Brahma Sutras : ( 10/04/2013. )

 ===================================================================== ======================================================================== Saturday, January 01, 2022. 6:00. AM. An Analysis of the Brahma Sutra  Chapter 3: Erroneous Notions Refuted -4 ======================================================================= ========================================================================= The Brahma Sutra says that there cannot be categories of divinities. It is one indivisible mass, and if Vasudeva produces Sankarshana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha etc., each one will be perishable. That which produces another has an end. A cause that transforms itself into an effect has already undergone a transformation within itself and it has ceased to be a cause; the effect has destroyed the cause. Brahman cannot become Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha unless it modifies itself into these gradations or objects which we are worshipping religiously. When milk transforms itself into t

 ========================================================================= ======================================================================== Sunday, November 14, 2021. 6:00. AM. An Analysis of the Brahma Sutra  Chapter 3: Erroneous Notions Refuted -3. ======================================================================== --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kshurasya dhara nisita duratyaya Durgam pathasat kavayo vadanti. (Katha Upanishad) The path to Heaven, the path to the Gods, the path to the Absolute is sharp, subtle, incapable of comprehension as the edge of a razor, on which one has to tread. Why does it say, then, that the Atman is inside? The idea that the Atman is inside gives the impression that it is not outside. Is it so? The idea of the Atman, whether it is inside or outside, is to be cleared first. What do you mean by the Atman at all? What is it? What is it made of? It is not a phys

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, September 08, 2021. 6:46. AM. Chapter 3: Erroneous Notions Refuted -2. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you speak the doctrine of Brahman to an unprepared mind, you yourself will go to hell together with that student! Do not talk about that carelessly. It is mischievous to tell an unprepared person that all is Brahman. That would ruin the sanity of the person and he will get nothing out of it, and he would lose whatever he has. Again the warning – Vedanta should not be studied in the beginning stage of learning. In the earlier stages, there is Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga, upasana and other things prescribed. The upasana method also will be mentioned in the Brahma Sutra itself, in the third chapter. You have to pass through the upasana stage, bhakti as you call i

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, August 2, 2021. 7:35. AM. Chapter 3: Erroneous Notions Refuted -1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Desires pertaining to the objects of the world cannot be fulfilled for the reason that the mind accepts them to be outside. An 'outside' thing cannot become an 'inside' thing. So, all desires are futile in their nature. They are a will-of-the-wisp, a phantasmagoria that you are pursuing. In the vyavaharika satta, in the practical and pragmatic state of existence, the world seems to be on par with you. You can shake hands with it. But you cannot shake hands with Brahman, the Absolute. The world exists as an empirical, practical, pragmatic reality. Therefore vijnanavada is not correct in saying that the world does not exist at all in any way. It exists

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday,July 2, 2021. 7 : 25. AM. Chapter-2. The Critique of Erroneous Doctrines - 6. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. There is an outright condemnation and criticism of vijnavada that you cannot go on saying that there is an appearance of something being outside unless there is really something outside. A rope appears as a snake but even for that appearance, the rope must be existing. If rope also does not exist, then the snake will not be there. 2. Now, the other side comes in. Does Vedanta accept that there is a world, when it says that vijnanavada is wrong? There are two degrees of reality. One degree is called vyavaharika satta; another degree is called paramarthika satta. 3. The object and the subject are on par with each other. Anything that is above your mental operation cannot be known. by you. Anything that is below your mental operation a

  ----------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, March 22, 2021. 08 : 53. AM. Chapter-2. The Critique of Erroneous Doctrines - 5. ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are various schools of Buddhist philosophy. There is the Ethical Idealism of Buddha, which emphasised the momentariness of things though he was a very highly ethical person. But the others went to extremes and there are four extreme types, offshoots of Buddhist psychology and philosophy. One of them is called yogachara or vijnanavada. This is totally refuted by the Brahma Sutras in the second chapter. All that you see outside is the creation of the mind. This is the basic principle of vijnana-vada. Vijnana is the consciousness in the mind or consciousness itself as the mind, which projects itself as an outside world of perception. The world actually does not exist. The Vedanta refutes this position. The Commentary of Acharya Sankara is long on this particular S

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, February 12, 2021. 12 : 06. PM. Chapter-2. The Critique of Erroneous Doctrines - 4. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Karma is the cause of rebirth. Karma is the repercussion produced by the action of someone. This someone does not exist, because existence is momentary. Momentariness is almost equivalent to saying that it is non-existent. So who will take rebirth? How will suffering be explained?, which Buddha emphasised very much – there is suffering, we have to overcome suffering. This peculiar difficulty in understanding the real point behind what Buddha said created a discussion by another set of Buddhists leading to nihilism. If everything is momentary, neither does samsara exist nor does karma exist. Non-existence is the final word of nihilistic philosophy. But the nihilist

  ------------------------------------------------------------ Monday, January 25, 2021. 07 : 16. AM. Chapter-2. The Critique of Erroneous Doctrines - 3. --------------------------------------------------------- Sankhya said something. The other day we discussed Sankhya. It is a very famous philosophy. Most people accept it. The presence of Purusha and Prakriti, consciousness and matter, is accepted and these words are used in such great texts like Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Manu Smriti etc. Such noble textbooks of highest authority are using words like Prakriti and Purusha. So this will make us feel there is some truth in it. Why does the Bhagavad Gita go on using the word Prakriti and Purusha, when Sankhya is rejected by the Brahma Sutras? Now we shall not enter into the other subject as to why they are using these words. The main objection against Sankhya is the assertion of duality; One thing is different from another thing. But the Samkhya forgets it is not possible to know that