[Advaita-l] ***UNCHECKED*** Re: Difficulty with Akhandakara Vrtti

Aurobind Padiyath aurobind.padiyath at gmail.com
Tue Jun 23 03:16:46 CDT 2015


Sri Chandramouliji,
I do not want to dispute what you quoted and establish my views against
such knowledgeable masters.
A vritti for me is in the vyavaharika level and result of mental activity.
Having said that how can an activity which has limitations of reach
(space)and limited validity in time can be called Akhanda?
Mandukya refers to the Akhanda Aakara vritti in a totally different name
viz. Amanibhava meaning a state or existence of "No mind".

When the Guru tells an apt Shishya "Tat tvam asi " all his vritti settles
like the dropping of kataka fruit in a muddy water. Swami Chinmayanandaji
used to give a very down to earth example of a purgative removing all your
torture of indigestible food and related trauma and leaving you in the
happiness of your own nature. The indigestible food are the vritti that we
have accumulated and the expunged state is the freedom and fullness of your
own nature.
The closest vritti which you can say Akhandaakara is for one who meditates
on Aakasha as Brahman which is explained in the beginning of Chandogyam.
There the vritti that Brahman will be Akhanda since you can't bifurcate the
Aakasha,  but that is not the truth. Aakasha is not Brahman. And your
vritti will be of Aakasha.

Pranams.

Aurobind Padiyath
On 23 Jun 2015 13:20, "H S Chandramouli" <hschandramouli at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Sri Aurobindo Padiyath,
>
>
>
> I draw your attention to the following statements made by you earlier.
>
>
>
> << "akhandakara vritti"
> Akhanda meaning unbroken, Akara meaning (here) Swaroopa,  Vritti (here)
> meaning continues,  (not thoughts). >>
>
>
>
>  and
>
>
>
> << It is called a
> vritti as a misnomer due to the absence of a better word. >>.
>
>
>
> I am citing here its usage by one of the earliest authors Sri Sadanada
> Yogi in his work “ Vedanta Sara “ , a widely acclaimed and authoritative
> Vedantic work . In statement 171 it states , inter alia ,
>
>
>
> << …….akhanda-aakaara-kaaritaa chittavrittih udeti >> translated as << ……an
> akhandakara mental vritti ( thought )  is born >> ( translation into
> English is mine from the kannada translation by Swami Harshananda  ) .
>
>
>
> Note that “ chitta vrittih udeti “ is specifically stated leaving no
> doubts about the  meaning of the word “ vritti “. It is intended to mean “
> thought “ only and is quite appropriate in this context . Concerning “
> akhandakara “ , based on the brief footnotes given by Swami Harshananda in
> his kannada translation for statement 171, I am elaborating on its meaning.
> When the Guru pronounces the Maha Vakya “ tatvamasi “ , the Shabda produces
> a chitta vritti which has for its “ object “ the meaning of the Shabda “
> tatvmasi “ . The Shishya , who has already understood from the Guru the
> meaning of the terms “ tat “ and “tvam “ , understands the meaning of the
> Maha Vakya in accordance with its “ akhandartha “ as << I am Brahman >> (
> and not according to the commonly accepted samsargartha or bhedartha as
> proposed by Purvapakshins and rejected by Advaitins ) . This understanding
> thus forms the “ object” for the vritti. Hence , similar to the terms “
> ghatakara vritti “  or “ patakara vritti “ , the vritti in this case is
> termed “ akhandakara vritti “ .
>
>
>
> Hence in the context in which the author has employed it, there does not
> appear to be anything wrong in the appropriateness of the term “
> akhandakara vritti “ . You have principally referred to the nature of the
> knowledge gained through subsequent Realization  as the context and
> dismissed its usage as inappropriate which , I respectfully submit , is not
> warranted
>
>
>
> Pranams and Regards
>
> On Sun, Jun 21, 2015 at 6:05 PM, Aurobind Padiyath via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> Hari Om,
>> "akhandakara vritti"
>> Akhanda meaning unbroken, Akara meaning (here) Swaroopa,  Vritti (here)
>> meaning continues,  (not thoughts).
>> So, that continuous Swaroopa avastha which displaced the earlier wave like
>> thoughts of vishaya which were arising and subsiding including that of
>> deep
>> sleep like state where visheshvijnana absence is felt, because even deep
>> sleep
>> is not continuous, is the true state of akhandakara vritti. It is called a
>> vritti as a misnomer due to the absence of a better word.
>>
>> Hari om!!!
>>
>> Aurobind Padiyath
>>
>>
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