Advaita Vedanta

(The Supreme Knowledge)

Brahma Sri Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao's Discourses
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     All knowledge of man kind is of two kinds, one tending towards dvaita and the other tending to Advaita. If you see difference in things it is dvaita. Out of hundred ninety-nine belong to dvaita. But Advaita is only one as it sees one ness of all things. Dvaita may be many in number but it can be classified into three entities. We the individuals form one entity. The world we see is the second one. The third one is god we conceive as above these two. Now these three entities if seen as different from each other is called dvaita. On the other hand if they are considered as a single entity it is known as Advaita.

     But all the time all of us see only diversity and difference among these three and not unity. From ordinary man to the scientist and religious people, everybody views in the same way. I am different from the world I see and god is altogether different form us. This is the attitude we have towards the world god and man. Not only common man even the so-called scientist also thinks he is different from the data on which he works and the result is not the same as the scientist and his research.

     Same is the case with artist also. The musician is not his music nor is he the audience. Why- even the ritualist also is in the same position. He performs a sacrifice. Is the sacrifice the performer. Is the performer the haven he is going to attain. All are mutually exclusive. From the religions that are ancient up to the modern scientific world every filed of our activity tends to diversity only and not to unity at all.

     Why! take the six systems of philosophy as Sankhya, Yoga etc. in Sankhya system Kapila expounds only two entities. Prakruthi and purusha. Between the two prakruthi or nature is active and causes pain and pleasure to purusha the individual. The individual though passive is destined to experience both and has no choice. though we are non attached by nature but we have to under go the same that are imposed on us. Then Patanjali's yoga is there. He accepts god or eswara a third entity apart from these two. But according to him, that eswara is not pervasive. All the three are mutually exclusive and different, and there is nyaya of gowthama and kanada's vaiseshika. In nyaya sixteen categories are mentioned. while they are seven in vaiseshika. The very number of categories they propounded indicate only difference and not unity.

     Now is the memamsaka. One is purva the former and the other uttara or the latter portion of Veda. For the former Veda is the only authority and they won't consider even Eswara. What the Veda enjoins should be performed and what is prohibited should be avoided. If one performs good deeds he enjoys heavenly pleasure after death and prosperity in future life. All this is nothing but diversity. After these come the followers of the latter part of Veda, who are named as Vedantins. Among them there are dvaitins and qualified dvaitins. The former consider five differences between jeeva jagat and eswara. While the latter only three. Thus since the advent of human intellect we see only difference in all our ideas and things corresponding to them. This difference of mind and matter is known as dvaita and as such it can’t solve the problem of death. If it is to be solved it can be solved only by advaita which is complete merger of all the manifold objective world into the one ness of the subjective consciousness.

     Now you may ask. You say it is I that is confronted with the problem. Who is that I. Is it our body mind life and organs extra. None of them. It is only our pure consciousness which exits by it self. Consciousness and existence we can see only these two in every atom of the creation. May be the body mind life internally and all the animate and inanimate things externally and nothing else.

     The man the world and god all are filled with these two entities existence and the consciousness only. Even non existence also should exist when cognized. If these two are removed from any idea or thing immediately they become null and void.

     Be it so. But we notice that something seems to exist in addition to them. What is it you may doubt. In fact it is nothing but the same substance two fold i.e. consciousness and existence that appears as some thing additional. Just as our shadow in the sun sine appears. Shadow is not actual and not different from us. That is way it can’t affect us also. So also the individual soul the universal soul that is god and the world we perceive are just shadows that appear as different and not actual entities. Thus the problem is automatically solved as it is not real but only apparent.

     When you notice your self in everything you see all the dvaita or deference vanishes. May be it jeeva, jagat or Eswara. As a matter of fact it is my consciousness that appears to me in the garb of the individual the universal and the universe. Even life and death are also nothing but appearance. Thus the fundamental problem of death is solved by the advaita vision only and not its opposite dvaita. That is why the advaita stands supreme in the realm of human knowledge. what is thus propounded by Bhrhma Sree Yellamraju Srinivasa Rao succinctly will be made clear to you in his writings and discourses in detail.