[Advaita-l] Tattvabodha of Adi Sankaracharya - 10

[V Subrahmanian]

On Wed, Mar 11, 2020 at 3:11 PM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Jayanarayananji
> You had written
> "The power of any faculty (hearing etc.) of any
> individual is only limited, both in quality and
> quantity. If one has a limited power, then one
> can infer the possibility of a total power of
> which he/she is a part.
>
> * So, for each faculty there is a correspond-
> ing total power.
> * Power itself does not have an independent
> function unless there is a wielder of that
> power - for example , seeing power is
> wielded by the seeing person (jIva) and so
> on. Similarly, for the total power, the scrip-
> tures visualized a total power wielder,
> known as presiding deity for that total
> power - the adhiShThAnadevatA - and the sum-
> total of the power of all adhiShThAnadevatA's, is
> the power wielded by the Lord, Iswara or
> Parameswara. The author gives the list of
> the adhiShThAnadevatA's and the faculty that each
> of the devatas presides over."
>
> That was a lucid explanation about the idea of adhiShThAna devatA. Can you
> please elaborate a little more on this concept?
>
> I was reminded of Pujya Swami Dayananada Saraswati Ji, who would often say
> that individual "laws" or powers that govern the functioning of the cosmos
> at various levels - gross and subtle - represent an "aspect", a partial
> manifestation of Parameshwara, and each aspect is invoked as a devatA viz.,
> Indra , Varuna etc.
>
> Could you elaborate, for instance, on -
> 1. Can we talk of there being adhiSThAna devatAs for other entities
> encountered in vyavahAra?. Such as planet earth as a whole (prithvI devatA
> surely), hills and mountains (maybe himavAn or some parvata devatA?),


Maybe these lines of the Taittiriya Samhitaa would give us a clue:
https://sa.wikisource.org/s/1e25

1
अग्निर् भूतानाम् अधिपतिः स माऽवत्व् इन्द्रो ज्येष्ठानां यमः पृथिव्या वायुर्
अन्तरिक्षस्य सूर्यो दिवश् चन्द्रमा नक्षत्राणाम् बृहस्पतिर् ब्रह्मणो मित्रः
सत्यानां वरुणो ऽपाꣳ समुद्रः स्रोत्यानाम् अन्नꣳ साम्राज्यानाम् अधिपति तन्
मावतु सोम ओषधीनाꣳ सविता प्रसवानाꣳ* रुद्रः पशूनां त्वष्टा रूपाणां विष्णुः
पर्वतानाम् मरुतो गणानाम् अधिपतयस्* ते मावन्तु
पितरः पितामहाः परे ऽवरे ततास् ततामहा इह मावत ।
अस्मिन् ब्रह्मन्न् अस्मिन् क्षत्रे ऽस्याम् आशिष्य् अस्याम् पुरोधायाम्
अस्मिन् कर्मन्न् अस्यां देवहूत्याम् ॥

regards
subbu



> viral
> diseases such as small pox, herpes zoster, nCov-19 etc., (maybe various
> female devata-s govern their arising and spreading as per the beliefs in
> vogue in indian folk traditions?).
>
>  2. What about devatA-s for modern "discoveries" such as the power of
> gravity which is such a huge cosmic determinant of the way things are in
> this physical universe? Is there an adhidaivika aspect viz., a devata for
> gravity?
>
>
> 3.  If we examine the case of cosmic laws that govern the energetic
> functioning of all stars, then the Sun itself is just a small Star, one
> among billions. So can we assert that this vedic devatA revealed as "sUrya"
> is the wielder of the samaShTi power behind all stars which makes them
> function using fusion etc., the way they do, not only our Sun?
>
> Warm regards
>
> Om
>
> Raghav
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, 28 Feb, 2020, 7:38 AM S Jayanarayanan via Advaita-l, <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > (Continued from previous post)
> >
> >
> > 2.2.1 Organs of Perception (jnAna indriyas)
> >
> > *  shrotra.n : Ear (hearing)
> > *  tvak : Skin (sense of touch)
> > *  chakShuH : Eye (sight)
> > *  rasanA : Tongue (taste)
> > *  ghrANam : Nose (smell)
> >
> > The power of any faculty (hearing etc.) of any
> > individual is only limited, both in quality and
> > quantity. If one has a limited power, then one
> > can infer the possibility of a total power of
> > which he/she is a part.
> >
> > * So, for each faculty there is a correspond-
> > ing total power.
> > * Power itself does not have an independent
> > function unless there is a wielder of that
> > power - for example , seeing power is
> > wielded by the seeing person (jIva) and so
> > on. Similarly, for the total power, the scrip-
> > tures visualized a total power wielder,
> > known as presiding deity for that total
> > power - the adhiShThAnadevatA - and the sum-
> > total of the power of all adhiShThAnadevatA's, is
> > the power wielded by the Lord, Iswara or
> > Parameswara. The author gives the list of
> > the adhiShThAnadevatA's and the faculty that each
> > of the devatas presides over.
> >
> >   shrotrasya digdevatA .
> >   tvacho vAyuH .
> >   chakShuShaH sUryaH .
> >   rasanAyA varuNaH .
> >   ghrANasya ashvinau .
> >   iti j~nAnendriyadevatAH .
> >
> > * shrotrasya digdevatA . The presiding deity of ear
> > (hearing) is "dik devata" - Quarters (Space).
> > * tvacho vAyuH . Of skin (touch) is Air.
> > * chakShuShaH sUryaH . Of eye (sight) is Surya.
> > * rasanAyA varuNaH . Of tongue (taste) is the Lord
> > of Waters.
> > * ghrANasya ashvinau . Of nose (smell) are the two
> > Aswins.
> > * iti j~nAnendriyadevatAH . Thus are the presiding
> > deities of the sense organs.
> >
> > It should be pointed out that by Waters, Sun
> > etc., we don't mean the gross form of these,
> > but the subtle power behind. Having given the
> > presiding deity over each of the organs of per-
> > ception, the author gives the list of the func-
> > tions of each of these jnAnendriyas.
> >
> >   shrotrasya viShayaH shabdagrahaNam .
> >   tvacho viShayaH sparshagrahaNam .
> >   chakShuSho viShayaH rUpagrahaNam .
> >   rasanAyA viShayaH rasagrahaNam .
> >   ghrANasya viShayaH gandhagrahaNam iti .
> >
> > * shrotrasya viShayaH shabdagrahaNam . The function of
> > ear is grasping of sound
> > * tvacho viShayaH sparshagrahaNam . The function of
> > skin is perception of touch.
> > * chakShuSho viShayaH rUpagrahaNam . The function of
> > eyes is the perception of forms.
> > * rasanAyA viShayaH rasagrahaNam . The function of
> > tongue is the perception of taste.
> > * ghrANasya viShayaH gandhagrahaNam iti . The function
> > of nose is the perception of smell.
> >
> >
> > (Continued in next post)
> >
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