[Advaita-l] Dharma

[Sankaran Aniruddhan]

namaste,

I do not have the time at this point to take part in this discussion in 
great depth, but it was my understanding that:

a) jnAnis do not necessarily "meditate", meditation is also considered an 
action (However, I guess sanyAsis do meditate as part of nidhidhyAsana?). 
However they do go through the normal day-to-day activities related to the 
mere sustenance of the body.

b) vyAsa, though he is held in the highest esteem, is considered to be a 
gR^hastha, not a sanyAsi. He did have a wife, vAtikA, and a son through her, 
Suka, at the time of the mahAbhArata.

Aniruddhan

Sruti smRti purANAnAm Alayam karuNAlayam
namAmi bhagavatpAda Sam.karam lokaSam.karam

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kiran B.R." <kiran.br at gmail.com>
To: <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 8:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Dharma


>> Subsequently Shankara  also showers
>> abundant appreciation to paramArtha saNyAsa in which saNyAsi not only
>> renounces the karma phala but also renounces the karma itself (like agni
>> hOtra etc.) (shankara says sarva karma tat phala tyAga lakShaNaM 
>> paramArtha
>> saNyAsaM).  In short we can say, karma yOgi does the work with a jnAna 
>> that
>> *HE* only doing the work through him, whereas in jnAnanishTa saNyAsi who
>> has taken paramArtha saNyAsa,  this katrutva bhAva itself been sublated.
>> In anyway, both are not the victims of karma phala baNdhana.  In that 
>> sense
>> both are one & the same.
>
> Both are are free from attachment to both karmaphala and karma. The
> karmayOgI does not have any kartRutvabhAva.
>
> Why doesn't a sanyAsI do work like everybody else? What reasons does
> he have for not working (other than old age, physical incapability,
> etc)? What is he going to lose if he does? There is no answer for
> this. If there is something he is going to lose if he works, I accuse
> him of being attached to that, and I call it the phala of the karma of
> meditation. Being attached to karmaphala, he is comparable to the
> worst ruffian on Dalal Street. Hence, I refuse to grant the
> meditator-in-the-cave the elevated status which Shri Shankara grants.
>
> In this regard, those who think it's strange if a saMnyAsI does karma
> must call to mind vyAsa who begot Pandu, Dhrutharashtra and Vidura.
> Was it action or what? Was it karma or what?
>
> Cheers
> Kiran