[Advaita-l] Vishnu as vedAntic brahman in Adi and Sabha parva-s

[V Subrahmanian]

2016-08-13 8:23 GMT+05:30 Sunil Bhattacharjya via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>:

> Namaste,
>
> Good work. Please also refer to the verse from the Kaivalya Upanishada as
> follows:
>
> स ब्रह्मा स शिवः सेन्द्रः सोऽक्षरः परमः स्वराट् ।
> स एव विष्णुः स प्राणः स कालोऽग्निः स चन्द्रमाः ॥ ८॥
>

In the Vishnusahasra nāma bhāṣya, for a particular name Shankara cites the
above mantra and remarks: iti abhedopadeśāt [by this mantra the Veda is
teaching the unity, non-difference..]

regards
subrahmanian.v

>
> Regards,
> skb
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Fri, 8/12/16, D Gayatri via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-
> vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>  Subject: [Advaita-l] Vishnu as vedAntic brahman in Adi and Sabha parva-s
>  To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-
> vedanta.org>
>  Date: Friday, August 12, 2016, 4:10 PM
>
>  Namaste
>
>  It is well known that in the Bhagavad Gita portion of the
>  Mahabharata,
>  Vishnu has been praised as the Vedantic brahman by
>  Krishna-Dvaipayana. What
>  is not-so-well-known is the praise of Vishnu in Vedantic
>  terms in other
>  parts of the Mahabharata. I will present here, instances of
>  such praise in
>  the Adi and Sabha parvas.
>
>  Just as the Rig Veda begins with the word Agni, indicating
>  the importance
>  of Agni to the Rig Veda, so also the Mahabharata begins with
>  the word
>  Narayana, indicating his importance in the scheme of the
>  things of the
>  Mahabharata. The invocation verse at the beginning of the
>  Adi parva goes
>  out to Narayana, Nara and Saraswati (all verses taken from
>  the critical
>  BORI edition). I have used the help of translations given on
>  the internet,
>  along with the one given by J. A. B. van Buitenen, coupled
>  with my own
>  understanding of Sanskrit (which I acknowledge is far from
>  perfect).
>
>
>  The invocation verse in the Adi parva -
>
>
>  नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं
>  चैव नरोत्तमम् | देवीं
>  सरस्वतीं चैव ततो
>  जयमुदीरयेत् ||
>
>  [The Jaya (Mahabharata) shall be recited after bowing down
>  do Narayana and
>  Nara, supreme among men, and to the Goddess Saraswati.]
>
>  Mbh: 1.1.20-22
>
>  आद्यं पुरुषमीशानं
>  पुरुहूतं पुरुष्टुतम् |
>  ऋतमेकाक्षरं ब्रह्म
>  व्यक्ताव्यक्तं
>  सनातनम् ||२०|| असच्च
>  सच्चैव च यद्विश्वं
>  सदसतः परम् | परावराणां
>  स्रष्टारं
>  पुराणं परमव्ययम् ||२१||
>  मङ्गल्यं मङ्गलं
>  विष्णुं वरेण्यमनघं
>  शुचिम् |
>  नमस्कृत्य हृषीकेशं
>  चराचरगुरुं हरिम् ||२२||
>
>  (The above verses also occur at the beginning of the
>  Harivamsa)
>
>  [I bow to the primeval Purusha, the Lord, first one to
>  receive oblations in
>  Vedic rituals, one to whom first orisons are sung, one who
>  is the Truth,
>  one who is symbolized by the one-syllabled (Om), one who is
>  Brahman, one
>  who is manifest and unmanifest, Eternal, the existent and
>  the non-existent
>  and beyond the existent and non-existent, the aggregate of
>  the entire
>  universe, the creator of things high and low, the Ancient
>  one, the supreme
>  immutable, who is blissful and brings forth bliss, who is
>  Vishnu, the
>  all-pervading (VIshnu is called Vishnu because he is
>  all-pervading, an
>  etymology given by Yaska in his Nirukta), the most desirable
>  (by seekers of
>  salvation), free from all sins and pure, who is Hrishikesha
>  (the Lord of
>  the senses, who impels the sensory organs), the God Hari,
>  who is the guru
>  (preceptor) of all creatures, those that move and those that
>  move not.]
>
>
>  Mbh: 1.1.124
>
>  यदाश्रौषं
>  कश्मलेनाभिपन्ने;
>  रथोपस्थे
>  सीदमानेऽर्जुने वै |
>  कृष्णं
>  लोकान्दर्शयानं शरीरे;
>  तदा नाशंसे विजयाय
>  सञ्जय ||१२४||
>
>  (Dhritarashtra recounting to Samjaya, the Vishvaroopa
>  Darshana episode of
>  the Bhagavad Gita)
>
>  [When I heard that Arjuna has been seized with cowardice and
>  sat down on
>  his chariot and Krishna showed him all the worlds within his
>  own body, then
>  Samjaya, I lost hope of victory].
>
>
>  Mbh: 1.1.193-195
>
>
>  भगवान्वासुदेवश्च
>  कीर्त्यतेऽत्र सनातनः |
>  स हि सत्यमृतं चैव
>  पवित्रं पुण्यमेव
>  च ||१९३|| शाश्वतं ब्रह्म
>  परमं ध्रुवं ज्योतिः
>  सनातनम् | यस्य
>  दिव्यानि
>  कर्माणि कथयन्ति
>  मनीषिणः ||१९४||
>  असत्सत्सदसच्चैव
>  यस्माद्देवात्प्रवर्तते
>  |
>  सन्ततिश्च
>  प्रवृत्तिश्च जन्म
>  मृत्युः पुनर्भवः
>  ||१९५||a
>
>  [The eternal and unchanging blessed Lord (Bhagavan),
>  vAsudeva (Krishna) is
>  glorified here (in the Mahabharata). He is true, he is
>  right, he is pure
>  and holy. He is the eternal Brahman, supreme and immovable,
>  the everlasting
>  Light, of whose divine exploits, the wise tell the tales.
>  From Him begins
>  the existent that is not yet, and the non-existent that
>  becomes.
>  Continuity, pravritti, birth, death, rebirth (are from
>  Him)]
>
>  Mbh: 1.19.13
>
>  अध्यात्मयोगनिद्रां च
>  पद्मनाभस्य सेवतः |
>  युगादिकालशयनं
>  विष्णोरमिततेजसः ||१३||
>
>  [(The ocean is the bed of) the boundlessly powerful Vishnu,
>  the one with
>  the Lotus-navel, who sleeps in Adhyatma yoga nidra at the
>  beginning of the
>  yuga]
>
>
>  Mbh: 1.57.83-87
>
>  अनुग्रहार्थं लोकानां
>  विष्णुर्लोकनमस्कृतः |
>  वसुदेवात्तु देवक्यां
>  प्रादुर्भूतो महायशाः
>  ||८३|| अनादिनिधनो देवः स
>  कर्ता जगतः प्रभुः |
>  अव्यक्तमक्षरं ब्रह्म
>  प्रधानं
>  निर्गुणात्मकम् ||८४||
>  आत्मानमव्ययं चैव
>  प्रकृतिं प्रभवं परम् |
>  पुरुषं विश्वकर्माणं
>  सत्त्वयोगं
>  ध्रुवाक्षरम् ||८५||
>  अनन्तमचलं देवं हंसं
>  नारायणं प्रभुम् |
>  धातारमजरं नित्यं
>  तमाहुः परमव्ययम्
>  ||८६|| पुरुषः स विभुः
>  कर्ता सर्वभूतपितामहः |
>  धर्मसंवर्धनार्थाय
>  प्रजज्ञेऽन्धकवृष्णिषु
>  ||८७||
>
>
>  [Vishnu, whose fame is great, who is worshiped by all the
>  worlds, the
>  Unmanifest, Akshara, Brahman, and Cause, to favor all the
>  worlds became
>  manifest in Devaki by Vasudeva–God without beginning or
>  end, the Lord,
>  Maker of the universe, who is without attributes as well as
>  the
>  imperishable Soul (Atman), and Nature, the ultimate Source,
>  the Man, the
>  Maker of all things, the Yoker of Being, the stable
>  Intransient, the
>  Unending, Unmoving God, the Swan, the Lord Nārāyana, whom
>  they call the
>  unaging, sempiternal Place, supreme and everlasting. He is
>  the ubiquitous
>  Purusha, Maker (kartA), and Grandfather of all creatures;
>  and so in order
>  to further the growth of Dharma, he was born amidst the
>  Andhaka-Vršnis (as
>  Krishna).]
>
>  Mbh: 1.61.90
>
>  यस्तु नारायणो नाम
>  देवदेवः सनातनः |
>  तस्यांशो
>  मानुषेष्वासीद्वासुदेवः
>  प्रतापवान् ||९०||
>
>  [The eternal god of the gods with the name Narayana,
>  descended on the earth
>  with a portion of himself among mankind as the majestic
>  vAsudeva]
>
>
>  Mbh: 2.35.22-25
>
>  (These are the words of Bhishma)
>
>
>  कृष्ण एव हि
>  लोकानामुत्पत्तिरपि
>  चाप्ययः | कृष्णस्य हि
>  कृते भूतमिदं विश्वं
>  समर्पितम् ||२२|| एष
>  प्रकृतिरव्यक्ता
>  कर्ता चैव सनातनः |
>  परश्च
>  सर्वभूतेभ्यस्तस्माद्वृद्धतमोऽच्युतः
>  ||२३|| बुद्धिर्मनो
>  महान्वायुस्तेजोऽम्भः
>  खं मही च या | चतुर्विधं
>  च यद्भूतं सर्वं कृष्णे
>  प्रतिष्ठितम् ||२४||
>  आदित्यश्चन्द्रमाश्चैव
>  नक्षत्राणि ग्रहाश्च
>  ये | दिशश्चोपदिशश्चैव
>  सर्वं
>  कृष्णे प्रतिष्ठितम्
>  ||२५||
>
>
>  [Krishna alone is the origin of the worlds as well as their
>  dissolution,
>  for Krishna's sake is all that exists here offered. He is
>  the Unmanifest
>  Cause and the Sempiternal Doer, higher than all creatures;
>  it is thus that
>  Acyuta is the eldest. Spirit, mind, the Large One, wind,
>  fire, water, ether
>  and earth, and the fourfold creation, all rest upon Krishna.
>  The sun, the
>  moon, the stars, the planets, the points of the compass and
>  the
>  intermediate points—it all rests on Krishna.]
>
>
>  Regards
>  Gayatri
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