By Shri Kesava Rao Tadipatri
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I was stunned and amazed that so many really think that the most limited, most incompetent, most dependent, most incapable, most finite soul is same as the most competent - not just most but also infinite for all epithets - infinitely competent, all-pervading, All-independent, Omniscient, infinitely powerful Supreme soul.
Expressions
like - sarvam khalvidam brahma - God is everything - simply mean that
everything is dependent on God, everthing belongs to God. When Microsoft
was formed, people said “Microsoft is Bill Gates” - This simply meant
that “Microsoft is Bill Gates’(note the apostrophe - meaning his)”
PadmapurANa
clearly indicates how such statements need to be taken - “tvadadhInaM
yatassarvam ataH sarvo mato bhavAn” - “As every thing is under Your
control, it is said you are everything”. We too hear such expressions in
our daily life - people say to the most important and key person in an
organization - “Sir, you are everything here”. If such expressions are
used for limited human being, why not use such expression to Almighty
God, That in no way means that ordinary souls are same as Supreme soul.
People misquote BhagavdgIta to force that idea of identity. Lord Sri
Krishna is present in the heart of every soul. How many people here
believe that Arjuna is also seated in the hRudayaguha of every being?
Some
try in vain that Sri Krishna’s statement “pANDavAnAM dhanaMjayaH” talks
about identity. Look at all vibhUti rUpas of ParamAtma. He is talking
about how He gives special privilege, be first or second or third, etc.
Among weapons, He is “VajrAyudha”. Though Vajrayudha is great, we know,
Sudarshana chakra, Kaumodaki, ShArMgadhanu, etc. are even greater.
If
everything is an illusion, there was no need for Sri Krishna to go on
the long list of his vibhUti rUpas. If all the mountains are illusion,
what is the meaning of His being Meru (which actually means that He is
present in a special way in Meru and gives it a special position).
I
am using below the wording and quotes of another poster here in favor
of Advaita and shown how his own statements refute Advaita completely.
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
A
true devotee sees Brahman/Supreme soul situated as Atman/soul in all
living beings & also in himself equally everywhere. (Bhagavad Gita
6:29)
End-quote.
This
means that the Atman/soul is quite different from Brahman. If you are
in a house, you are not the house. Where is the popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
Whoever
sees (perceive) me everywhere and everything in me, for him I am never
lost, nor is he ever lost to Me. (Bhagavad Gita 6:30)
End-quote.
Perceiver
is different from the perceived. The very fact that Sri Krishna says
“Whoever sees(perceives) me...”, three obvious beings are mentioned -
those who are able to perceive, those who are not able and the perceived
All-Supreme Lord. Where is the popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
Such
a yogi, who serve me through devotional service by perceiving (knowing
that) me as only one situated in all living beings he remains always
remains in me in all circumstances. (Bhagavad Gita 6:31)
End-quote.
Thus
the Yogi is different, All-Supreme Lord Krishna is different and all
living beings (with varying capacity) are different. Where is the
popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
He is considered perfect yogi who compares his own atman/soul/self and sees it as equal everywhere in every living being both in happiness and distress. (Bhagavad Gita 6:32)
End-quote.
Presented
in a clumsy way. Just as for any soul happiness is desirable and
unhappiness is undesirable, so is the case for all. Knowing this kind of
“sAmya” and knowing that the same Lord is present in all, desire for
happiness for all. Where is the popular Advaita?
So
a perfect yogi is different. An incompetent one is different and the
preaching Lord Krishna is different. Where is the popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
And
of all yogis, the one with true full faith who worship me with his
inner self abiding in me (Who think of himself in me) he is deemed by me
as most devout. (Bhagavad Gita 6:47)
End-quote.
Again
all kinds of yogis are there. Some are best. Some are not. The Lord,
who is worshiped by all of them is different. Where is the popular
Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
I
am the atman/soul/self, established in the hearts of all beings, O
Gudakesha. I am the beginning, middle and also the end of all beings. –
(Bhagavad Gita 10:20)
End-quote.
The
Gudakesha(conqueror of sleep) Arjuna is different. The non-conquerors
of sleep are different. The Lord who is the beginning, middle and also
the end of all beings is different from all beings. Where is the popular
Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
Brahman
is knowledge, it is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal Of
knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart. (Bhagavad Gita 13:18)
End-quote.
It
is so very obvious. Where is the popular Advaita? He is the goal,
everyone is not. He is situated in everyone’s heart. I am not situated
in your heart and you are not in mine. Where is the popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
Yet
in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is supreme
Lord, Super soul, the supreme proprietor who exist as the overseer and
permitter. (Bhagavad Gita 13.23)
End-quote.
Where
is the popular Advaita? You and I are different from the Supreme Lord.
Is that not obvious? He is supreme proprietor who exists as the
overseer; I and you are not. Where is the popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
The one who sees imperishable Super soul in destructible bodies of all living entities as only one he is the one who actually sees (he is the one who truly knows the truth) . (Bhagavad Gita 13.29)
End-quote.
Where is the popular Advaita? Oh my goodness! Is anything more needed to know the truth?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
One
who sees the Super soul equally present everywhere, in every living
beings, does not degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the
transcendental destination. (Bhagavad Gita 13.29)
End-quote.
Yes.
The Supreme soul is equally present everywhere. Can you and I achieve
this? Forget about everywhere. Can any of us be present in two different
places at the same time. Even if we know “parakAya pravesha vidya”, our
soul has to run from one place to another, not being able to be in two
places, even for a very great soul. Where is the popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
Parma Atma/super soul
which is dwelling in body is inexhaustible due to being eternal and
attribute less. Therefore O son of kunti this Super soul neither does
anything nor is entangled. (Bhagavad Gita 13:32)
End-quote.
Again
presented in a clumsy way. Note that there are three things. The bodies
and the Jivas in the bodies and the Lord, who is present in both the
jIvas and bodies. If a question comes if the Jiva is in a body and
Paramatma is also in the body, how do we know they are different or
same. It is answered with proper explanation. The prior verse (13-31)
tells that one must see “bhUtapRutgabhAvaM (multiplicity of the Jivas)”,
but the Paramatma in all of them is one. Thus man Jivas and one
Paramatma. Then this verse(13-32) explains how they are different. The
Jiva is bound by its actions and Paramatma is not. Thus Paramatma does
not do actions and does not get tainted (like the jIva), though the
Paramatma is present in the bod(sharIrasthaH api). Why? Because of
anAdinityatva and nirguNatva (again nirguNatva does not mean not having
any qulities; it means not having the gross qualities, as all the
scriptures describe Him as ‘SatyaM, j~nAM, anantaM, etc.). Such a
beautiful concept. Where is the popular Advaita?
Quote from Suraj-Advaita:
I
am seated in the hearts of all living beings, and from me come memory,
knowledge, as well as forgetfulness. I alone am to be known by all the
Vedas, am the author of the Vedanta, & the knower of the meaning of
the Vedas. (Bhagavad Gita 15:15)
End-quote.
If
He is the grantor of memory, knowledge, as well as forgetfulness, where
is the question of all the Jivas being Paramatma and none of them
remembering and knowing that they are Paramatma. Imagine Paramatma
taking so many forms and each one of these forms being hit by amnesia!!
That is impossible. When He is extolled as the Creator, Sustainer and
Anhilator of this entire universe, what meaning is there to call His
entire grand creation as mere illusion!! Where is the popular Advaita?
Hope
this clarifies what is the real situation with Advaita. The true
Advaita (or monism) is that there is only one Brahman - not two Brahmans
like SaguNa and NirguNa; there is only one truth - not two truths like
vyAvahArika and ParamArthika.
The heavy
confusion between reality and perception is the root cause of their
problem. If one mistakes, a rope for a snake, the problem is with the
person, not the reality. The snake may be an illusion, but the rope is
reality. In every wrong perception, one reality is mistaken for another
reality. Even in case of a mirage, the sun is real, the sand or the road
or similar thing is real. The refraction is really happening. One is
mistaking that for water. In both the cases, the person has the
knowledge of snake and water. How did he get that knowledge? From real
snake and real water.
Can a person, who has
no knowledge of snake mistake a rope for a snake? Never. No philosophy
can be founded by examples. It can be explained by examples. Just
because one mistakes the rope for a snake, you want to deny this entire
universe as illusion? If that happens, will the sages have to laugh at
that ignorance or feel sympathetic?
Shri KrishNArpaNamastu !!
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