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Venkatesh Murthy वेङ्कटेशः | 1 Apr 2012 07:09
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Rama Nama Chant

Namaste

The Ramarcana Candrika has said 'vinaiva diksam viprena purascaryam
vinaiva hi vinaiva nyasa-vidhina japa-matrena siddhida' No Diksha no
Purascarya Vidhi No Nyasa Vidhi is required for doing Nama Japa.

Nama Japa can be done without restrictions. Even while eating some
people will take the holy Name.  In Vishnu Sahasra Nama Siva has said
Sri Rama Rama Rameti Rame Rame Manorame Sahasra Nama Tat Tulyam Rama
Nama Varanane.

Kindly write where is the book Ramarcana Candrika available. Is it
available for online download?

--

-- 
Regards

-Venkatesh
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V Subrahmanian | 1 Apr 2012 09:00
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About 'Death'

Here is a short article with a quite deep thought:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-openpage/article3267823.ece

Excerpts:

//There is an erroneous misconception that death, like birth, is a single
isolated dramatic event to which a time and date can be ascribed. Death is
actually a *continuous ongoing process* occurring even in the unborn, after
all groups of cells in the foetus are programmed to die (apoptosis).
Different organs die at different times.//

//What, then, is the point of no return? When do we really die? Perceptions
vary.//

I am reminded of what Swami Vidyaranya said in the Panchadashi:

निरुपयितुमारब्धे  **निखिलैरपि
पण्डितै: ।
अज्ञानं पुरतस्तेषां भाति
कक्ष्यासु कासुचित् ॥ [6.143].

143. Even if all the learned people of the world try to determine the
nature of this world, they will find themselves confronted at some stage or
other by ignorance.

Nothing in the world can be determined in the manner of 'idam ittham'.

We see in the above article the medical scientist endorsing this truth
about the anirvAchyatvam of the things of the world.
(Continue reading)

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kuntimaddi sadananda | 1 Apr 2012 16:23
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Iswara swaruupam - 3

                                                    
Iswara Swaruupam -3

In Gita Ch. 7 slokas 4 and 5 two aspects of Iswara have been pointed out. One is aparaa prakRiti expressing in
terms of tatvas or eight-fold fundamental entities which are primordial causes for the creation. They
form together the ever changing material cause. above them is the para prakRiti which is their
substantive supporting their very existence. The Ch. Up mantra says existence alone was there before
creation and that itself became many. Hence pure existence without names and forms is Brahman since
scripture says it is ekam eva advitiiyam, one without a second. Thus combining these two statements we 
arrive that the creation consists of para prakRiti which is of the nature of pure existence expressing
after creation existence with changing names and forms as aparaa prakRiti. Thus Iswara swaruupam is a
combination of para and apara prakRiti. The manifestation of pluralistic apara prakRiti is facilitated
by maaya at the total level and avidya at the
 individual level. Maya is the force that brings out this transformation-less transformation with the
appearance of one into many. In physics any change is attributed to a force. The accomplished change
itself is the proof of the force and there is no other proof is required. Similarly one (para prakRiti)
appearing as many is the proof for the force, maaya and the locus for that force is also Iswara, since it
inheres with Him. In the above sloka Krishna only mentions about material cause or upaadana kaaraNam. In
the next slokas he emphasizes that there is nothing higher than Him – mattah parataram na anyat kincit
asti- indicating that he is also the nimitta kaaraNam or intelligent cause. Thus Iswara is abhinna
nimitta upaadana kaaraNam, undifferentiated material and intelligent cuase. This is indirectly
pointed out in Sloka 5 with the statement jiivabhuutam indicating that the para prakRiti is not only sat
swaruupam but chit swaruupam also. This is in
 parallel to Ch. Up statement – tat aikshataa| buhusyaam| prajaayeyeti| – it saw – desired to become
many and became many, thus indicating that Iswara is jiiva ruupena chaitanya swaruupam, a conscious
entity also and expressing as jiiva. 

Q. Is there separate Iswara different from para and aparaa prakRiti and of course separate from jiiva who is
a tiny conscious entity in relation to the total creation?
(Continue reading)

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kuntimaddi sadananda | 1 Apr 2012 16:31
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Iswara swaruupam - 3


Iswara
Swaruupam -3

 

In Gita Ch. 7 slokas 4
and 5 two aspects of Iswara have been pointed out. One is aparaa prakRiti
expressing in terms of tatvas or eight-fold fundamental entities which are
primordial causes for the creation. They form together the ever changing
material cause. above them is the para prakRiti which is their substantive
supporting their very existence. The Ch. Up mantra says existence alone
was there before creation and that itself became many. Hence pure existence
without names and forms is Brahman since scripture says it is ekam eva
advitiiyam, one without a second. Thus combining these two statements we  arrive that the creation
consists of para
prakRiti which is of the nature of pure existence expressing after creation
existence with changing names and forms as aparaa prakRiti. Thus Iswara
swaruupam is a combination of para and apara prakRiti. The manifestation of
pluralistic apara prakRiti is facilitated by maaya at the total level and
avidya at the individual level. Maya is the force that brings out this
transformation-less transformation with the appearance of one into many. In
physics any change is attributed to a force. The accomplished change itself is
the proof of the force and there is no other proof is required. Similarly one
(para prakRiti) appearing as many is the proof for the force, maaya and the
locus for that force is also Iswara, since it inheres with Him. In the above
sloka Krishna only mentions about material
cause or upaadana kaaraNam. In the next slokas he emphasizes that there is
nothing higher than Him – mattah parataram na anyat kincit asti- indicating that he is also the nimitta
kaaraNam or intelligent cause. Thus Iswara is abhinna nimitta upaadana
(Continue reading)

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Rajaram Venkataramani | 1 Apr 2012 23:05
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Re: Iswara swaruupam - 3

On Sunday, April 1, 2012, kuntimaddi sadananda wrote
>
>                                                      Iswara Swaruupam -3
>
>  apara prakRiti + Brahman (sat-chit-ananda) = Iswara from the samashTi or
> total or macro level
>  loval apara prakRiti + Brahman (sat-chit-ananda) = Jiiva from the vyaShTi
> or individual or micro level.
> If we discard (or negate) the apara prakRiti as it is only mithyaa and
> therefore cannot be counted, the identity of the two equations in terms of
> - tat tvam asi – that thou art -follows. The process of discarding mithyaa
> parts is called bhaga tyaga lakshaNa where only a part (apara part) is
> discarded while retaining the rest to arrive at identity equation or
> mahaavakya of Vedanta. This is done intellectually by developing the viveka
> – a discriminative faculty to discriminate that which is changeless from
> the changing world.

If you say that Ishwara = Brahman + apara prakrti, it is tantamount to
saying that Ishwara = Brahman + impure prakrti or Ishwara = Brahman + evil.
Sankara clearly says (BG 7.5), that the apara prakrti is "impure" and the
"source of evil" whereas the para prakrti is "pure" and "essentially
myself".  There is only one "divine power called Maya" (rf. BG 7.4), which
is seen as Higher when spoken of as Jiva Bhutam and Lower when described as
ahankara etc. As Sankara says in 7.6, "the omniscient Lord is the source of
the Universe through these two prakrtis". If I say, "That boy Rama created
the pot with skill and clay", it does does not mean he is a combination of
 skill and clay! It means that he is different from these though the skill
is his real nature. If the pot is known to be unreal, then we can infer
that it's source clay is also unreal and the act of  creation but not Rama.
If the boy called Rama is naturally intelligent but acts stupid in a game,
(Continue reading)

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kuntimaddi sadananda | 2 Apr 2012 04:04
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Re: Iswara swaruupam - 3

PraNAms 

I let other scholars address the questions posed by Shree Rajaram, since I failed miserably in my attempts
to answer his persistent questions posed in private mails, to his satisfaction.

One should examine the Virat swaruupa of Bhagavan discussed in 11th  Chapter where every thing good and
bad are included - One who transcends this aparaa prakRit is pure sat chit ananda swaruupa Brahman. 

Hari Om
Sadananda

--- On Sun, 4/1/12, Rajaram Venkataramani <rajaramvenk <at> gmail.com> wrote:

From: Rajaram Venkataramani <rajaramvenk <at> gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Iswara swaruupam - 3
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l <at> lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Cc: "advaitin <at> yahoogroups.com" <advaitin <at> yahoogroups.com>
Date: Sunday, April 1, 2012, 5:05 PM

On Sunday, April 1, 2012, kuntimaddi sadananda wrote
>
>                                                      Iswara Swaruupam -3
>
>  apara prakRiti + Brahman (sat-chit-ananda) = Iswara from the samashTi or
> total or macro level
>  loval apara prakRiti + Brahman (sat-chit-ananda) = Jiiva from the vyaShTi
> or individual or micro level.
> If we discard (or negate) the apara prakRiti as it is only mithyaa and
> therefore cannot be counted, the identity of the two equations in terms of
> - tat tvam asi – that thou art -follows. The process of discarding mithyaa
(Continue reading)

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sriram a | 2 Apr 2012 09:29

Ishwara Swarupam


Dears 

Ishwara:Parama Krishna:Sachidhanandha Vigraha:Anadhir
aadhir Govindha:Sarva Karana Karanam says the Brahma samhitha.It
therefore follows that Ishwara is conceivable as with rupam which gives
the conceiver undescribable joy.Also it is further said such an Ishwara
is the cause of all causes.It means it is also the primordial cause
which is Brahman.Kasmin Bhagavo Vignathe sarvamidham Vignanatham
Bhavathi says Mundaka upanishadh.If Brahman is known everything knowable
is known and nothing remains unknown.So Ishwara is nondifferent from
Brahman and it is left to the seeker to conceive Him as with form or
without form.Krishnamoorthy.
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Venkata sriram P | 2 Apr 2012 11:35
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Ishwara Swarupam

Namaste,
 
////
 
it is left to the seeker to conceive Him as with form or without form.
 
///
 
*upAsakAnAM hitArthAya brahmaNO rUpa kalpanA* says rAmatApini upaniSad.
 
regs,
sriram
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Vidyasankar Sundaresan | 2 Apr 2012 16:12
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Re: Iswara swaruupam - 3


I have been keeping out of this discussion for want of time. Here is a brief note.

> If you say that Ishwara = Brahman + apara prakrti, it is tantamount to
> saying that Ishwara = Brahman + impure prakrti or Ishwara = Brahman + evil.
> Sankara clearly says (BG 7.5), that the apara prakrti is "impure" and the
> "source of evil" whereas the para prakrti is "pure" and "essentially
> myself". There is only one "divine power called Maya" (rf. BG 7.4), which
> is seen as Higher when spoken of as Jiva Bhutam and Lower when described as
> ahankara etc. As Sankara says in 7.6, "the omniscient Lord is the source of
> the Universe through these two prakrtis".

Read gItAbhAshya 7.4, 7.5 and 7.6 together. It surprises me as to where
you get this concept of "only one" mAyA, which is seen as higher and lower
from two perspectives. Sankara bhagavatpAda could not be more clear and
explicit and the gItA itself could not more clear and explicit on this point. And
I don't understand either why you have to bring in the concept of evil here. 

In verse 7.4, the prakRti is said to be eight-fold - bhinnA prakRtir ashTadhA.
It is this prakRti of verse 7.4 that is then described as aparA and the higher,
parA prakRti that is jIvabhUta is called "itas tv anyA" - different (anyA) from
this (itaH) lower eight-fold differentiated prakRti. The higher prakRti is called
jIvabhUta in the gItA and in the bhAshya, this is explained as kshetrajna-
lakshaNA and as prANa-dhAraNa-nimitta-bhUtA, by which this universe is
sustained, yayA prakRtyA idaM dhAryate jagat, by virtue of having entered
the universe - antaH pravishTayA.

In 7.6, the bhAshya says, prakRti-dvaya-dvAreNa ahaM sarvajna ISvaraH 
jagataH kAraNam ity arthaH. Note also the usage of the grammatical dual
forms, prakRtI, kshetra-kshetrajna-lakshaNe, parA-apare* in bhAshya 7.6.
(Continue reading)

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Vidyasankar Sundaresan | 2 Apr 2012 16:37
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Re: Iswara swaruupam - 3


> 
> In 7.6, the bhAshya says, prakRti-dvaya-dvAreNa ahaM sarvajna ISvaraH 
> jagataH kAraNam ity arthaH. Note also the usage of the grammatical dual
> forms, prakRtI, kshetra-kshetrajna-lakshaNe, parA-apare* in bhAshya 7.6. 
> 

I meant to put a grammar postscript on my previous note, explaining this
asterisk, but forgot, so here it is. Note the long ending vowel, I-kAra in the
word prakRtI.

prakRtI is the dual feminine form, e.g. matiH - matI - matayaH. In keeping
with the word prakRtI, lakshaNe and parApare are dual forms, e.g. sItA
(singular) - sIte (dual) - sItAH (plural).

In Sanskrit writing, when two specific entities are meant, the dual form is
always used. Conversely, when an author uses the dual form, it is always
because he intends two specific entities. As such, there is absolutely no
room in the gItAbhAshya to say that it is one prakRti that is described as
higher or lower as per the perspective. Whose perspective, would be the
resultant question. And if you say it is the speaker's perspective, then the
response is that there is no speaker outside of the operation of the parA
and aparA prakRti-s, so you are putting the cart before the horse, so to
speak. Rather, in the gItA, there is clearly a lower prakRti and a higher
prakRti and it is the one brahman that is described as higher or lower, as
per the perspective of the higher prakRti or the lower prakRti. And like it
or not, the prakRti responsible for the appearance of jagat and thereby
responsible for saying that ISvara is the ruler of the jagat, IS the aparA
prakRti. Sustaining the jagat is done through the parA prakRti and BOTH
aparA prakRti and parA prakRti are needed for ISvara to be an ISvara
(Continue reading)

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