[Advaita-l] The liberated soul...

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004, Kiran B R wrote:

> > 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.
>

Then I apologize.  I had confused you with another list member who is a
dvaitin.  But I am rather surprised that someone who follows
Shankaracharya could formulate a question the way you did.

> > but from the point of view of Advaita
> > Vedanta this is a total non sequitur.
>
> Even so, is the question good?
>

well I suppose any question genuinely asked is "good" in some way but it
is based on invalid premises

> 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?
>

Because a jalebi is just a fried sweet.

> He who comes back to eat juicy jilebis does not cause
> any reduction in the "pUrNa" AnaMda:
>
> pUrNamadaH pUrNamidaM poorNAt pUrNamudachyatE |
> pURNasya pURNamAdAya pUrNamEvAvashiShyatE ||
>

If he is "purna" then what is there to return to?

> 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.
>

Ok perhaps my example wasn't clear enough.  What I meant was there are
things that one does when young that are totally dismissed out of hand
when one is mature.  You or I don't have to ask ourselves "Shall I swallow
an ant today or not?"  It just never even occurs to us.  Again, the bliss
that is Brahman is so many scales higher than anything the mundane person
knows that it drowns out any lesser kind of bliss.

> 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).
>

Right.  But statistically there is a greater chance of not eating a jalebi
than eating one is there not?

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

Yes.

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

Why when Brahman *is* the jalebi?

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
It's a girl! See the pictures - http://www.braincells.com/shailaja/