[Advaita-l] jnAna-vijnAna, gradations in Atma jnAna, superior-inferior jnAna nishTa etc. etc. PART-II

[bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

In this part we shall see what Sri shankara bhagavadpAda offers with regard
to jnAna nishTa/ jnAni...Please note that unless we come out with suitable
explanation with regard to *jnAni mAtra* or a person with infirm Atma jnAna
& difference between jnAni mAtra and shAstra pAnditya,  it is unfair to put
divisions  to differentiate in paramArtha Atma jnAna.  As Sri Vidya
prabhuji said it is possible to differentiate shAstra pAnditya/paNdita &
true jnAna/jnAni.  But IMHO it is near to impossible to differentiate
between jnAni mAtra Atma jnAni & true jnAni..and I dont think there is  any
clear cut reference to this effect in shruti-s..Hence, jnAni mAtra Atma
jnAni,  noway superior to shAstra paNdita  since both (shAstra paNdita &
jnAni mAtra)  are still doing their transactions with upAdhi-s (limited
adjuncts) in the realm of avidya.

It is a well known fact that upAsana associated with shAstra vihita karma,
shama, dama etc., shravaNa etc. are the means for mental purification
(chitta shuddhi)  & Atma jnAna but it is unfair to say *after* realization
too jnAni has something to do!!  this is no doubt, quite contrary to
shruti, smruti & yukti.  As I have been saying a true jnAni does not have
any identification with his upAdhi-s (body, mind intellect etc.), if he
does then he cannot be called as jnAni he is ajnAni ONLY & jnAni  does not
have the thoughts like katrutva & bhOktrutva   (nAhaM karta, nAhaM bhokta,
kEvalo nirguNascha), if he does then he is noway better than a pure
materialist...bruhadAraNyaka (4-4-12) says AtmanAm chEdvijAnIyAdayamasmIti
pUrushaH, *kimicchan tasya kAmAya sharIramanusaN~varEt ....Krishna assures
arjuna that he who knows this knowledge in essence becomes wise & his life
mission will be accomplished.  Kindly See gIta verse (15-20) yEtatbuddhyA
buddhimAn syAt *krutakrutyascha* bhArata....These two shruti & smruti
vAkya-s and their teachings have been endorsed clearly by shankara bhagavad
pAda in tattu samanvayAt sUtra bhAshya (1-1-4) nAvagata brahmAtmabhAvasya
yathApurvaM saMsAritvaM shakyaM darshayituM vEdapramANajanita brahmAtma
bhAva virOdhAt...and in AvruttyadhikaraNa, liNgAchha sUtra shankara says in
no ambiguous terms that : tasmAt sarvadukhavinirmuktaika chaitanyAtmakOhaM
ityAsha AtmAnubhavaha, na chaivam AtmAnAM anubhavataH *kiNchit anyat
krutyam avashishyatE*..shankara quotes here both shruti and
smruti...bruhadAraNyaka (4-4-22) kiM prajaya karishyAmO yEshAM nOyamAtmAyaM
lOkaH, and concludes iti AtmavidaH kartavya abhAvaM darshayati...and from
smruti gIta (3-17) shankara quotes : yastvAtmaratirEva syAdAtma truptascha
mAnavaH! AtmanyEva cha saNtushtastasya kAryaM na vidyatE...iti...( he
however who takes delight in the self alone and is gratified with the self,
and is contended in the self, has no duty)....

Since the karma-s pertaining to varNAshrama, upAsana, saNyAsa, practice of
shama, dama etc., AcharyOpadEsha, dhyAna etc. etc. are prescribed  tools to
jnAnOtpatti and if karma associated to upAsana that upAsana has the great
potency (chAdOgya shruti itself endorses this view) somebody may think
there is tAratamya in jnAna itself (infact this is what the main topic for
this series of mails), due to this tAratamya in the jnAna, we can also say
there is a difference in mukti also....but all these arguments are baseless
since shankara clarifies this point beyond doubt in muktiphalAdhikaraNa
(3-4-52) : muktAvasThA hi sarvavEdAntEshu yEkarUpaiva avadhAryatE,
brahmaiva cha muktyavasThA * na cha brahmaNaH anEkAkAra yOgOsti*....this
one clear declaration of shankara denies all gradations in Atma jnAna &
gradations in AtmajnAni-s like brahmavit, brahmavidvara, brahmavidvarishTa
etc.

If at all we think there is a gradation in jnAna, that gradation pertains
only to *parOksha jnAna* and NOT in aparOksha paramArtha jnAna .  But it is
a matter of fact that that which is called *aparOksha jnAna* that only
deserved to be called as paramArtha jnAna...and this paramArta jnAna itself
is the cause for mOksha...here mOksha means ever existing, self evident
brahman (nitya/svayaM  siddha brahman)...this jnAna as said earlier  can
only remove ajnAna & gives the sublated (bhAdita) knowledge of
duality...but it does not create anything new.  So *as soon as* knowledge
dawns the socalled ajnAna goes for a six & reveals the ever existing
svarUpa!!  First jnAna later after some point of time *phala bhUta jnAna*
till that time he is jnAni mAtra all those things are out of equation
herein  shankara siddhAnta.  Do we say in jnAni-s mukti, this is human
being mukti, this is dEvata mukti and this is R^ishi mukti etc.??  is there
any difference like that??  but we can say there is a difference in
saguNOpAsana mukti because here in upAsya brahma ( brahman which is
meditated upon) there will be different attributes and accordingly there
may be difference (tAratamya) in resultant jnAna &  phala. Shankara again
confirms this in muktiphalAdhikaraNa sUtra bhAshya : taddhi asAdhyaM nitya
siddhA svabhAvamEva vidyayA adhigamyatE iti asakrut avAdishma......na tu
muktau kaschit atishaya saMbhavOkti.see also bhAshya bhAga in the same
sUtra..vidyAbhEdAbhAvAdapi tatphalabhEdaniyamAbhAvaH karmaphalavat...*na hi
mukti sAdhanabhutayA vidyAyAH karmaNAmiva bhEdaH astIti.  Subsequently
shankara talks about saguNa upAsana & phala by saying : saguNAsu tu vidyA
su *manOmayaH prANa sharIraH (ch. up.3-14-2) ityAdAsu gunAvApOdvApavashAt
bhEdOpapattau satyAM upapaddyatE yaThAsvaM phalabhEdha niyamaH
karmaphalavat...taThA cha liNgadarshanaM "taM yathAtathOpAsatE tadEva
bhavati" iti....naivaM nirguNAyAM vidyAyAM...guNAbhAvAT ..taThA cha smrutiH
"na hi gatiradhikAsti kasyachit sati hi guNE
pravadantyatulyatAM..iti..shankara expresses this same idea in sutra 1-1-24
also...interested members can further study this sUtra bhAshya for further
clarification.

Now let us take the darkness-light example which some of the members quoted
and tried to say the duration of adjustment of eye to the *new* light can
be called jnAni mAtra stiti etc...Sri vidyA prabhuji extended this analogy
and said it is like power off...or fusing bulb etc.etc.. But shankara
himself clarifies his position by using this same analogy.  He says mukti
is NOT the action of jnAna, jnAna just reveals the already existing thing
just like light illumines the object in dark..here light does not create a
thing nor it brings us the *new* knowledge about the already existing
thing...it only helps us to cognise the already existing thing...See what
shankara says in bruhadAraNyaka (1-4-10) bhAshya :yathA lOke
drashtushchakshuShA AlOkEna saMyOgO *yatkAlaH, tatkAla yEva*
rUpAbhivyaktiH..yEvaM AtmaviShayaM vijnAnaM yatkAlaM tatkAla yEva
tadviShaya ajnAna tirObhAvaH syAt...atO brahmavidyAyAM satyAM
avidyAkAryAnupapattEH pradIpE iva tamaH kAryasya!!....How simple &
straightforward teachings these are!!...yatkAlaM tatkAla yEva words clears
all doubt about duration between jnAna & phalarUpAnubhava..is it not??

Sofar in the Part-II, we have seen :

(a) there is no tAratamya in jnAna nishTa-s,
(b) there is no time gap between jnAna & phala
(c) if there is difference in jnAna that difference pertains only to
parOksha jnAna involved in saguNOpAsana & there is NO divisions in
paramArtha jnAna.

With this, now, I think we shall go forward to see shruti maNtra & bhAshya
in question...i.e. bruhadAraNyaka shruti 3-5-1 & shankara bhAshya on
it....This I shall take up in Part-III...

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar

References taken :

01.  Shankara's brahma sUtra bhAshya, Vol-I & II  by H.H. Sri Sri
Satchidaanandendra Saraswati SwaminaH (SSS), AdhyAtmaprakasha Karyalaya,
Hassan, Karnataka
02.  Shankara's BhagavagIta bhAshya by Sri SSS
03.  Shankara mahAmanana, brahma vidyA, shankara hrudaya, Atma vidya,
shAnkara vEdAnta sAra & vEdAnta darshana all independent works in Kannada
by Sri SSS
04.  For English translation of some of the gIta verses I've referred
Bhagavad Gita in English by gIta press, Gorakpur