Saturday, May 31, 2025

Is America Heaven and India Hell?

Many in India say "America is Heaven and India is Hell". It results in the act of applying for an American visa that, of late, has become a bone of contention between America and India. Without talking about my experience per se, there is some truth to the statement that "America is Heaven". However, Vedanta has a different viewpoint. Sri D.S.Subbaramayya in one of his phenomenal works provides logic about the things that are existent or non-existent. He translated it from Asthakhyativadin in smruti to english. I have taken the liberty of modifying a bit. Here it is:

Here it is questioned as to what this capacity of gnana which makes the Heaven appear, relates itself to. If to the Heaven, is this Heaven produced or only made known by this capacity of gnana?

It cannot be the produced since that is unintelligible in the case of the Heaven. Nor is it what is made known since no other gnana is known other than that which makes manifest.

There is no second gnana in evidence to certify such a revelation on the part of the first gnana; if it is there, then what is thus revealed being Heaven, and requiring its relation to the new gnana to be explained, infinite regress would result.

Nor can it be said that it is both viz., that it is the very essence of gnana to produce as well as manifest the Heaven, for there can be no relation between existence and a Heaven.

It cannot be said that the relation of gnana which is existence, to that which is Heaven is that the former is determined as being under the control of what is Heaven, for, the Heaven cannot bring about any speciality in the gnana which, therefore, cannot be under the control of the Heaven.

If it does bring about any speciality, then its Heavenliness is contradicted since according to the Asatkhyativadin, practical efficiency is the criterion of existence.

If it is said that it is the very nature of gnana not to appear apart from the Heaven and that nothing whatever is brought about by the Heaven, then it would be ridiculous since without any cause the gnana would have to be partial to what does not exist.

Nor can it be said that gnana causes something to abide in the Heaven as its support, for what is Heaven cannot be the support of anything.

Hence absolute Heaven cannot be an object of experience.

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