We have from Bhagavad-Gita:
ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्म हविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणा हुतम् ।
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥ — 4.24, Bhagavad-Gita.
Meaning: brahman is the offering, brahman the oblation; by brahman is the oblation poured into the fire of brahman; brahman verily shall be reached by him who always sees brahman in action.
Some people who delude themselves to be Self-realized cite the above verse and argue that they see each and every object to be brahman. It is blatantly an inadmissible argument because it would imply that the indivisible brahman has divided Itself into multiple bits and pieces.
The shruti is very categorical when it tells us:
एकधैवानुद्रष्टव्यमेतदप्रमयं ध्रुवम् । — 4.4.20, brihadAraNyaka:
Meaning: It should be realized in one form only, (for) It is unknowable and eternal.
Shankara comments at the above mantra: “Since It is such, It should be realized in one form only, viz. as homogeneous Pure Intelligence, without any break in it, like the space; for It, this brahman, is unknowable, owing to the unity of everything (in brahman).” Continue reading