Meaning of "BRAHMA AKKAR VRITI

[Chandi Devi]

Dear Scholars,

I am looking for the meaning of Brahma Akkar Vriti (Vritti). I cannot find it on the web. A friend translated it for me as: "Brahman is beyond movement/change". Is this correct?

What I do find on the web is 'Brahmakara Vritti'. I have found a few interpretations of this, from, 'the highest expansion of mind into infinite nature, to,  'devout thoughts into the nature of god......' + more.

So, I am not clear if both of these:  'Brahma Akkar Vriti' and 'Brahmakara Vritti' are the same?

And what is the meaning of 'Brahma Akkar Vriti'?

And, what is this saying... or these 2 sayings from? I cannot find a reference, either.

Thank you in advance for any and all help.

Ayam Atma Brahma

Chandi Devi

[Hnbhat B.R.]

What I do find on the web is 'Brahmakara Vritti'. I have found a few interpretations of this, from, 'the highest expansion of mind into infinite nature, to,  'devout thoughts into the nature of god......' + more.

So, I am not clear if both of these:

​​

 'Brahma Akkar Vriti' and 'Brahmakara Vritti' are the same?

And what is the meaning of 'Brahma Akkar Vriti'?

It seems to be a coined word in the Neo Vedanta philosophy as it is explained in English Text in the following book in this link:

http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/realis/realis_5b.html

The ​​

​

 'Brahma Akkar Vriti'  does not seem to be a Sanskrit word, especially the second two. Though ब्रह्म is a common concept in Indian Vedanta Philosophy, irrespective of the interpretations by different teachers according to their insights. Unless you get the sources for your coined words you find on the web pages, it is difficult to get any meaning from Sanskrit Philosophy as such unless they are commonly used in the source Texts of Vedanta. And you may not get any meaning for them in a standard Sanskrit dictionary.

Hope some others may shed light in this respect. 

[श्रीमल्ललितालालितः]

Although, I expected shrI V. Subrahmanian's reply; I'm writing a short post to help....

श्रीमल्ललितालालितः
lalitAlAlitaH

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 10:18 PM, Chandi Devi <annam...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Scholars,

I am looking for the meaning of Brahma Akkar Vriti (Vritti).

​brahmAkAravR^ittiH (ब्रह्माकारवृत्तिः) is the correct word. It means 'a vR^itti which has shape of brahman'.

vR^itti again means a mental transformation. In other words vR^itti is another name of knowledge or thoughts, etc.
​

 

I cannot find it on the web. A friend translated it for me as: "Brahman is beyond movement/change". Is this correct?

​No, the translation is not correct.
​

 

What I do find on the web is 'Brahmakara Vritti'. I have found a few interpretations of this, from, 'the highest expansion of mind into infinite nature, to,  'devout thoughts into the nature of god......' + more

​They are near to the accurate meaning.
​

 

So, I am not clear if both of these:  'Brahma Akkar Vriti' and 'Brahmakara Vritti' are the same?

​If you are sure that some word like 'Brahma Akkar Vriti' exists, then it is not a sanskrit word and is not same as the second word.
​

 

And what is the meaning of 'Brahma Akkar Vriti'?

​As the word is alien to sanskrit uses, I can't say what this means in other languages.
​

 

And, what is this saying... or these 2 sayings from? I cannot find a reference, either.

​The correct use is common to works of advaita-vedAnta.
​

 

[V Subrahmanian]

The term 'brahAkAravRtti' is admitted in the classical Advaita Vedanta.  It has other synonyms such as 'akhaNDAkAravRtti', 'AtmAkAravRtti'and 'brahmavidyA', 'sAkShAtkAraH'.  While the first usage of this term is not known to me right now, it is certain that the concept is quite correctly represented in the article referred to by Sri Bhat. 

This vRtti is admitted to be a क्षणत्रयात्मिका वृत्तिः - it arises in the first moment, destroys avidyA in the second moment and itself gets destroyed in the third moment. 

While this is so, the term is also used, not mistakenly, though, to represent the state of the mind of an aparokSha jnAni who is predominantly given to samadhi.  The Vivekachudamani verse:

ब्रह्माकारतया सदा स्थिततया निर्मुक्‍तबाह्यार्थधी- रन्यावेदितभोग्यभोगकलनो निद्रालुवद्‌बालवत्‌।
स्वप्‍नालोकितलोकवज्‍जगदिदं पश्‍यन्‍क्‍वचिल्‍लब्धधी- रास्ते कश्‍चिदनन्तपुण्यफलभुग्धन्यः स मान्यो भुवि॥ ४२५॥ 

and the aparokShAnubhuti / tejobindu upaniShad:

निर्विकारतया वृत्त्या ब्रह्माकारतया पुनः वृत्तिविस्मरणं सम्यक्समाधिर्ज्ञानसंज्ञकः॥१२४॥ The complete forgetfulness of all thought by first making it changeless and then identifying it with Reality is called samadhi, known also as true knowledge.

Here are two instances from Shankaracharya's bhashya where the above concept is unmistakably stated:

1. ...बुद्धिर्गुहा, तस्यां निहितं ब्रह्म, तद्वृत्त्या विवेकतया उपलभ्यते इति । (तैत्तिरीयोपनिषत् - २.१ भाष्ये)


2. ज्ञानस्य द्वैतनिवृत्तिक्षणव्यतिरेकेण क्षणान्तर-अनवस्थानात् ।  अवस्थाने च  अनवस्थाप्रसङ्गात् , द्वैत-अनिवृत्तेः । 

[Knowledge, as a mental state, vRtti, does not continue for a second moment
following that of the cessation of duality.  Should it, however, continue, it will lead to
infinite regress resulting in non-cessation of duality. ]

In this bashya, the Acharya uses a word 'jnAnasya'.  And says that it does  not continue
for even a second after it has arisen and has effected the cessation of duality.

regards

subrahmanian.v

 

--
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
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[Aruna Chala]

Thank you for your reply. I understand what you say.

I read Krishnananda's translation of Brahamakar Vritti.

I hope to find the correct meaning of Braham Akkar Vriti. It is possible it is the above broken into 3 words.

Thank you again.

On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 8:06 AM, Hnbhat B.R. <hnbh...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[Nityanand Misra]

On Thursday, August 22, 2013 1:40:37 AM UTC+8, Chandi Devi wrote:

Thank you for your reply. I understand what you say.

I read Krishnananda's translation of Brahamakar Vritti.

I hope to find the correct meaning of Braham Akkar Vriti. It is possible it is the above broken into 3 words.

There is no such word as "Akkar" in Samskrita. I do not know what you meant to write with "Braham" and "Vriti". Please double check (and if possible, cite) the source where you read or heard this phrase. When seeking meanings of words or phrases, please write in Devanagari or a suitable transliteration scheme so that it is easier for scholars to help you.

[V Subrahmanian]

On Thu, Aug 22, 2013 at 7:09 AM, V Subrahmanian <v.subra...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here are two instances from Shankaracharya's bhashya where the above concept is unmistakably stated:

2. ज्ञानस्य द्वैतनिवृत्तिक्षणव्यतिरेकेण क्षणान्तर-अनवस्थानात् ।  अवस्थाने च  अनवस्थाप्रसङ्गात् , द्वैत-अनिवृत्तेः । 

I just want to point out that this quote is from the mAnDUkyopaniShat 7th mantra bhAShyam.

subrahmanian.v

[Hnbhat B.R.]

I hope to find the correct meaning of Braham Akkar Vriti. It is possible it is the above broken into 3 words.

There is no such word as "Akkar" in Samskrita. I do not know what you meant to write with "Braham" and "Vriti". Please double check (and if possible, cite) the source where you read or heard this phrase. When seeking meanings of words or phrases, please write in Devanagari or a suitable transliteration scheme so that it is easier for scholars to help you.

This is what I just wanted the poster of the query.

If he is using any standard terminology, better it would be in Devanagari with the source where he found it.

Just flat query I found this and this, may bring out many undesired comments.

Braham akkar or Brahm akkar​​ or any such corrupt form may lead to as many Sanskrit terms.

ब्रह्मन् and वृत्ति are popular and commonly used in Vedanta Schools. वृत्ति with कर or आकार or अक्कर् is not known. Only चित्तवृत्ति is called by वृत्ति following योग terminology commonly accepted. Only the combination is rare and dependent on the different interpretations. Here it may refer to ब्रह्माकारा वृत्तिः brahmākārā  vṛtti[ḥ] nd could not possibly brahma kara or akkar vṛtti[ḥ].

This is only guess from the context. But concept itself is to be traced identically to some Vedanta texts if possible. The concept may be found particular to one Vedanta School as Subrahmanyam has quoted some lines. For complete understanding, one may have to know all the concepts related with this concept and not isolated explanation will yield anything within the scope of the message box in the forum.

This is my frank opinion on the query.

Thanks for 

[Shankarji Jha]

' the right reading, in my humble opinion, should be 'Brahmaakaaraakaaritaa Vritti', or, 'Brahmaakaaraa vrittih', being synonymous to Akhandaakaaraakaaritaa Vritti', or ' akhandaakaaraa vrittih'.  Regards,

Shankarji Jha,
Professor of Sanskrit,
Deptt of Sanskrit,
Panjab University,
Chandigarh-160014, INDIA

---

Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 09:16:36 +0530
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Meaning of "BRAHMA AKKAR VRITI
From: v.subra...@gmail.com
To: bvpar...@googlegroups.com

[Aruna Chala]

Mr. Bhat and Mr. Jha,

You are both right. The word above is correct. My Guruji wrote it in his own way, but as I was reading all the responses and the links supplied, it appeared that Brahmakara Vritti is correct. Also, Akhandakar Vritti., and also Mr. Jha's response above.

The source of Brahama Akkar Vriti was my Guruji, not any special book nor any specific Samskrit word. It was his way of spelling it. And, that was all I had to go on.So thank you all for clearing it up and supplying the correct version.

I am a little confused at the explanations, as some of them cancel each other out. I understand Krishnananda's and a few other pages of explanations, but I still am not clear as to call it "Knowledge of Brahman" or not, since it says that the' Vritti' is still a mental experience. Also says that this is the last Vritti and will be destroyed when Brahman is attained. It also says that it is the act of jdentifying with Brahman. So, not sure. In Vedanta, it says Knowledge of Brahman, or being Brahman itself. Complete merging into the Consciousness. Oneness in Brahman.

Since Poonjaji is Advita, I would tend to go with the last one. 

Any reply to this?

Thank you all for all your help,

Chandi Devi

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 10:08 PM, Aruna Chala <annam...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mr. Bhat and Mr. Jha,

I am a little confused at the explanations, as some of them cancel each other out. I understand Krishnananda's and a few other pages of explanations, but I still am not clear as to call it "Knowledge of Brahman" or not, since it says that the' Vritti' is still a mental experience. Also says that this is the last Vritti and will be destroyed when Brahman is attained. It also says that it is the act of jdentifying with Brahman. So, not sure. In Vedanta, it says Knowledge of Brahman, or being Brahman itself. Complete merging into the Consciousness. Oneness in Brahman.

Since Poonjaji is Advita, I would tend to go with the last one. 

Any reply to this?

Namaste

I think there will be no confusion if the various statements are understood in a cogent fashion. 

1. "Knowledge of Brahman" or not, since it says that the' Vritti' is still a mental experience. This is correct because like any other knowledge, knowing Brahman is also a mental event, requiring a pramANa and a vRtti. 'manasaivAnu draShTavyam' says the KaThopaniShat.[with the instrumentality of the mind alone Brahman has to be apprehended]
   
2. Also says that this is the last Vritti and will be destroyed when Brahman is attained. This means that that is the last vRtti of the aspirant AS an aspirant; after that event of aparokShajnAna he is no longer an aspirant but verily Brahman as per Advaita. It does not mean that the aparokShajnAni will not have vRttis thereafter; they will be viewed by him as an object and not as subject.
3. It also says that it is the act of jdentifying with Brahman. So, not sure. In Vedanta, it says Knowledge of Brahman, or being Brahman itself. Complete merging into the Consciousness. Oneness in Brahman. Even this is not contradictory.  That vRtti is the one that gives the aspirant the direct experience of his true nature: Brahman. 'Brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati' is the Mundaka upanishad vAkyam and hence there is no problem here. 'Complete merging' only means that the aspirant has no other erroneous-identities other than his true identity of being Brahman before, now and hereafter.
   

Apart from the above it might be useful to know that in Advaita they admit of 1. svarUpajnAnam which is the Eternal Brahman (satyam, jnAnam, anantam brahma of the Taittiriya up.) and 2. vRttijnAnam which is the one that was discussed in this thread.  The second is an event in time and the first transcends time.  To realize the identity with the former the medium of the latter is necessary.  That is what the shruti vAkyams quoted above teach.

I think to discuss more than this here would not be appropriate. 

warm regards
subrahmanian.v

[Hnbhat B.R.]

On Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 10:08 PM, Aruna Chala <annam...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mr. Bhat and Mr. Jha,

You are both right. The word above is correct. My Guruji wrote it in his own way, but as I was reading all the responses and the links supplied, it appeared that Brahmakara Vritti is correct. Also, Akhandakar Vritti., and also Mr. Jha's response above.

The source of Brahama Akkar Vriti was my Guruji, not any special book nor any specific Samskrit word. It was his way of spelling it. And, that was all I had to go on.So thank you all for clearing it up and supplying the correct version.

So after all, you were asking for the source of the usage of your own Guru and wanted to discuss the terminology with the scholars of this forum.

Only one question remains from me:

If you know it is for certain, the usage is of your own Guru, why could you not first asked your guruji for its explanation? And instead, why to make others confused with the explanations you found on the web?

It was a direct method and why to take a round about way? Just like your Guru, all the other teachers of Philosophy have their own explanations on the Realization of Brahman, whether you follow Bhakti, or Jnana or both.

​​

[Phani Kumar]

Namaste. In some parts of the north and south, dvitva aksharas are not pronounced correctly. For instance,in the north  Dharmendra is Dharmender. PadmaSri is padam sri. There is a padam vir singh too known to me. Again, in Tamil satyam is sathiam, prabhakar is pirabakar tyaga is tiyaga, rahasyam is ragasiyam etc. Braham, clearly is brahma like padam is padma and akkar is aakaar whether such a vritti exists or not.

If we do not recognize these words as regional peculiarities, and start looking for meanings for these regional forms, it will be a profitless pursuit IMHO.

Dr. Phani Kumar

32,Prasasan Nagar,

Road-72,

Jubilee Hills,

Hyderabad 500033

Andhra Pradesh.

--

[Sivakumar,Kollam]

SAdara praNAm,

There are two works in Hindi

VichAra SAgara and Vrtti PrabhAkara
 (authored by SAdhu NischaladAS)
which deals in detail about Vritti JnAna

I don't know whether  English translation
is available.It all seems to starts from the

term "Chittavritti' in Yoga SUtra.

Namaste

sivakumarr

[Nityanand Misra]

On Saturday, August 24, 2013 10:49:46 AM UTC+8, Phaniapard wrote:

Namaste. In some parts of the north and south, dvitva aksharas are not pronounced correctly. For instance,in the north  Dharmendra is Dharmender. PadmaSri is padam sri. There is a padam vir singh too known to me. Again, in Tamil satyam is sathiam, prabhakar is pirabakar tyaga is tiyaga, rahasyam is ragasiyam etc. Braham, clearly is brahma like padam is padma and akkar is aakaar whether such a vritti exists or not.

Please do not assume. For all you know, "Akkar" may refer to अक्कड़ (as in अक्कड़ मक्कड़ or अक्कड़ बक्कड़) or even अक्खड़ (as in nonchalant/rude) - such terms are often used by some वाममार्गी Sadhus. There is a famous Sadhu named अड़गड़ानन्द महाराज whose camp I personally saw at the Prayaga Mahakumbha this year. So it depends on the region/language/sampradaaya, etc.

It is the responsibility of the questioner to clarify from her Guru what word was referred to by "Akkar" and then ask here. A good question is clear and unambiguous, and helps the questioner himself/herself eventually in getting a response sooner.

[Phani Kumar]

Namaste. Each of us can only present his own opinion/view which may illumine the point under discussion partially. How can any one say the last word ? When contraries are debatable, truth would surely lie in their mean.

Dr. Phani Kumar

32,Prasasan Nagar,

Road-72,

Jubilee Hills,

Hyderabad 500033

Andhra Pradesh.

--

[Sivakumar,Kollam]

cf.p78 of A DICTIONARY OF ADVAITA VEDANTA By N B Chakraborty and published by rRamakrishna Institute of Culture,Calcutta.

BRAHMAKARA ANTAHKARANA VRTTI:According to the author of Vivarana scriptural knowledge (s'avda janya jnana)may

be due to an operative relation(sannikarsha) and it may be immediate.......................Brahman is known through scriptural knowledge.IN such a case there is a vrtti or modification of intellect associated with Brahman.This is technically known a Brahmakara Anthahkarana vrtti.(modification of intellect in the form of Brahman)

Namaste

sivakumarr

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 10:18 PM, Chandi Devi <annam...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

[Aruna Chala]

Thank you, all of you, for your postings and clarifications on Brahma Akkar Vriti, Brahmakara Vritti.

I have learned a tremendous amount and my questions are answered.

All of you had points to make and I received them.

And yes, Poonjaj, who left his body in 1997,  grew up in Punjab, Pakistan, (in a little Brahman enclosure) before Independence, and Urdu and Punjabi were his first languages. Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, a little Sanskrit, and English came later, so his spelling of words may be, at times, a little different. Which is one reason I asked the question in the first place, for clarification at the start.

Mr. Sivakumar, yes, this is the last step before the merging of the Vritti into Brahman, itself.Thank you.This is what gave me the confusion, as  Poonjaji's was already merged and his writing was of That nature, not the intellectual meaning of the Brahmakara Vritti.

And Mr. Subrahmanian, thank you so much for putting it in order. As I mentioned above, the merging of the Vritti into Brahman, itself, I knew as the last step, but the "Vritti" itself, as being the mental process, I needed clarification, as Poonjaji's Brahma Akkar Vriti meaning was the last one, of the merging of the Vritti into Brahman, itself.

Thank you all.

This question is now complete.

On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 10:02 AM, Aruna Chala <annam...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mr. Bhat,

I am so sorry for causing you any confusion or anger towards myself.

My Guruji left his body in 1997.

What I have are his Diaries, and it is up to me to correctly clarify what his writings are, if at all possible, in order to present them correctly to the world, when the book is published.

Coming to this forum, for me, is the epitome of clarification, as you are all scholars and know, precisely, what you are talking about, or clarify it out, here, within the forum.

The meaning of Brahama Akkar Vriti has now been totally clarified for me, especially in the last posting by Mr. V. Subrahmanian clarifying all points, in order.

Knowing my Guruji, who was as empty and full as the Self, itself, and always functioned from That Self, I became confused at the explanation of "Vritti", as His Enlightenment was in no way a mental process, but beyond all time and space. So, in order to be clear, I needed to understand the actual meaning of the Vritti.  (The merging of the Vritti, itself, into the Self, itself, was spoken about by Poonjaji, also... but was not called, Vritti. Still I understood that, but needed clarification on the previous, "Vritti" itself) 

Brilliant clarification for me.

Thank you.

I will repost the message for all below, without the top sentence.

--