[Advaita-l] Marriage, the world, and brahmacharya

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Namaste Shashiji,

On Fri, Dec 22, 2017 at 9:19 PM, Shashi via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

>
> Is it required by shastra to get married if one does not take sannyasa?
> Does shastra permit one to be a working man in the world, but a
> brahmachari, without a wife?
>
​​IMHO, the only difference between a gRhasta (having a son) and a
brahmachArI as far as the dharmashAstras ​are concerned would be in the
postmortem gatI if one doesn't gain jnAna. The former would have someone to
perform antimasaMskAra, shrAddha piNDa, etc and the latter none. These
days, even that following is declining and where it is alive, the offering
is made by the yajamAna even for other relatives. So practically there
would be no difference. In case one gains/ wants to gain jnAna, there is no
difference in any Ashrama, though some may prefer to remain brahmachAris
while others would find gRhastAshrama more helpful for karmayoga; yet,
sannyAsa is recommended for commitment to the pursuit and/ or niShTha;
Bhashyakara and ergo, orthodox tradition, interprets it as a vidhi.

Also, does Advaita agree with Yogic doctrines regarding the spiritual and
> physical effects of becoming an Urdhvareta?
>
​Advaita doesn't disagree with it. In orthodox tradition, khechari is
recommended and even practiced for becoming Urdhvaretas.​ So in a way, it
is agreed to. There is also an intertwined following of shrIvidyA along
with orthodox tradition as can be seen from Bhagavatpadacharya's
saundaryalaharI too, which also ties in the benefits well. Moreover, the
benefits accrued are anubhavasiddha, they are not quite open to discussion;
those who have it don't talk of it much, while those who don't don't know.

gurupAdukAbhyAm,
--Praveen R. Bhat
/* येनेदं सर्वं विजानाति, तं केन विजानीयात्। Through what should one know
That owing to which all this is known! [Br.Up. 4.5.15] */​