[Advaita-l] Shankara's praise of Buddha

[Srikanta Narayanaswami]

Message Body
Namaste,
 
///
 
 But when it comes to his siddhAnta and related matters, h
 
//
 
arihan is the vishnu maya that incarnated to dissuade the asuras from 
the path of dharma.  arihan "mislead" the asuras and paved the 
way for their dharma-chyuti.  Thus, Siva could easily annihilate 
those 3 asuras and became tripurAsurasaMhAra mUrti.  
 
The chAru-vAka teaching were meant to mislead the asuras
and to prohibit them from performing vaidika karma kanda.  
 
This vishnu mAyA is something like the mOhini avatAra whose
purpose was to mislead the asuras from partaking the nectar.  
 
So, naturally in the present generation, the "chAru-vAk" philosophy
is very soothing to listen and practice.  
 
No sandhyavandana, no gayatri japa, no devatarchana,
no vaisvadeva, no sthALipAka, no yAgAs & kratus,
no sva-veda shAkha adhyayana ......isn't it.
 
Is this not "chAru vAk" which would please so-called pseudo vedantins
who are interested in "Who am I" enquiry.
 
regs,
sriram
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I question the veracity of the above statement.Charuvaka philosophy is different from the veadantic enquiry on "Who am I"?which is the enquiry into the "Mahavakya"to know the Truth.This is the summum bonum of Vedantic study.Sri Adi Shankara Bhagawathpada who is the light house for our Vaidika Dharma has completely concurred with this enquiry into Vedanta,in his "Adhyasa Bhashya".He clearly says commenting on the first sutra of Brahmasutra,"Athatho Brahmajignasa"that this enquiry can come at any stage of the sadhakas life,even it may come in the beginning itself.Infact,the study of the Vedanta and its manana has been placed as the crest jewel (Shiromani)in our religion!.
Regarding the question that Sandhyavandanam and others must be performed,Sri Shankara Bhagawathpada clearly clarified in his commentary to the BhagawathGita verse:
"Karmani akarma yah pasyeth,akarmani karma yah!
sah Buddhiman manushyeshu sa kristna karma krt!!"
Sri Adishankara Bhagawathpada,after clearly explaining what is Karma,akarma further takes the purvapaksha of the earlier Vrttikaras who are Samucchayavadins,and asks the question,whether the nonperformance of sandhyavandanam etc.has any effect.Will it create pratyavaya?He emphatically quotes BG,"na sato vidyate bhavah nabhavo vidyate satah"the nonperformance will not create any effect.He also jocularly says there may be an iota of gain if it is performed,not by knowing wherher there is "Phala"or not.The same holds good for rest of the mimamsa
rituals belonging to the karma khandha.The enquiry into "Whao am I"is cerainly not Pseudo-vedantic,as it is the aim of this list!
N.Srikanta.