[Advaita-l] Samit Pani

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 1:22 PM, Venkata sriram P
<venkatasriramp at yahoo.in>wrote:

> Namaste,
>
> Our dharma says that one should never approach elders (guru & acharya)
> empty-handed.
>

Dear Sriram ji,

In the Anandagiri gloss for the bhashya on the said Mundaka mantra 1.2.12,
it is said: 'samitpANiH iti vinayopalakShaNam.'  [The expression
'samitpANiH' is a representative indication for the humility of the
aspirant approaching the Guru].  The editor Sri Subrahmanya Sastri in the
foot note says:

// By the word 'brahmaniShTha' the BhashyakAra indicates that he is a
sannyAsin.  Then, what is the use of going to such a one with samit which
is of no use to him? In order to answer this Anandagiri says that it is an
upalakShaNa, representative indication, to the aspirant's vinaya,
humility.  SamitpANitvam on the part of the aspirant will be directly
appropriate in the case of those householder-brahmaniShTha-s such as
Janaka, yAjnavalkya and angiras. //

One another explanation I have heard is: the samit, dried sticks, are
indicative of the sishya's readiness to subject himself to the rigours of
brahmavidyA and receive it successfully just as dried sticks will
immediately burn when put in fire.

regards
subrahmanian.v

>
> Having submitted the appropriate sambhAvana to the Acharya either in the
> form of phala, dhana, vastu etc., one should seek their blessings which is
> called "AsheevAdaM".  This is maNgaLa-sUchaka.
>