[Advaita-l] BrahmaGYAna and jIvanmukti - 5 (Other References)

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

>I agree that perfect sAdhana-chatushhTaya is necessary for
>brahmaGYAna. What I do not understand is the term "unsteady GYAna"
>which I think can be simply called as "aGYAna."

Darkness is the "absence of light" but when night transitions into day, 
there is the period of dawn when the light emerges slowly. It is not as if 
pitch dark suddenly gives way to blinding light. For clarity in 
philosophical argumentation and for rigor in textual interpretation, one 
needs to heavily contrast darkness from light, but one also has to recognize 
the process of the dawning of light. If an eclipse were to occur soon after 
dawn but before full sunrise, the light diminishes and returns fully only 
after the period of the eclipse is over.

If jnAna is light, ajnAna is darkness. What vidyAraNyasvAmin refers to 
stabilizing jnAna is the process of dawn, culminating in the fullness of 
daylight. He teaches vAsanA-kshaya to counter the extraneous factors that 
could cause a possible eclipse. After all, it is the same person who once 
considered himself an ajnAnI, who should become a jnAnI and thereby get 
liberated. A sudden jump from one state to another is extremely rare. What 
is more common is a gradual approach, and it is therefore necessary to teach 
the paths that are involved in this gradual approach.

Regards,
Vidyasankar

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