Pls forward to Advaita List (fwd)

[Ashish Chandra]

Jaldhar Vyas has given very good advice in regards to learning Sanskrit. I
learnt Sanskrit from class 6 to 10th but have now forgotten most of grammar
and am conversant in only the most basic sentences i.e. Mam namah Ashish
and so forth. I have asked my brother to bring some books along with him
from India. I would like a second opinion as to whether these books will
indeed help me in understanding and then speaking Sanskrit such that I can
study the sastras.

These books are

1. Sanskrit Vyavahara Sahasri, Pallava Prakashana, Bangalore
2. Sanskrit-Hindi Kosh by Vaman Shivram Apte, pub : Motilal Banarsidass
3. Brihad Anuvad Chandrika by Chakradhar N. Shastri, pub: Motilal
Banarsidass.


If you can suggest anything else that might be more suited to my specific
situation (i.e. some understanding and Hindi speaking), I would greatly
appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Ashish Chandra

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>From  Tue Dec 15 11:54:58 1998
Message-Id: <TUE.15.DEC.1998.115458.0600.>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 11:54:58 -0600
Reply-To: msr at isc.tamu.edu
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at TAMU.EDU>
From: Ravisankar Mayavaram <msr at ISC.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: AmnAya stotram.h | Verse 16 ||
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

AchAryastatra chaitanya brahmachAriti vishrutA |
vArttikAdi brahmavidyA kartA yo munipUjitaH || 16||

shrI sureshvarAcharya is known as chaitanya brahmachAri. He is
popularly known as vArttikakAra for the varttika-s he wrote on
taittirIyopaniShad (kR^ShNa yajur veda) and bR^ihadAraNyaka
upanishad (shukla yajur veda). Before writing these vArttikam-s
he wrote an independent work called naiShkarmya siddhi. There is
an interesting episode in this regard and it is detailed in
mAdhava-vidyAraNya'sshankara dig vijaya.

After adopting sannyAsa Ashrama under shrI shankara, shrI
sureshvarAcharya approached Him and asked permission for writing
a vArttikam on Sariraka bhAshya of shrI shankara on vedAnta
sUtra-s. Intially shrI shankara granted premission to go ahead.
But, some of the disciples of shrI shankara protested against
this. There argument was as follows. shrI sureshvarAcharya was an
householder and staunch follower of puRva mImAMsa and held the
view that veda-s are there only for the performance of
ritualistic karma and they have nothing to do with sannyAsa
Ashrama. But he was defeated in the debate by shrI shankara and
later became shankara's disciple.  Hence, other disciples of
sha.nkara had an apprehension that shrI sureshvarAchArya may not
be faithful and will try to glorify the ritualistic side of
veda-s. shrI shankara told shrI sureshvara about this and asked
him to produce an independent work before proceeding this the
vartikam. shrI sureshvara wrote naiShkarmyasiddhi which convinced
everyone that their doubts are unfounded. After shrI shankara
asked him to write vArttika-s on the bhAShya-s of
taittirIyopaniShad and bR^ihadAraNyaka upanishad. Because of this
shrI sureshvarAcharya is known as vArttikakAra.

This verse also goes on say he was worshipped by muni-s
(munipUjitaH). As a brahmajnAni he is fit to be worshipped by all
and even great sages.

Ravi

1) vArttika is a explanatory text or gloss on the work. It
attempts to explain in detail what has been said tersely and also
discuss what has been left unsaid (hoping that knowledgeable
readers will be able to get that). vArttika is a bhAShya on the
bhAShya itself.


2) shrI sureshvarAcharya is referred as chaitanya brahmachAri, as
he was married before adopting the sannyAsa ashrama. I am
guessing this, may be you can correct me.

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