Filters for articles
[Prof. JSR Prasad asked:- Sashtanga namaskaram Swami, Shankara fell on the feet of the untouchable and praised Him as the preacher. What is the lesson we have to learn from this situation?]
Swami Replied: In today’s world, if we show any defect in any human being, he/she will immediately project false logic to not only defend oneself...
[Shri Anil asked: Paadanamaskaaram Swami. Shankara being omnipotent God, why did He enter the dead body of the king to acquire the knowledge of sex? He could have known it anyway being omnipotent God? At Your Divine Lotus Feet-anil]
Swami replied:- When God enters the human medium, He will not use His special miraculous powers when there is an alternative worldly way to achieve a specific goal. He wanted to have the knowledge...
[Shri Anil asked: Swami, You gave a beautiful counter argument for advaitins who treat ‘Atman’ as God, stating the verse ‘Avajananti mam…’. Will You please elaborate on this?]
Swami replied:- Advaitins believe that the soul in the incarnation is also God just like their souls. Due to such wrong misunderstanding, they do not give any special treatment to the incarnation because...
For Scholars Posted on: 07/02/2025[Prof. JSR Prasad asked:- Sāṣṭāṅga namaskāraṃ Swami. Shankara wrote in a prayer “Kaupīnavantaḥ khalu bhāgyavantah” that the great soul is wandering saying that it is God or Brahman (Brahmāhamasmīti vibhāvayantaḥ). Does this not mean that Shankara agreed every soul is God? --At Your divine holy lotus feet]
Swami replied:- The monism told by Shankara applies to human incarnation, which can say that it is Brahman...
Shri Ganesh V asked:- Swamiji, what are the different problems that can be created if we end up thinking God to be awareness? One problem you have mentioned is that the soul might think to be God if both soul and God are awareness. To negate this erroneous assumption, the concept of unimaginable God is required. Are there any more problems...
For Scholars Posted on: 15/11/2024[Prof. JSR Prasad asked:- Swamiji, please clarify an Advaita concept called ‘Bimba-Pratibimba Vāda’ (The argument of object and its reflection) about which I am questioned by scholars during my visit to Sanskrit University, Kalady.]
Swami replied:- The Parabrahman (unimaginable God) is beyond space. For a Bimba (object) to get reflected, it needs volume or the three spatial dimensions. Then, how can Parabrahman become bimba as per Advaita? Any Bimba belongs to the imaginable...
[Prof. JSR Prasad asked:- Sāṣṭāṅga namaskāram Swami. Shankara condemned Purva Miimaamsaa and threw it out of the spiritual line. What is the reason for this? - At Your holy lotus feet, J.S.R Prasad]
Swami replied:- This is the most unfortunate affair. Correctly interpreted Puurva Miimaamsaa is actually the highest spiritual stage and is higher than the stage of knowledge of Shankara (Jnaana Yoga). But, such Puurva Miimaamsaa is thrown out of the spiritual path...
Ms. Geetha Lahari asked:- Paaadanamaskaaram Swami. When Buddhists provoked an elephant towards Shankara, Shankara ran away from the elephant. Then, Buddhists asked Shankara why He should run when the elephant is unreal /false /mithyaa. Then, Shankara told that the entire world is also false and hence, the process of running is also false. Here, You told that Shankara answered this question from the point of human being and not from the point of God...
[Prof. JSR Prasad asked:- Swami, Shankara said that God is attained by deep sleep (Suṣuptyeka siddhaḥ). You say that the fundamental awareness disappears there since the brain-nervous system is fully taking rest without functioning. How do You resolve this contradiction?]
Swami replied:- In deep sleep, the world is not at all grasped due to the disappearance of fundamental awareness that is to be produced by the inert energy in a functioning brain-nervous system. Since this system is taking complete rest without function...
[Ms. Thrylokya asked:- Paadanamaskaaram, Swami. On hearing the Advaita philosophy, one gets a lot of encouragement and excitation with full energy because one feels that he is God. Swami, don’t You think that this is a good attraction and encouragement of the soul to take interest in spiritual line and to get some detachment from this worldly materialism?]
Swami replied:- In order to attract a devotee to the temple, as a sort of encouragement, will you offer a bottle of wine to the devotee? The wine also gives a lot of attraction and encouragement with excitation...
[A question by Shri Abhiram]
Swami replied:- If you take the unmediated unimaginable God, His process of thinking to create universe was based on His omnipotency and not on the presence of awareness in Him. The reason is that before creation, there was neither inert energy nor a materialized nervous system in the unimaginable God. When awareness itself is absent in the ultimate God, you cannot say that the awareness...
[A question by Smt. Sri Lakshmi]
Swami replied:- The word Atma means not only self but also the human incarnation of God looking like self externally. Hence, the meaning shall be taken as per the context. Atmadarshi can mean seeing your self-awareness and identifying yourself as awareness and not the body. This is necessary so that you will be detached from the body and all the worldly bonds that are linked to the body. Now, you have become...
[Prof. Dr. Jsr Prasad asked:- If an Advaita philosopher thinks that he is Brahman and enters the bliss, is it not the same bliss in which the Brahman is entertained? Since bliss is a form of thought only, how can we criticise such an Advaita philosopher?]
Swami Replied:- I will give the whole story of the Advaita philosopher and also the point where he stopped...
Mr. Abhiram K asked: The experience of bliss is the ultimate fruit of any achievement. Even if I am not God, suppose I think that I am God and live in bliss always, what is the difference between me and a real human incarnation? I am also telling that I am the human form of God and I will also arrange some devotees to praise me as human incarnation. If an Advaita philosopher is living with such belief enjoying...
Ms. Thrylokya asked: Paadanamaskaaram Swami, suppose the Advaita philosopher says “I love Brahman (God) so much that I am unable to be separated from God. This shows only my extreme love towards God and not my ambition to attain the position of God”. Please explain the answer for this?
Swami replied: Suppose somebody likes the king very much. The person shall say that he likes...
Shri Ajay asked: Recently, I heard a Sanskrit scholar speaking on the Advaita philosophy of Shankara. He says that the Dvaita philosophy (dualism) belongs to ignorant people and the Advaita philosophy belongs to monism. Please comment on these remarks.
Swami Replied: The Advaita philosophers say that dualism is due to ignorance whereas, monism is the right concept
Smt. Chhanda Chandra asked: In continuation of Thrylokya’s question on why people are attracted by Advaita philosophy, many spiritual leaders after Adi Shankara have also given the same philosophy that God is within us. That means even after so many hundreds of years we are not changed. How will we move ahead then? At Your divine lotus feet Swami. Chhanda
Swami replied:- The basic weakness is our ambition to get the highest fruits without a trace of effort! Of course, this ambition was exploited by Shankara for a good purpose because even through wrong means, right ends...
[A question by Ms. Thrylokya]
Swami replied:- Shankara established the Advaita Philosophy in order to turn atheists in to theists. He had a special purpose and a special program for it. When atheists turned in to theists, that program was withdrawn by Shankara and He advised the atheist-turned-theist...
[A question by Ms. Thrylokya]
Swami replied:- Thank God. At least, something good is told to become God. At least, the soul will try to remove its ego in order to become God. Such statements exist. It is said that if you take the name of Ganga river, you will reach the abode of Lord Shiva forever...
Shri Jsr Prasad asked:- Sashtanga pranamas Swamiji. You told that when Shankara condemned the Maadhyamika school of Nagarjuna of Buddhism that everything is non-existent, Shankara told that there should be a receiver or awareness to understand and maintain this concept of non-existence (shuunyavaada) without which even the follower of this school cannot argue that non-existence exists...
Note: Articles marked with symbol are meant for scholars and intellectuals only
Filters for articles