VairAgyam

[Chandran, Nanda (NBC)]

GMurthy writes :
>I beg to differ from that view. Shri Shankara stated clearly in one of
>the bhAshhyAs that the knowledge and information in the vedas is not
>contained in any other source. Vedas are unique in containg the unique
>knowledge. There is no substitute for studying the vedas. Here again,
>I can bring up the reference if required, although it may take a bit
>longer.

Can you please explain what's so unique in the shruti which is not
present in the smritis? If I remember right, there's a saying that
what's not present in the Mahabharatham is not present anywhere else!
IMO, the smritis like the Gita, Brahma Sutras, Yoga Vashista and
Ashtavakra Gita are much more explicit on subjects Advaita Vedanta, than
some of the Upanishads themselves. OK, I accept that Adi Shankara said
that the shruti is indispensable to the sadhana. But considering that he
was a religious leader who undertook the mission of rejuvenating
Sanatana Dharma in Bharath, he might have had quite a few reasons other
than the obvious, for his statement.

If we claim to be sincere adherents of a school which so values honesty
and intellectual integrity, we should not content ourselves by just
seeking refuge in the words of Adi Shankara on a topic which seemingly
defies reason. There are two alternatives - either we totally ignore the
subject as irrelevant or atleast give a shot at analysing why it's so!

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