06-16-2005, 05:11 AM
Nature of Jivas:
Vaishnavas are right that Gita can be interpreted to mean that Jivas are atomic as is clear from this quote:
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A fragment of Myself, immortal in nature, having become the embodied spirit
in the world of the living, attracts to Himself the mind and the five senses
born of Prakrti. (Gita 15.7)
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However Krishna also says that He is the common source of everything as is clear from the following quotes:
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My Nature is divided into 8 categories - earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind,
understanding, and I-sense. (Gita 7.4)
This, O mighty armed, is My lower nature. Know that, as different from it,
is My higher nature forming the source of all Jivas and the support of the
whole universe. (Gita 7.5)
Know that all beings have these two natures of Mine as their source. I am
the origin and the dissolution of this entire universe. (Gita 7.6)
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These quotes would suggest that all jivas have a common source, i.e their consciousness is a higher nature of the Lord. Thus jivas are indeed atomic and also have consciousness, a higher nature of the Lord, in common. This would suggest that the Advaita theory of atomic pots in a common ocean of consciousness better fits Gita's teachings then Vaishnavism.
Sayujja Mukti:
Vaishnavism is wide of the mark in denouncing sayujja mukti as equivalent to hell. I can understand them not wanting that experience. But why call it hell when Gita seems to say that one can use both the Impersonal Reality (Jnana marga) and Bhakti to reach a COMMON goal as is clear from the following quotes:
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Those who are devoted to the Imperishable (the Impersonal Absolute) - who is
the firm support of the world and is also undefinable, unmanifested,
transcendent, motionless, and all-pervading - even they reach me alone,
striving with their senses controlled, and with mind tranquillised and set
on the welfare of all.
(Gita 12.3-4)
But, O son of Prtha, soon will I lift from this ocean of death-bound wordly
existence, those whose minds are ever set on Me - those who abandon to Me
the fruits of all their actions together with the sense of agency thereof,
and who worship Me, meditating on Me as their sole refuge and their only
love. (Gita 12.6-7)
*******************************************************************************************
Vaishnavas are right that Gita can be interpreted to mean that Jivas are atomic as is clear from this quote:
*****************************************************************************************
A fragment of Myself, immortal in nature, having become the embodied spirit
in the world of the living, attracts to Himself the mind and the five senses
born of Prakrti. (Gita 15.7)
*****************************************************************************************
However Krishna also says that He is the common source of everything as is clear from the following quotes:
**********************************************************************************
My Nature is divided into 8 categories - earth, water, fire, air, sky, mind,
understanding, and I-sense. (Gita 7.4)
This, O mighty armed, is My lower nature. Know that, as different from it,
is My higher nature forming the source of all Jivas and the support of the
whole universe. (Gita 7.5)
Know that all beings have these two natures of Mine as their source. I am
the origin and the dissolution of this entire universe. (Gita 7.6)
***************************************************************************************
These quotes would suggest that all jivas have a common source, i.e their consciousness is a higher nature of the Lord. Thus jivas are indeed atomic and also have consciousness, a higher nature of the Lord, in common. This would suggest that the Advaita theory of atomic pots in a common ocean of consciousness better fits Gita's teachings then Vaishnavism.
Sayujja Mukti:
Vaishnavism is wide of the mark in denouncing sayujja mukti as equivalent to hell. I can understand them not wanting that experience. But why call it hell when Gita seems to say that one can use both the Impersonal Reality (Jnana marga) and Bhakti to reach a COMMON goal as is clear from the following quotes:
*****************************************************************************************
Those who are devoted to the Imperishable (the Impersonal Absolute) - who is
the firm support of the world and is also undefinable, unmanifested,
transcendent, motionless, and all-pervading - even they reach me alone,
striving with their senses controlled, and with mind tranquillised and set
on the welfare of all.
(Gita 12.3-4)
But, O son of Prtha, soon will I lift from this ocean of death-bound wordly
existence, those whose minds are ever set on Me - those who abandon to Me
the fruits of all their actions together with the sense of agency thereof,
and who worship Me, meditating on Me as their sole refuge and their only
love. (Gita 12.6-7)
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