Posted by: adbhutam | October 13, 2021

The whole of the Vedantic essence in just one mantra

The heart of Vedanta ‘Brahma Satyam jagat mithya, jivo brahmaiva na aparah’ (Brahman alone is the transcendental Real and the apparent world is not real and the individual jiva is none other than Brahman)  is encapsulated in the mahavakya mantra of the Chandogya Upanishad:

स य एषोऽणिमैतदात्म्यमिदं सर्वं तत्सत्यं स आत्मा तत्त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो
Sage Uddalaka addresses his son Shvetaketu: The subtle Sat, Brahman, is the fundamental cause of this creation. This is the Atma. You are That.’This part of the above passage //The subtle Sat, Brahman, is the fundamental cause of this creation.This is the Atma//  teaches, based on another passage of this very Upanishad –  स य एषोऽणिमैतदात्म्यमिदं सर्वं तत्सत्यं स आत्मा which means ‘Have you known that one whose knowledge amounts to knowing everything?’ and replies giving the analogies of clay – clay products, gold – gold products and iron – iron products.  The transformations are mere names and insubstantial as names and forms but the substance in them is their material cause, clay, etc.

Based on this analogy, the mantra part स य एषोऽणिमैतदात्म्यमिदं सर्वं तत्सत्यं स आत्मा  (The subtle Sat, Brahman, is the fundamental cause of this creation. This is the Atma’) teaches: Brahman alone is real and the world is unreal. 
The other part of the mantra तत्त्वमसि श्वेतकेतो means ‘the jiva is none other than Brahman’
In this manner, the Chandogya Upanishad, one among the principal ten, teaches, just in one sentence, the seminal purport of the entire Vedanta.  
The statement ‘Brhama Satyam……….’ is established in the Niralambopanishat:
https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_upanishhat/niralamba.html

Om Tat Sat


Responses

  1. Namate
    mahatma can you explain that method of interpretation of Purana and ithihas according to advaita

    • Advaita holds that all Puranas and itihasa-s either directly or indirectly teach Advaita alone. By infusing bhakti in one’s ishta devataa, by inculcating moral values, etc. the puranas, etc. lead the aspirant forward. The puranas and Mahabharata too contain tattva jnana. One only needs the right teacher to expound these.

  2. Sriman namaste
    Can you tell shudra saints in advaita philosophy . like in madhva philosophy haridasa are there .
    Can you tells shudra saints in advaita philosophy

    • Veera Brahmendra of kalagnaana was not a brahmin, Pramahamsa Yogananda of Kriya yoga, many disciples of Bhagawan Ramakrishna were non brahmins. They are held to be saints by followers of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Swami Vivekananda was not a Brahmin. Sant Shishunal Sharif was born muslim. Kabir, Guru nanak etc.. (Guru Nanak’s philosophy is highly Advaitic as revealed by some videos, blogs, etc.) Many of the attendants of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. Almost all of them were of the lower caste. There are written records of them. They are held to be saints by Ramana followers. This way there are many many saints who held Advaita to be their path to realization.

      • Do they are authorized by traditional acharyas of Sringeri

  3. Do they are authorized by traditional acharyas of Sringeri

    • In general, yes. Unless there is any strong reason to deny them, Sringeri will not pronounce anything. As long as these saints’ teachings are in tune with Advaita, the sampradaya they have created and left behind, is admitted by traditional Advaitins as valid.


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