Karma and Sanyasa

[Sankaran Jayanarayanan]

Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM> wrote:

>Maadhavan Srinivasan wrote:
>
>> I have a doubt regarding renunciation.
>>
>> To attain Jeevan Mukth state, Is it necessary to renounce physically?
>>
>> How come, being a king, Janaka was in Jeevan Muktha state.
>>
>> ( If one is a king, he can't renounce everything physically.)
>>
>> And please explain the term, " Renounce Physically ".
>>

[..]

I've just begun following the discussion on the subject and I find that
Maadhavan's questions are so relevant that they're exactly what need
answers. I've read the replies by others, but here at last are some
questions that need clarification. I'll explain:

>I haven't seen you post before, I think you must be a new list-member.
I
>am not sure if my previous message was the first message you read. No
>one claimed everyone has to take up physical sannyAsa. If you read my
>posts on pUjA (please refer the archives) and then my previous post,
>you'll realize that my post had nothing to do with sannyAsa per se. The
>point I wanted to make was completely different and I only

> tangentially
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>touched upon sannyAsa, only because I had to.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Are you sure? Here's what you had to say:
-------------
Suresvaracarya is very emphatic that one who dons the Sanyasi's robes
alone can give up Karma in his bR^ihadAraNyaka Up. bhAshhya vArttika.
-------------

IMO, it's not unusual for Maadhavan to find the above "absolute"
statement about sanyAsa difficult to comprehend, especially when the
example of Janaka given by Krishna is so apt:

> As to sannyAsa etc and
>importance of actual, physical renunciation of possessions, please
refer
>to the Giri's excellent post, which you should be able to find in the
>archives. I posted a pointer to that message about 2-3 months back
also.
>Also refer to Anand Hudli's various posts on karma, sannyAsa etc.
>

You also said in your earlier post:
---------------------------
I see many in the list claiming karma is not of much use and one can do
it however one pleases along with mental renunciation. I ask these
proponents of "mental renunciation":

How is it that
1. a fat paycheck is pocketed each month, but mentally renounced?
2. one lives in a house, but that is mentally renounced?
3. The car with AC is also mentally renounced?
4. The wife is present, but mentally renounced?
5. performances by ones own children, dance song etc are attended, but
mentally renounced?
----------------------------

The answer to every one of the above questions is "It was done by
Janaka, and he's a role model."

I do remember the thread earlier on by Anand Hudli and others about how
Shankara says that karma yoga ought to be rejected by the wise, etc.,
but that does not clarify the above points that Maadhavan has raised.

Why does Krishna give the example of Janaka at all?

-Kartik

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