Let me repeat
Verse 3.8.8 BHU by Yajnavalkya
sa hovāca, etadvai tadakśaraḥ, gārgi brāhmaṇā abhivadanti, asthūlamanaṇvahrasvamadīrghamalohitamasnehamacchāyamatamo'-vāyvanākāśamasaṅgamacakśuṣkamaśrotramavāgamano'-tejaskamaprāṇamamukhamamātramanantaramabāhyam, na tadaśnāti kiṃcana, na tadaśnāti kaścana
IT is neither coarse or fine; neither short or long; IT has neither blood or fat; IT is without shadow or darkness; IT is without air or space; IT is without contact, taste or smell; it is without sight or hearing; IT is without speech or mind; IT is without energy, life force or speech; IT is beyond measure; it has nothing within it or outside of it; it does not eat anything, nor does anyone eat it.
etasya vā akśarasya praśāsane gārgi sūryācandramasau vidhṛtau tiṣṭhataḥ, etasya vā akśarasya praśāsane gārgi dyāvāpṛthivyau vidhṛte tiṣṭhataḥ, etasya vā akśarasya praśāsane gārgi nimeṣā muhūrtā ahorātrāṇyardhamāsā māsā ṛtavaḥ saṃvatsarā iti vidhṛtāstiṣṭhanti; etasya vā akśarasya praśāsane gārgi prācyo'nyā nadyaḥ syandante śvetebhyaḥ parvatebhyaḥ, pratīcyo'nyāḥ, yāṃ yāṃ ca diśamanu; etasya vā akśarasya praśāsane gārgi dadato manuṣyāḥ praśaṃsanti, yajamānaṃ devāḥ, darvīṃ pitaro'nvāyattāḥ || 9 ||
9. Under the mighty rule of this Imperishable, O Gārgī, the sun and moon are held in their positions; under the mighty rule of this Imperishable, O Gārgī, heaven and earth maintain their positions; under the mighty rule of this Imperishable, O Gārgī, moments, Muhūrtas,[2]days and nights, fortnights, months, seasons and years are held in their respective places; under the mighty rule of this Imperishable, O Gārgī, some rivers flow eastward from the White Mountains, others flowing westward continue in that direction, [Page 520] and still others keep to their respective courses; under the mighty rule of this Imperishable, O Gārgī, men praise those that give, the gods depend on the sacrificer, and the Manes on independent offerings (Darvīhoma).[3]
yo vā etadakśaraṃ gārgyaviditvāsmiṃlloke juhoti yajate tapastapyate bahūni varṣasahasrāṇi, antavadevāsya tadbhavati; yo vā etadakśaraṃ gārgyaviditvāsmāllokātpraiti sa kṛpaṇaḥ; atha ya etadakśaraṃ gārgi viditvāsmāllokātpraiti sa brāhmaṇaḥ ॥ 10 ॥
10. He, O Gārgī, who in this world, without knowing this Immutable, offers oblations in the fire, performs sacrifices and undergoes austerities even for many thousand years, finds all such acts but perishable; he, O Gārgī, who departs from this world without knowing this Immutable, is miserable. But he, O Gārgī, who departs from this world after knowing this Immutable, is a knower of Brahman (Brahmana).
tadvā etadakśaraṃ gārgyadṛṣṭaṃ draṣṭṛ, aśrutaṃ śrottṛ, amataṃ mantṛ, avijñātaṃ vijñātṛ; nānyadato'sti draṣṭṛ, nānyadato'sti śrotṛ, nānyadato'sti mantṛ, nānyadato'sti vijñātṛ; etasminnu khalvakśare gārgyākāśa otaśca protaśceti || 11 ||
This is the imperishable Gargi, that sees but can't be seen; that hears but can't be heard; that thinks but can't be thought of; that perceives but can't be perceived. Besides this imperishable there is none that sees, none that hears, none that thinks and none that perceives. On this very Imperishable Gargi, is space woven back and forth.
You also forget that Brahman, in its plural manifestation as the Atman and Purusha in everything does think, do and know everything (all actions, all phenomena, all consciousness, all knowledge is ultimately Its manifestation), but IT itself is none of that. As Yajnavalkya tells Maitreyi,
For when there is a duality of some kind, then one can smell the other, one can hear the other, one can see the other, one can greet the other, and the one can perceive the other.
When, however, the Whole has become one's very self, then who is there for one to smell and by what means? Who is there for one to hear and by what means? Who is there for one to see and by what means? Who is there for one to see and by what means? Who is there for one to greet and by what means? Who is there for one to think and by what means? Who is there for one to perceive and by what means?By what means can one perceive the him by means of whom one perceives this whole world? Look - by what means can one perceive the perceiver?
I think the upanisad is quite clear as to who among the rishi-s has the most authoritative and victorious view of Brahman. I am going by the unambiguous pronouncement of Yajnavalkya on this matter. Every thing else is mere elaboration using metaphors, poetry etc. Various models to make it more easily understandable to students. Surely you understand the difference between a debate among Brahmajnani-s (BHU debate) and a simpler easy to digest version provided for the benefit of students (Chandayoga, Katha) or somewhat less enlightened Kshatriya (Arjuna in Gita).
In conclusion:- Spiritwarrior is like a person who, after seeing examples of flat world-maps made by cartographers for convenience of use, has mistakenly come to the conclusion that geologists think the world is indeed flat and is accusing everyone who says its a spherical world to be pseudo-scientist!
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