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What does Adi Shankara's poem, "Bhaja Govindam" mean to you?

Shantanu

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
Hinduism♥Krishna said:
You've got be kidding :)
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Why do you say that? When thinking about Brahman the first thing to know is that space exists as an infinite capacity and God Sri Krishna occupies part of this space. The Universe is the totality of what exists that can ever be detected by humans. The Hindu word for it is Parabrahman.

Brahman is a word that describes the energy entity of the Universe (comprising distinct physical energy and consciousness energy components). So, is there anything more to the Universe than these two energies? Yes, the Universe in addition contains the invisible mind of God as Paramatma and God's creative powers that channel the direction of the universe.

When Brahman comes to an end (its two energies get dissipated into wider space as it expands) God will withdraw the universe within Himself and go to sleep until He decides to create Brahman again.
 
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Makaranda

Makaranda

Active Member
Brahman is not created nor is Brahman finite. The Taittiriya Upanishad defines Brahman as Satyam Jnanam Anantam. There is nothing higher than Brahman, it is the highest.
 
Shantanu

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
Makaranda said:
Brahman is not created nor is Brahman finite. The Taittiriya Upanishad defines Brahman as Satyam Jnanam Anantam. There is nothing higher than Brahman, it is the highest.
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The term infinite means what is beyond the detection capacity of humans. So the Universe by this definition is infinite. And Brahman being the sum of the physical energy and consciousness energy is also therefore infinite.

Does not the Taittriya Upanishad treat the words Brahma and Brahman interchangeably?
 
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Makaranda

Makaranda

Active Member
The term infinite or ananta means without end or boundary or limitation. It does not merely indicate that which is beyond the means of knowledge (the correct word for that is aprameya). Brahman is not merely the sum of the universe.

There is a difference between Brahma-Ji and Brahman.
 
Chakra

Chakra

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Although, I'm sure that sometimes Brahma is used to refer to Brahman.
 
Shantanu

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
Makaranda said:
The term infinite or ananta means without end or boundary or limitation. It does not merely indicate that which is beyond the means of knowledge (the correct word for that is aprameya). Brahman is not merely the sum of the universe.

There is a difference between Brahma-Ji and Brahman.
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Can you point to the scriptures that show this difference between Brahma-ji and Brahman?
 
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Makaranda

Makaranda

Active Member
The meaning of the two words has been explained to me by my teacher (and is following after Shankaras commentary). You can also use the word avyakta (unmanifest, not available to empirical dealings) to indicate that which is arupa, arasa, asparsha, ashabda, agandha etc.
Ananta relates to the purnatvam of Brahman. Brahman can never change, never perish, never decrease or increase, never be sublated or made into a limited object. So in a sense it is okay to say that Ananta means beyond sense detection, but it also means so much more specifically.
 
Shantanu

Shantanu

Well-Known Member
Makaranda said:
The meaning of the two words has been explained to me by my teacher (and is following after Shankaras commentary). You can also use the word avyakta (unmanifest, not available to empirical dealings) to indicate that which is arupa, arasa, asparsha, ashabda, agandha etc.
Ananta relates to the purnatvam of Brahman. Brahman can never change, never perish, never decrease or increase, never be sublated or made into a limited object. So in a sense it is okay to say that Ananta means beyond sense detection, but it also means so much more specifically.
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So Brahman is the atheistic replacement for God, except that God is finite in the real meaning of the word.
 
S

Stormcry

Well-Known Member
Ishwara is actually pure Brahman itself. But for fools he's perceived only in Maya ie in Form. Krishna says in Gita 'My real nature is hidden by Maya"
 
Aupmanyav

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Makaranda said:
There is nothing higher than Brahman, it is the highest.
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Or you may put it in these words - there is nothing more basic than Brahman, it is the final reduction. This is what we are left with when we remove all excess baggage. :)
axlyz said:
Although, I'm sure that sometimes Brahma is used to refer to Brahman.
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It is pronunciation again. The God is BrahmA. Brahma is the universe. Brahman is the entity which constitues the Brahma (universe).
 
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