Re: Prakruti Body ?
From the Bhakti List Archives
• September 1, 1998
Sri :
Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha Para Brahmane Namaha
Srimate Sri Lakshmi - Nrusimha Divya PAdukA Sevaka -
Srivan Shatagopa Sri NArAyana Yateendra MahAdesikAya Namaha
Dear devotees,
Namo NArAyanA . kindly accept adiyen's pranAmams.
> Sri Sadagopan wrote:
> > Question: BhagavAn's Body as Suddha sathvam and
> > therefore how can it be part of Universe , which is
> > not Suddha Sathvam ?
On Tue, 1 Sep 1998, Mani Varadarajan wrote:
>
> If I may offer a few thoughts here, there is a difference
> in the "bodies" BhagavAn has. When the Upanishads say
> that the entire universe including all matter and each
> and every living being is the body of Brahman, they mean
> that the universe is pervaded, controlled, and supported
> by Brahman. Brahman exists as the innermost self of
> everything. Just as our body would be lifeless if our
> self left it, the universe would cease to exist in any
> meaningful way if Brahman were not its innermost
> controlling self.
>
> This is how the universe is Brahman's SarIra or body.
> ---- cut ---
> The difference between these two types of "bodies" should
> now be clear. The first represents the philosophical
> reality that Brahman is the universal producer, sustainer,
> and retractor. The second represents manifestations
> taken for the delight of the bhaktas. The two types of
> bodies of Brahman are very different.
adiyen would like to add more to this discussion.
Qtn : What is sarIrA (ie.body) ? Who is sarIrI ? What is the
SarIra sarIrI relationship ?
If one says , "sarIrA"(body) implies something which has two
eyes, two ears , two legs etc , then there are many animal &
insect bodies which doesn't fit into the definition .
Upanishad says "yasya pruthvi sarIram" ie. "World is sarIrA
of Brahman ". The question is what does this "sarIrA" mean ?
There must be one definition of "sarIrA" which applies
universally . What is that definition ?
Ans : There are three conditions that needs to be satisfied for
an entity to be a sarIrA (body) of another entity which
becomes the corresponding sarIrI.
< following is from the view point of sarIrA>
a. AdheyatvA (ie.being supported by a sarIrI) : Existance of
the sarIrA(body) is due to the sarIrI ie. sarIrI supports
the sarIrA. In other words , if sarIrI ceases to exist ,
sarIrA also ceases to exist.
b. niyamyatvA (ie. being controlled by a sarIrI ) : Not only
that sarIrA derives its existance from a sarIrI, it is also
being controlled by the sarIrI. So , sarIrA acts as per the
will/desires of sarIrI.
c. seshatvA (ie. existing for the pleasure of sarIrI ) : Not only
that sarIrA is supported & controlled by sarIrI , it exists
only for the pleasure of sarIrI ie. sarIrI is sarIrA's Master.
From the point of view of sarIrI , it supports , controls &
acts as the master of sarIrA.
Thus , "sarIra - sarIrI bhAvA" is a _relationship_ (bhAvA)
that fulfills the above 3 conditions. Moreover , sarIrI is
always a chEtanA , while sarIrA can be either a chit or
achit.
Bhagavad rAmAnujA's exposition is elaborated by Sri Sudarsana
sUrI in this way .
It is to be noted that the "sarIrI" needn't be physically
present inside a "sarIrA". This is not a condition to be met
out for the sarIra-sarIrI bhAvA.
example 1 : jIvAtmA is sarIrI & the material body housing it is its
sarIrA . All the 3 conditions are fulfilled .
Additionally , jIvAtmA(sarIrI) also resides inside
the material body (sarIrA) .
example 2 : Sriman nArAyaNA is sarIrI & prakruti is His sarIrA
("yasya pruthvi sarIram ") . All the three conditions
are met out. Additionally , Sriman nArAyaNA also resides
inside prakruti ie. divyAtma swaroopam of nArAyaNA
pervades everything that is material.Hundreds of
pramAnams are there for this .
One may have a doubt as to how come then nArAyaNA is
not affected by the changes in the prakruti , if He is
physically inside it (as a jIvAtmA, its dharmabhoota
jn~Anam is affected by prakruti viz.animal body,plant
body,human body,old aged body, youthful body etc ,
eventhough its swaroopa jn~Anam is unchanged.similarly
,won't the dharmabhoota jn~Anam of nArAyaNA be affected?)
Ofcourse one knows that prakruti can't affect nArAyaNA
because He is the Supreme God."prakruti" acts as
"prakruti" only because of His sankalpam. "Fire" acts as
"fire" as we know , because of nArAyaNA's sankalpam .
When PrahalAd was pushed into "fire" nArAyaNA changed
His sankalpam to make the "fire" behave oppossite to its
nature, which was set by His sankalpam previously. So,
prakruti can't affect nArAyaNA .
The following analogy is usually told to drive the point
in. After a person eats some halwA which had excessive
ghee in it , he uses some powder/solution to remove the
ghee sticking to his hands. But , the ghee also had
contact with his tongue which he never botherd to clean
with the powder/solution since ghee didn't stick to it.
Similarly , though nArAyaNA is present everywhere , the
changes in prakruti doesn't affect Him.
example 3 : nArAyaNA is sarIrI & His suddha sattvam body is His
sarIrA . All the three conditions are met out. Also ,
nArAyaNA is present inside the "divya mangaLa vigraha".
"Suddha Sattvam" as a material is made up of "jn~Anam"
similar to how a jIvAtmA is. But , "Suddha sattvam"
doesn't possess the "dharmabhoota jn~Anam" & thus can't
percieve anything outside. Thus , it doesn't belong to
the category of "chEtanA" because a "chEtanA" is an
entity which can "know"/"percieve" ie. a chEtanA must
necessarily have "dharma bhoota jn~Anam" .
example 4 : Sriman nArAyaNA is sarIrI & jIvAtmA is His sarIrA
(upanishad : "yasya Atma sarIram" ). All the three
conditions are met out. But , swAmi Desikan explains
that nArAyaNA is physically not inside a jIvAtmA ,
though the sarIra-sarIrI bhAvA exists between them.
In virOdha parihAram (*) swAmi Desikan asks the
following question & answers it by himself :
Qtn : A jIvAtmA is aNu (atomic) in nature to the extent that there
is nothing which is smaller than that.There is nothing like
"inside a jIvAtmA" since by nature it is aNu. Similarly , kAlA
(ie.time) is vibhu (all pervading). So, there is nothing like
"outside the kAlA" since by nature it is all pervading. When
these are the facts , How can the Lord be said to be present
inside & outside of everything ? How can He be told to be
inside a jIvAtmA & outside the kAlA ?
Ans : Scriptural statements which say that Lord exists in & out of
everything simply means that He is present everywhere alongwith
all the entities.This is the purport of such statements. They
doesn't mean that Lord is literally in & out of everything.
adiyen's comments : Wherever either "in" or "out" of some entity exists ,
Lord is there. Whenever either "in" or "out" of some entity can't
be defined (ie.non existant) the question of Lord's presence
out there doesn't arise at all. This will clarify the meanings of
"antarvyApti" & "bahirvyApti".
nArAyaNA is the "antaryAmI" of jIvAtmA means that He controlls
it as if someone inside it will control it.He needn't be
physically inside an entity for Him to function as "antaryAmI" .
Namo NArAyanA
Adiyen
Anantha PadmanAbha dAsan
P.S.:
(*) "VirOdha parihAram" by the most merciful SwAmi Desikan
answers 108 anticipated brilliant questions/doubts
that might arise in a mumukshu. Its an excellent
rahasyA treatise & even the answer to a single question
in that set of 108 is a testimony to swAmi Desikan's
exaltedness & unparalleled mastery over all sAstrAs.
Sriman Sadagopan is covering this most precious
rahasyA in the SaranAgati journal , for the benifit
of all mumukshUs .
(*) Sri Mani : kAlA is also vibhU similar to how nArAyaNA
is . Just because something is vibhU ,
doesn't neccassarily make it the Ultimate
Supreme entity. Hope that you get what adiyen
is up to.
Sarvam Sri KrishnArpanamastu
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