prasthAnatrayI (was Re: saguNa and nirguNa are the same)

[Sankaran Jayanarayanan]

On Sat, 20 Nov 1999, Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian wrote:

> Karthik wrote:
>
>
> <<The upadeshasAhasrii implicitly accepts saguNopaasana, as revealed
> in
> the
> following verse (there are many like this throughout the work):
> (2.17.88) (translated by Swami Jagadananda, Ramakrishna Math)
> "I bow down to that All-knowing and All-powerful One who is of the
> nature
> of consciousness and besides whom there is nothing else viz., a
> knower,
> knowledge or object of knowledge." >>
>
> I am sorry if you think the above verse has anything to do with
> saguNopAsana. It's obvious from the verse that it has nothing to do
> with saguNopAsana. I'll discuss this with you the next time I talk

I frankly think you're mistaken, unless you're disputing about a mere play
of words. Maybe that's where your idea that saguNa and ni.rguNa are
different stems from :-)

Vidya had posted sometime ago that the saguNa Brahman is the quality-less
Brahman being conceived of as endowed with qualities for the purpose of
meditation. Being "All-powerful" is a quality, and conceiving Brahman to
be so is definitely referring to saguNa Brahman.

Here's an excerpt from Vidya's original posting:
--------------------------
Re: saguNa, nirguNa brahman and Shankara
Thu, 8 Aug 1996 18:53:51

There is no point in talking about saguNa and nirguNa brahman as if they
are two different entities. It is the essentially quality-less brahman
that is conceived as being endowed with all qualities in order to explain
creation and for the sake of meditation. This is the view of the advaita
tradition since time immemorial.
--------------------------

> Rama
>

-Kartik

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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From: Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM>
Subject: Re: prasthAnatrayI (was Re: saguNa and nirguNa are the same)
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Sankaran Jayanarayanan <kartik at ECE.UTEXAS.EDU> wrote:

> There is no point in talking about saguNa and nirguNa brahman as if
they
> are two different entities. It is the essentially quality-less
brahman
> that is conceived as being endowed with all qualities in order to
explain
> creation and for the sake of meditation. This is the view of the
advaita
> tradition since time immemorial.

And this has nothing in contradiction to what I said.

Rama

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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