[Advaita-l] For Shankara, Vishnu, etc. are only illusory forms of Brahman

Jaldhar H. Vyas jaldhar at braincells.com
Tue Jul 11 01:27:15 EDT 2017


On Mon, 10 Jul 2017, sreenivasa murthy via Advaita-l wrote:

> Dear Sri Subramanian,Please permit me to quote mantra 3-9-23 of 
> Bruhadaranyaka upanishad which reads as follows :     ESha ta 
> AtmAntaryAmamRutO^tO^nyadArtaM || RugvEda says : EkaM sat viprA bahudA 
> vadanti ||     How many texts one and commentaries upon them should one 
> study to understand/realize the thought position as pointed out in the 
> above mantra?

As many as needed to get the firm conviction of the truth.  For some that 
might be a small number and for others a larger one.  The shortest 
composition of Shankaracharya is called ekashloki.  The 
Brhadaranyakopanishadbhashya fills several volumes.  This is the divine 
mercy of the Guru that He provides the teaching in various forms for the 
different classes of sadhakas who have each come to Vedanta as a result of 
unique circumstances and karmas over many lifetimes.

Case in point.  It is the clear conclusion of the upanishads that one 
should take sannyasa once one has realized the limited nature of samsara? 
Have you done so?  If not, why not?  (This is just an exercise.  You don't 
have to answer.  But thinking about this might give you some empathy for 
those who are not as advanced as you.)

> How many mathematics text books one should study to know 
> that 3x2=6? Is not one text enough?

As someone who in college only passed Calculus on the third try, the 
answer is no. :-)


But really I must ask you; is your sole purpose in being on this list for 
admonishing other people for not having the conversations you are 
interested in?  It seems that way based on your commenting history.  Some 
people find this topic fascinating and others don't.  Both views are ok.  Have
some tolerance.  And feel free to start your own discussions on subjects 
that are of greater interest to you.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>


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