Bhagavad Gita IV.13

[Ravi]

--- Ashish Chandra <ramkisno at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:

> I asked the swamiji how can we discriminate as to what our true karma
> is. He
> said that whatever situation you are in, do your best so as to
> exhaust your
> karma here. When I said "what about Varna and Ashram dharma?", his
> reply
> wasn't quite convincing.

namaste Ashish:

Can you post the svAmiji's reply (if he has not prohibited your from
doing so)?


> 2) Why is there no lateral movement within the Varnas allowed (I told
> him
> that a Jati could switch if it so wished but not an individual. I
> also gave
> him the example of Adi Shankara converting tribes of Balucchis to
> Kshatriyas
> during his travels.)

Can you give me  a pointer to the source of this incident? I do not
remember reading it mAdhava-vidyAraNya's shankara dig vijaya. I might
have missed it. I should read it one more time carefully.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Ravi

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bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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>From ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG Thu Oct 28 20:10:53 1999
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Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 20:10:53 -0400
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From: Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian <ramakris at EROLS.COM>
Subject: Re: aapat sannyasa
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Vivek Anand Ganesan <v_ganesan at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

> > Further more, I would like to know a few things
> > about SannyAsam.
> > a) Since SannyAsam is the "fourth" Ashram, does one
> > automatically
> >    "enter" SannyAsam after the "third" Ashram or is
> > it a voluntary act
> >    which alone entitles one to be a SannyAsin?
> >     The reason I ask is because of the "popular"
> > understanding of the
> >    Ashrams as quarters of one's life.  So, it would
> > seem that the
> > fourth
> >    quarter would follow the third.  But, based on
> > the qualifications
> >    required to "enter" SannyAsam, the above
> > contention seems absurd.

You are absolutely correct. There is no rule that the fourth follows
the third. sannyAsa may be taken up at any point of time, if the right
qualifications are present. The jAbAla is very clear on this. Please
look it up. I also posted this passage a long time back in the list.

> > b) Are there different criterions to "enter"
> > SannyAsam from the
> >    different Ashrams?  Because, the duties of the
> > different Ashrams
> >    vary, do they not?  A BrahmachArin is answerable
> > only to his
> > parents.
> >   But, a grihasthya is also answerable to his wife
> > :-) and his
> > children.
> >   So, is it required to get their permission as
> > well?

Strictly speaking no. The jAbAla says once the correct vairAgya is
reached one may take up sannyAsa, whether or not "duties" have been
discharged. However, usually the premission of the wife/parents is
taken before taking up sannyAsa, due to the structure of society. Even
Sureshvara mentions that the husband takes the permission of the wife,
when describing the procedure for sannyAsa in the bR^ihad-vArtika. I
don't have the verse in memory. I can look it up if there is any
interest.

In Sringeri, the presiding AchArya writes to the parents of the
successor informing them of his intention. Usually, there is no
objection. But in the case of the Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati
Mahaswami, his mother refused to give her consent, because he was the
only child. The Mahaswami reportedly told her that he would become a
sannyAsi anyway. If she gave permission, he'd at least be in Sringeri,
and she could see him often. After that his mother apparently
reluctantly agreed. But, it does seem standard procedure to get
permission from the parents/wife.

Rama

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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