Enge Advaiti ?

முழுமை - முழுமை => ப்ரஹ்மம் = மாயை ?

And that was one more 'excellent' episode I must say, the 'Enge brahmanan' episode aired on 05-20-09. This is one other program I closely follow after Lollu sabha and the likes. Oh wait, is this one not included when I say the likes ? :P

Serious talks apart, the fun factor in this specific episode was quite high that it made me literally roll on the floor with laughs. Mr. Cho Ramaswamy while explaining the nature of Brahmam and the Atman(though not explicit enough) goes on to quote the advaita mahAvAkyas of

tat tvamasi, aham brahmAsmi

etc. The point here Sir, is that neither do I have an issue with you quoting them or using the advaita interpretations of them but please do so in another program titled "Enge Advaiti" for not every brahmanan is an advaiti and I totally disagree with advaitic interpretations for that matter.

The reasoning he gives to explain the mAyAvAda interpretations of advaita go as follows.

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते |
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्य्ते॥

om purNam adaH purNaM idaM purNAt purNaM udacyate |
purNasya purNaM AdAya purnaM evAvaSishyate ||

ISAvAsya upaniSad

So this is how the explanation(advaitic interpretation/Mr.Cho's explanation) goes,

pUrNaM(fullness, plentiness) as a character of brahmam means that the only case when pUrNam - pUrNam != null is when the pUrNam is mAyA(mithyA as per advaitic terms) (i.e) there is abundance when you remove an abundant world from the abundant brahmam only when both are mithyA/mAyA.

Now come my questions and refutations to the Mr. I-know-everything,

1. Layman's refutation: Ever heard of this simple computation that says Infinity - Infinity = Infinity and not zero, Infinity + Infinity = Infinity and not 2 * Infinity ?


2. sAmpradAyika refutation:

   satyam ~gnAnam *anantam*(Infinite) brahma - Taittriya Upanishad - Brahmananda valli - 1

This supports my point when I say pUrNam - infinite. And thus ananta brahmam would gladly satisfy what is said in ISAvAsya upaniSad.

And further, one question that arises in me is, as an advaiti/mAyAvAdi how do you explain pUrNatvam of brahmam when the entire advaitic philosophy is rooted on a nirguNa brahmam and not a saguNa brahmam like viSishtAdvaitam ? You basically are doing nothing but marketing a flawed product. It is your product and you have your own reasons/rights to market it but not in the wrapper that you are using right now. I've been following the program since it started and I'm sorry to say this, but it is high time you renamed the program into "Enge Advaiti" instead of "Enge Brahmanan".

As, U.Ve.Sri SrIvatsangAchAriAr rightly points out, seems there are only three kinds of good advaitins in this world, a dead advaitin, an unborn advaitin, and a chitra advaitin and you stand out as an excellent example of the same Mr. 'Cho' Ramaswamy. Hats off on the achievement.

To watch the specific episode and my comments on the page, go here or use the embedded player below.