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

[V Subrahmanian]

On Mon, Aug 15, 2016 at 10:23 PM, Srinath Vedagarbha <svedagarbha at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> 2016-08-14 7:50 GMT-04:00 D Gayatri via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>:
>
>> >
>>
>>
>> [These two, viz., Brahma and Rudra, are the foremost of all the
>> deities, having sprung respectively from the Propitiousness and the
>> Wrath (of Aniruddha). Acting according to Aniruddha's direction, these
>> two deities create and destroy. Although capable of granting boons
>> unto all creatures, they are, however, in the matter of the concerns
>> to which they attend (viz., Creation and Destruction), merely
>> instruments in the hands of Aniruddha.]
>>
>>
>>
> This stand is also quite correct.
>
> We have sAkshAt Shiva's own words which excludes Himself from granting
> 'highest'  purushArtha --
>
> In skanda purANa, Shiva tells Markandeya “ ahaM bhogaprado vatsA,
> mokShadastu janArdanaH “  -- “O dear child, I am only a giver of prosperity
> and worldly bhoga, but the giver of  mokSha is Janardana.”
>
> Why?
>
> The same purANa has the answer -- aj~nAnAM j~nAnado vishhNoH j~nAninAM
> moxadashcha saH  |
> Ana.ndadashcha muktAnAM sa evaiko janArdanaH
>
> (To the un-knowing, Vishnu gives knowledge; to the knowing, He gives
> moksha; To the liberated, He gives joy, and He alone is fit for all to
> worship.)
>

The Mundakopanishat says:

यं यं लोकं मनसा संविभाति विशुद्धसत्त्वः कामयते यांश्च कामान् ।
तं तं लोकं जयते तांश्च कामांस्तस्मादात्मज्ञं ह्यर्चयेद्भूतिकामः ॥ १० ॥
For the one who seeks bhoga, the worship of an aparoksha Jnani serves the
purpose.

For the mumukshu, the worship of the same Jnani, without bhoga kama,
serves, next mantra:

स वेदैतत्परमं ब्रह्म धाम यत्र विश्वं निहितं भाति शुभ्रम् ।
उपासते पुरुषं ये ह्यकामास्ते शुक्रमेतदतिवर्तन्ति धीराः ॥ १ ॥
Nowhere these say that either Rudra or Vishnu is required to grant these.
There is the last mantra of the Prashnopanishat, where the disciples,
enlightened, pay their gratitude to the Acharya Pippalada. There too, the
Jnani Acharya is shown as the moksha giver.  In advaita, Jnana begets
moksha and not any god. In Br.Up. 1.4, it is said, even gods cannot prevent
a jnani from getting the fruit of moksha. In all the upanishads such is the
case. No intervention of Vishnu is shown.
So, the stories in the puranas as one god superior to other, etc. is only
to create interest.
vs





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