[Advaita-l] Yogavashishta and Gaudapada karikas.

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> 
> Sri sunil Bhattacharya,
> You say that vedanta teaches at the ultimate level and Yoga teaches at the
> Vedanthic level.This is wrong.Yoga may teach at its own level,but it
> cannot replace vedanta which doesnot require kriya.You are wrong when you
> say that"cittavrttinirodha'is necessary for the manana.Shankara in his
> introduction to the Brahmasutrabhashya doesnot mention Yoga.Vedanta
> requires only discrimination of atma from the anatma.Yoga involves other
> kriyas which require Ashtangayoga marga.
> sincerely, N.Srikanta.
> 

Dear Sri Srikanta,
 
I must admire your determination in this thread, but I think you are presenting only
one aspect of the vedAntic picture. With respect to yoga, sAMkhya and vedAnta,
the viveka of AtmA from anAtmA and manana-nididhyAsana, please see gItA verse
"dhyAneNAtmani paSyanti kecid AtmAnam AtmanA" and the bhAshya by the revered
bhagavatpAda on that verse.

May I also point out that to understand advaita vedAnta properly, one has to progress
beyond the introduction to the sUtrabhAshya? I would like to point to the bhAshya on
sUtra 2.3.39-40 - samAdhy abhAvAc ca and yathA takshobhayathA. Yes, yoga requires
kriyA and the notion that the jIva is a kartA, but this is nevertheless well recognized
within vedAnta as an upAya to AtmadarSana. This point has been beautifully brought
out in these two bhAshya passages. In sUtrabhAshya 2.1.3, we have the same thought
expressed - yoga is indeed accepted as an upAya for samyag-darSana, if not in its own
independent right. Under the sUtra, api ca samrAdhane pratyakshAnumAnAbhyAm, the
revered bhagavatpAda affirms that "yogins" see the Atman through bhakti, dhyAna and
praNidhAna - the two latter terms are loaded with yogic meaning. As for citta vRtti
nirodha, please see bhAshya-s on bRhadAraNyaka 1.4.7 (explicit reference to citta 
vRtti nirodha) and on kaTha verse, "parAnci khAni vyatRNat svayambhUH" (implicit
reference).
 
Yes, yoga cannot replace vedAnta, but I would think that a quiet yogin has a better 
chance to remove avidyA and realize the Atman than those of us who engage in 
vociferous disputations, full of words of learned length and thundering sound.
 
To both Sri Sunil Bhattacharya and Sri Srikanta,

Please limit the number of posts sent to the list per day. Instead of responding to a
single point per post, please consolidate related issues together. It would make for
better reading and perhaps help other list members to understand where the two
of you agree and where you differ. As of now, this entire two-way discussion is
extremely confusing and it is only getting worse with each day.
 
Regards,
Vidyasankar