[Advaita-l] Concept of Īśvara according to Sureśvarāchārya

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 10:56 AM Kaushik Chevendra via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste sir,
> In fact in the gudartha deepika of madusudhana saraswati, acharya brings
> about the difference between brahma and krishna. Numerous times Brahma is
> said to be a jeevatma. It has again been discussed many times on this group
> with detailed explanations given by venkataraghavanji. The settled fact
> remains that the position of brahma is a karmaphala and he is a jeeva. And
> he is seen the same as the parameshwara on a few occasions because he is
> very close to him, as venkatji has clarified before.
>

Madhusudana Saraswati has in the commentary to the Mahimna stotra says this:

बहलरजसे विश्वोत्पत्तौ भवाय नमो नमः

प्रबलतमसे तत्संहारे हराय नमो नमः ।

जनसुखकृते सत्त्वोद्रिक्तौ मृडाय नमो नमः

प्रमहसिपदे निस्त्रैगुण्ये शिवाय नमो नमः ॥३०॥


[Salutation to Brahmā in whom rajas preponderates for the creation of the
universe, salutation to Rudra in whom Tama preponderates for the
destruction of the same. Salutatio to Viṣṇu in whom Sattva preponderates
for giving happiness to the people (by preservation of the created
universe). Salutation to Śiva who is effulgent and beyond the three
attributes. For explanation of this last line pl. read the part below this
post.]

This is exactly how many puranas like the Vishnu, Shiva, etc. describe the
Trimurtis- when Sattva Rajas and Tamas are considered as gunas with which
the Trimurti-s are associated.  In all such instances no distinction is
made to show Brahma as a jiva.

Shankara too has done the same in the Vishnu Sahasra Nama Bhashya multiple
times. For the bhUtakrit bhUtabhrt names at the beginning itself he says
the same depicted in the mahimna stotra above.

For the name Keshava, Shankara says, giving an etymological meaning, K is
the one in whose control are the Trimurtis.

Elsewhere, citing the Kaivalya upanishad: sa brahma, sa shivah, sa harih...
It is Vishnu who is said so by all these names.

At the beginning Shankara cites many shlokas from Harivamsha, Vishnu
Purana, etc. to establish Trimurti/Harihara abheda. Nowhere in these
instances he says Brahma is a jiva.

What he has said about Brahma in the Bhagavadgita is contextual.  This is
what all the Advaita Acharyas of the past and the present have done:
wherever they say that Hiranyagarbha/Brahma is a jiva it is contextual. But
when it comes to their interpreting Trimurtis, they hold abheda. This is
because the Puranas say that only depending upon the three gunas does
Brahman become JagatkAraNam. So, in this situation it cannot say: Rajas is
the upadhi of a jiva and the other two are Upadhis of Brahman.

So, we cannot say with finality what the Advaita Acharyas, including
Shankara hold, with regard to Brahma/Hiranyagarbha/Prajapati. What they say
in various places is contextual and no final position can be gleaned from
this.

Some years back I had asked in an assembly at the Sanskrit University in
Sringeri: Is it possible to clearly demarcate between the Hiranyagarbha of
the Upanishad (Shankara Bhashya) and the Brahma, a member of the
Trimurtis.  They said the latter is of the puranas and should not be mixed
with the former.  I could not get any further clarification.

regards

subbu

 The last line of the above verse is explained by Madhusudana thus:


प्रमहसिपदे निस्त्रैगुण्ये शिवाय नमो नमः – निर्गतं त्रैगुण्यं
यस्मात्न्निस्त्रैगुण्यं तस्मिन्पदे पदनीये तत्पदप्राप्तििमित्तम् । कीदृशे ?
प्रमहसि प्रकष्टं मायया अनभिभूतं महो ज्योिर्स्मिन्स्था ।
सर्वोत्तमप्रकाशरूपत्रिगुणशून्यमोक्षनिमित्तमित्यर्थः ।शिवाय –
निस्त्रैगुण्यमङ्गलस्वरूपाय ’शिवमद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते ’ इति श्रुतेः ।
प्रमहसि पदे सथिताय इति वा । हरिपक्षेऽप्येवम् ।


The above means: ‘Shiva’ is the tattvam, the Turiya, which transcends the
three guṇas. Why is Shiva to be prostrated? With a view to attain Him, His
state. What is His nature, state? The Supreme Consciousness, effulgence,
unaffected, untouched by māyā is what He is .[Alternatively, He is
established in such an effulgence.] That is the supreme state of mokṣa
which is free of all three guṇas. For the word ‘Shiva’ the author cites the
Mandukya 7th mantra: ‘shivam advaitam chaturtham manyante’ That pure
auspicious essence that is free of the three guṇas which is non-dual,
called the ‘fourth’ (Turiya).


Having explained thus to refer to Hara, Shiva, the commentator Madhusudana
Saraswati, for whom Hari and Hara are non-different, says: the above
explanation applies to Hari too in exactly the same manner. Thus, for
Madhusūdana the Supreme Brahman can be called Hari or Hara. It makes no
difference for the advaitin.

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