[Advaita-l] FW: Avidya, Jnanis and SSS' views

[Bhaskar YR]

sAshtAnga praNAms Sri Vidya prabhuji
Hare Krishna

After that, all unnecessary interpretations of the muNDaka reference
to brahmavid-varishTha will also vanish of their own accord. 

>  I am still unable to understand why we should not interpret that 
varishTha is the one who has the ultimate absolute brahma jnAna and he is 
the 'best' among other brahma vida-s...My reasoning is very simple that 
shankara does not talk about jnAna tAratamya (that you also agreed)in 
mundaka shruti and there is no mention of gradations in absolute brahma 
jnAni-s to infer that brahmavit & vidvara are also same type of brahma 
jnAni-s but inferior to varishTa.  IMO, shankara talks about 'bedha' in 
parOksha & aparOkha jnAna & that one who has aprOksha jnAna is the best / 
varishTa when compared to parOksha jnAna nishTa-s. 

I am afraid you have not understood what I am saying about brahmavid-
varishTha at all. I am not doing any major interpretation of my own, but
merely quoting the interpretation that Sankara bhagavatpAda has already
given. 

>  yes prabhuji you have given the interpretation of shankara bhagavadpAda 
with regard to varishTa...for which I donot have any issues..But problem 
comes when you asked me to infer about the vara, vareeya also absolute 
brahma jnAni-s but inferior to varishTa...But I am not denying the 
gradations in jnAnOtpatti, jnAna paripAka & jnAna nishta etc. but these 
things cannot be linked to absolute aparOksha brahma jnAna & the jnAni who 
has established himself in that completely.  These gradations can be 
possible & reasonable only in parOksha jnAna which is dependent on 
varNAshrama dharma/karma, upAsane, saNyAsa, practice of shama damAdi, 
dhyAna etc. 

In any case, what makes you think that long abidance in nirvikalpa
samAdhi is the same as physical death? 

>  it is because, he does not comeout from this state whereas vara & 
vareeya-s would come out from this state with the aid of different 
means...vara would come out with the help of others, vareeya would come 
out from it on its own but varishTa will not come out at all and his body 
perishes ( I call this as physical death )in that state.  Here is the 
exact explanation of these categories that can be found in the popular 
work.

// quote //

A jñànin involved in worldly activities is referred to as a brahmavid. If 
a jñànin has the practice of going into
nirvikalpa-samàdhi and coming out of it on his own, he is a brahmavidvara. 
If he can be awakened from nirvikalpasamàdhi only by the efforts of 
others, he is a brahmavidvaräyàn. A brahmavidvariShTha is one who never 
emerges from nirvikalpa-samàdhi. His body perishes while he is in samàdhi. 
As a brahmavidvariShTha has the best
pràrabdha, he is deemed the greatest jñànin.

// unquote //

>From the above statements only I said it is not possible to have an active 
& living brahmavidvarishTa on this earth...Because above it is clearly 
said that a brahmavidvarishTa can never ever come back from the nirvikalpa 
samAdhi (if he comes back then he is not varishTa either he is vara or 
vareeyAn)  & due to his best prArabdha his body perishes in that state 
itself.  If you dont interpret body freezing as physical death of 
brahmavidvarishTa then what else that would mean prabhuji??  If you have 
any reservations on the above definitions of different kinds of jnAni-s 
and linking of their samAdhi experiences please let me know 
prabhuji..Otherwise, I dont think why I should not say varishTa & his 
upadesha is a practical impossibility in this living world. 

Sri vidya prabhuji :

There is no difference between what some texts describe as never arising 
from samAdhi and the link that
I have drawn between muNDaka and bRhadAraNyaka bhAshya-s in this regard. 

bhaskar :

I am afraid, neither muNdaka nor bruhad shruti bhAshya-s anywhere even 
remotely talk about samAdhi experiences and means to coming out from that 
peculiar state to draw the lines among vara, vareeyaan & varishTa...From 
the above quoted reference it is quite conspicuous that varishTa is 
non-available entity on this world...

I think we have discussed the 2-3-39 (kartruadhikAraNa) in detail while 
discussing the contents of vivekachudAmaNi & its extraordinary preference 
to nirvikalpa samAdhi experience prabhuji.  I hope you know my stand on 
this adhikAraNa. 

Your humble servant
Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar