Anirvachaniya

Maya sahita brahman, or shakti sahita brahman, is anirvachaniya in terms of reality.

Anirvachaniya is that which has an existence, however its attributes are as though.

So the attributes that are seen on a vastu are a superimposition.

Like for eg: rope is there. Snake is superimposed on rope. Snake attributes are opposite to that of rope. But rope appears as snake. This is possible as the attributes are rope are none but superimposition on rope, that is free from snake attributes.

Similarly, sakshi, jagat kAranam, and so on as the jagat, are nothing but a superimposition on brahman which is the self, free from these superimpositions. The nature of brahman is pure consciousness existence, and attributeless or nirguna.

That I am nirguna is the truth.

That I am the adhistana for mithya or anirvachaniya duality, is 'mithya' in terms of reality. 

I am brahman- Knocking off ignorace

In the statement ' I am brahman' , the 'I am' portion is never subject to argument or doubt.

That 'I am' is the conviction of both samsari and jnani, and of course ishvara too knows I am ishvara.

However for the 'I am brahman' statement, what is to be knocked off is the limitations.

Limitations in terms of the limitations of the body mind.
Limited in time and space.
Subject to birth and death.
Subject to change.

These qualities of 'I am' are to be knocked off, and are knocked off by the mahavakya shravanam.

Thereby it is not that self knowledge leads to brahma anubhava, brahman is ' I am'.

Rather it knocks off the ignorance, which is the cause for limitations or attributes or gunas.

I am, is the adhistana, brahman, that is unaffected by ignorance also, and is in fact the substratum of ignorance as well.

Hence it is only the vrtti jnanam, that removes the ajnanam, and thereby as though revealing brahman, when in fact, "I am " always brahman alone.

How it knocks off, it knocks off via tat tvam asi.

The tat part of it we need to take the limitlessness of ishvara. We obviously retain the existence aspect of ishvara. We agree that ishvara is a conscious being as he is nimitta karanam, but the consciousness, meaning of the word we understand only because 'I am' a conscious being.
So from the tvam part we take the consciousness aspect of jiva. We also know jiva IS, so existence part too. The body mind part we knock off the limitation, as ishvara or tat knocks off the limitations.
The attributes of ishvara also subsumed, as if we equate attrributes then mahavakya is not possible. They get subsumed in brahman, as brahman is presented as the jagat karanam, and jagat is presented as a mithya effect.

So what remains is pure, attributless, consciousness , that is pure existence, and satyam, independent , changeless consciousness, as the meaning of the mahavakya.

When this is heard, then I am brahman, is revealed as though.

Inseperable Reality and Separable Reality

When talking about jiva and ishvara + jagat, we have two realities. One is inseparable reality, other is seperable.

When we say

Jiva IS

Jiva is 'seer'

The ISness and the 'Seerness', sakshitvam, are the svarupa of the jiva. The svarupa is hence satchit svarupa.

However, with respect to the nama rupa aspect, the satchita svarupa jiva is limited by body mind as the upadhi or limiting adjunct.

When we say 

Ishvara IS, anything that IS, gains its isness from ishvara, hence the IS refers to the astitvam

Ishvara is sarvajagat sakshi, srtshti sthithi laya sakshi, knower of all the lokas and its names and forms

So here ishvara is also satchit svarupa.

But ishvara is limitless, all names and forms belong to ishvara. 

When the shastra says 

tat tvam asi, the ishvara and jiva are equated as one.

To understand this statement, it is essential to not take this as meaning the reality wherein ishvara and jiva are also having name and form. Since if they also have a name and form, and that nameful, formful reality is 'real' then the jiva can never be ishvara, as the limiting adjunct is real, and jiva is always limited, inspite of being, satchit, as ishvara is.

Thereby we go with the understanding of lakshyartha. Here the oneness is with the understanding that what is being referred to is the reality of jiva and ishvara, which is nameless and formless reality. The names and forms are kalpitam, projected on brahman, the reality, which is what the jiva is. This kalpita reality is the reason for the projection of ishvaratvam. And the same avidya is the cause for jivatvam, wherein brahman itself is taken to be an individual with the limiting adjunct of body mind.

As the body mind and total names and forms part are kalpita or imagined, reality by itself is undivided, homogenous, whole, has no names and forms, is non limited by names and forms.

With this understanding, adding back and taking back names and forms, the understanding of ones experience involves.

a. Individual experiencer who is brahman, limited by the waking dreaming sleep state and mind that are kalpita

b. The experienced body mind, which is brahman, which is limited in terms of time and space, which is a "part" of the totality of all matter and the jagat, and part of the ishvara totality

c. Nimitta karana ishvara, who is the knower behind the totality and who is the controller of maya shakti, who is brahman with maya shakti as the controller and knower

d. UpAdana karana ishvara, who is the existence aspect of all names and forms , which is brahman with maya shakti as the material

Problems occur when we try to understand brahman as an object. Instead when the self is understood as brahman, That is also the reality of ishvara, then the point of view changes. 

The understanding has to start with the self , indvidual experiencer, sakshi chaitanyam as brahman. 

Only when that is there, then the understanding is clear.

Pure existence aspect, brahman, is seen as all pervading, as non dual, even when we think of names and forms.

Transactional aspect, there is limitations and duality is there.

 

Vedanta Vidya - The knowledge and removal of obstacles

Knowledge of non dual brahman or atman

Vedanta vidya is one and the same as brahma vidya or atma vidya.

The purport of vedanta, the upanisad bhAga of vedas, deals with the reality of the self, the universe and the lord ishvara.

That the self, universe, lord ishvara, is all but one non dual reality, is the message of vedanta.

Vedanta gives knowledge of Brahman.

Brahman is the all pervading, nameless, formless, reality, which is of the nature of satchitAnantha,
or all pervasive existence consciousness, limitless existence consciousness.

The knower, known, knowledge all have their reality in what IS, which is, atma.

Atma or oneself alone is this non dual brahman.

This non dual Brahman alone, is the lord isvara , the one who in the beginning of the cycle of creation, imagined, desired and manifested as all that is here. We appreciate the universe in multifarious names and forms, as in facts orders.

When we say manifestation here it is like manifestation of pot or wave. The cause clay undergoes no change and is manifest as pot. Pot has no existence other than the clay which is nameless formless.  Clay is satyam,  pot is mithya. Wave is mithya where water is satyam.

Here brahman is satyam and the brahman who desires and manifests as all that is with various names and forms is saguna brahman. The sagunatvam is mithya, the manifestation is mithya. The reality of brahman is nameless formless consciousness.

There is the physical order, the biological order, the chemical order, the physiological order, the psychological order and so on.As the orders is how isvara is manifest, isvara is the cause. Who is this isvara, the vastu, is none other than brahman alone. The all pervading brahman, the consciousness, the oneness.

The benefit of this knowledge is not other than oneself. Oneself being the whole, being non dual, being of the nature of existence consciousness limitlessness.

What is the seen, the seer, and the knowledge of what is seen, is pervaded by the self. When we see, I the seer am, the seen is, the AM and IS are the svarupa of oneself, brahman the all pervading self I am, is the purport or message of vedanta.

The knower of atma, sees only non duality, what is seen, and the seer, all , is one, non dual atman, is the knowledge which is ones own, for a gnani. The jnani is in fact brahman, is in fact isvara, is in fact all that is here.

All the lokas are the jnani alone, all its beings are the jnani, the self the brahman.

Removal of obstacles

Above was a description of knowledge as revealed by the guru, the vedanta parampara, the vedas, being a means of knowledge.

Due to beginingless ignorance, the self, oneself considers as karta and bhokta, doer and enjoyer.
The mind is subject to likes and dislikes.

When a person comes in contact with an object or learns of an object, there is a like or dislike associated with it.

As a results, a person either desires the object, or desires to extricate oneself, from the object, person or situation.

To achieve that, the person undertakes an action, and is the doer of actions.

Per his or her actions, the lord, isvara, gives the results of the actions.

The result is taken by the person, it may either be as expected, less than expected, or more than expected, based on the karma and the prArabdha karma of the person.

An intelligent man, develops viveka, that this cycle of action and result, keeps oneself bound to likes and dislikes, and the results enjoyed even if more than expected, are always temporary and time bound, as well as the happiness experienced has gradations, and is limited.

Learning of the possibility of wholeness, and limitlessness, of immortality, or of the freedom from ignorance, or freedom from this cycle of likes and dislikes, a person becomes desirous of moksa, which is freedom from likes and dislikes and the cycle of doership and enjoyership, to which one is bound.

Desiring for freedom, the bhagavad gita is available for mumuksus, as a moksa sastra, given by lord krishna , to arjuna, in the form of a dialog in the middle of the battle of kurukshetra.

The message of krishna is two fold, one is karma yoga, and other is jnana yoga.

On what is jnana yoga, we talked about in the first section, here we briefly discuss karma yoga.

Karma yoga, has two components, It is a sadhana. It is a way of living, which leads to adhikartvam, which is essentially a mind, that can absorb the knowledge and gain this freedom that one is seeking.

The two components or karma yoga are

a. YogaH karmasu koushalam
b. Samattvam yoga uchyathe

karmasu koushalam means, the person sees a value for dharma, for righteousness, and for values, in order to lead a harmonious, non rubbing life, while undertaking all dharmic pursuits, based on ones desires born of likes and dislikes, as long as the desires are legitimate. So this is a grhsta (householder, married person) seeking a family children wealth etc. , both the ends and the means being dharmic, being righteous.

This is a form of worship to the lord, and pleases the lord, as one is committed to the lord, who is present and manifest in the form of dharma, or universal order or harmony.

Samattvam refers to isvara arpana and prasada buddhi.

This means dedicated the actions I perform, to the lord. Although I am performing for the sake of my benefit,  I understand, appreciate and adore the very presence of the lord in the form of my own abilities, intelligence, and the environment and help lord provides, in order for me to undertake actions.

When the result comes, here also , I appreciate the result as coming from the lord, based on the order of karma. So here whatever be the results, I appreciate the lord in the results, as prasAda, there is a degree of sameness. I may feel happy or not so happy about the results, but there is a certain non reactiveness, and instead, a right response , as either in the form of an understanding, a form of re-prioritization of ones desires, a form of practicality, or a learning on how to perform the action better, as and when I appreciate the presence of isvara in the result, by appreciating the fact of the results being a prasAda.

Through this way of living a life of a karma yogi, I gain the relative freedom from my own likes and dislikes, and gain a mind, that can ultimately cross over all likes and dislikes, and see the fact of oneself, as the divine, all pervasive, consciousness, the whole.