anthraDhikaraNam -1-1-7 Suthra-21-anthah thaddharmO padhEsAth-1-1-21 The one within (the Sun and the Eye is Brahman) because of the characterstics mentioned therein. The opponent argues that the creation may not be possible for jivas with less merit but those with great merit like the Sun, Indra and PrajApathy( the creator Brahma) it could be possible. The text 'ya esho anthrAdhithyE purushah dhrsyathE hiraNyasmasru hiraNyakesah ApraNakhAth sarva Eva suvarNah; thasya yaTHA kapyAsam pundarikam EVa akshiNee; thasya udhithi nama sa esha sarvEbhyah pApmabhyah udhithah.' (Chan.I-6 to 8) This means the golden person seen inside the Sun with goldenbeard and hair ,whose eyes are like full blown lotus and who is named 'uth,' has risen above all evil. Later the text goes on to say that rk and saman are his joints and He is the Lord of all worlds beyond the Sun and all objects desired by the gods. The passage continues with the text ' aTha ya EshO antharakshiNi purushah dhrsyathe , there is this purusha who is seen in the eye ,' and this purusha is mentioned as the same who is seen in the Sun. Now the doubt is whether this person is Brahman or the individual self.The poorvapakshin argues that it must be the jiva on account of being mentioned as possessing a body. When the jiva attains moksha, that is, attains brahmanhood, because the individual self is none other than Brahman, there is no embodiment in its natural state. This is substantiated by the struthi 'na ha vai sasarirasya sathah priyApriyayOh apahathirasthi; asariram vA va santham na priyApriyE sprsathah,(Chan.VIII-12-1) there is no relief from pleasure and pain for the jiva as long as it is in the body but once it is free from embodiment joy and sorroow do not affect it.' Though it may not be possible for a soul bound by karma to possess supreme powers like creation and mastery over the world , highly evolved souls like the sun ,moon and the like may possess such powers, final evolution being unity with Brahman, which is the real state of the individual self described by 'asthoolam anaNu, neither gross nor subtle etc. The suthra antharthaddharmopadesath refutes this. The words 'sa Esha sarvebhyahpApmabhyah udhithah' in the passage about the purusha in the Sun clearly indicates the Supreme self only as apahathapApmathvam means free from karma which does not apply to individual soul however evolved it may be. So this denotes the attribute of Brahman only. Ramanuja here quotes the texts to prove this. 'Esha AthmA apahatha pApmAvijarO vimrthyuh vishoko vijighathso apipAsah sathyakAmah sathya sankalpah, (Chan.VIII-1-5) He is the inner self of all, free from evil,old age,death, grief,hunger and thirst, of infallible desire and will.' and Subala upanishad speaks of the ineer self of all as Lord Narayana.' Esha sarvabhoothAnthrAthmA apahathapApmA divyO deva EkO nArAyaNah.' Ramanuja further says that the other characterestics mentioned in the vedic texts like 'sO akAmayatha bahu syAm prajAyeya, it desired to become many, which denotes Brahman creating by will, being sathyakAma and sathya sankalpa, and other attributes like being the cause of fear and fearlessness, possessing transcendental bliss inexpressible by speech or thought, do not apply to the jiva. The argument that because the purusha in the Sun is mentioned as having a body it must be only an individual soul is not tenable, says, Ramanuja, because Brahman being sathyakAma and sathya sankalpa can assume any body at will whereas the embodiment of the individual soul is subjected to karma and not controlled by the jiva. Moreover the argument may hold good if the sarira described is prAkrtha, made up of three guNas. But the sarira of the Lord Narayana, who is synonymous with Brahman of the upanishads, says Ramanuja, is not prAkrtha. He is the embodiment of bliss, free from all imperfections, possessing infinite auspicious qualities unparallelled and as such He takes wonderfully resplendent, beautiful, fragrant, graceful exquisite youthful forms to grace His devotees because He is the ocean of mercy, magnanimity,easy accessibility, love and other divine qualities. This is why sruthi proclaim Him to be 'ajAyamAno bahuDhA vijAyathE,' the one who manifests in many forms eventhough He has no birth. Ramanuja quotes profusely from the scripture to show that there are abundant sruthi texts to prove his point. ' na thasya kAryam karaNam ch vidhyathE na thathsamaschAbhyaDHikascha dhrsyathE; parAsya shakthirviviDhaiva srooyathE svAbhAvikee jnanabalakriyAcha'(SVET.6-8), He has no action to be performed nor needs any instrument of action, there is no one equal or superior, His power is supreme and diverse and His knowledge,power and action are His inherent nature. Smrithi texts like that of Bhagavatgita substantiate this and Ramanuja quotes from chapter IV of the Gita the following: 'ajO pi san avyayAthmA bhoothAnAm eesvarOpi san;prakrthim svAm avashtabhya sambhavAmi Athma mAyaya, though I am unborn and immutable and the lord of all, I assume my own nature and manifest myself through my own mAya.This, the Lord says, He does for the protection of the good and destruction of the wicked, 'parithrANAya sAdhoonAm vinAsAyacha dushkrthAm.' Ramanuja gives an elaborate elucidation of this passage. 'sadhavah hi upasakAh, thathparithrANamEva uddhesyam, Anushangikasthu dushkrthAm vinAsah, sankalpamAthrENApi thadhupapatthEh.' The people referred to as sAdhu are his devotees and their protection is the main purpose of manifestation and the punishment of the wicked is only a natural consequence because it could be achieved by mere will. What has been outlined above is a beautiful offshoot of visishtadvaita doctrine. If the Lord wished to kill Hiranya kasipu or Ravana or even Kamsa He could have done it without undergoing the travails of an avathAra. But it was to protect PrahlAda he took NrsimhAvathAra, to prove the words of His devotee that the Lord existed everywhere in a pillar or a blade of grass. Also to protect the words of Brahma. who is also His devotee, He had to take so much trouble in fulfilling all the conditions of the boon given to Hiranyakasipu. Similarly RamAvathAra was to provide protection to those who surrendered to Him because He could have killed Ravana from Ayodhya itself without straining Himself and going to DandakAraNya, which was mainly to promise protection to the rshis there.Likewise KrishNa incarnated as the son of vasudeva to shower His grace on His devotees , while annihilation of the wicked was ancillary. Suthra-22-bhEdhavyapahEsAccha anyah-1-1-22 It is different ( from individual self) because of the distinction made. The Supreme self is distinguished from the beings like the Sun by sruthi texts that speak of it as the inner self of all. 'ya AdhithyE thishTan AdhithyAth antharah yam AdhithyO na vedha yasya Adhithyah sariram ya Adhithyam antharo yamayathi, He who being in the Sun is different from the Sun, whom the Sun does not know, whose sarira is the Sun,and who controls the Sun from within.' Similar expressions are found with respect to Athman, earth and other entities. Further Ramanuja quotes from subAla upanishad the following text.'yo aksharam anthare sancharan yasya aksharam sariram yam aksharam na vedha, yO mrthyum anthre sancharan yasya mrthyuh sariram ya mrthyuh na vEdha, Esha sarvabhoothAnthrAthmA apahathpApmA divyo deva Eko nArAyanah, who is moving inside the imperishable (the individual self) whose body is the imperishable, whom the imperishable did not know, who moves inside death, of whom the death is the body, whom death did not know, He is the Self of all beings , free from all evil, the divine Lord Narayana. Hence Brahman being the Self of all from HiraNyagarbha down to individual jiva, is different from them. Thus ends the antharaDHikaraNam. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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