Liberation and citta vRtti nirodha

[Anand Hudli]

On Tue, 25 Jul 2000 09:59:11 +0200, Charles Wikner <WIKNER at NAC.AC.ZA> wrote:

>On Wed, 19 Jul 2000, Anand Hudli <anandhudli at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
>

>> ananyasAdhanatvAchcha - and, due to there being no other means,
>> nirodhasya- of restraint, na hi - certainly not, AtmaviGYAnasmR^iti-
>                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> santAna- the continuous flow of memories of knowledge of the Self,
>
>Tiny quibble: insert "tat" - AtmaviGYAnatatsmR^itisantAna - knowledge
>of the Self and the continuous flow of memory thereof.
>
 The copy of the bhAShya that I got does not have the "tat.h".

>> vyatirekeNa - different from, chittavR^ittinirodhasya - of the restraint
>>  of the modifications of the mind, sAdhanamasti - is there a means,
>> abhyupagamya- admitting, idaM - this, uktaM - has been stated, na tu -
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> certainly not, brahmaviGYAnavyatirekeNa - different from the knowledge
>> of Brahman, anyamoxasAdhanaM - another means to liberation, avagamyate
>> - is known.
>>
>> Furthermore, there is no other means to even restrain the mind. There
>> is certainly no means to the restraint of the mind different from the
>> continuous flow of memories of knowledge of the Self. This has been
>> stated after admission: certainly there is no means to liberation
>  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> apart from the knowledge of Brahman.
>
>What has been stated/admitted?  Is this referring to an earlier
>point that knowledge does not initiate (mental) activity?

 What Shankara means here is that even if one were to try to restrain
 the mind without knowing the Self, it would be futile. One would have
 to give up argument and admit that there is no means to liberation
 apart from jnAna, following the shAstras that say so, as  Anandagiri
 says here "nAnyaH panthA vidyate jnAnAdeva tu kaivalyamityAdi-
 shAstramanusarannupetya vAdaM tyajati - abhyupagamyeti |"

>
>[...]
>
>> past actions (prArabdha karma's) may have started to yield
>> results and these results might be stronger than the tendency to
>> remember the Self constantly. In such a case, one should take care to
>> be engaged in the upAsana of the Self through recourse to such qualities
>> as dispassion and renunciation.
>
>So the nature of it is not to "do" something (such as restrain
>the mind), but a caution against "doing" (given the conflicting
>natures of Self-knowledge and action).  This does imply that the
>qualities, such as dispassion and renunciation, have previously
>been so deeply ingrained in the aspirant's nature, that they can
>be employed here passively as it were -- without the "doing"!
>Tough call.
>

 This is an intriguing passage indeed. We may have to dig deeper
 by reading what the vArtikakAra has to say here. So far my understanding
 is: the tyAga-vairAgya-Adi qualities that Shankara refers to
 actually indicate the sAdhana-chatuShTaya qualifications that one
 must have in the first place to know the Self! So what is Shankara
 saying here? He is saying that upon knowing the Self, those qualities
 should not be thrown out the window! One should keep cultivating those
 qualities just as one did before the realization. In fact, if we look
 at living examples of jIvanmuktas, such as the revered Swami's of
 Sringeri and others, we see that they stick to a very austere life
 even though they are swimming in the Bliss of the Self! They will
 not go about behaving like us materialist people even though they
 know it does not make any difference what they do!
 But this "should keep up the qualities" will not have the full force
 of an injunction because one has already known the Self. There can be
 no injunction for such a person. It is more like a recommendation.
 Besides, if one behaves recklessly after jnAna, even though there
 is no attachment to the body, the body will nevertheless be subjected
 to the bad results of such actions as long as it is alive.
  Also, one should act so as not to mislead others who may
 still be aspiring for liberation. Krishna points out that even if
 one is a jnAnI, as He Himself is, one should set an example for
 others in the world. All this cannot be a strict injunction again,
 only a recommendation.

Anand

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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