[Advaita-l] Just as Brahman is Nirguna, the Jiva too is Nirguna - Srimad Bhagavatam

V Subrahmanian v.subrahmanian at gmail.com
Sat Nov 12 12:30:18 EST 2022


Just as Brahman is Nirguna, the Jiva too is Nirguna - Srimad Bhagavatam
Many Sruti Smriti Itihasa Puranas say that Brahman is Nirguna. The jiva is
Nirguna as stated in the Bhagavatam:
श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः ३/अध्यायः २६
https://sa.wikisource.org/s/e6f
<https://sa.wikisource.org/s/e6f?fbclid=IwAR2J_Pk6LvJoI7Nxq8uiGf9tRst1zy8MN_qCw7Zl5Cv-3KIUtcSJI-PNa_0>
अनादिरात्मा पुरुषो निर्गुणः प्रकृतेः परः ।
प्रत्यग्धामा स्वयंज्योतिः विश्वं येन समन्वितम् ॥ ३ ॥
The Atman is stated to be Swayamyjoti Swaroopa., self-luminous.
श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः ३/अध्यायः २७
https://sa.wikisource.org/s/e6g
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श्रीभगवानुवाच -
प्रकृतिस्थोऽपि पुरुषो नाज्यते प्राकृतैर्गुणैः ।
अविकारात् अकर्तृत्वात् निर्गुणत्वाज्जलार्कवत् ॥ १ ॥
स एष यर्हि प्रकृतेः गुणेष्वभिविषज्जते ।
अहङ्क्रियाविमूढात्मा कर्तास्मीति अभिमन्यते ॥ २ ॥
तेन संसारपदवीं अवशोऽभ्येत्यनिर्वृतः ।
प्रासङ्गिकैः कर्मदोषैः सदसन् मिश्रयोनिषु ॥ ३ ॥
There is no doubt that the Atman mentioned here is the Jivatma, because the
Atman is considered to be a samsari when identified with the
qualities/attributes of Prakriti.
The next chapter shows the way to release from this and it is said that the
mukta who has the knowledge of the Self knows himself as none other than
Parabrahman:
श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः ३/अध्यायः २८
https://sa.wikisource.org/s/e6h
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सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि ।
ईक्षेतानन्यभावेन भूतेष्विव तदात्मताम् ॥ ४२ ॥
स्वयोनिषु यथा ज्योतिः एकं नाना प्रतीयते ।
योनीनां गुणवैषम्यात् तथात्मा प्रकृतौ स्थितः ॥ ४३ ॥
The Kapilarupa Bhagwan instructs Mother Devahuti that the jiva/aspirant
knows that he is not different from the Supreme Being, that the spirit that
exists in all the beings is the Atman and that all the beings are in the
Atman.
Just as the same fire appears differently in different combustible
substances, the same Atman appears to be different in different bodies.
Just as Parabrahman is known as nirguna because it has no relation to
Prakriti, so the Atman is said to be nirguna because it has no relation to
Prakriti. The unattached Atma is non-different from the unattached Brahman.
This attributeless Brahman and Atman cannot be distinguished since there is
no distinguishing factor.
Therefore, only in Advaita the Jiva knowing itself as 'Nirguno'ham' is not
censurable.
The following verses from Madhwa literature criticize the Advaitin for
holding / declaring 'I am Brahman, I am Nirguna':
https://tinyurl.com/2p83aun6
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तद्दुत्प्रेक्षानुसारात्कतिपय कुनरैरादृतोऽन्यैविर्सृष्टो |
ब्रह्माहं निगुर्णोऽहं वितथमिदमिति ह्येष पाषण्डवादः |
तद्युक्त्याभासजालप्रसरविषतरूद्दाहदक्षप्रमाण-
ज्वालामालाधरोऽग्निः पवन विजयते तेऽवतारस्तृतीयः ||३०||
https://www.sushameendra.org/.../laghu-vayu-sthuthikannada/
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