[Advaita-l] Functions of the mind

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Namaste Kameswaraji,

I'm replying only to your query since your response without that context
would be at a tangent...


On Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 5:42 AM KAMESWARARAO MULA <kamesh_ccmb at yahoo.co.in>
wrote:

>
>                                                   Happy to discuss again
> with your logical analysis on the statement:
>
> *to show that karaNa = karma won't lead to mukti (directly)."*
>
>
> I am not clear with your saying that KaraNa Karma won't lead to mukti
> (directly),
>
First, karma and dharma are interchangeable in the context of orthodoxy.
Further, it can be seen in the Bhagavad Gita that, that karma, varNAshrama
karma, means karmayoga, which is what I meant by not leading to mukti by
the word "directly" in parenthesis earlier. However, it would be foolish
for anyone to set aside karma that directly leads to chittashuddhi, a
pre-requiste for jnAna, the latter being the direct means to mokSha. Please
refer to bhAShya on BG 3.3 for details.



> Please elaborate using sastra on this so that we have clear understanding
> on the functions of the Mind & its Transcdance.
>

There is no elaboration needed, I suppose. After the above clarification,
this is very fundamental in all Advaita Vedanta works: karma leads to
chittashuddhi, which makes jnAna possible, transcending mind too, resulting
in mukti. To sum up in other words, karma = pUrvamImAMsaka's varNAshrama
dharma cannot lead to mukti directly, but indirectly, done with
IshvarArpaNa-buddhi and prasAda-buddhi, karma = karmayoga causes
chittashuddhi for jnAna to arise during shravaNa, and thereby leads to
mukti.

Finally, I use *only* shAstra; at least I try!

gurupAdukAbhyAm,
--Praveen R. Bhat
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