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Re: Advaita in the Vishnu Purana?
Sankar Jayanarayanan <kartik@Eng.Auburn.EDU> wrote:
>I came across a translation of the Vishnu Purana and found therein
>an episode which was very, very much like Advaita in its pristine form.
>No wonder Adi Sankara referred to it.
>
>The story is so beautiful that it's not possible to be unmoved by it
>spiritually...
>
>I'm referring to the Book 2, Chapter 14 of the Vishnu Purana...
Thanks for sharing the story with us and taking the time to type out the story
for us. It's a story which Ramana Maharishi used to tell to his devotees to
make the point that Jnanis may even look like madmen, but one should not think
low of them for that reason.
>Book 2, Chapter 15
>
>Parasara continued," Having terminated these remarks, the Brahman repeated
>to the silent and meditating prince a tale illustrative of the doctrines
>of Unity. "Listen, prince, to what was formerly uttered by Ribhu, imparting
>holy knowledge to the Brahman Nidagha..." ...
>
Ribhu Gita contains the discourses between Ribhu and Nidagha (the one mentioned
above). It is an Advaitic classic. The Ribhu Gita is in the Skanda Purana. If
Parasara had access to the internet and had read srh he would have known the
supreme concept of "tamasic" puranas and read the Bhagavatam instead. Readers
may remember that the Skanda Purana is tamasic, as was pointed out by an
enlightening post to the srh. Instead, unfortunately our man followed Ribhu and
is presently languishing in the "planet of the faithless". This itself shows
how important the internet is.
I hope Parasara receives a second chance and will come upon enlightening Dvaitin
www pages which are known for their historical accuracy and profound
interpretations (especially ISKCON's pages). When he reads in the srh archives
about what fate Advaitins have to suffer (viz. being dismissed to the "planet
of the faithless") he'll of course be scared out of his wits, become a dvaitin
and hence be saved.
Ramakrishnan.
--
Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said, "The flag is moving." The other
said, "The wind is moving." The sixth patriarch happened to be passing by. He
told them, "Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving." - The Gateless Gate
