[Advaita-l] 'Pranava' as Saguna Brahman

[V Subrahmanian]

Here is another instance where Shankara is admitting a non-deity as saguna
brahman:

In the Chandogya 7.1.4 Shankara says:   नामोपास्स्व ब्रह्मेति
ब्रह्मबुद्ध्या — यथा प्रतिमां विष्णुबुद्ध्या उपास्ते, तद्वत् ॥   Bhagavan
Sanatkumara in the course of instructing Narada the Brahma vidya called
'Bhuuma vidya', takes the disciple through a series of entities in
creation, leading up to Brahman, the creator Supreme Cause. In this process
there is the instruction to meditate upon 'name' as Brahman. Shankara gives
the analogy: Just as people meditate / look upon an image as Vishnu (while
the image is not Vishnu, the deity), so too one should look upon the 'name'
which is not really Brahman, as Brahman. This is called 'Brahma druShTi' in
something that is not Brahman.

Just as in the case above, Shankara admits of looking upon Vishnu (a deity
that is not really Brahman) also as Brahman.  In the Kenopanishat Bhashya
1.5   तत्तस्मादन्य उपास्यो विष्णुरीश्वर इन्द्रः प्राणो वा ब्रह्म
भवितुमर्हति, Shankara admits that the deities Vishnu, Ishwara (Shiva),
Indra, Prana can be looked upon/meditated as Brahman.
Thus, according to Advaita, a syllable such as Om, even an entity such as a
name, an image, a salidgrama, etc. and not necessarily only a deity, can be
looked upon as Brahman for a superior purpose of attaining Brahman
realization. Just as name, syllable (Om), etc. are parts of creation, so
too deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, etc. are all within creation.
The fact that they have names and forms itself makes them part of creation.
What can be outside creation is the formless Brahman alone. That is why the
shaastra teaches infusing the idea of Brahman in anything that is within
creation, such as a deity, a syllable, etc. The Bhuuma vidya gives many
more instances of this category. All these can be saguna brahman, for
upasana purpose, leading up to the realization of nirguna Brahman.

Om Tat Sat


2018-06-29 8:42 GMT+05:30 V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>:

> 'Pranava' as Saguna Brahman
>
>
> In the Upanishads the status of Pranava (Omkara, Om syllable) as a means
> to attain liberation is quite popular.  Shankara summarizes those
> references in his commentary to the Bh.G. 8.12 introduction:
>