02 Aug 2024
[Shri Veena Datta asked:- The Unimaginable God (Parabrahman) is unimaginable to anybody. The Unimaginable God alone knows about Himself. But a Vedic statement says that he, who knows Parabrahman becomes Parabrahman (Brahmavit Brahmaiva bhavati...). How is this Vedic statement correlated with the earlier concept?]
Swami replied:- Let us examine various scriptures on this concept. The unimaginable God is called Brahman since God is the greatest. Any item, which is the greatest in a specific category is also called Brahman. For example, the greatest among the scriptures is the Veda and hence, the Veda is called as Brahman. The greatest among all the categories can also be called as Brahman or God. Anyway, to differentiate God from other greatest items, God is called Parabrahman by Shankara.
1) Brahmavit Brahmaiva bhavati:- The meaning taken for this is that the knower of Parabrahman becomes Parabrahman. But, this is not the correct meaning of this statement. The correct meaning of this statement is that Parabrahman itself is the knower of Parabrahman. The conclusion is that except Parabrahman, nobody other than Parabrahman knows Parabrahman.
2) Yasyāmatam…:- If anybody knows that he does not know Parabrahman, he knows Parabrahman because at least he knows that Parabrahman cannot be known. If anybody knows that he knows Parabrahman, he does not know anything about Parabrahman because at least he does not know that Parabrahman cannot be known and due to this, such person does not know anything about Parabrahman. You must know that Parabrahman is not known so far. You must also know that the knower of the Parabrahman does not exist at all.
3) Yato vāco…:- Parabrahman is not known by any word and by any mind.
4) Yo buddheḥ…:- Parabrahman is not known to any intelligence.
5) Naiṣā tarkeṇa…:- Parabrahman cannot be known by any logic.
6) Na medhayā…:- Parabrahman is never known to any brain, to any scripture and to any analysis.
7) Atarkyo…:- Parabrahman is smaller than the smallest particle and hence, cannot be imagined.
8) Tametam…:- The scholars of the Veda wrongly think that they can know Parabrahman by understanding the Vedas.
9) Astītyevopalabdhavyaḥ…:- Nothing about the nature of Parabrahman is known. Only the single known point is that Parabrahman exists.
10) Satyaṃ jñānamanantam…, Prajñānaṃ Brahma…:- Parabrahman is the embodiment of excellent, true and complete spiritual knowledge.
11) Jñānītvātmaiva…:- The knower of Parabrahman is only Parabrahman.
12) Vedaiśca sarvaiḥ…:- All the Vedas try to know Parabrahman only. Parabrahman is the author of the Vedic spiritual knowledge. Parabrahman alone knows the inner meaning of the Vedas.
(1 to 10 are from the Veda. 11 and 12 are from the Gita.)
If you understand all the above statements, following conclusions alone can be drawn:-
i) Parabrahman is unimaginable God and is not imaginable to anybody other than Parabrahman. The reason is that Parabrahman is the source of space. Space cannot exist in Parabrahman because the generated space cannot exist in its cause before the production of space itself. It means that Parabrahman is beyond space having no spatial co-ordinates (length, width and height). This means that Parabrahman has no volume. Any item not having volume can never be imagined by any sharp intelligence even on thinking and thinking for millions of births.
ii) Parabrahman is known to Parabrahman only. If it is not known even to Parabrahman, it means that there is no authority for the existence of Parabrahman and this results in the non-existence of Parabrahman.
iii) Only one known point about Parabrahman is that the unimaginable Parabrahman (The nature of Parabrahman is completely unimaginable.) exists.
iv) The unimaginable Parabrahman is unmediated (Nirupaadhikam or Nirgunam) and hence, there is no help from the medium to know anything about Parabrahman. A box covering an item cannot reveal anything about the covered item i.e., whether the item is a diamond or gold or gravel stone. Even if the Parabrahman is mediated (Sopaadhikam or Sagunam), only the external medium is imaginable and visible. Still, the inner Parabrahman remains unimaginable. For example, God Datta, the first energetic incarnation, is visible and imaginable since His external energetic body is seen by the energetic beings (even some human devotees can see God Datta by penance), still the nature of God Datta is unimaginable because the miracles done by God Datta are unimaginable. The unmediated Parabrahman is like a naked person in the bathroom, who cannot be seen by anybody (except the naked person himself) and God Datta mediated by energetic body is like the same Parabrahman coming out of the bathroom after getting dressed, who can be seen by souls. Between the naked person and the same clothed person, the person naked or clothed is one and the same. Similarly, Parabrahman and God Datta are one and the same Parabrahman in two different states called naked and dressed. Miracles are the unimaginable events taking place in this world for the proof of the existence of the unimaginable God. Unimaginable miracles give the direct proof of the existence of unimaginable God as their source. The Brahma Suutram says that the incarnation of God (mediated Parabrahman) often performs miracles in this world (Ātmani caivaṃ vicitrāḥ santi hi) to give proof for the existence of the unimaginable God. The Gita also says that the incarnation shows miracles to give proof for the existence of the unimaginable God (yadyat vibhūtimat sattvam…). I can quote a miracle that is still running on, which is that water is continuously flowing from the foot of a small statue of Shri Shirdi Sai Baba for the past two months in Hindupuram (Opposite to Saraswati Vidya Mandir), Satya Sai district, Andhra Pradesh, India and you can observe videos in YouTube. If anybody explains this miracle, I will prostrate on his feet and become his disciple throughout the rest of My life!
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