[Advaita-l] Pramanas - Sruti vs. Anubhava

[K Kathirasan NCS]

Namaste to all, 

Pls note the key point expressed by Savithriji so well: 

"Actually anubhava isn't an independent pramANa at all, in fact it is a
culmination of the pramANic transactions." 

This understanding is very important in trying to understand the way
shabda pramana works. The rise of knowledge, when the Shabda pramana is
wielded, is immediate. Thus it is called as aparoksha jnana. Try to view
anubhava from this standpoint. Those who have studied SSS's works will
not get confused by that random quotation in question, which only does
disservice to his teachings. 

After studying Ramakrishnanji's paper I realised that one of the
fundamental issues is the confusion about the immediacy of the rise of
knowledge. Many of us are perhaps finding it difficult to appreciate how
Shabda pramana and Guru vakya produce right knowledge immediately. 

Anantanand Rambachan has written a very good book to explain the role of
Shruti in 'producing' right knowledge which can be termed as anubhava.
Those who are interested should put some effort in trying out this book
'Accomplishing the Accomplished' :  
http://www.amazon.com/Accomplishing-Accomplished-Knowledge-Comparative-P
hilosophy/dp/0824813588

Anantanand Ramabachan is not a disciple of SSS and neither does he
acknowledge SSS as one of his influences. He learnt Vedanta in the
Gurukula of Swami Dayananda Saraswati. 

Warmest Regards,
Kathirasan K
-----Original Message-----
From: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
[mailto:advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org] On Behalf Of
savithri devaraj
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 10:52 AM
To: Siva Senani Nori; A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Pramanas - Sruti vs. Anubhava


--- Siva Senani Nori <sivasenani at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> That being so, I would like to know: "How did His
> Holiness SSS reconcile the limitations imposed by
> Sruti on the validity of an anubhava (sArvartika,
> intuition or whatever) as a pramANa with the
> statement that anubhava is the kingpin amongst
> pramANas which presumably include Sruti itself?"
> 

Namaste Sir,

I am Sorry, I don't agree that Swamiji ever said
"Anubhava is the kingpin amongst pramAnas".  Whoever
said this is completely mistaken, or is taking it
totally out of context. 

I was only trying to convey the fact that Swamiji
emphasizes sArvatrika loukika anubhava (not personal
experiences) and the avastha traya viveka in vedanta
jignAsa, and he has said that such unsublatable and
common experience available to all should be used when
resolving doubts regarding Sruti. That's all. 

Since you agree that Sruti is the antya pramANa for
realization of atman-brahman aikya, in what way can we
say anubhava is the kingpin of pramANas? Actually
anubhava isn't an independent pramANa at all, in fact
it is a culmination of the pramANic transactions.
Sruti is the only pramANa for Atman.  As Bhaskar has
explained earlier, Shankara teaches that unlike the
Karma Kanda where the Vedas are the only pramANa, in
Vedanta jignAsa, sArvatrika anubhava and tarka in
accordance with this anubhava are also considered as
valid means of resolving doubts in Sruti. 

Regards,
Savithri

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