[Advaita-l] Pitrupaksha questions

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Tue, 27 Sep 2011, Srikanta Narayanaswami wrote:

> If you want to stick to karmas be it.That shows that you have not even 
> started on the path.Perform them like an entertainment.I am sure you 
> will enjoy it.There is no pratyavaya dosha as Shankara has said.You are 
> a mundana mishra and not mandana mishra. HH Chandrasekhara Bharathi is a 
> mahatma and more than a Jivanmuktha.You donot know much about him You 
> know only what your "Garus'have said about him.I am living nearer to 
> sringeri,I know much about him.

If you do not know that all the Shringeri acharyas have repeatedly called 
on their followers to be diligent in the practice of deva and pitr karya 
you are either blind or a liar.

Here is a relevant  excerpt from the book Exalting Elucidations which 
contains discourses of Swami Abhinavavidyatirtha.  (pp. 307-308)

Disciple: Is a GYAnin beyond virtue and sin?

Abhinavavidyatirtha: Yes.

D:  Then, since no merit or sin is acquired by a GYAnin, will he conduct 
himself in any manner whatsoever?

A: A GYAnin will not do so normally.  His mind should have been extremely 
pure  prior to his attaining GYAna.  This purity remains even after the 
dawn of knowledge.  A GYAnin is an ideal for others.  sureshvarAchArya has 
observed, "if a GYAnin were to act in an unregulated fashion, then what is 
the difference between him and a dog, which consumes even what is unclean?"

D: Should the shrAddha of a GYAnin be performed after he dies?

A: Yes.

D: A GYAnin will not be reborn.  How then is shrAddha useful?

A: To whom?

D: To the GYAnin.

A: As far as the GYAnin is concerned, it serves no purpose.

D: Then why should the shrAddha be performed?

[Now read this next bit carefully - JV]

A:  Because the relatives do have a duty to fulfil.  From the GYAnin's 
point of view, performance of shrAddha is of no use.  However, the 
relatives continue to have their duty to perform shrAddha.  Just because 
one becomes a GYAnin, one's relatives are not absolved of their duty. 
They are bound to perform those actions that the shAstra-s have prescribed 
for them.

There you are.  Quite "entertaining" isn't it?

Owing to your penchant for grasping the wrong end of the stick let me 
spell out what Swamiji is saying here.  If one is a jnani, karma is no 
longer of relevance.  Hence it is renounced in totality.  If one is not a 
jnani regardless of ones level of Vedantic book-knowledge, one is bound to 
ones duty.  This is nothing near gYAnakarmasamucchayavAda and thus your 
quote from the bhashya on Gita 4:18 misses the mark.


-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>