[Advaita-l] Re: Pa~nchapAdikAchArya

[Ramesh Krishnamurthy]

Namaste Kathirasan-ji,

Sorry to barge in here.

On 25/10/06, K Kathirasan   NCS <kkathir at ncs.com.sg> wrote:
> very sharp in his observations. Moreover, he taking the vows of Sannyasa
> only adds more credibility that he was a teacher who valued the
> Sampradaya.

So he valued the sampradaya and also said that the sampradaya was all
wrong? That is what Sri Ramakrishnan has been pointing out. Anyway, I
am no expert on SSS, so will not say anything more about him.

>
> Point no. 2. As we all know that during ancient times, the Shruti was
> committed to memory and not to writing. Therefore, one had to resort to
> a teacher to know oneself. There was no other alternative. Such a
> teacher is known to be a shrotriya. In fact, the Shruti exhorts that not
> only should he be a shrotriya, but he had to be a Brahmansishta or
> someone who has attained the Advaita jnana. Hence, to gain brahmajnana,
> the ancient tradition exhorts the need to approach a shrotriya
> brahmanishta. But today the Shankara's Bhashyas and the Upanishads are
> available in writing. Are we to still maintain that an Uttama Adhikari
> will still be unable to gain Brahmajnana through the study of these
> texts independently?

The bhAShya-s have always been available in writing. The upaniShads
too have been available in writing for several centuries.

In fact, you have answered the question yourself. The guru has to be a
shrotriya as well as a brahmaniShTha. If the ability to rattle off
mahavAkya-s was enough, one could have had a parrot for a guru. In
today's times one could have a tape recorder.

But books, tape recorders and parrots can never substitute a real
living human guru.

As far as an uttama adhikArI is concerned, a single sravaNa alone is
enough to attain brahmajnAna. There is no need to study any texts. But
teaching advaita-vedAnta to a disciple is a different story. Being
brahmaniShTha does not guarantee being a shrotriya.

dhanyosmi
Ramesh