[Advaita-l] Samnyasa and Sankara's position?

[H S Chandramouli]

On Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 1:57 AM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

  <<  The shruti passage quoted above has been interpreted differently by
two
authorities:

In the Jivanmukti viveka, Sri Vidyaranya takes this passage as authority
for vidvat sannyasa.  In the gloss to the Brihadaranyaka Bhashya for this
passage, Sri Anandagiri says 'this is a reference to paroksha jnana.'  I
had pointed out this remark by Anandagiri ( I think in two places) to
renowned scholars some years back. Members here may please verify the above
and give their opinion >> ,

I do not think Sri Anandagiri Acharya has made such a statement in his tIka.

 Actually this passage or a significant part of it forms the subject matter
of BSB 3-1-47 also.

In BUB, Sri Bhagavatpada  unambiguously  declares this entire mantra as
enjoining  AshramasanyAsa  both  for attaining jnAna  as well as for
fructification of the jnAna after attainment.  As mentioned  in the above
quoted post, Swami Vidyaranya cites this as authority for vidvat sanyAsa.
Surprisingly, even Sri SSS endorses the view that this represents vidvat
sanyasa ( Footnote 2, pp 127, Kannada translation and commentary of BUB ).
Anandagiri Acharya alsoelaborates accordingly in his tIka.  However Sri
Sureswaracharya  , in his vArtika, observes that this passage, depending
upon  the interpretation of  विदित्वा व्युत्थाय (viditvA vyutthAya), the
text could be understood as referring to sanyasa either after paroksha
 jnAna for attaining jnAna, or to vidvat sanyAsa. BUBV 3-5-1, verses 104 to
106 refers. Anandagiri Acharya comments accordingly in his tIka on the
vartika.

In BSB 3-1-47, Sri Bhagavatpada himself interprets differently the same
part he is referring to as prescribing vidvat sanyAsa in BUB namely

<< तस्माद्ब्राह्मणः पाण्डित्यं निर्विद्य बाल्येन तिष्ठासेत् । >>,

<< tasmAdbrAhmaNaH pANDityaM nirvidya bAlyena tiShThAset | >>

as enjoining  sanyAsa to one endowed with only paroksha jnAna for attaining
jnAna (aparOksha jnAna). Sri Anandagiri Acharya elaborates the same in his
tIka.

This BU mantra is considered as one of several instances where Sri
Bhagavatpada upholds his view unambiguously that Ashrama sanyAsa is a vidhi
both for attaining jnAna as well as for its fructification.

Slightly off the main topic of this particular post, but which is relevant
for this thread as it has comeup in other posts in this thread, Sri
Bhagavatpada makes this observation in his Bhashya on Mundaka Upanishad
enjoining sanyasa for attaining jnana

<< ज्ञानमात्रे यद्यपि सर्वाश्रमिणामधिकारः, तथापि संन्यासनिष्ठैव ब्रह्मविद्या
मोक्षसाधनं न कर्मसहितेति ‘भैक्षचर्यां चरन्तः’ (मु. उ. १ । २ । ११)
<http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Mundaka?page=1&id=MD_C01_S02_V11&hl=%E0%A4%AD%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%82%20%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%83>
 ‘संन्यासयोगात्’ (मु. उ. ३ । २ । ६)
<http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Mundaka?page=3&id=MD_C03_S02_V06&hl=%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D>
 इति च ब्रुवन्दर्शयति । >>

<<  j~nAnamAtre yadyapi sarvAshramiNAmadhikAraH, tathApi saMnyAsaniShThaiva
brahmavidyA mokShasAdhanaM na karmasahiteti ‘bhaikShacharyAM charantaH’
(mu. u. 1 | 2 | 11) ‘saMnyAsayogAt’ (mu. u. 3 | 2 | 6) iti cha
bruvandarshayati | >>.

He follows this up there itself with

<< यत्तु गृहस्थेषु ब्रह्मविद्यासम्प्रदायकर्तृत्वादि लिङ्गं न तत्स्थितं
न्यायं बाधितुमुत्सहते ; >>

<< yattu gRRihastheShu brahmavidyAsampradAyakartRRitvAdi li~NgaM na
tatsthitaM nyAyaM  bAdhitumutsahate >>,

He has indeed stated his stand vis a vis instances of gruhasthas like
Janaka, Yajnavalkya etc  attaining jnAna.

Regards

On Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 1:57 AM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On Tue, Apr 9, 2019 at 6:36 PM Akilesh Ayyar via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Namaste Bhaskarji,
> >
> > May I ask how you would interpret the Aitareya introduction excerpts
> that I
> > posted? I would be quite interested to know. Particularly these quotes:
> >
> > *Not so... the constant habit of resorting to any particular house of
> one's
> > own is prompted by desire. When there is no clinging to any particular
> > house of one's own, there follows begging alone, as a matter of
> course...*
> >
> > and
> >
> > *From the fact that a fresh injunction of renunciation, despite its
> > emergence as a matter of course (as in the case of a man of
> illumination),
> > is met with [footnote: In Br. Up. III v. I. etc. -- 'Knowing this very
> > Self, the Brahmanas renounce...and lead a mendicant life."] ,it becomes
> > evident that it is obligatory for the man of illumination.
>
>
> The shruti passage quoted above has been interpreted differently by two
> authorities:
>
> In the Jivanmukti viveka, Sri Vidyaranya takes this passage as authority
> for vidvat sannyasa.  In the gloss to the Brihadaranyaka Bhashya for this
> passage, Sri Anandagiri says 'this is a reference to paroksha jnana.'  I
> had pointed out this remark by Anandagiri ( I think in two places) to
> renowned scholars some years back. Members here may please verify the above
> and give their opinion.
>
> regards
> subrahmanian.v
>
>
>
>
>
>