Jivan Mukti and Advaita

[Ashish Chandra]

>Ashish Chandra <ramkisno at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> >Namaste All,
> >
> >Some time back, I read a post here that said that Jivan Mukti is
>*essential*
> >for Advaitam. Could someone please post whether this has a scriptural
>basis
> >(did Adi Shankaracharya comment on this).
>
>The two basic scriptural references are tasya tAvad eva ciram (chAndogya)
>and brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati or a variant of this (numerous sources).
>The
>basic philosophical issue involved is one of death. For what reason should
>physical death be considered superior to the immediate, plenary experience
>(anubhava) of Brahman? The Advaita answer is that there is none, so that
>the possibility of Jivanmukti follows. And from a purely pragmatic
>perspective, it is only if there is someone alive who knows Brahman can
>that
>knowledge of Brahman be transmitted. Whether one considers it "essential"
>or not, Jivanmukti is certainly not impossible.
>
>Vidyasankar
>

Namaste All,

Could you please translate the Sanskrit verses.

In Autobiography of a Yogi, Sri Paramhansa Yogananda has dedicated an entire
chapter http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/chap43/chap43.html to a
discourse by his deceased Guru about the three planes of existence of the
Jiva. I am also not clear as to why you chose to compare whether death was
better or a realization of Brahman in this life. AFAIK, Advaitam teaches the
unity of Jiva and Brahma. By death, we cannot mean that the Jiva "dies" and
hence the Mukti of the Jiva should logically be possible in whatever form
the Jiva takes after discarding the previous body. Also, since it is Brahman
that inspires this Mukti, why should it be necessary that there be someone
alive to transmit the knowledge of Brahman?

I guess what I am asking is whether Jivan Mukti is essential in Advaitam, as
I read some time ago.

Dhanyavad
ashish

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