[Advaita-l] source of a sloka or quotation

[V Subrahmanian]

On Wed, May 9, 2018 at 11:44 AM, Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Subbu ji , Durga ji
> It's interesting to see it figure in Chanakya Neeti. Is there any material
> about moxa puruShArtha in this work?
>

Dear Raghav ji,

I have looked into the Chanakya neeti chapters and did not find any
specific sadhana, etc. for Moksha Purushartha excepting the following,
which I had posted in an earlier thread:

Chanakya 4 BCE, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanakya#cite_note-
Miles1981-47, in his 'Chanakya Neeti', says this in the very first verse of
the 15th chapter:


यस्य चित्तं द्रवीभूतं कृपया सर्वजन्तुषु l
तस्य ज्ञानेन मोक्षेण किं जटाभस्मलेपनैः ll – चाणक्य नीति

He whose heart melts and liquefies in compassion for all beings, for him,
what have matted hair and application of ashes, got to do with knowledge
and liberation?

The above reveals that even before two millennia there was the practice of '
bhasma lepanam' by those aspiring for Jnana, and through that, Moksha.

See image of the verse and Hindi commentary here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2047616018585082&set=a.
697484646931566.1073741827.100000101118270&type=3&theater


The portion 'yatra yatra mano yaati...' that is seen in later works like
Drg drsya viveka, etc. looks like a very early one, perhaps from an
Upanishad, but the earliest definite citation or usage seems to be the
Chanakya Neeti, admitted to be of the 4 BCE.

regards
subbu

>
> It's a beautiful verse which embodies the advaitic vision that viGYAnam is
> more than just an experience which merely arises in seated meditation;
> rather, it's well assimilated self-knowledge which pervades all vRttis
> which arise in the antaHkaraNam.
>
> This verse figures in shrI bhArati tIrtha's dRg-dRshya-viveka which is a
> text which borrows extensively from  shruti viz., the
> saraswatI-rAhasyopaniShat which has a somewhat similar verse -
> एतैः समाधिभिः षड्भिर्नयेत्कालं निरन्तरम ।
> देहाभिमाने गलिते विज्ञाते परमात्मनि ।
> यत्र यत्र मनो याति तत्र तत्र परामृतम् ॥ ३१॥
> (सरस्वतीरहस्योपनिषदि)
> May one always invest one's time in the practice of these six different
> types of samAdhi meditation. When the identification with the body (thus)
> drops off and the paramAtman is known, (then) wherever the mind moves,
> there is the ('experience' of) parAmRtaM.
>
> It's instructive to see how the practice and accomplishment of various
> types of samAdhi is endorsed and encouraged by such shruti vAkyas and then
> there is also transcendence of any specific seated vedantic meditation
> practices - yatra yatra mano yAti etc..
>
> This nuance is sometimes glossed over by many people who critique or
> disparage samAdhi-abhyAsa since they may not have the necessary antaHkaraNa
> shuddhi needed to accomplish the vedantic samAdhis described in the
> upaniShad.
>
>
> Om
> Raghav
>
>