[Advaita-l] Words of comfort from the shruti and bhAShya

[Venkatraghavan S]

Namaste,
Yes that is correct. The attainment of sarvAtmabhAva is figurative -
claiming it as one's nature as a result of the knowledge of the self is
what is spoken of as attainment here. Just like the shruti statement,
तत्सर्वमभवत्.
One does not become all. Previously one thought that he was a miserable
human being, post knowledge, one knows that one is all.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan



On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 3:13 PM sreenivasa murthy <narayana145 at yahoo.co.in>
wrote:

> Dear friends,
> Sri Venkataraghavan writes:
> "Thus, both the shruti and Shankaracharya
> assure us that one need not despair that one is not a great
> yogi like the great sages of yore and
> as a consequence, moksha is unattainable.
> That knowledge, and sarvAtmabhAva is
> attainable even now, even by the humanity of today."
>
> Moksha  is  not  to  be  attained  and  can  never  be  attained
> because  of  the  following   statement  of  Sri  Shankara :
> "mOkShasya  nityatvAt    sAdhakasvarUpAvyatirEkAcca||"
> [Commentary  Of  Sri  Shankara  to  mantra  3-3-1  of
> Bruhadaranyaka  Upanishad]
> The  sadhaka's  svarUpa  is  already  here  and  now  and  further
> he  is  never  away  from  his  svarUpa.
> In  the  light  of  this  statement  of  Sri  Shankara  sarvAtmabAva
> and  mOksha  is  one's  true  svarUpa.  What  is  needed  is  to
> become  aware  of  this  truth  which  one  is  not  aware  of  this fact
> of  life  at  this  juncture.
>
> Please  ponder  over  this  with  an  open  mind.
>
> With respectful namaskars,
> Sreenivas Murthy
>
>
> On Monday, 17 September, 2018, 5:55:00 PM IST, Venkatraghavan S via
> Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>
> Namaste,
> Some inspirational words from Shankaracharya in the mahAvAkya bhAShya
> (1.4.10) in the brihadAraNyaka upaniShad:
>
> shruti:
> *तदिदमप्येतर्हि य एवं वेदाहं ब्रह्मास्मीति स इदं सर्वं भवति तस्य ह न
> देवाश्चनाभूत्या ईशते ।*
>
> bhAShya:
> तदिदं प्रकृतं ब्रह्म यत्सर्वभूतानुप्रविष्टं दृष्टिक्रियादिलिङ्गम् , एतर्हि
> *एतस्मिन्नपि वर्तमानकाले* यः कश्चित् व्यावृत्तबाह्यौत्सुक्य *आत्मानमेव एवं
> वेद अहं ब्रह्मास्मीति* — अपोह्य
> उपाधिजनितभ्रान्तिविज्ञानाध्यारोपितान्विशेषान्
> संसारधर्मानागन्धितमनन्तरमबाह्यं ब्रह्मैवाहमस्मि केवलमिति — *सः
> अविद्याकृतासर्वत्वनिवृत्तेर्ब्रह्मविज्ञानादिदं सर्वं भवति । न हि
> महावीर्येषु वामदेवादिषु हीनवीर्येषु वा वार्तमानिकेषु मनुष्येषु ब्रह्मणो
> विशेषः तद्विज्ञानस्य वास्ति ।*
> Translation - adapted from Swami Madhavananda ji's translation:
>
> That Brahman, which is under consideration, and has entered into all
> beings,  which is indicated by functions such as seeing etc. - *whosoever
> knows that Brahman, even now, that is, even in the present day,* whosoever
> curbs his interest in external objects and knows that Brahman as himself in
> the said manner - as untouched by the attributes of the phenomenal
> universe, as without interior or exterior, as I am that Brahman verily, by
> discarding the erroneous notions of differences born from the association
> with limited adjuncts - *he becomes all this*, by the destruction of the
> notion of limitation that is born out of ignorance.
> There is no difference with respect to Brahman or its knowledge, between
> the great sages such as vAmadeva and the limited humanity of today.
>
> Sri Praveen ji mentioned that this has echoes of the bhAShya at the end of
> the kaTha upaniShad (2.3.18)
>
> shruti:
> मृत्युप्रोक्तां नचिकेतोऽथ लब्ध्वा विद्यामेतां योगविधिं च कृत्स्नम् ।
> ब्रह्म प्राप्तो विरजोऽभूद्विमृत्यु*रन्योऽप्येवं यो विदध्यात्ममेव* ॥ १८ ॥
> bhAShya:
> *न केवलं नचिकेता एव, अन्योऽपि य एवं नचिकेतोवदात्मवित्* अध्यात्ममेव
> निरुपचरितं प्रत्यक्स्वरूपं प्राप्यतत्त्वमेवेत्यभिप्रायः ।
> नान्यद्रूपमप्रत्यग्रूपम् । तदेवमध्यात्मम् एवम् उक्तेन प्रकारेण वेद
> विजानातीति *एवंवित् , सोऽपि विरजाः सन् ब्रह्म प्राप्य विमृत्युर्भवती*ति
> वाक्यशेषः ॥
>
> Translation from Swami Gambhirananda:
> "Not only Naciketa, but anyone else, too-becomes like Naciketa (a knower of
> Brahman) by attaining the Self, existing in the context of the body, as
> one's own innermost reality in Its absoluteness, and not in any form other
> than as the indwelling Self.
> He who knows, the Self that exists in the context of the body, in the
> manner as described; whoever is a knower of this kind; 'he, too, having
> become free from virtue and vice; becomes free from desire and ignorance by
> knowing Brahman'."
>
> Thus, both the shruti and Shankaracharya assure us that one need not
> despair that one is not a great yogi like the great sages of yore and as a
> consequence, moksha is unattainable. That knowledge, and sarvAtmabhAva is
> attainable even now, even by the humanity of today.
>
> Regards
> Venkatraghavan
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