Pranams,Originally Posted by yajvan
After reading the above and thinking about it for a bit, I came to the conclusion that I cannot entirely agree with the above. Although we can accept that "being" and "consciousness" are interrelated (i.e. one presupposes the other), still there are problems with this answer.
The original question was, "But Brahman has consciousness?" This was asked to resolve the doubt as to whether or not Brahman is an impersonal/inert thing or an entity with the property of consciousness.
Let me show why the answer "Brahman is consciousness" or "Brahman is being" is less than helpful. Take for example, the sun. The sun has heat/warmth as one of its properties. We can thus say from a metaphorical standpoint that "sun is warmth." However, it does not follow that "warmth is sun" or that anything warm is by the very fact, the sun.
Similarly, saying "Brahman is being" would imply that simply having the property of being/consciousness makes one Brahman. While that may reflect the views of some thinkers, it is not an obviously true statement based on our experience, nor is it obviously true based on an objective reading of shAstra. I am conscious certainly, yet I am not conscious of what you are thinking or feeling. By default, I have to assume we are two different conscious beings. Since Brahman is "one without a second," I cannot assume that all beings are Brahman by virtue of being conscious.
Even if it is argued that saying "Brahman is a conscious being" because it "limits" Him, still I would disagree there. Such a conclusion is based on the false application of logic - we falsely conclude that because we have bodies and therefore limited existence, anything with a body must necessarily have limited existence. But such laws do not apply to Brahman, who can never come under limitation regardless of the form He takes. In this regard, I can point to Sri Krishna avatAra who repeatedly demonstrated His ability to be personally present in multiple places simultaneously, without losing any of His omnipotence. The first instance occurred after Brahmaa abducted His cowherd friends, then returned to see Krishna playing with those same cowherd friends, each of whom was seen by Brahmaa to be a form of Naaraayana:
A second episode occurred after Akruura came on behalf of Kamsa to take Krishna and Balaraama to Mathura. On the way, Akruura sees Naaraayana and Ananta-Shesha submerged in the water even though Krishna and Balaraama were standing on the riverbank behind him.SB 10.13.46 — Then, while Lord Brahmā looked on, all the calves and the boys tending them immediately appeared to have complexions the color of bluish rainclouds and to be dressed in yellow silken garments.
SB 10.13.47-48 — All those personalities had four arms, holding conchshell, disc, mace and lotus flower in Their hands. They wore helmets on Their heads, earrings on Their ears and garlands of forest flowers around Their necks. On the upper portion of the right side of Their chests was the emblem of the goddess of fortune. Furthermore, They wore armlets on Their arms, the Kaustubha gem around Their necks, which were marked with three lines like a conchshell, and bracelets on Their wrists. With bangles on Their ankles, ornaments on Their feet, and sacred belts around Their waists, They all appeared very beautiful.
SB 10.13.49 — Every part of Their bodies, from Their feet to the top of Their heads, was fully decorated with fresh, tender garlands of tulasī leaves offered by devotees engaged in worshiping the Lord by the greatest pious activities, namely hearing and chanting.
SB 10.13.50 — Those Viṣṇu forms, by Their pure smiling, which resembled the increasing light of the moon, and by the sidelong glances of Their reddish eyes, created and protected the desires of Their own devotees, as if by the modes of passion and goodness.
SB 10.13.51 — All beings, both moving and nonmoving, from the four-headed Lord Brahmā down to the most insignificant living entity, had taken forms and were differently worshiping those viṣṇu-mūrtis, according to their respective capacities, with various means of worship, such as dancing and singing.
SB 10.13.52 — All the viṣṇu-mūrtis were surrounded by the opulences, headed by aṇimā-siddhi; by the mystic potencies, headed by Ajā; and by the twenty-four elements for the creation of the material world, headed by the mahat-tattva.
SB 10.13.53 — Then Lord Brahmā saw that kāla (the time factor), svabhāva (one’s own nature by association), saṁskāra (reformation), kāma (desire), karma (fruitive activity) and the guṇas (the three modes of material nature), their own independence being completely subordinate to the potency of the Lord, had all taken forms and were also worshiping those viṣṇu-mūrtis.
SB 10.13.54 — The viṣṇu-mūrtis all had eternal, unlimited forms, full of knowledge and bliss and existing beyond the influence of time. Their great glory was not even to be touched by the jñānīs engaged in studying the Upaniṣads.
A third episode occurred when Devarshi Naarada visited Sri Krishna in Dwaaraka. There, being already married to 16,108 queens, Sri Krishna was seen to be personally present with each of them simultaneously:SB 10.39.41 — While immersing himself in the water and reciting eternal mantras from the Vedas, Akrūra suddenly saw Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa before him.
SB 10.39.42-43 — Akrūra thought, “How can the two sons of Ānakadundubhi, who are sitting in the chariot, be standing here in the water? They must have left the chariot.” But when he came out of the river, there They were on the chariot, just as before. Asking himself “Was the vision I had of Them in the water an illusion?” Akrūra reentered the pool.
SB 10.39.44-45 — There Akrūra now saw Ananta Śeṣa, the Lord of the serpents, receiving praise from Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Gandharvas and demons, who all had their heads bowed. The Personality of Godhead whom Akrūra saw had thousands of heads, thousands of hoods and thousands of helmets. His blue garment and His fair complexion, as white as the filaments of a lotus stem, made Him appear like white Kailāsa Mountain with its many peaks.
SB 10.39.46-48 — Akrūra then saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead lying peacefully on the lap of Lord Ananta Śeṣa. The complexion of that Supreme Person was like a dark-blue cloud. He wore yellow garments and had four arms and reddish lotus-petal eyes. His face looked attractive and cheerful with its smiling, endearing glance and lovely eyebrows, its raised nose and finely formed ears, and its beautiful cheeks and reddish lips. The Lord’s broad shoulders and expansive chest were beautiful, and His arms long and stout. His neck resembled a conchshell, His navel was deep, and His abdomen bore lines like those on a banyan leaf.
A fourth episode occurred when Sri Krishna drove the chariot carrying Arjuna straight to the domain of Naaraayana Himself to retrieve the prematurely deceased sons of the Dwaaraka brahmin. There, Sri Krishna played the part of a mere charioteer, who along with Arjuna were conversing with Himself in the form Mahaa-Vishnu!SB 10.69.19 — Nārada then entered the palace of another of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s wives, my dear King. He was eager to witness the spiritual potency possessed by the master of all masters of mystic power.
SB 10.69.20-22 — There he saw the Lord playing at dice with His beloved consort and His friend Uddhava. Lord Kṛṣṇa worshiped Nārada by standing up, offering him a seat, and so on, and then, as if He did not know, asked him, “When did you arrive? What can needy persons like Us do for those who are full in themselves? In any case, My dear brāhmaṇa, please make My life auspicious.” Thus addressed, Nārada was astonished. He simply stood up silently and went to another palace.
SB 10.69.23 — This time Nāradajī saw that Lord Kṛṣṇa was engaged as an affectionate father petting His small children. From there he entered another palace and saw Lord Kṛṣṇa preparing to take His bath.
SB 10.69.24 — In one place the Lord was offering oblations into the sacrificial fires; in another, worshiping through the five mahā-yajñas; in another, feeding brāhmaṇas; and in yet another, eating the remnants of food left by brāhmaṇas.
SB 10.69.25 — Somewhere Lord Kṛṣṇa was observing the rituals for worship at sunset by refraining from speech and quietly chanting the Gāyatrī mantra, and elsewhere He was moving about with sword and shield in the areas set aside for sword practice.
SB 10.69.26 — In one place Lord Gadāgraja was riding on horses, elephants and chariots, and in another place He was resting on His bed while bards recited His glories.
SB 10.69.27 — Somewhere He was consulting with royal ministers like Uddhava, and somewhere else He was enjoying in the water, surrounded by many society girls and other young women.
SB 10.69.28 — Somewhere He was giving well-decorated cows to exalted brāhmaṇas, and elsewhere he was listening to the auspicious narration of epic histories and Purāṇas.
SB 10.69.29 — Somewhere Lord Kṛṣṇa was found enjoying the company of a particular wife by exchanging joking words with her. Somewhere else He was found engaged, along with His wife, in religious ritualistic functions. Somewhere Kṛṣṇa was found engaged in matters of economic development, and somewhere else He was found enjoying family life according to the regulative principles of the śāstras.
The conclusion is that nothing limits the Parama Purusha, Param Brahman Naaraayana. He can be personally present everywhere if He so chooses, and He does not lose anything by doing so. We cannot conceive of how He can do this, but the fact remains that He can. It is very difficult to conceive of what an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient entity can do since we our own experiences are conditioned by our miniscule potency, limited presence, and limited knowledge. Fortunately, we have these chronicles of His descents to instruct us!
SB 10.89.57 — Lord Kṛṣṇa offered homage to Himself in this boundless form, and Arjuna, astonished at the sight of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, bowed down as well. Then, as the two of them stood before Him with joined palms, the almighty Mahā-Viṣṇu, supreme master of all rulers of the universe, smiled and spoke to them in a voice full of solemn authority.
SB 10.89.58 — [Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu said:] I brought the brāhmaṇa’s sons here because I wanted to see the two of you, My expansions, who have descended to the earth to save the principles of religion. As soon as you finish killing the demons who burden the earth, quickly come back here to Me.
regards,
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