Do you pray to God everyday?
What is Pramana?
The Advaita Vedanta of Shankara has six means of knowledge or Pramana, namely, Pratyaksha (प्रत्यक्ष perception), Anumana (अनुमान inference), Upamana (उपमान comparison and analogy), Arthapati (अर्थापती postulation or derivation from circumstances), AbhavaPramaan (अभावप्रमाण non-perception or cognitive proof) and Shabda (शब्द testimony of the past or present reliable experts). The Bhakti Sutras of Shandilya only accept three of the six Pramana of Shankara namely Pratyaksha, Anumana and Shabda; Shabda being the chief. In Sense perception, knowledge through senses come in two stages: When the senses come in contact with the object, the ignorance covering them is first destroyed and then only, knowledge will arise in the mind when it is illumined by the soul.
What are Prameyas?
Ishwara (ईश्वर)
They are three in number namely Jiva (जीव Individual soul), Jagat (जगत The World) and Ishwara (ईश्वर God). The important thing regarding God is that only devotion to God can give one liberation and not merely the knowledge about Him. The Lord’s energy or Shakti (शक्ति) is Maya (माय) or Jagat. This is also known as Prakriti (प्रकृति). The Lord creates the world with his Shakti, Maya or the world is the playground where the play of life happens. Maya undergoes change but the Creator of Maya, the Lord remains unchanged. The Lord is unchanging and Maya is ever changing and yet the Lord is in unison with His powers. One can never separate sunshine from the Sun and the power from the powerful. Hence the Lord and His Shakti are non-differentiated. Creation, although undergoes changes, is seen as the very manifestation of the Lord. The Lord is ever free. He is of the nature of pure consciousness and takes birth inside of Maya, by His own sweet will. The Lord takes a spiritual form, free of matter, to attract devotion towards Him. The purpose of the Lord taking a spiritual form is to attract the living entities so that living entities can qualify towards Mukti. The various types of Incarnations and the forms of the Lord is fundamentally to attract and suit living entities of various mentalities. There are several modes of devotion and even one is enough to please Him, if practiced intensely. When living entities give up their bodies before developing full devotion, they are reborn in the world, where their devotional practice will continue until they finally attain Him.
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