[Advaita-l] Shankara authenticates Shiva as the son of Brahma

[Sunil Bhattacharjya]

Dear friends,

While trying to prove Vishnu as superior ot Shiva one should not try to show that Shiva was Brahma's son, I read quite sometime ago in Purana (which is considered as fifth veda by the Vedas),  that Brahma himself prayed to Shiva to take as Brahma's son and Shiva, the Bholanath obliged. I am sure there would be many, who read  puranas, would know thus.

Secondly, Lord Krishna himself considers the Veda as Apara Vidya and the Upanishads as the para-Vidya. The Mundaka upanishada also says that the Veda is Apara Vidya  The Vedanta is Upanishada. In Vedanta there is only one Brahman. Vedantins know the dictum "SARVAM KHALVIDAM BRAHMA" . Unfortunately the Dvaitins seem to ignore this fact.  The Advaita discussions are at the Apara-Vidya level. 

Regards
skb


--------------------------------------------
On Sat, 8/13/16, D Gayatri via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

 Subject: [Advaita-l] Shankara authenticates Shiva as the son of Brahma
 To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
 Date: Saturday, August 13, 2016, 2:05 AM
 
 Namaste
 
 In the Shanti parva of the Mahabharata, Krishna-Dwaipayana
 relates a
 conversation between Brahma and Shiva. Here it is revealed
 by
 Krishna-Dvaipayana, that Shiva is actually the son of Brahma
 and
 Brahma gives instructions to Shiva on the supreme purusha
 and brahman,
 who is none other than Narayana. This is another instance of
 Vishnu
 being praised as the vedAntic brahman in the Mahabharata.
 
 Now, the Shanti parva and Anushasana parva of the
 Mahabharata are
 widely believed to contain many interpolations, to the
 extent that
 even the critical BORI edition may not be free from
 interpolations as
 far as these two parva-s are concerned. Fortunately, the
 above
 instance of Brahma teaching his son Shiva about the nature
 of
 Narayana, the supreme Atman, is authenticated by none other
 than our
 own Shankara bhagavatpAda in his Brahmasutra Bhashya.
 
 Below, I will explain how Shankara bhagavatpAda
 authenticates this incident.
 
 
 Shankara's Brahmasutra Bhashya 2.1.1. contains the
 following
 quotations from the Mahabharata -
 
 महाभारतेऽपि च — ‘बहवः
 पुरुषा
 ब्रह्मन्नुताहो एक एव
 तु’ इति विचार्य,
 ‘बहवः पुरुषा
 राजन्सांख्ययोगविचारिणाम्’
 इति परपक्षमुपन्यस्य
 तद्व्युदासेन —
 ‘बहूनां पुरुषाणां हि
 यथैका योनिरुच्यते ।
 तथा तं पुरुषं
 विश्वमाख्यास्यामि
 गुणाधिकम्’
 इत्युपक्रम्य
 ‘ममान्तरात्मा तव च ये
 चान्ये
 देहसंस्थिताः ।
 सर्वेषां
 साक्षिभूतोऽसौ न
 ग्राह्यः
 केनचित्क्वचित् ॥
 विश्वमूर्धा
 विश्वभुजो
 विश्वपादाक्षिनासिकः
 । एकश्चरति भूतेषु
 स्वैरचारी
 यथासुखम्’ — इति
 सर्वात्मतैव
 निर्धारिता ।
 
 
 The above portion of the bhAshya contains 4 quotations from
 the Mahabharata -
 
 1. बहवः पुरुषा
 ब्रह्मन्नुताहो एक एव
 तु
 
 2. बहवः पुरुषा
 राजन्सांख्ययोगविचारिणाम्
 
 3. बहूनां पुरुषाणां हि
 यथैका योनिरुच्यते ।
 तथा तं पुरुषं
 विश्वमाख्यास्यामि
 गुणाधिकम्
 
 4. ममान्तरात्मा तव च ये
 चान्ये देहसंस्थिताः ।
 सर्वेषां
 साक्षिभूतोऽसौ न
 ग्राह्यः
 केनचित्क्वचित् ॥
 विश्वमूर्धा
 विश्वभुजो
 विश्वपादाक्षिनासिकः
 ।
 एकश्चरति भूतेषु
 स्वैरचारी यथासुखम्
 
 
 The 4 quotations are found in the Shanti parva of the
 Mahabharata.
 Shankara himself says that all these quotations are from
 the
 Mahabharata.
 
 The first quotation of Shankara is from Mbh 12.338.1 in the
 critical
 edition. The complete verse is as follows -
 
 जनमेजय उवाच|| बहवः
 पुरुषा
 ब्रह्मन्नुताहो एक एव
 तु | को ह्यत्र पुरुषः
 श्रेष्ठः को वा
 योनिरिहोच्यते ||१||
 
 [Janamejaya asks Vaisampayana whether there are many
 purushas or
 whether there is only one. Who is the foremost of the
 purushas and who
 is the source of all?]
 
 (I have based my translations from the work of K M Ganguly)
 
 The second quotation of Shankara is from Mbh 12.338.2, the
 complete
 verse being -
 
 वैशम्पायन उवाच|| बहवः
 पुरुषा लोके
 साङ्ख्ययोगविचारिणाम्
 | नैतदिच्छन्ति
 पुरुषमेकं
 कुरुकुलोद्वह ||२||
 
 [Vaisampayana says, those who follow Samkhya and Yoga
 consider
 purushas as many. They dont think there is a single
 purusha]
 
 Shankara considers the above position of Samkhyas and Yogins
 as
 pUrva-paksha, which will be refuted in the subsequent
 sections of the
 Mahabharata itself.
 
 The third quotation of Shankara is from the Mbh 12.338.3 -
 
 बहूनां पुरुषाणां च
 यथैका योनिरुच्यते |
 तथा तं पुरुषं विश्वं
 व्याख्यास्यामि
 गुणाधिकम् ||३||
 
 [In the same manner in which the many Purushas are said to
 have one
 origin in the Supreme Purusha, it may be said that this
 entire
 universe is identical with that one Purusha of superior
 attributes.]
 
 (Now, before we come to Shankara's 4th quotation, we need
 to
 understand in what context it occurs, so I will explain the
 context.)
 
 Vaisampayana then goes on to relate a narrative about
 Brahma's
 instructions to his son Shiva, in this context. It is
 clearly
 specified in this section that Shiva is the son of Brahma.
 
 Mbh: 12.338.8 -
 
 अत्राप्युदाहरन्तीममितिहासं
 पुरातनम् | ब्रह्मणा सह
 संवादं त्र्यम्बकस्य
 विशां पते ||८||
 
 [In this connection is cited the old narrative of the
 discourse
 between Brahma, O king, and the Three-eyed Mahadeva.]
 
 Mbh: 12.338.11 -
 
 अथ तत्रासतस्तस्य
 चतुर्वक्त्रस्य धीमतः |
 ललाटप्रभवः पुत्रः शिव
 आगाद्यदृच्छया ||११||
 आकाशेनैव योगीशः पुरा
 त्रिनयनः प्रभुः ||११||
 
 [While the four-faced Brahma of great intelligence was
 seated there,
 his son Mahadeva, who had sprung from his forehead
 encountered him one
 day in course of his wanderings through the universe. In
 days of yore,
 the Three-eyed Siva endued with puissance and high Yoga,
 while
 proceeding along the sky, beheld Brahma seated on that
 mountain and,
 therefore, dropped down quickly on its top.]
 
 In the above, Shiva is called as lalATaprabhavaH putraH -
 the son who
 arose from the forehead of Brahma. This is also confirmed by
 the next
 few verses, where Shiva pays respects to Brahma, by touching
 his feet.
 
 Mbh: 12.338.12-15 -
 
 ततः खान्निपपाताशु
 धरणीधरमूर्धनि |
 अग्रतश्चाभवत्प्रीतो
 ववन्दे चापि पादयोः
 ||१२||
 
 तं पादयोर्निपतितं
 दृष्ट्वा सव्येन
 पाणिना | उत्थापयामास
 तदा प्रभुरेकः
 प्रजापतिः ||१३||
 
 उवाच चैनं
 भगवांश्चिरस्यागतमात्मजम्
 | स्वागतं ते महाबाहो
 दिष्ट्या
 प्राप्तोऽसि
 मेऽन्तिकम् ||१४||
 
 कच्चित्ते कुशलं पुत्र
 स्वाध्यायतपसोः सदा |
 नित्यमुग्रतपास्त्वं
 हि ततः
 पृच्छामि ते पुनः ||१५||
 
 
 [With a cheerful heart he presented him before his
 progenitor and
 worshipped his feet. Beholding Mahadeva prostrated at his
 feet, Brahma
 took him up with his left hand. Having thus raised Mahadeva
 up,
 Brahma, that puissant and one Lord of all creatures, then
 addressed
 his son, whom he met after a long time, in these words. "The
 Grandsire
 said, 'Welcome art thou, O thou of mighty arms. By good luck
 I see
 thee after such a long time come to my presence. I hope, O
 son, that
 everything is right with thy penances and thy Vedic studies
 and
 recitations. Thou art always observant of the austerest
 penances.
 Hence I ask thee about the progress and well-being of those
 penances
 of thine!']
 
 The discussion between Brahma and his son Shiva progresses
 and Brahma
 explains the meaning of Purusha to Shiva. The discussion
 continues
 into the next chapter (here is where we will find the 4th
 quotation
 from Shankara).
 
 Mbh 12.329.1-5
 
 ब्रह्मोवाच||
 
 शृणु पुत्र यथा ह्येष
 पुरुषः शाश्वतोऽव्ययः |
 अक्षयश्चाप्रमेयश्च
 सर्वगश्च निरुच्यते
 ||१||
 
 न स शक्यस्त्वया
 द्रष्टुं
 मयान्यैर्वापि सत्तम |
 सगुणो निर्गुणो विश्वो
 ज्ञानदृश्यो ह्यसौ
 स्मृतः ||२||
 
 अशरीरः शरीरेषु
 सर्वेषु निवसत्यसौ |
 वसन्नपि शरीरेषु न स
 लिप्यति कर्मभिः ||३||
 
 ममान्तरात्मा तव च ये
 चान्ये देहसञ्ज्ञिताः |
 सर्वेषां
 साक्षिभूतोऽसौ न
 ग्राह्यः
 केनचित्क्वचित् ||४||
 
 विश्वमूर्धा
 विश्वभुजो
 विश्वपादाक्षिनासिकः |
 एकश्चरति क्षेत्रेषु
 स्वैरचारी यथासुखम्
 ||५||
 
 (The fourth quotation from Shankara comprises the verses 4
 and 5
 above. These are the words of Brahma addressed to his son
 Shiva).
 
 ['Brahma said,--'Listen, O son, as to how that Purusha is
 indicated.
 He is eternal and immutable. He is undeteriorating and
 immeasurable.
 He pervades all things. 1 O best of all creatures, that
 Purusha cannot
 be seen by thee, or me, or others. Those that are endued
 with the
 understanding and the senses but destitute of self-restraint
 and
 tranquility of soul cannot obtain a sight of him. The
 Supreme Purusha
 is said to be one that can be seen with the aid of knowledge
 alone.
 Though divested of body, He dwells in every body. Though
 dwelling,
 again, in bodies, He is never touched by the acts
 accomplished by
 those bodies. He is my Antaratma (inner soul). He is thy
 inner soul.
 He is the all-seeing Witness dwelling within all embodied
 creatures
 and engaged in marking their acts. No one can grasp or
 comprehend him
 at any time. The universe is the crown of his head. The
 universe is
 his arms. The universe is his feet. The universe is his
 eyes. The
 universe is his nose. Alone and single, he roves through all
 Kshetras
 (Bodies) unrestrained by any limitations on his will and as
 he likes.]
 
 The discussion continues and a few verses later, Brahma
 reveals that
 the Purusha is Narayana -
 
 Mbh: 12.329.14
 
 तत्र यः परमात्मा हि स
 नित्यं निर्गुणः
 स्मृतः | स हि नारायणो
 ज्ञेयः
 सर्वात्मा पुरुषो हि सः
 ||१४||
 
 [The truth is that he who is the Supreme Soul is always
 divested of
 attributes. He is Narayana. He is the universal soul, and he
 is the
 one Purusha.]
 
 Thus, Brahma reveals to his son Shiva that Narayana is the
 supreme
 Purusha and the Atman of all. Since Shankara quotes this
 incident from
 both these chapters (328 and 329 of Shanti parva), these
 incidents are
 not interpolations as they have been authenticated by the
 great
 Shankara himself, who stands in greatness, next only to
 Krishna-Dvaipayana (vyasa).
 
 Thus, this is another instance in the Mahabharata, where
 Vishnu has
 been praised as the Vedantic brahman.
 
 
 Regards
 Gayatri
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