Re: Material Cause of the Universe
I was about to leave home from work when I saw this. Will be my last post today.
I can explain the VA concept of upAdana kAranatvam. The other schools like Advaita, etc explain material causality differetly, and to be honest, I haven't studied all their views.
Firstly, what do you understand by material causality. The upanishad gives a few examples:
1) Clay becoming a clay pot.
2) Gold becoming gold ornaments.
So, what is the difference between clay and clay pot, gold and gold ornaments? Is it the svarUpa that has changed? The answer is no.
The change is merely a change of state and attribute. The gold, which was in its original form (let's call it plain), has changed into a gold ornament. So, the same gold has changed from 'plain' state to 'ornament state'. The ornament such as chain, which may be long, slender, tinkling, etc....these are attributes which have changed from being 'lumpy, one mass, solid' attributes of plain gold.
Same for clay pot.
Similarly, Brahman is the self of jivAs and prakrti, and jivAs and prakrti are the body of Brahman. Just as we say, 'I am a brahmin', and in reality, although brahmin-hood is not an attribute of the self, but is an attribute of the body, but still is applied to the self on account of its association with a brahmin body, the jivAtmA, being inseparable to, nourished and supported by brahman and being the body of brahman, is an inseparable attribute of brahman. So is prakrti.
So, before creation, jivas and prakrti existed in an undifferentiated form as the sharIra of Brahman. After creation, jivAs and prakrti existed in differentiated forms and names.
Compare this to the clay-clay pot, gold-gold ornament example. Here too, jivAs and prakrti, the attributes have changed. jivA's dharma bhUta jnAnam has changed and prakrti undergoes modification of both svarUpa and svabhAva. But the substance, ie, the svarUpa, is Brahman and he remains changeless.
Furthermore, just as gold ornament was stated to be a different 'state' of the same gold, we make this analysis - Brahman, before creation, was in the 'state' of being the 'controller of undifferentiated jivas and prakrti'. But after creation, Brahman has a changed state, ie, he is now the 'controller of differentiated jivAs and prakrti'.
Change of state and change of attributes = material causaity. Neither of these affect the svarUpa, which is changeless. So, Brahman is changed with respect to attributes, ie, his body of jivAs and prakrti, and hence a change of state, but remains changeless in his svarUpa.
This way, Bhagavad rAmanujar resolves the shruti vAkyas.
[CENTER][COLOR="Black"][COLOR="Red"][COLOR="DarkRed"]No holiness rules over my freedom
No commands from above I obey
I seek the ruin, I shake the worlds
Behold! I am blackest ov the black
Ov khaos I am, the disobediant one
Depraved son who hath dwelt in nothingness
Upon the ninth I fell, from grace up above
To taste this life ov sin, to give birth to the "I"[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]
[B]~ "Blackest Ov the Black" - Behemoth.[/B]
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P-JdwtK1DY[/url] [/CENTER]
Bookmarks