[Advaita-l] [advaitin] 'Prana' as Brahman

[V Subrahmanian]

Thanks Venkat ji, for this wonderful post.

While the kAryabrahmaloka prApti is there for the upasaka-s of various
vidya-s of the Upanishads, in the present day context where the Upanishadic
Vidya-s are sort of replaced by bhakti to various deities like Shiva,
Vishnu, Devi, Skanda and so on, would it be possible to map the 'journey'
of these upasakas (who have not had samyag jnana here) with the
kAryabrahmaloka prApti? If yes, how do we explain the 'Ishwara sAyujyam'
the Upasakas attain as stated in the BSB? Will the upasakas merge in their
respective upAsya devatas? If yes, in which loka? Can we substitute these
in the place of the Hiranyagarbha loka gamanam?  In such a case the
‘ब्रह्मणा सह ते सर्वे सम्प्राप्ते प्रतिसञ्चरे । परस्यान्ते कृतात्मानः
प्रविशन्ति परं पदम्’  (Hiranyagarbha attianing videha kaivalyam at the end
of his loka) will have to be substituted by the Shiva, etc.deities.

I think the Puranic idea of Vishnu or Shiva or Devi....being the source of
the Trimurtis could be interpreted as: the Source is the Parameshwara and
the Trimurtis are kArya Brahman.  In that case those lokas can be accepted
as the ones where their upasakas end up having sAyujyam with them. Then at
the end of that loka the inmates along with the head of that loka (Shiva,
etc.) will attain videha Kaivalyam.  In this scenario we have to accept
this Shiva, etc. of the Triad are those who have attained to this position
through upasana. The Turiya Shiva/Vishnu that is the source of the
Trimurtis will be their Source and that Brahman is not attainable through
sadhana.

Is this scheme free from defects?

warm regards
subbu

On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 12:07 AM Venkatraghavan S <agnimile at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Subbuji,
> The kAryAdhikaraNam in the 4th chapter, 3rd pAda of the brahmasUtra
> establishes that wherever the Shruti talks of a travel to a loka it is
> travel to the world that is supervised by a kArya brahma, conditioned
> Brahman, only.
>
> So, the first sUtra in this adhikaraNam, कार्यं बादरिरस्य गत्युपपत्तेः
> (4.3.7) established that that gati is possible only for kArya brahma
> (hiraNyagarbha), not kAraNa brahma (Parameshvara). The second
> sUtra, विशेषितत्वाच्च (4.3.8) with the help of the
> shruti ‘ब्रह्मलोकान्गमयति ते तेषु ब्रह्मलोकेषु पराः परावतो वसन्ति’ (बृ. उ.
> ६ । २ । १५) proves that it can only be a kArya brahma, where the use of the
> plural tense in ब्रह्मलोकेषु is used to justify that worlds in the plural
> can only apply in a literal sense with kAryabrahma.
>
> A question is raised about why the term brahma is used in the shruti if it
> is referring to an apara brahma, to which the third sUtra  सामीप्यात्तु
> तद्व्यपदेशः (4.3.9), where because hiraNyagarbha is close to Ishvara,
> sometimes the term brahma is applied to the former as well for the purpose
> of upAsana.
>
> The next sUtra settles the matter: कार्यात्यये तदध्यक्षेण सहातः
> परमभिधानात् (4.3.10) - where AchArya clearly
> says कार्यब्रह्मलोकप्रलयप्रत्युपस्थाने सति तत्रैव उत्पन्नसम्यग्दर्शनाः
> सन्तः, तदध्यक्षेण हिरण्यगर्भेण सह अतः परं परिशुद्धं विष्णोः परमं पदं
> प्रतिपद्यन्ते - when the world of the kArya brahma undergoes dissolution,
> all its residents who have attained jnAna, attain moksha (परं परिशुद्धं
> विष्णोः परमं पदं), along with the leader of that world, hiraNyagarbha. The
> sUtrakAra uses the term adhyaksha to denote the ruler of that world, and
> the bhAShyakAra explains that word to be hiraNyagarbha.
>
> Finally in sUtra 4.3.11, स्मृतेश्च he quotes the smRti
>  ‘ब्रह्मणा सह ते सर्वे सम्प्राप्ते प्रतिसञ्चरे । परस्यान्ते कृतात्मानः
> प्रविशन्ति परं पदम्’ इति ।, and concludes with the words
> तस्मात्कार्यब्रह्मविषया एव गतिश्रुतयः इति सिद्धान्तः ॥ - the siddhAnta is
> that every gati shruti only refers to travel to kAryabrahma - if it is an
> actual travel.
>
> So, if we take going to kailAsha, vaikunTha occurring in the purANa-s as
> literal statements, then it is tantamount to taking Shiva and Vishnu as
> kAryabrahma, and any upAsakas who die without attaining jnAna and reach
> such loka-s would necessarily (because they would travel to such loka-s)
> have to attain jnAna in such loka-s. Instead, if we take the attainment of
> these loka-s in the figurative sense such as attaining विष्णोः परमं पदं, ie
> knowing the the highest Brahman through samyagjnAna, then that is moksha
> and the object of the jnAna, the true Shiva / Vishnu tattva is Parabrahman.
> In fact, in the bhAShya to the sUtra 4.3.14, in responding to the pUrva
> paksha position that gati is possible for Parabrahman, AchArya
> says: परविद्याप्रकरणेऽपि च तत्स्तुत्यर्थं
> विद्यान्तराश्रयगत्यनुकीर्तनमुपपद्यते — ‘विष्वङ्ङन्या उत्क्रमणे भवन्ति’ (छा.
> उ. ८ । ६ । ६) इतिवत् ।
> It is possible for there to be a reference to gati in the context of
> Parabrahman too - where such a gati (travel) is mentioned as a eulogy (ie
> not literal) of paravidyA.
>
> Now, Shankaracharya uses the term Ishvara with respect to hiraNyagarbha in
> various places in the bhAShya, but he does not mean hiraNyagarbha is
> Parameshvara, he only uses the term Ishvara to denote the supremacy of
> hiraNyagarbha amongst the jIva-s. See the bhAShya to 1.3.30:
>
> सत्यपि सर्वव्यवहारोच्छेदिनि महाप्रलये परमेश्वरानुग्रहादीश्वराणां
> हिरण्यगर्भादीनां कल्पान्तरव्यवहारानुसन्धानोपपत्तेः । यद्यपि प्राकृताः
> प्राणिनो न जन्मान्तरव्यवहारमनुसन्दधाना दृश्यन्त इति, तथापि न
> प्राकृतवदीश्वराणां भवितव्यम् । यथा हि प्राणित्वाविशेषेऽपि
> मनुष्यादिस्तम्बपर्यन्तेषु ज्ञानैश्वर्यादिप्रतिबन्धः परेण परेण भूयान् भवन्
> दृश्यते ; तथा मनुष्यादिष्वेव हिरण्यगर्भपर्यन्तेषु
> ज्ञानैश्वर्याद्यभिव्यक्तिरपि परेण परेण भूयसी
> भवतीत्येतच्छ्रुतिस्मृतिवादेष्वसकृदनुश्रूयमाणं न शक्यं नास्तीति वदितुम् ।
>
> Even though in the mahApralaya, when all activities have ceased, Ishvara-s
> such as hiraNyagarbha etc are able to recall, through the grace of
> Parameshvara, the activities undertaken in another kalpa. Even though
> ordinary creatures are not able to recall the actions in another kalpa, one
> cannot surmise that Ishvara-s (he means hiraNyagarbha etc) too will be so
> unable. It is observed that the capacity of the intellect is superior in
> some creatures compared to others. Similarly, starting from men, and
> culminating in hiraNyagarbha, the manifestation of intellect increases by
> species, as observed in a multitude of Shruti and smRti statements and
> therefore this cannot be denied.
>
> Note the reference to hiraNyagarbha as Ishvara, in juxtaposition to
> Parameshvara, by whose grace he recalls his actions from another birth.
>
> Not just hiraNyagarbha, the term Ishvara is used by the AchArya to refer
> to other great souls such as apAntaratamas (BSB 3.3.32):
> एवम् अपान्तरतमःप्रभृतयोऽपीश्वराः परमेश्वरेण तेषु तेष्वधिकारेषु नियुक्ताः
> सन्तः सत्यपि सम्यग्दर्शने कैवल्यहेतौ अक्षीणकर्माणो यावदधिकारमवतिष्ठन्ते,
> तदवसाने च अपवृज्यन्त इत्यविरुद्धम् ।
> Therefore, apAntaratamas and others, despite being divine (Ishvara-s), are
> assigned their respective tasks by Parameshvara even though possess the
> right knowledge that is the cause of liberation, continue with their bodies
> for so long as their task requires it and their activities are not
> completed.
>
> The reference provided by you of AchArya using the term Parameshvara in
> the context of hiraNyagarbha (इन्द्रः परमेश्वरः त्वं हे प्राण) in the
> prashnopaniShad, must be interpreted only as Parameshvara a eulogy, along
> the lines of the nyAya from the सामीप्यात्तु तद्व्यपदेशः sUtra.
>
> Kind regards,
> Venkatraghavan
>
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