Talk:The Two Aspects Of Brahman –(Saguṇa And Nirguṇa):Relationship between Nirguṇa and Saguṇa Brahman

By Sri Vishal Agarwal

No Hindu considers the two aspects of Brahman as two completely separate entities, whatever his or her understanding of what they mean may be. They are like two sides of the same coin, or like day and night — complementing each other, and making a single whole Divinity.

The Bhagavad Gītā summarizes both the natures of Brahman beautifully in these verses:

Kṛṣṇa said to Arjuna: Brahman appears to have the qualities of all the senses, and yet is without any of the senses. Brahman is unattached, and yet supports all. He is free of all the guṇas of Prakṛti even while enjoying them all. He is without and within all beings. He is unmoving and also moving. He is too subtle to be perceived with the senses. He is far and yet He is near. He is indivisible and yet He seems to be divided among beings. He should be known as the nourisher of all creatures, as well as their Devourer, and also as their Creator afresh. He is the Light of lights, devoid of all darkness. He is the Knowledge, the Object of all Knowledge, and the Goal of all Knowledge. He is seated in the hearts of all. — ''Gītā 13.14–17

What is at dispute among the peoples is whether Brahman can have a form or not, and whether it is the Nirguṇa or the Saguṇa Brahman that is the primary (with the other being the secondary) aspect of Brahman. However, most of these debates date from later developments in Hindu dharm.

As stated above, the ancient Upaniṣads and other spiritual scriptures do not consider this controversy. The Upaniṣads assume Brahman as a formless Divinity, and the Brahmasūtras, which present their teachings in a systematic form, explicitly reject any physical body of Brahman.

Followers of many other sophisticated philosophies like Vaiśeṣika preferred to worship Brahman as Śiva, and so on. The view that is upheld by a majority of modern peoples is that Nirguṇa Brahman represents a higher aspect of Brahman, although worship of Saguṇa Brahman is sufficient to get mokṣa.