[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Rudra the Para Brahman of the Shvetashvataropanishat

[Uddeshya Sharma]

Namaste respected members ,

The reason that we find most portions of Itihasa or even Puranas filled
with dedications to two deities namely Vishnu and Shiva could be due to the
fact that the followers of these must have been most prominent during the
age of Shri Vyasa. These followers even went on to develop complicate
Philosophical denominations taking Vedas as the substratum could be known
from the fact that Pashupata and Panchratra adhikaranas are dealt by
Sutrakara in Brahmasutras as well. Of all the philosophies dealt therein,
these two are specifically Devta centric.

That is why we find many a mentions of these darshanas in the Mahabharata.
Pashupata yoga being given by Shiva to Daksha after latter's remorse and
Panchratra's creation in shweta dwipa. Even when Skanda and Devi are dealt
, they are associated with both of these deities. The famous Skandopakhyana
ends him joining Shiva and a  namavali follows which identifies him as
Vasudevapriya. Similarly both the stutis of Durga in Mahabharata refer to
her as VasudevaBhagini and Shiva.

This is my understanding of this issue.

Shiva Shiva

On Mon, 13 Jan 2025, 22:20 suresh srinivasamurthy via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste,
>
> IMHO, As paramAtma tattva is sarvanAma vAchya and sarvarUpa vedya, Brahma
> drushti or upAsana is possible through any name/form.
>
> But Vishnu and Shiva are predominantly prescribed because it stands for
> the all-pervading (vyApanAt Vishnuh) and the indwelling (AtmatvAt or
> AdvaitatvAt Shivatvam) nature of Brahman. Vishnu and Shiva could also be
> looked upon as standing for Truth and Dharma. The main deities in each of
> the Shanmata could also be taken to be manifestations of the six qualities
> of Bhagavan.
>
> The name nArAyaNa also includes everything (with tatpurusha and
> bahuvreehi) and points to the saguna/nirguna aspects of Brahman.
>
> Best Regards,
> Suresh
> ________________________________
> From: advaitin at googlegroups.com <advaitin at googlegroups.com> on behalf of
> V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, January 13, 2025 10:43 AM
> To: advaitin at googlegroups.com <advaitin at googlegroups.com>
> Cc: Kaushik Chevendra <chevendrakaushik at gmail.com>; A discussion group
> for Advaita Vedanta <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] [advaitin] Rudra the Para Brahman of the
> Shvetashvataropanishat
>
> In the Mahabharata there is a Durga stuti on two occasions: by Arjuna
> prior to the main battle ( in the Bhishma parva) and by Yudhishthira (in
> the Virata parva):
>
> Depending on how one sees/interprets, this Durga, stated to be BrahmavidyA
> svarUpiNi, etc. can mean that She is Para Brahman.
>
> Bhishma parva, Chapter 23:
>
> https://tinyurl.com/y7opor4o
>
> कुमारि कालि कापालि कपिले कृष्णपिङ्गले ।।  6-23-4b (Kumari,குமரிக் கோலத்து
> (Silappadhikaram), Kaapaali (consort of Shiva:  कापालि कपालस्यायं पतिः
> कापालो रुद्रस्तत्पत्नि। - A commentary given at the end of the web page)
>
> गोपेन्द्रस्यानुजे ज्येष्ठे नन्दगोपकुलोद्भवे ।।6-23-7b (born in the clan of
> Nandagopa)
>
> स्कन्दमातर्भगवति दुर्गे कान्तारवासिनि ।। 6-23-11b   (Durga is Skanda's
> (Subrahmanya) mother. Resides in forest, Vanadurga.
> स्वाहाकारः स्वधा चैव कला काष्ठा सरस्वती।
>
> सावित्री वेदमाता च तथा वेदान्त उच्यते ।।        6-23-12a
> 6-23-12b
>  (Many of the above names appear in the Lalita Sahasra Nama. The above
> say: '...so are you spoken of in the Vedanta: Upanishads')
>
> त्वं ब्रह्मविद्या विद्यानां   6.23.11    'Among Vidyas, She is
> Brahmavidya'. BG: Adhyatma vidya vidyanam.
>
>  Virata Parva chapter 8:
>
> https://tinyurl.com/y9sta85e
>
> वासुदेवस्य भगिनीं  4.8.4   Sister of Vasudeva, कुमारि ब्रह्मचारिणि । 4.8.7
> (name appears in silappadhikaram. Also the legend of the Kanyakumari temple
> where the Devi, as brahmacharini, waits for Shiva).
>
> विन्ध्ये चैव नगश्रेष्ठे तव स्थानं हि शाश्वतम्।
> कालि कालि महाकालि शीधुमांसपशुप्रिये ।। 18 ।।
>
> 4-8-18a
> 4-8-18b    Many names appear in the LS: maamsanishthaa.  vindhyachala
> nivasini.
>
>
> भासि देवि यथा पद्मा नारायणपरिग्रहः । 4.8.9   O Durga, You are resplendent
> like Padma, Narayana's consort. The commentary at the end says: पद्मा
> लक्ष्मीं अत एव नारायणपरिग्रहो विष्णुकान्ता ।
>
> Many names in the two Durga stutits overlap.
>
> In the Valmiki Ramayana there is the story of Kumara sambhava and finally
> it says: Those who are devoted to Skanda get Skanda salokya. Similarly is a
> stuti of Skanda in the Mahabharata too.
>
>
> In the Mahabharata there is the episode of Yudhishthira obtaining the
> 'akshaya paatram' after worshiping Surya Bhagavan.  This stuti of
> Yudhishthira contains the idea of JagatkaaraNatvam of Surya:
>
> https://sa.wikisource.org/s/1u8
>
> त्वामिन्द्रमाहुस्त्वं रुद्रस्त्वं विष्णुस्त्वं प्रजापतिः।
> त्वमग्निस्त्वं मनः सूक्ष्मं प्रभुस्त्वं ब्रह्मशाश्वतं ।।        3-3-41a
> 3-3-41b
>
> [You are Indra, Rudra, Vishnu, Prajapati (Brahmaa)]
>
> In the same chapter, after the above stuti, there is the collection of 108
> names of Surya which also has the Trimurti aikya idea, portraying Surya as
> the Turiya Brahman:
>
> ब्रह्मा विष्णुश्च रुद्रश्च स्कन्दो वैश्रवणो यमः ।।
>
> [Surya is Brahmaa, Vishnu, Rudra, Skanda....]
>
> See here for the 108 names:
> https://indiaplus.co.in/surya-ashtottara-shatanama-stotram/
>
> We have another Surya stuti, by VasishTha, in the Mahabharata which also
> brings out the JagatkaaraNatvam of Surya:
> https://sa.wikisource.org/s/1p9
>
> नमः सवित्रे जगदेकचक्षुषे
> जगत्प्रसूतिस्थितिनाशहेतवे।
> त्रयीमयाय त्रिगुणात्मधारिणे
> विरिञ्चनारायणशङ्करात्मने।।
>
> The above stuti is recited by Smarta-s of the Tamil sampradaya during
> their trikaala sandhyaa vandanam.
>
> The Surya Upanishad, of the 108 Upanishads has this prayer:
>
> https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_upanishhat/suryopan.html?lang=sa
>
>
> त्वमेव प्रत्यक्षं ब्रह्मासि । त्वमेव प्रत्यक्षं विष्णुरसि । त्वमेव
> प्रत्यक्षं रुद्रोऽसि ।
>
>   This idea is Vedanta-friendly and finds expression in Advaita Upasana.
>
> Thus, we have the Saura theme in the MB.  The Shaakta is found in Kurma
> Puranam.
>
> Om Tat Sat
>
> On Mon, Jan 13, 2025 at 3:02 PM 'Bhaskar YR' via advaitin <
> advaitin at googlegroups.com<mailto:advaitin at googlegroups.com>> wrote:
>
> praNAms
>
> Hare Krishna
>
>
>
> I agree that most of the purANEtihAsa mainly dealing with these two
> deities.  But if one willing,  definitely he can fetch out more references
> with regard to other paNchAyatana devata-s as well like gaNesha, devi,
> sUrya nArAyaNa for that matter skanda also.
>
>
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
>
> bhaskar
>
>
>
> I think one more reason is that even in texts like Mahabharata and
> Ramayana as welll we find statements/stotras which talk about vishnu and
> shiva partatva. It’s difficult to find such statements on Devi or Ganesha
> etc in the ithihasa texts.
>
>
>
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