[Advaita-l] A wonderful string of adjectives for Brahman

[V Subrahmanian]

Many thanks for the translation. Thanks also for the time you have given to
this.

regards
subbu

On Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 3:00 PM, Siva Senani Nori <sivasenani at yahoo.com>
wrote:

> Translation:
>
> To make the translation clear, we will take the core of the sentence and
> expand it.
>
> Sanskrit: त एते कर्माणि (Those and these karmas - rites or actions)
> विज्ञानमयश्च आत्मा (and the Atman which is of the nature of vijnana)
> उपाध्यपनये सति (when the adjunct is removed)... ब्रह्मणि ... (in Brahman)
> सर्वे (all - i.e. karmas and Atman) एकीभवन्ति (become one), अविशेषतां
> गच्छन्ति (reach a stage of non-differentiation) एकत्वमापद्यन्ते (attain
> oneness).
> English: When the adjunct is removed, those and these karmas and the
> Vijnanamaya Atman become one in Brahman, i.e. they reach a stage of
> non-differentiation and attain oneness.
>
>
> In the last part of the sentence, two examples are being offered (that of
> reflection and delimitation).
> S: जलाद्याधारापनय इव (just like upon the removal of media like water)
> सूर्यादिप्रतिबिम्बाः (reflections of Sun) सूर्ये ([merge] in Sun),
> घटाद्यपनय इव (like upon the removal of limiting adjuncts like pot) आकाशे (in
> Akasa) घटाद्याकाशाः ([merge the] various Akasas like pot-akasa).
> E: just like upon the removal of media like water, reflections of Sun
> merge in Sun, and just like upon the removal of limiting adjuncts like pot,
> pot-akasa etc. merge in Akasa.
>
>
> In this above sentence, Brahman is described by 16 adjectives (in locative
> absolute case). The words (in nominal case) and their meanings are:
>
> 1. param = ultimate
> 2. avyayam = changeless
> 3. anantam = without end
> 4. akshayam = without decay
> 5. AkASakalpam = like AkASa = all pervading, a base for everything else,
> but without a basis for oneself
> 6. ajam = unborn
> 7. ajaram = without old age or degradation
> 8. amRitam = without death
> 9. abhayam = without fear = without a perception of the second (Ta. Up.
> explains that fear is rooted in the perception of the second. In one's
> bedroom if one leaves a wallet/necklace there is no fear since a
> wife/husband is not seen as different; however if a maid, seen as the
> "other", were to enter the bedroom one locks up the wallet/necklace in a
> safer place.
> 10. apUrvam = without prior
> 11. anaparam = without posterior
> 12. anantaram = homogeneous (some people, esp. Max Muller while
> translating this term in Br. Up. and others who follow him, translate this
> as "without anything inside" or something like that. Such a translation
> would make Brahman the same as Sunyam. Sankaracarya explains this term (in
> Br. Up. where it occurs, don't have references handy now) as without
> differences of jAti etc. within Itself. Swami Gambhirananda correctly
> translates this term as "homogenous" in his translation of
> Brahmasutrabhashya where this particular sentence from Br. Up. is quoted)
> 13. abAhyam = without anything outside = all encompassing
> 14. advayam = without a second
> 15. Sivam = auspicious
> 16. SAntam = unagitated
>
> The full translation would be:
>
> When the adjunct is removed, those and these karmas and the Vijnanamaya
> Atman become one in the ultimate, changeless, end-less, decay-less,
> AkASa-like, unborn, age-less, death-less, fear-less, prior-less,
> posterior-less, homogeneous, all-encompassing, second-less, auspicious,
> unagitated Brahman, i.e. they reach a stage of non-differentiation and
> attain oneness, just like upon the removal of media like water, reflections
> of Sun merge in Sun, and just like upon the removal of limiting adjuncts
> like pot, pot-akasa etc. merge in Akasa.
>
> Regards
> N. Siva Senani
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> *To:* Advaitin <advaitin at yahoogroups.com>; A discussion group for Advaita
> Vedanta <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 15 February 2017 3:35 PM
> *Subject:* [Advaita-l] A wonderful string of adjectives for Brahman
>
> A wonderful string of adjectives for Brahman
>
> In the Mundaka bhashya 3.2.7 Shankara while stating the process of
> realization the the Truth writes a beautiful sentence filled with 'rasa':
>
> त एते कर्माणि विज्ञानमयश्च आत्मा उपाध्यपनये सति *परे अव्यये अनन्तेऽक्षये
> ब्रह्मणि आकाशकल्पेऽजेऽजरेऽमृतेऽभयेऽपूर्वेऽनपरेऽनन्तरेऽबाह्येऽद्वये शिवे
> शान्ते *सर्वे एकीभवन्ति अविशेषतां गच्छन्ति एकत्वमापद्यन्ते जलाद्याधारापनय
> इव सूर्यादिप्रतिबिम्बाः सूर्ये, घटाद्यपनय इवाकाशे घटाद्याकाशाः ॥
>
>
>
> A total of 16 viśeṣaṇa-s for Brahman!!  No doubt they are all strewn across
> various upaniṣadic texts. Yet to state them all in one place must be due to
> a special inspiration that the Acharya had at that moment.
>
> These are all svarupa lakṣaṇa words, mostly in the niṣedha mode and
> sparsely vidhi mode.  Members can give more explanation on analyzing these
> words.
>
> I was drawn to this sentence while reading the nice Kannada book
> 'śānkarabhāṣyāmṛtam', a collection of 60 passages from the prasthānatraya
> bhāṣya by Vidvan Sri K.G.Subraya Sharma. This book is in commemoration of
> his sixty-day discourse during the Shankara Jayanti Celebrations 2016 at
> Bangalore.
>
> regards
> subbu
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