[Advaita-l] Re: brahma satyaM, jaganmithyA

[Annapureddy Siddhartha Reddy]

praNAM Anbuji,
       Please see my comments below (interspersed with your statements).
Thanks.

 My contention is as follows:  Nirguna Brahman is Absolute and it does not
> combine with Maya or otherwise.  The world of multitudes is inferred as
> the
> play of Maya and Maya is anirvachaneeya as it cannot be defined.  Since
> Nirguna Brahman alone is the reality we infer that the multitudes cannot
> be
> anything other than Nirguna Brahman that is presented as multitudes, a
> trick
> of Maya.  This conclusion is based on the logic that Absolute alone is
> logical and multitudes of relatives are illogical.


I had the impression that "reality" in advaita vEdAnta has a definition
which rules out mAyA, and since mAyA is not unreal as in a dream world, we
call it neither real nor unreal, hence anirvachanIya. Reality seems to have
the definition of being true at all times (past, present, future), and
all-pervasive, existence, consciousness, unlimitedness (Ananda) etc. Since
mAyA does not satisfy all these criteria, it is not real.

Anbuji, I am not sure if we are using the same definitions for the use of
our terms -- reality, mithyA, unreality, jIva, Ishvara, brahma (i.e.,
nirguNa brahma). And hence I requested you to state these in a few
sentences, because if we are differing in our definitions, we cannot make
much progress.

If you are contending against my definition of mAyA being totally dependent
on brahma (to the extent that it has an ontologically inferior position BY
DEFINITION), which particular tenet of advaita vEdAnta is it going against?

You have said "Ishvara, also, being nityamukta should never come back then.
> But we see shrI rAma and shrI kR^iShNa amongst us. How is this
> explained?"  How
> about by the play of Maya that He controls as an answer?


I checked the part of brahma sUtra bhAShya regarding the liberated souls
attaining new bodies. Unfortunately, I do not have svAmi gambhIrAnanda's
translation right now, but it occurs in the 4.*.* (Please see the section
headings for this). The liberated jIvas (in the sense of those who reached
the brahma lOka, and hence are not going to come back again) derive their
powers from Ishvara, and in fact, can have almost all divine powers other
than creation etc. of the universe which requires a single "mind" (As
otherwise, multiple minds might fight about how it should be done etc.) In
other words, he can manifest multiple bodies if required. And as for the
fully-liberated "person", He doesn't have any identification with the
universe, and thus identifies Himself only with nirguNa brahma. In other
words, He becomes non-distinct from Ishvara in the aspect of controlling the
entire universe.

A.Siddhartha.