[Advaita-l] Modern science and Vedanta

[Rajaram Venkataramani]

If mere repetitive assertion is valid means of knowledge, I have to concede
that your position is correct. But unfortunately, I dont believe that it is
so and hence have to request you again to look at and present facts to
substantiate your points. Sri Subrahmanian has sent a long post
consolidating all the references to bhakti in BG and has shown that Sankara
uses bhakti as equivalent to jnanam. I have no evidence to believe otherwise
and it is the conclusion by Madhusudana also. Please find below my specific
response to your points. I am happy to be corrected if you can provide
logical arguments based on facts as it will help my research on bhakti in
advaita.
On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 2:36 PM, Srikanta Narayanaswami <
srikanta.narayanaswami at yahoo.com> wrote:


> On 12/07/2011, Srikanta Narayanaswami <srikanta.narayanaswami at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> > BG as far as I know only hails a bhakta who is a jnani. Can you pl.
> > show me where it hails a jnani who is not a bhakta?
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> By the same token I can also ask you why is that SriKrishna in the BG gives
> importance to Jnananarga,by numerous verses glorifying a Jnani. Jnani is
> Sresta,the Lord says.


RV: No one is saying that a jnani is not hailed. My position is that a jnani
is the highest type of a bhakti. In both Ch. 7 and Ch. 12, a jnani is called
a bhakta by the Lord. Sankara and Madhusudana also say the same thing as
does the Lord.

Sarvakarmakhilam Partha Jnane parisamyate."Sarva dharman parijyatya mamekam
sharanam vraja".Here ,the term surrender means the conviction of Advaita
jnana,vasudevah sarvamiti,not as what the Ramanuja's followers say.If we
understand literally the word surrender,we will be missing the central point
of Adwaita.Then,this violates the Upanishad,Brahmasutra,Bhagawadgita and
Gaudapada Karikas on the Mandukyopanishad.Read carefully what Shankara
writes in his Bhagawadgita Bhashya on the word,Mamekam sharanam vraja.The
same meaning follows the Mundaka sruthi also: Dau suparna sayuja sakyhaayah
samana vrukshe
samparishaksvajate,tayor anyah pippalam svaduatti anasnaanyo
abhichakasheeti. Here,Shankara's Bhashya clearly summarises the Adwaita
position.Since Adwaita position is the last,this shows that even Bhakthi is
transcended.

RV:  In 18.66 Sankara refers to the ultimate jnani as a bhakta only. In fact
he specifically refers to verses in Ch. 10 and 12, where the Lord
specifically describes a jnani as bhakta dear to Him (*yo mad-bhaktah sa me
priyah)*. From Sankara bhashya, " 'noble indeed' are all the three (classes
of) unenlightened persons, 'but the man of Knowledge is the very Self. (This
is) My opinion' (7.18); the unenlightened who perform their rites and
duties, 'who are desirous of pleasures, attain the state of going and
returning' (9.21); 'becoming non-different from Me and meditative' (9.22)
and endowed with steadfast devotion, they worship (Me) the Self which has
been described as comparable to space and taintless; and 'I grant that
possession of wisdom by which they reach Me' (10.10); i.e., the
unenlightened persons who perform rites and duties 'do not reach Me.' Those
who perform works for the Lord and who, though they be the most devout, are
ignorant persons performing rites and duties,-they remain involved in
practices which, in a descending order, culminate in giving up the fruit of
actions (cf. 12.6-11). But those who meditate on the indefinable Immutable
take recourse to the disciplines stated in the passages beginning with 'He
who is not hateful towards any creature' (12.13) and ending with that
Chapter, and also resort to the path of Knowledge presented in the three
chapters beginning with the Chapter on the 'field'. The three results of
actions, viz the undesirable etc. (cf. 12), do not accrue only to the
mendicants belonging to the Order of Paramahamsas (the highest Order of
monks)-who have renounced all actions that originate from the five causes
beginning with the locus (cf. 14), who possess the knowledge of the oneness
and non-agentship of the Self (17,20), who continue in the supreme
steadfastness in Knowledge, who know the real nature of the Lord, and who
have taken refuge in the unity of the real nature of the Lord with the Self.
It does accrue to the others who are not monks, the ignorant persons who
perform rites and duties. Such is this distinction made in the scripture
Gita with regard to what is duty and what is not.

>  N.Srikanta.
>
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