Jainism and Hinduism (actually Vaishnavism)

[Shrisha Rao]

Jaldhar Vyas wrote:

> Well anyone who goes that far, has to contend with the undeniable fact
> that all Vedic philosophies posit a Supreme Being whether personal or
> impersonal.  Whereas in Jainism, all those free Jivas out there are
> floating around completely independently.  That seems to be a pretty huge
> difference to me.

Could be, but Zydenbos's reasoning is along the lines of drawing
parallels based on similarities in special features of each doctrine.
A detailed discussion of this issue does not belong here, so I will
mention just one.  For instance, he says, the status of memory as a
source of valid knowledge is accepted by the Jains and also by Madhva,
but by no one else in the Vedantic community.

It is not difficult to see why this reasoning is not adequate; the
dots don't connect properly to form the total picture presented (and
some aren't even dots at all).  For one thing, while certainly
Shankara and other Vedantins have no particular use for memory as a
valid source of cognition *in the ultimate sense*, the favoring of
memory as a pramANa can be seen in the Bhagavad Gita
(`smR^itibhramshAd.h buddhinAsho', `mattaH smR^itirj~nAnaM apohanaM
cha', `rAjan.h samsmR^itya samsmR^itya', etc.), as well as in
Shankara's comm. thereon; take for example his statements re BG XV-15,
which is read to mean that Krishna causes the exact knowledge of
memory in the pious and lapses of memory in the sinful:

  ataH mattaH AtmanaH sarvaprANinAM smR^itiH j~nAnaM tadapohanaM
  apagamanaM cha, yeshhAM yathA puNyakarmiNAM puNyakarmAnurodhena
  j~nAnasmR^itI bhavataH, tathA pApakarmiNAM pApakarmAnurUpeNa
  smR^itij~nAnayoH apohanaM cha apAyanaM apagamanaM cha  | ... etc.

Thus, the status of memory cannot be considered a Jaina influence,
unless one posits that it was an influence on the Bhagavad Gita also;
further, a source vaguely cited by Madhva (`iti shruteshcha') to
affirm the status of memory has been traced by me to the Black Yajur
Veda, so there is Vedic attestation as well.

Other arguments in this matter don't hold up particularly well either.

Regards,

Shrisha Rao

> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
>From ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG Thu Jul 15 15:19:21 1999
Message-Id: <THU.15.JUL.1999.151921.0000.ADVAITAL at LISTS.ADVAITAVEDANTA.ORG>
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 15:19:21 +0000
Reply-To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG>
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG>
From: Ravi <miinalochanii at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Translation of Maata Annapoorna shloka
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

namaste Jaldhar,

Thanks some informative points. About the last two verse, whether
authentic or not, it is quite often used and quoted. Especially asking
pArvatI devI the great bhikSha of jnAnam and vairAgyam.

> varaabhayakaree
>
> Oh giver of the gift of fearlessness!
>
> (?) I'm not sure I've got that right.  Those who know Her are never
> afraid.
>

Here it means (i think), ambaaL shows both vara and abhaya mudra-s.
varam is bestowing boons, fulfilling the wish of the devotees and
abhayam is bestowing them fearlessness. Among most fears, fear of death
and uncertainity after is very horrifying. ambaaL graciously bestowing
the abhaya mudra, says "My child, Fear not, I will take care of you".

Not always ambaaL explicitly shows these mudra-s. Refer to verse 4 of
saundaryalaharI. In the form mInAkShI (madurai), kAmAkShI (kAnchi),
ambaaL does not show these mudras explicitly. But Her lotus feet grant
these things to the devotees (vide verse 4). This is one aspect
distinguishes (again according to verse 4) from other devata-s.



>
> Annapurna Mata is the shakti of Vishwanatha Mahadeva, one of the
> jyotirlingas and the presiding Deity of Kashi.  Through their divine
> presence, Kashi is one of the seven Mokshapuris.
>

I was under the impression that kAshi vishAlAkShI is the consort of
vishveshvara.

Thanks.

with regards,
Ravi
AUM shrImAtre namaH


Note: Verse 4

tvadanyaH paaNibhyaamabhayavarado daivatagaNaH
   tvamekaa naivaasi prakaTitavaraabhiityabhinayaa .
bhayaat.h traatuM daatuM phalamapi ca vaaMchaasamadhikaM
   sharaNye lokaanaaM tava hi caraNaaveva nipuNau .. 4..




===
--
Ravi <miinalochanii at yahoo.com>
miinalochanii paashamochanii shive paahi shive paahi
http:/www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/7587/meenakshi/
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