[Advaita-l] Re: Understanding

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Shree Abhishekji - PraNAms.

I must first confess that I am not an expert in Vedic Karmas nor I do
any of them.  I am only a Vedantic student. I only subscribe to the
basic fact that Karma yoga including upAsana is important for
purification of the mind. Karma yoga need not involve Veda vihita karmas
as in karma khAnDa or Vedic rituals. Karma yoga, however, is essential
for preparing the mind for the inquiry.  Afterwards what are required
are shravaNa, manana and nidhidhyAsana.  I am not a ritualist and
therefore I cannot provide any qualified answer to these questions. I
will provide I understand and adopt for my own growth, without worrying
about rituals that I have no frame of mind to do. 

--- Abhishek RK <rkabhi at gmail.com> wrote:

> Namaste,
> See my comments below. Humbly request you to clear my doubts.
 
> The mimamsakas apparently choose the giving up of kAmya karmas and
> performing nityakarma alone to attain mokSha. Adi Shankara
> Bhagavatpada says the same in upadesha pancakam. However, He goes a
> step further and says even those have to given up only once one enters
> sannyAsa.

Yes. Shankara argues that karma cannot bring moxa, since they are finite
and finite action cannot have infinite result.  Jnaana alone is moxa
sAdhaka. Hence karma's role is only in chitta sudhhi or preparatory
role. Its role ceases once the mind is ready for contemplation on the
nature of reality.  

See also Krishna's clarification of what sanyaasa implies. 


> 
> To atain karma yoga itself is not easy. From His biography, we learn
> that  Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswamiji, once he entered sannyAsa
> Ashrama, performed karma yoga until He was directed by Sri
> Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamiji to give up that and become j~NAna
> nishTha. To "give up" karmas to Ishvara or perform niShkAma karma is
> not so easy.

I do not think karma yoga is something to attain - it is something to
adopt - an adaptation of attitude during the action and in receiving the
results. 

Karma becomes yoga when we bring in Iswara with Iswara arpita buddhi. 
In that sense any karma (we are mostly referring to obligatory duties or
niyata karmas) becomes yoga with Iswaaraarpita buddhi and prasAda
buddhi. One cannot give up Karma in the sense that it involves only
giving up  the notion of agency or kartRitva bhAva or 'I am a doer'
notion. That is given up when one realizes that 'one is akartaa and
abhoktaa'. That is when one becomes jnaana nishhTaa. 

Hari OM!
Sadananda

 

> 
> Regards,
> Abhishek
> -- 
> satyena dhAryate pR^ithvi satyena tapate raviH|
> satyena vAti vAyushca sarvaM satye pratishThitam||
> 
> calA lakShmIshcalAH prANAshcalaM jIvita yauvanaM|
> calAcale ca saMsAre dharma eko hi nishcalaH||
> 
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