Vedanta

are brought out in this verse, namely, that the universe has no absolute

reality, it is only a superimposition on Brahman and appears to be real only

because of our ignorance of the substratum, Brahman, just as a rope appears

as a snake in dim light when its real nature is not known.

 

Bh. X.14.23

 

You (Krishna, the supreme Brahman), are the non-dual Self, the primordial

Person, the Reality, self-luminous, infinite, the first Cause, eternal,

imperishable, ever Bliss itself, taintless, perfect without a second, devoid

of all adjuncts (Nirguna) and immortal.

 

This is exactly the description of the supreme Brahman as contained in

the Upanishads. The expression "devoid of all adjuncts" indicates Nirguna

Brahman or Brahman without attributes. The concept of Nirguna Brahman is

peculiar to Advaita Vedanta.

 

Bh.X.14.25 to 28.

 

Those who do not know the Atman as their own Self, look upon the entire

phenomenal universe as real because of ignorance, but the universe

disappears when Self-knowledge dawns, just as a snake seen on a rope

disappears when the rope is known. Bondage and liberation, which are both

products of ignorance, have no existence apart from the Atman whose nature

is Truth and Consciousness. For, rightly considered, there can be neither

ignorance nor bondage, and neither knowledge nor freedom from bondage for

the supreme Self that is eternal and absolute Consciousness, any more than

there can be night and day for the sun. Taking the Atman for something else,

and something else for the Atman, the Atman is sought for outside oneself;

how marvellous is the folly of the ignorant! Men of discrimination seek the

Infinite within the body itself, negating the unreal; without negating the

unreal snake first, how can one know the rope, though it is very close?

 

There are many such instances in Srimad Bhagavatam where Advaita Vedanta

is expounded.

 

Apart from such direct expositions of Advaita, the various episodes

themselves can be interpreted as allegories which bring out the teachings of

the Upanishads. This has been done with respect to some of the episodes in

http://www.geocities.com/snsastri under the heading 'Episodes in Srimad

Bhagavatam'.

 

S.N.Sastri

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "S.N. Sastri" <sn.sastri wrote:

>

> There are many such instances in Srimad Bhagavatam where

Advaita Vedanta

> is expounded.

 

Respected Sir,

My sashtang pranams to you.

I cannot express how wonderful it is to have you participate in this

group and help us in our sadhana with beautiful messages such as

this.

 

I would please request you to, on occasion as your time permits,

write to us about your favorite sections from the bhaktaranjini and

the narayaneeyam esp. as it relates to vedanta.

 

Once again, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for

taking the time to bless us with your auspicious presence.

 

Sashtang pranams

Shyam

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

Many thanks for your kind remarks.

I have tried to bring out the vedantic import of some of the episodes in

Bhagavata in my article entitled 'Episodes in Bhagavata' on my website

http://www.geocities.com/snsastri.

S.N.Sastri

 

 

On 8/23/06, shyam_md <shyam_md > wrote:

>

> advaitin, "S.N. Sastri" <sn.sastri wrote:

> >

> > There are many such instances in Srimad Bhagavatam where

> Advaita Vedanta

> > is expounded.

>

> Respected Sir,

> My sashtang pranams to you.

> I cannot express how wonderful it is to have you participate in this

> group and help us in our sadhana with beautiful messages such as

> this.

>

> I would please request you to, on occasion as your time permits,

> write to us about your favorite sections from the bhaktaranjini and

> the narayaneeyam esp. as it relates to vedanta.

>

> Once again, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for

> taking the time to bless us with your auspicious presence.

>

> Sashtang pranams

> Shyam

>

>

>

>

>

>

>