[Advaita-l] Question on Adwaita.

[srikanta]

>
> 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

_____________________________________________

Dear Vidyashankarji,

I read your views on the commentary of Shankara on the Bhagawadgita where
you say that one has to go further from the introduction by shankara.you
say to mean that for manana,shankara says that one must have knowledge of
sankhya and Yoga.one must have all these knowledge to come to adwaita.I am
sory to say that it doesnot mean that way."Atmena atmana" in BG means that
one must discriminate the Atma from the anatma,as nescience or avidya has
covered up to know the exact nature of our Atma,which is one without the
second.Shankar's commentary doesnot mean,and no where he has said other
knowledge is necessary for Jnana.In the course of his bhashyas also he has
further explained on this aspect.Moreover,Bhagawathgita is basically a
compendium of seminal philosophical ideas in Hinduism.Srikrihna has
brought all these in this book.He has brought,Sankhya(gunatrayavibhaga
yoga),Bhakthiyoga,Jnanayoga,Sanyasayoga,Purushottamayoga,Rajayoga etc.in
this book.To know the Rahasya in this book,if one studies Shankara
Bhashyas one will better understand what the lord says.otherwise,one will
have a hazy picture as it exists today.One says,adwaita is praccanna
bauddha,other will say only Bhakthiyoga is important,another will say only
Yoga is important,yet another will say only Sankhya is important etc.It is
the greatest contribution of the great seers of Adwaita till Shankara,that
Shankara put it at rest all these misconceptions that adwaita Jnana is
within reach of all,and what is needed is not effort,but
discrimination(viveka)of Atma from the anatma.
Regards,                                            N.Srikanta.