[Advaita-l] Power of Brahman

[V Subrahmanian]

Very interesting!

On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 6:15 PM Venkatraghavan S <agnimile at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>> If someone knows Brahman as 'object' such is not the Upanishadic Brahma
>> jnanam.
>>
>
> Very true.
>
> Yes, advaita does not permit kartr karma virodha, but this is a fallacy
> only when the subject is objectified by the action. However advaita does
> not talk of the knowledge of Brahman as objectification of the self by
> knowledge.
>
> So what does knowing Brahman mean in advaita?
>
> The Kena mantra नाहं मन्ये सुवेदेति नो न वेदेति वेद च illustrates this
> beautifully. The student says - I do not consider that I know Brahman, nor
> do I consider that I do not know Brahman at all, for I do know it.
>
> As an explanation for the apparent contradiction, we need to look at
> mantra 4 of the first chapter, अन्यदेव तद्विदितादथो अविदितादधि. Brahman
> is that which is different from the known and the unknown.
>
> shankarAchArya says in the bhAShya - विदितं नाम यद्विदिक्रिययातिशयेनाप्तं
> विदिक्रियाकर्मभूतम् ।  The known is that which is eminently obtained
> through the action of knowing, that which happens to be the object of the
> verb "to know". Brahman is different from such a known entity. Does it mean
> it is unknown?
>
> No, it is not unknown either, because the shruti says it is different
> from the unknown. What is the unknown here? ShankarAchArya says:
> अविदितात् विदितविपरीतादव्याकृतादविद्यालक्षणाद्व्याकृतबीजात् । अधि इति
> उपर्यर्थे ; लक्षणया अन्यदित्यर्थः । "From unknown" means from the opposite
> of the known, ie from the unmanifest, indicated by the term ignorance, the
> seed of the manifest. Above the unknown means, that which is different from
> such an unknown.
>
> Therefore, Brahman is not objectified by knowledge, it is not unknown
> because it is different from ignorance which is the cause of not knowing.
> It is not nothing either, because the student in the  Shruti says वेद च - I
> do know it. What is it then?
>
> ShankarAchArya concludes - न ह्यन्यस्य स्वात्मनो विदिताविदिताभ्यामन्यत्वं
> वस्तुनः सम्भवतीत्यात्मा ब्रह्मेत्येष वाक्यार्थः The meaning of the sentence
> (अन्यदेव तद्विदितादथो अविदितादधि) is that Brahman cannot be anything but
> the Atma, because that which is different from the known and the unknown
> cannot be anything but the Atma.
>
> Thus when the student says नो न वेदेति वेद च, he is saying I the Self, am
> Brahman, the knower of Brahman - ब्रह्मविदाप्नोति परम्.
>
> Kind regards,
> Venkatraghavan
>
>