Theos-Talk Archives (August 2008 Message tt00054)

What Blavatsky states with regards a personal god and its worship is
in accord with what Jnanadeva makes Krishna state in his commentary on
the Bhagavat Gita, namely that those who ascribe to Krishna  a form a
name, actions and physical activities; those who attribute to Krishna
limiting adjuncts, injunctions, and offer him worship and perform
ceremonial rites; those who believe Krishna created the world... all
such persons are ignorant of his true nature.  See the passages from
Jnaneshwar I qouted in my previous email.

Jnandeva is a Jnana-Bhakti - devotion therefore is devotion to the
Self which alone is true Knowledge.  This is also the devotion (ie
jnana-bhakti) that Sankaracharya advocates as the highest in his
commentary on the Bhagavad Gita - see chapter two of Sankara's
commentary. Hence the Ultimate Reality for Jnandeva is Pure
Consciousness and appears as Knowledge and its Self Cognition (God and
Goddess, or Siva and Sakti).

Re Jnandeva's "pure Consciousness" - see also Blavatsky's Secret
Doctrine vol one, page 14 and the reference to the Absolute as "The
Great Breath" which is "Unconditioned Consciousness".

Brahman (God) in the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and Brahma Sutras has a
number of meanings depending on context.  The two essential aspects
are nirguna (attributeless) and saguna (with attributes).  The former
refers to Parabrahman - the impersonal unmanifested.  The latter (with
qualities and attributes) refers to Saguna Brahman (Brahma or Isvara).
In the Upanishads parabrahman is referred to normally as "It", while
the lower brahman (saguna or Isvara) is referred to as "He".  Isvara
is referred to as the supreme ruler or lord of the universe, however
we should keep in mind that it is Brahman veiled by maya, hence this
lower brahman as it appears to us is an illusion.  This is the view of
the Vedanta system and commentaries on the above works.  The Vedanta
system also asserts one cannot pray to Parabrahman.  Parabrahman is
the non-dual reality, the ALL, and cannot therefore enter into
dualistic relations with jivas and souls.  In the system of the
Vedanta there are as many Isvaras as there are universes - each the
collective (gods) higher power of its respective 'creation'.


Murthy (A.M.)