Guest guest Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 One translation of the Bhagavad Gita says, Chapter 18, Verse 54: One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me. Another translation of ch 18, verse 54 is: Having become Brahman, serene-souled, He neither grieves nor long; Alike to all beings, He attains supreme devotion to Me. Isn't Brahman the end all, be all. Isn't Brahman the Ultimate? Then Who is the Me to Whom Brahman does devotion? Is there a higher Me separate from Brahman? Thanks in advance for any forthcoming answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 advaitin , " Richard " <richarkar wrote: > > One translation of the Bhagavad Gita says, > > Chapter 18, Verse 54: > > One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the > Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is > equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains > pure devotional service unto Me. > > Another translation of ch 18, verse 54 is: > > Having become Brahman, serene-souled, > He neither grieves nor long; > Alike to all beings, > He attains supreme devotion to Me. > > Isn't Brahman the end all, be all. Isn't Brahman the Ultimate? Then > Who is the Me to Whom Brahman does devotion? Is there a higher Me > separate from Brahman? > > Thanks in advance for any forthcoming answers. Dear Shri Richard, gItA, 18. 54 says: " madbhaktim labhate param " This means, " He attains supreme devotion towards Me " . Here `Me' is Lord Krishna who is brahman with form (or attributes)- saguNa brahman or the Personal God. A person who has attained Self-knowledge is himself brahman. So strictly it is not necessary for him to worship a personal God any more. But according to the bhAgavata purANa and the mahAbhArata even j~nAnis continue to worship God. We know that Bhagavan Ramana continued to worship Arunachala. But this worship, which is referred to as `parA bhakti' in this shloka, is the climax of bhakti, in which the devotee sees everything and every living creature as God. So this is the same as seeing everything as brahman. Thus parA bhakri and j~nAna are the same. In this shloka what is stated is that the person who has attained brahman has parA bhakti. This para bhakti to a personal God is the same as j~nAna or knowledge of nirguNa brahman. In gItA, 7.16 four kinds of devotees are mentioned. The fourth and highest is j~nAni. So the j~nAni is also treated as a bhakta or devotee. In his bhAshya on 18.54 Shri Shankara refers to 7.16 and says: " The person who is steadfast in knowledge of brahman attains supreme devotion to Me, the supreme Lord; he attains devotion which is described as knowledge (j~nAna), as the fourth in the four classes of people who adore Me " . The personal God is not considered to be lower than nirguNa brahman. At the highest level bhakti (which is known as parA bhakti) is the same as j~nAna. The one sees everything as God and the other sees everything as brahman. Regards, S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 28, 2008 Report Share Posted July 28, 2008 advaitin , " snsastri " <sn.sastri wrote: > > advaitin , " Richard " <richarkar@> wrote: > > > > One translation of the Bhagavad Gita says, > > > > Chapter 18, Verse 54: > > > > One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the > > Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he > is > > equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains > > pure devotional service unto Me. > > > > Another translation of ch 18, verse 54 is: > > > > Having become Brahman, serene-souled, > > He neither grieves nor long; > > Alike to all beings, > > He attains supreme devotion to Me. > > > > Isn't Brahman the end all, be all. Isn't Brahman the Ultimate? > Then > > Who is the Me to Whom Brahman does devotion? Is there a higher Me > > separate from Brahman? > > > > Thanks in advance for any forthcoming answers. > > Dear Shri Richard, > gItA, 18. 54 says: " madbhaktim labhate param " > This means, " He attains supreme devotion towards Me " . Here `Me' is > Lord Krishna who is brahman with form (or attributes)- saguNa > brahman or the Personal God. > > The personal God is not considered to be lower than nirguNa brahman. > At the highest level bhakti (which is known as parA bhakti) is the > same as j~nAna. The one sees everything as God and the other sees > everything as brahman. > Regards, > S.N.Sastri Namaste all. In addition to and in corroboration of Sastri-ji's reply , please see also Message #1604 (June 21, 1999) which constitutes a reply to almost the same question that was raised then. PraNAms to all advaitins. profvk > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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