Govindarajan wrote:
>On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Gummuluru Murthy wrote:
>
>> 5. Anand brought up the matter of mumukshutvam as a necessity. I
think
>> every vedanta student is a mumukshu (aspirant of moksha). If he/she
is
>> not a mumukshu, then there is no point in following vedantic studies
and
>> the ego would have forced the jeeva to give up vedanta studies long
ago
>> and would have forced the jeeva to follow the so-called worldly
pleasures.
>> It has to be accepted that every vedanta student is a deeply
committed,
>> sincere aspirant of moksha. Even the aspiration for moksha would die
out
>> in a committed vedantin and perfect vairAgya settles in.
>>
> [...]
> I am not so sure about every student of vedanta being a mumukshu.
> [...]
I thank Govindarajan for his thoughtful reply on this. Adding to
what he said, I would say it is a good idea to find out what
is meant by mumukshhutva in standard advaitic works. One such
definition that is illuminating is:
saMsaarabandhanirmuktiH kathaM me syaat.h kadaa vidhe |
iti yaa sudR^iDhaa buddhirvaktavyaa saa mumukshhutaa ||
O God! How and when shall I become freed from the bonds of
saMsaara (the transmigratory existence of births and deaths
in the phenomenal world)! A strong desire of this kind is called
Mumukshhutaa (or Mumukshhutva).
(aparoxAnubhUti of Shankara)
One thing that follows from this verse is that the aspirant must
recognize that he/she is suffering in this saMsaara or duality or
ajnaana. After recognition of this fact, he/she must aspire to
get freed from such meaningless existence. Another thing that is
brought out is that this aspiration must be of the form a strong
or burning desire (tiivra-ichchhaa) for liberation. Nothing short
of such a burning desire is called mumukshhutva. Govindarajan's
story also illustrates this point well.
Analyzing why such a strong desire is needed, I would say that
because the senses are so strong and can pull even a wise man
towards indiscriminate acts, the desire for liberation must be
equally strong. A story comes to my mind. There was once a person
walking in the forest who felt a little thirsty. He happened to
see a well nearby and tried to find out if he could get some water
from it. But in the process, he slipped and found himself hanging
on desperately to a rock near the top of the well. Below him,
at the bottom of the well, there was no water but some poisonous
serpents hissing and waiting to get their fangs in him. Another
snake had, in the meantime, come from outside the well and was
now close to his face, ready to strike. In this most dangerous
condition, the man saw that there was a beehive just above where
he was hanging. Drops of honey were dripping from the beehive.
But even in such a dangerous situation, when the most prudent thing
to do is to save one's life, the foolish man opened his mouth and
tried to catch a few drops of honey in his mouth to quench his
thirst.
Such is the nature of the strength of the senses. Even until death,
the senses will always pull the mind towards the objects of
sense enjoyment. To counter this strong pull from the senses, is
needed an equally or greater desire for liberation combined with
viveka, vairaagya, and the other qualifications insisted upon by
the AchAryas.
>-
>
>PS: Not quite related, but there were some mention of jnaanaa/
>ajnaana, and other schools of vedanta. In vishishhTaadvaita,
>bhakti is placed supreme, and complete surrender to naaraayanaa is
>considered the best path to Him, and indeed moksha is possible
>for everyone regardless of caste, etc.
>
I was not referring to VishishhTa-advaita there. There are some
other schools which hold that duality (in our words ajnaana) is
eternal, and give up all hope of overcoming it.
Anand
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