The Advaitavādīs consider Bhagavān’s body to be a product of māyā. Vidyāraṇya Swami states in his work Pañcādaśī: māyākhyāyāḥ kāma-dhenor vatsau jīveśvarāv ubhau yathecchaṁ pibatāṁ dvaitaṁ tattvam advaitam eva hi: Both jīva and īśvara are the two calves of māyā, the cow that grants all desires. Let them […]
The reason for suffering is avidyā, and it is the beginningless cause of the ātmā’s existence in the material world. Without understanding the problem, it is not possible to solve it. Here we provide definitions of avidyā, and also define the terms that are the consequences/products of avidyā. […]
A major portion of the Bhagavat Sandarbha is occupied with the nature of reality. Śrī Jīva Goswami takes pains to explain that reality is non-dual (advaya). An examination of his presentation leads to the following conclusions. The complete manifestation of tattva or Absolute Truth is Bhagavān. Tattva can […]
As we have seen elsewhere, the absolute truth has to be understood in terms of viśeṣya, viśeṣaṇa and viśiṣṭa. To remind the reader, these words refer to the object to be qualified, the qualifier(s) or attribute(s), and the qualified object respectively. The idea is that perception of any […]
A major problem many have with Bhagavān’s form, is that a form is limiting. The surface of any object with form is its limit or boundary, which separates the universe outside that form from what is inside the form. If Bhagavān has a form, then He is limited. […]
Śrī Jīva discusses absolute reality or tattva with an analysis of the famous verse from the Śrīmad Bhagavatām below (Tattva Sandarbha Anuccheda 51 and 52 and Bhagavat Sandarbha Anuccheda 1): vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate: All those who have realized Absolute reality refer […]
Question: What is the function of yoga-māyā?
Question: Is your article on Brahman realization referring to realization in the material body? Answer: Yes, Brahman realization can occur in the material body. So can the direct experience of Bhagavān. Question: Then doesn’t the material body need to survive by eating etc. What will the person do […]
As the ātman is situated in its own self during deep sleep and nothing else, i.e. it does not identify with anything external like the mind or body, one can intuit a number of intrinsic properties of the ātman through an analysis of deep sleep. In the Tattva […]
Free or not free- that is the question.
Question: What is the relation between sādhanā bhakti and citta vṛtti nirodha?
We now discuss the process of realizing Brahman.
