[Advaita-l] Adwaita and God.

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

I believe I have made my views on these issues amply clear. Above all, I think it does not
matter what my view is or what anyone else's view is. What matters is what the Sruti and
smRti say, and how the Acharyas in our tradition have explained these when doubt arises
as to the hidden meaning of the Sruti and smRti. 
 
I can only urge members of this list to read Sankara bhagavatpAda's bhAshyas carefully,
again and again. Every new attempt reading of the commentaries reveals meanings and
connections that may not have been clear before. I would also urge that we should put
aside our own notions and preconceptions when studying these texts. That is all.
 
Best regards,
Vidyasankar

 
> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 11:26:35 -0800
> From: sunil_bhattacharjya at yahoo.com
> To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Adwaita and God.
> 
> Dear Vidyasankarji,
> 
> There has been opinions passed regarding the needlessness of Karma, Sankhya and Yoga in front of Vedanta. But Lord krishna did not say so.
> 
> On karma the Lord said  "Asakto hyaacharan karma param apnoti purushah". There are several similar verses where the Lord upheld the Karma s a means.of attaining the param purusha. One has to work dilligently and being in Yoga as the Lord said in the Bhagavad Gita. The Lord also says that the Yogi is higher than the man of Knowledge when he said "Tapasvibhyo'dhiko-----tasmaad yogi bhavarjuna". Again the Yogasikhopanishad says one may be learned, dispassionate, knower of the religious principles and have mastery over the senses yet one cannot escape the body without Yoga. Please note that this is from an Upanishad. Further People generally ignore that Vivekakhyati is very much a part of the Yoga and has been mentioned by Patanjali. The lovers of Bhagavad Gita  know that the Lord also clubbed Sankhya and Yoga together. Does not all these point to the fact that one cannot ignore Yoga in favour of Jnana, as both are important? Howevermuch one may try to
> acquire Jnana it will be futile without Yoga.
> 
> Any comment?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Sunil K. Bhattacharjya
> 
> --- On Mon, 11/8/10, Vidyasankar Sundaresan <svidyasankar at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> From: Vidyasankar Sundaresan <svidyasankar at hotmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Adwaita and God.
> To: "Advaita List" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> Date: Monday, November 8, 2010, 9:04 AM
> 
> 
> Dear Sri Srikanta,
> 
> I again hesitate to contribute to this thread, but will clarify two points and
> then withdraw. 
> 
> > Let me elaborate on that point.All Dwaita schools,and Yoga school is no
> > exception start with the premise that there is a creator.Whether we call
> 
> Not necessarily. Strictly speaking, pUrva mImAMsA also does not recognize
> non-dualism, and that system of thought has no room for a creator. Yoga 
> also, strictly speaking, is quite silent about an ISvara creating the universe.
> 
> > it Purusha,or Ishwara with Purusha associated with prakrthi,they all end
> > up with Dwaita drsti.Only the Adwaita or vedanta discriminates Ishwara
> > from Brahman or Turiya.
> 
> sAMkhya and yoga actually begin with a nAnAtva-dRshTi (multiple purusha-s
> and one prakRti who multiplies into multiple tattva-s). Again, to understand
> pAtanjala yoga in its own right, one should not impose the notion of ISvara
> as a creator upon that system. In sAMkhya and yoga, creation happens due
> to purusha-prakRti saMyoga and therefore, in yoga, other purusha-s also
> have a role in creating, not just ISvara, the special purusha. I hope that the
> distinction and its enormous implications are clear. 
> 
> That said, let me turn to the various legends that have been cited in this
> thread so far, both by you and Sri Sunil Bhattacharya. You wish to view the
> legendary story that govindapAda was an incarnation of patanjali as not 
> having any great implication for the philosophies of yoga and advaita. Quite
> correctly so, if I may say so. However, on this and other threads, I also see
> you citing a bunch of other unverifiable legends that have no bearing at all
> on philosophy or for that matter on plain historical fact. These include the
> legends that gauDapAda used to be a brahmarAkshasa, or that someone
> called Candrasarma copied down the vyAkaraNa bhAshya and lost part of
> it to a goat, etc. Please note that the patanjalicarita of rAmabhadra dIkshita
> is a fanciful poem originating in the imagination of one scholar, who never
> intended it as a historical record. Please also note that the original author
> of this poem used the named Candragupta, not Candrasarma. The latter
> emendation of the name is a modern innovation by those who wish to see
> history in poetic fancy.
> 
> Also, the supposed reference to Appollonius of Tyana having met Gaudapada
> has been discounted by none other TMP Mahadevan, who has doubted whether
> the Gururatnamala was written by Sadasiva Brahmendra. Similarly, the story
> that vidyAraNya and vedAnta deSika were classmates in Kanchipuram is quite
> unsubstantiated. Neither do texts such as Vidyaranya Kalajnana, giving legendary
> biographies of Vidyaranya mention any such thing, nor do Srivaishnava accounts
> of the life of Vedanta Desika say so. You are no doubt aware of the political
> implications of such myths pertaining to important personalities from different
> sampradAyas. It would be best to keep away from these and other related
> complications on this list.
> 
> Best regards,
> Vidyasankar
>          
>                           
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