[Advaita-l] The liberated soul...

[Kiran B R]

> Kiran I know you come from a different philosophical

> perspective 

Jaldhar, just because I ask questions, you must not
"outcaste" me! My guru is none other than Adi
Shankaracharya.

> but from the point of view of Advaita 
> Vedanta this is a total non sequitur.  

Even so, is the question good?

> We know from 
> e.g. anandamimamsa portion of taittereyopanishad 
> that the bliss of Brahman is far, far, beyond any 
> mundane delight -- even the juiciest jalebi!

Why do you assume, take it for granted, that one who
wants to return to saMsAra "to eat juicy jilebis" is a
slave to his jihvA? Why do you assume that he is taken
over by desire?

He who comes back to eat juicy jilebis does not cause
any reduction in the "pUrNa" AnaMda:

pUrNamadaH pUrNamidaM poorNAt pUrNamudachyatE |
pURNasya pURNamAdAya pUrNamEvAvashiShyatE ||

> As a 
> baby you may have inadvertantly eaten an ant.  
> Little babies don't think, they just automatically 
> put things in their mouths.  But have you put an ant

> in your mouth lately?  In fact doesn't the very 
> thought horrify you?  The way you feel about ants is

> how a jnani feels about jalebi.

Do not contradict yourself. The jnAni cannot see any
duality. He cannot see total bliss somewhere and
something horrifying somewhere else. "naivEha nAnAsti
kiMchana".

ajO&pi sannavyayAtmA bhUtAnAMIshvarO&pi san |
prakRutiM svAmadhiShThaaya saMbhavAmyAtmamAyayA ||

- said the Lord! Even granting that the jnAni feels
jalebi's are "yuck" compared to the bliss of the
brahman doesn't stop him from eating jalebis or taking
birth therefor.

naiva tasya kRutEnArthO nAkRutEnEha kaSchana |
na chAsya sarvabhUtEShu kaSchidartha vyapAshrayaH ||

If he wills, he eats jalebis without any reason (as
opposed to having the reason that he's a slave of the
senses). And if he does not eat jalebis, he does not
without any reason (as opposed to having the reason
that they're "yuck" compared to the "bliss of the
brahman" or of the company of soft music, wine and a
dozen willing maidens on a cool moonlit night).

>
> The word in the sutra is adhikara.  Adhikara implies

> a task and a responsibility to fulfill that task.  
> It is this sense of responsibility for performance 
> of action which causes embodiment.  

Are you trying to prove that taking birth to eat
jalebis carries no responsibility, and taking birth to
classify the vedas does?

> The other reason 
> your question makes no sense for the Advaitin is 
> because there is actually no jiva.  There is only 
> brahman who due to maya and the resulting false
> I-consciousness appears to be in distinct parts.  So

> there is no question of there being 
> floating "liberated" souls out there who decide on a

> whim to eat jalebi or not.

I never talked about any jivas. It is the brahman who
desires to eat jalebis.

sO kAmayata |...

Cheers
Kiran

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