nirguNa/nirvisheSha

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

 

 

In the term ‘nirguNa’, the word ‘guNa’ refers to the three guNas of mAyA.

When brahman is associated with mAyA constituted of the three guNas it is

spoken of as saguNa brahman. Here ‘guNa’ does not have the usual meaning of

‘quality’ or ‘attribute’. So the usual translation of ‘nirguNa brahman’ as

‘attributeless brahman’ is not quite correct. The three guNas which

constitute brahman are not qualities. Qualities have always to be in

association with some substance and cannot stand on their own. For example,

blueness, which is a quality, has always to be associated with some

substance. In his bhAShya on gItA, 13.1 Shri Shankara says:--

 

* *

 

“It is *prakRiti *or *mAyA *made up of the three guNas that has become

transformed as all the bodies, organs and objects for subserving the ends of

the individual souls, namely, enjoyment and liberation”.

 

* * * *

 

This shows that the guNas which constitute mAyA are not qualities in the

usual sense of the word.

 

 

 

The word ‘visheSha usually means ‘a distinguishing feature’. When brahman

has any upAdhi such as mAyA, avidya, mind, etc., the upadhi becomes a

distinguishing feature. In taitt.up. II.vii brahman is described as

‘aniruktam’—inexpressible. Shri Shankara says in his bhAShya on this

statement that only what has a visheSha can be expressed. brahman is

inexpressible because it has no visheSha. Thus it is without visheSha, or

nirvisheSha. When this nirvisheSha brahman is looked upon as having a

visheSha in the form of an upAdhi, it becomes savisheSha brahman.

 

 

 

Thus ‘savisheSha’ brahman means ‘brahman with upAdhi’ and ‘nirvisheSha’

brahman means ‘brahman without upAdhi’.

 

Thus nirvisheSha brahman is the same as nirguna brahman, and savisheSha

brahman is the same as saguNa brahman.

 

 

 

The upanishads describe brahman in the following terms:--

 

 

 

vijnAnam Anandam brahma (br. up. III. ix. 28.7)--brahman is Consciousness ,

Bliss;

 

vijnAnaghana eva (br. up.II. iv. 12)--- brahman is Pure Consciousness only;

 

satyam jnAnam anantam brahma (tai. up. II.i.1) —brahman is Reality,

Consciousness, Infinite,

 

prajnAnam brahma (ait. up. V.3)--- Consciousness is brahman.

 

 

 

 

We generally understand the above statements as referring to nirguNa

brahman. But the following statement in the bhAShya shows that even these

statements cannot refer to nirguNa barman.

 

 

 

Shri Shankara says in his bhAShya on kenopaniShad, II.i that all the above

descriptions refer, not to nirguNa brahman, but to brahman with upAdhi in

the form of the mind, body and senses. The relevant portion in he Sanskrit

text is:--

 

 

 

tathA coktam—‘vijnAnam Anandam brahma’, ‘vijbAnaghana eva’, ‘satyam jnAnam

anantam brahma’, ‘prajnAnam brahma’ iti ca brahmaNo rUpam nirdiShTam

shrutiShu. satyamevam, tathApi tadantaHkaraNadehencriyopAdhidvAreNaiva

vijnAnadishabdairnirdishyate tadnukAritvAd

dehAdivRiddhisangkocachedAdiShunAsheShu khamiva na svataH.

 

 

 

From the above it follows that nirguNa brahman cannot be described at all.

That is why it is said to be beyond the reach of words and even the mind.

 

 

 

Best wishes,

 

S.N.Sastri