Is Bhartrhari an Advaitin? (4)

This metaphysical conception of Sabda Brahman is held with a consistent significance even among the prolific writers of Advaita Vedanta until very recent times, like Upanisad Brahmendra, Narayana Bhatta et al., who flourished during the colonial period (late quarters of 18^th CE) commented on all 108 Upanisad-s. Amrtabindu Upanisad, for instance, uses the homology of Pranava – OM (verse 7) along with the Sabda-s and svara-s deals with the concept of Sabdabrahman as found in the Maitri Upanisad [VI.4]. Amrtabindu Upanisad, which belongs to Atharvana Upaniñad, teaches the concept of Çabda Brahman in mantra 16 where it says the immutable Sound Brahman is Supreme (SabdAksaram param Brahma).

Brahman is the syllable of the OM-Sound;

When it fades off, what remains, [16.a]

...         ...         ...         ...         ...

Two sciences are necessary,

The Word-Brahman and the Uppermost;

One who is versed in the Word-Brahman,

Attains to the highest Brahman too. [17.a-b]

And when this Brahman transfigurates, it is called the (apara) Çabda Brahman. In the gloss, the term ‘ksine’ is interpreted as ‘sAvayave sabdAkSare kSIne’, implying the partite world; the dissolution of which occurs upon the AkSara Brahman as the substratum.  Upanisad Brahmendra comments on these lines to say that, ‘the attributeless Brahman, which is the immutable Sound Brahman is Para (Nirviçeña Brahma = Çabdaksaraà paraà ‘OM’) and the same is known to be the ‘qualified’ Brahman, as connoted by the unitary syllable – the Pranava (Sabda Brahman = Savisesa Brahman). These two-fold aspects are taught as ‘dve vidye’ in the Upaniñad [v.17] and Upaniñad Brahmendra, insists the Advaitic position on the essential unity of the two aspects of same Brahman, savisesa and nirvisesa (Sabda Brahma param Brahma yat brahma dvividam – Saguna-Nirguna Brahma yatatmyam). Sabda-aksara Brahman which is Nirvisesa, as Upaniñad Brahmendra opines, is the substratum for the dissolution of all phonemes  (Sabda-aksara vilayadhikaranam) and that it is beyond all epistemic positivities and the corresponding counter positivities (nispratiyogika-svamatra). Narayana Bhatta, on the other hand remarks that the Supreme Sabda Brahman is the Consciousness (param brahma caitanyamca).  He interprets the term ‘svara’ [v. 7a] in a literal sense, as he considers it as the voice of preceptor or the Pranava (gurupadesena pranavena va) but clearly gives scope to regard the term ‘svara’ as savisesa Sabda Brahman in consideration with his remark on the term ‘asvara’ as he calls it the transcendental to all Sounds (Sabdatitam) while Upanisad Brahmendra agrees to this point to place ‘asvara’ in absolute distinction from all 16 fold cosmogonic evolutionary principles including the life breath (pranadi ... sodasakala vailaksanyam asvaram) , which eventually explains the transcendence with respect to spatio-temporal adjuncts within the experiential grounds and the ‘svara’ to denote the OM-kara connoting the Savisesa Isvara. To sum up, Upanisad Brahmendra, glosses the term Sabda as the supreme Ontic-Being which he regards as Advaita’s Para Brahman and Narayana Bhatta explicitly equates the sabda tattva to the Consciousness in clear Advaitic accent. Now considering the overall exegetical position of the notion of Sabda Brahman as a ontological concept in the metaphysical scheme of Advaita Vedanta and particularly placing it in the context of these two recent interpretations in the light of Bhartrhari’s doctrinal position is seen problematic in Harold Coward’s opinion who in the wake of above stated view quickly confronts the Advaitic interpretations to be incompatible to Bharthari’s ontology. Here we touch upon our first issue on the first question on the ontological identity of the two systems. 

Further in the mantra – 15 of the Amrtabindu speaks about the concept of mäyä, its functional role in relation with the soteriological oneness of the Self.

sabamdamsyavrto naiva tamasa yati puskare |

bhinne tasi caikatvamekamevanupasyati ||

‘He who is concealed by the Sound-maya, is trapped by delusion, never sees the sun; separated from the darkness, he sees the oneness alone’

As an epistemological term, Sabda-maya, in Upaniñad Brahmendra’s gloss, is the means for the world of words and meanings ‘Sabda-artha-prapanca-hetubhuta Sabdamaya’. Connoting the conventional Advaita stand point on the functionality of Nescience, Upanisad Brahmendra glosses the term ‘avrta’ =  by that the beings are shrouded by darkness / delusion, like the concealed person who does not see the light of highest purity in one’s own Self. And with the light different from the darkness, with the Self-Knowledge distinct from the darkness of one’s own ignorance, and in the loss of its impressions, the oneness of immediate supreme consciousness is perceived. But in the presence of the Sound-maya, like the one who is concealed with darkness, he never accomplishes the immediacy of the unity of Brahman-atman in all beings. What is the causal relation between maya and the world? How is the notion of maya related to time of Bhartrhari? These positions bring us to our last two issues mentioned above [supra. §.4. case ii & iii].

Is Bhartrhari an Advaitin? (3)

The legitimacy of the scholastic debate in the contemporary period, in my opinion, may largely be based upon the context in which the genesis of Advaita Vedänta has conceived the metaphysical position of the grammarians through reading Sankara and the post-Sankara traditions in its textual situatedness. It is indeed pivotal to trace back the conceptual genesis of the doctrine of eternal verbum as conceived in the ‘tradition-texts’ of the Advaita school of thought. As early as in 400 CE, Gauòapada, in his Agamaprakaranya portion of Karika on Mandukya Upanisad – one of the early Upaniñad-s, explains the significance of Pranava or OM-kara. Pranava, as Gaudapada insists, is the sound which directly connotes Brahman itself identical with the Self.  Praëava is inclusive of all sounds and the OM-kara Sabda is the substratum of all existence. Gaudapada sketches the components of OM with four matra-s A, U, M and the assimilative syllable OM. The fourth syllable which is Pranava itself is spoken as the amatra – soundless anusvara known as Bindu. [§§ 174-175, T.M.P.Mahadevan; 1960]. Sankara in his commentary to the Karika, mentions that this Pranava that is the name of all names and the formless form, is known in two aspects, Para and apara, unmanifested and manifested form of same Reality. Mandana Misra, a post-Sankara Advaitin, in his Brahma Siddhi [Brahma Kanda]  refers to Chandogya Sruti [II.xxiii.3] to insist  that OM is all comprehensive principle and all pervasive is the underlining principle of all realities. Vacaspati Misra [9^th CE], the founder of Bhamati school of Advaita Vedanta, in his Tattvasamiksa, a commentary on Brahma Siddhi, endorses the concept of Pranava – the Sabda Brahman as the absolute ontological reality; as accepted by Sankapani’s Vyakhya, Citsukha’s Abhiprayaprakasika, änandapürëamuni’s Bhavasuddhi  in the Advaita tradition [§.2, N.S.Ananthakrishna Sastri;  1964].

14^th Century Advaitin, Vidyaranya revitalizes the doctrine of Pranava and its triadic meta-cosmic ontology of Sonic reality in his Dipika upon Nrsimha Uttara Tapini. Explicating the Advaitic stand on the triadic Sonic reality he contends that the impartite Sound is conceived in four fragments like vaikhari, madhyama, pasyanti and para. A-kara, U-kara, Ma-kara together forms Pranava; likewise vaikhari, madhyama, pasyanti forms the para which is OM-kara. Also that A-kara etc., corresponds to fourfold, bija, bindu, nada and sakti respectively. A-kara, one that is perceived directly, is the gross form of OM-kara which is Virat. Vaikhari is the gross state of sound and hence it is directly perceived and is functional aspect of sound ie., the Kriya sakti. Before the gross form manifestation, it is associated with mind, which is presided by the Icca sakti – the madhyamä indicating Hiranyagarbha who presides over the mind and its states. Madhyamä is the middle space between vaikhariand pasyanti like the U between A and Ma-karas. The pasyanti that is manifested by the Ma-kara is presided by the power of knowledge ie., the Jnana Sakti [§.76. Nrsimha Uttara Tapini Dipika; Anandasrama Press, Varanasi; 1929].