[Advaita-l] Name-form (naama-rupa) is Maayaa - Bhagavatam

V Subrahmanian v.subrahmanian at gmail.com
Sun Oct 1 09:21:10 EDT 2023


In this sloka of the Bhagavatam it is said that everyone is deluded by the
illusion of name and form:
श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः ८/अध्यायः १४
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स्तूयमानो जनैरेभिः मायया नामरूपया ।
विमोहितात्मभिर्नानादर्शनैर्न च दृश्यते ॥ १० ॥
The Sage's words: Those deluded by the illusion of name-form do not realize
the Supreme Being.
That is, it is well known that Maayaa deludes. How does it do that? Maya
fascinates people by displaying names and forms.
This famous sloka tells us that names and forms are the effect of Maya,
belonging to Maya:
अस्ति भाति प्रियं रूपं नाम चेत्यंशपञ्चकम्।
आद्यं त्रयं ब्रह्मरूपं मायारूपं ततो द्वयम्।।
The five aspects of existence, knowableness,, being desirable, form and
name are present in every object. The first three are of Brahman: Sat, Chit
and Ananda. Both nama and rupa are forms of Maya.
From this it follows: In Mukti there are no names and forms. Because there
is no illusion. This is what the Mundakopanishad 3.2.8 says:
यथा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रेऽस्तं गच्छन्ति नामरूपे विहाय ।
तथा विद्वान्नामरूपाद्विमुक्तः परात्परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम् ॥ ८ ॥
Just as flowing rivers give up their names and forms while merging in the
ocean, so too the realized one, the Aparoksha Jnani, after the death of the
body becomes one with Parabrahmam giving up his erstwhile name and form.
If the name and form exist in liberation, it means that Maya/Avidya is not
dispelled. That teaching of the Bhagavatam is very important: names and
forms are effects of Maya.

Om


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