vedabhASya - Vedic Studies

Background This post is with respect to the article (1) in National Herald India about the various doctrines that existed before advaita vedanta. My aim here is to offer an alternative understanding of advaita, saMkya, vaiSesika, cArvAka etc, that shows how they are all connected as compared to a notion that they are disconnected philosophical frameworks.  sAksi and shUnya If we executive summarize the content of vedas and upanishads, the entire Universe came out of puruSa-Stri (where stri was a part of puruSa) (2). The  'Stri' (also called prakRti) evolved and became the Universe we see, while puruSa just remained an observer/witness/sAksi to this evolution of prakRti. puruSa never interacts with prakRti. We perceive this existence of puruSa only through the evolution of prakRti. What existed before this puruSa-Stri split (at the start of all) could be called 'Atman' (3) which we may not be able to fully fathom ever (4). Whether it is upanishads (chandogya, brhadharany

  Happy Gokulashtami.. A translation of Adi Shankaras ‘Vasudeva sutam devam..’, sung in tamil, essence in english.. mahAperiyavA says, since it’s not feasible to realize the unlimited form, we have a limited form on which we develop devotion. This devotion on limited form (bhakti) should lead to tattva of the unlimited form (jnAnA). Krishna is said to be the Upanishadic sArAMsa. If Yashoda tied Krishna to a tree/mortar, does it mean she tied the upanishadic sArAMsA to tree or mortar..? This concept is espoused beautifully in Krishnashtakam, wherein Adi Shankara depicts the beauty of limited form of Krishna but bows down to him as Jagad-guru. In matter domain, Shiva is Energy, Vishnu is mass. In biological domain, Shiva is consciousness, Vishnu is the ‘manas’. Vishnu descends into several avatars in terms of particles with mass or biological beings with manas. rAma tattva is manas with beautiful thoughts, no fear or arrogance, extremely kind, follows dharma. Krishna tattva is Ultimate ‘

Background Shiva is Energy. Shakti is momentum. They cannot be separated. What we perceive is momentum. From this we infer that there is energy behind that triggers this momentum. If we remove shakti/momentum, there is no Shiva there. This is what Adi Shakara says in Soundarya Lahari. Shiva is the puruSa, the observer or witness component that does not change ever. Shakti makes the prakRti, the matter forms, that keep evolving. Shiva is consciousness. Shakt is the signaling that happens due to consciousness. Even in the RNA world, as RNA replicated, we infer there is a consciousness behind that triggers this replication. If we remove this Shakti the signaling or replications, then there is no Shiva/consciousness there.  Shiva is the puruSa, the observer or witness component that does not change ever. Shakti makes the prakRti, the biological beings, that keep evolving. Evolution of prakRti in matter domain When energy (shiva) represented by momentum (shakti) manifests in different force

We often think kalinga nartanam is the mercy shown by krishna on vrndavan residents.  I see it as mercy shown by krishna on kaliya, the serpent. kaliya was afraid of garuda. This fear lead him to live in depths of the lake, develop wrath as a tool to keep away from everyone. Krishna danced on kaliya's hoods, removed his fears, reduced his wrath and made him go back to his original habitat. It is Krishna's blessings on kAliya. Our fears make us develop wrath on others. If we allow Krishna to dance on our hoods, he will drive away our fears, remove our wrath, will enable us live with our svadharma, in our original habitat. It's all about krishna's mercy on kaliya, on us.

Background There are three aspects of suffering undergone by beings with consciousness.  The first aspect is they 'realize' (dukha dukha) that they are suffering (unlike those without consciousness). This is called dukha-dukha. The second aspect is any change (evolution, parinAma) causes suffering. If there is no change, beings get adjusted to the suffering and no longer realize it. But then change and evolution are constant. Every change (be it good or bad) brings in suffering. This is called viparinama dukha. The third aspect is actions performed by beings to cause prosperity or subdue pain (zam kara) also causes suffering. This suffering is called zam-kara dukha. Buddhism and many other philosophies of the day recognized these three types of suffering that all beings with consciousness undergo. Shankara offers a solution to alleviate this suffering based on vedanta. Veda-anta means end/essence/residue or the final jist  (anta) of vedas. Shankara offers this brahma jnAnA as t

Background Shiva is Energy. Shakti is Momentum. Shiva-Shakti is the Energy-Momentum (EM) couple. Shakti, the Momentum is what is seen outward. Shiva, the property of energy is implicit and perceived explicitly through shakti, the momentum. Shiva is consciousness. Shakti is the signaling. Shiva-Shakti is the Consciousness-Signaling (CS) couple. Shakti, the Signaling is what is seen outward.  Shiva, the consciousness is implicit and perceived explicitly through shakti, the signaling. This EM or CS couple is depicted as 'ardha-nareeswara', the half-female, half-male version.  dakSina, the right and vAma, the left The right side of ardha-nareeswara is depicted as the 'Purusha' the male version, which is the implicit form. The left-side of ardha-nareeswara is depicted as the 'Prakrti', the female version, which is the explicit form. The right side Purusha, which is the implicit Energy or Consciousness is the 'Observer' or the 'Witness' that does not t