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Dear Sri Arvind Rajagopalan,

Thank you for this succinct introduction material. I have a vested interest in 
reading the entire write-up on this 'adhikaraNam'. Would you please circulate 
the rest of it also on the internet ?

aDiyEn rAmAnuja-dAsan,
T.S. Sundara Rajan
in Srirangam.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 20:21:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Arvind Rajagopalan <rwind_raj@xxxx>
Subject: Schrodinger's cat and Brahma sutras.

Dear Bhagavathas,

I thought of sharing my father's email explaining
Ubhaya-linga-adhikaranam, the dual nature of Brahman 
put in terms for a novice like me to understand.

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Aravindan
**********************************************
From: rajagop_s@xxxx 

As I told you, I am now translating a particularly
important Adhikarana in the second Pada of the third
Adhyaya of Brahma Sutras. As you may know, BS is
divided into four Adhyayas, each of it is subdivided
into four Padas. Each Pada is again divided into a
number of Adhikaranas. Each Adhikarana handles a topic,
and can contain one or many Sutras . 

The one I am going to say about is called Ubhaya-linga-adhikaranam. It talks 
about the dual nature of Brahmam. 

The reference taken by the two commentators, Sankara
and Ramanuja to explain the Sutras of this Adhikarana
is from Brahadharanyaka Upanishad, the longest
Upanishad which finds a place in Sukla Yajur Veda's
Brahmana portion..

First I will give a simple translation of the portion
of the Upanishad and then give the translation of the
main Sutra. I hope it interests you. Incidentally this
is the portion that contains the famous Neti, Neti
- 'Not This, Not This' statement, which is taken by
Advaities as Halwa for proving their belief in non
dualistic Nirguna Brahmam 

Brahadaranyaka Upanishad 2-3-1to6.

There are two identifications for Brahmam - Formed
and Unformed.

(Lingam in Sanskrit means identification mark or 
distinct characteristic.
Formed is what is manifest as the world we see.
Unformed means unmanifest or Brahman in the Sukshma
state at the time of pralaya.) 

Changing and Changeless, Moving and Motionless, Existing and True.
Formed B-is different from Air and Space. It is Changing and Motionless -the 
Sun which gives warmth is the basis for It.

Air and Space are Formless Brahmam. It is changeless and Moving. The Person who 
is near the Sun is the basis for It.
(the 'soul' of Sun is the basis)
This Person is in our right eye.
He is like Saffron coloured robe, White woollen blanket, Rainbow coloured 
insect, White lotus, Lightning. He who knows Him becomes famous. 

The Vedas say - (He is) not this not this, since there is nothing above Him. 
Not this, Not this. His designation is Truth of Truth. Prana only is True. He 
is its Truth.

[What are given in brackets are mine. Is it very confusing? Now I give the 
translation of BS 3 2 21.Sankara and Ramanuja differ in finding the meaning to 
this Sutra which I will try to explain to you . Now the translation.]

'What have been rejected as Neti, Neti, are only the forms of Brahmam told in 
the Vedas earlier. After saying Neti Neti the Vedas are going to tell again 
about Brahmam's qualities' Not this, not this only indicates towards the 
inexhaustible,
infinite Gunas of B, says Ramanuja. It only means to
say much more than this, much more than this. 

Sankara says Neti, Neti indicates Brahmam is neither the
formed nor the unformed ones said earlier. What is said earlier should be used 
as directions to reach B and not as B itself. If on the highway you see a 
direction board saying Chennai 325 km with an arrow sign, you don't take the 
board as Chennai - you take it only as a direction-giver, nothing more nothing 
less.
The trouble with this approach is, we end up in a vacuum about B. The whole 
purpose of our investigation into Brahmam becomes a pointless exercise. 

Further in the following Sutras it is said B can be realised
through meditation and that a sincere person can realise B Remember BS starts 
with a statement 'Let us investigate into B' So we ask Sankara What is this 
realisation, if B is a vacuum! 

Read the above carefully, you will realise the similarity between Sankara's 
philosophy and the Schrodinger's cat's
status inside the box according to quantum mechanics. Saying that something is 
in an indeterminate state is the same as telling I don't know. Sankara gets 
into this state when he attempts to describe B.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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