Shraardham

[KrishnaPrasad Govindan]

>From: "B.J. Ganesh prasad" <bjganeshprasad at YAHOO.COM>
>
>Hari om,
>
>In reply, to your question, which is a highly debated one, I can think of
>the following.
>
>Hinduism, bases itself on the Shrutis amd Smrithis. Particularly, Manu
>Smrithi.
>
>Manu, makes it an obligatory duty to perform shraddha on the children of
>the
>deceased. Manu says that by doing so one increases his merit etc.....
>
>Alternatively, we have the Grihya sutras and the shrouta sutras of the
>vedas, which mention about shraddhas. These injunctions, even further
>advocate the performance of a parvani shraddha, for agnihotris. Well, to
>put
>it in simple words, an Ishti. The vedas proclaim, that the shraddhas have
>to
>be performed and have made it into a naimittika karma.
>
>Now for the question, whether one should give all these karmas and
>concentrate on vedanta, which gives liberation from all karmas and mundane
>things.
>
>Bhagavatpada Sri shankaracharya says in his Bhashyas,
>
>Chittasya shuddaye karma, performance of karma, purifies the mind.
>
>since, the vedas proclaim,
>
>jnanadeva tu kaivalyam prapyate yena muchyate, i.e; moksha is through jnana
>alone.... and how do u get jnana ? This is answered by the vedas again,
>
>tametam vedanuvachanena Brahmana vividishanthi
>yagnena daanena tapasa anaashakena....
>
>here, tametam, according to Sayana bhashya means, moksha. Moksha, is
>obtained as a result of jnana, derived from chitta shudhhi, which is
>obtained by performing karma like yajna, daana, tapas etc....
>
>However, it may be wrong to deduce the mimamsa way, that doing karma leads
>to moksha, here karma, is an injunction for chitta shuddi, a primary
>requisite for moksha. Acharyal, in his bhashya further says, so long as one
>does not have an intense desire for liberation, one should perform karma.
>This is echoed in the upanishads andthe bhagavad geetha.
>
>Further, at this point we get a doubt, we all have a desire to get moksha,
>so can we leave karma ?
>
>This is answered by acharyal as that point when men are no longer
>interested
>to dwell amongst their loved ones, earn money or desire wealth, but crave
>only for liberation. A state of sanyasa indeed. This state alone, and not
>Table philosophy regarding the atma, entitles one to leave karma.
>otherwise,
>one is obligated to do them religiously.
>
>iti kshama,
>gp
>
>
>
In B.G 27.1., Arjuna asks:

yE sAstRavidhi-muthsRujya yajanthE sraddhyAnvithA
thEshAm nishtA thu kA Krishna satvamAhO rajasthama

Those who setting aside the ordinances of the scriptures perform sacrifices
with faith - what is their status, O Krishna? Is it Sattva, or Rajas, or
Tamas?

In rest of the chapter, Sri Krishna explains to Arjuna the nature of the
different faiths.

In general, what is good, harmless, done w/o expecting fruit of action etc
are Sattvik.
but specifically, karma setting aside ordinances of scriptures (even though
with faith ?)
is not Sattvik and won't lead to chitta shuddhi. (This is what I understood
from the rest
of the chapter, so please correct me if I am wrong)

There are aspirants who are from non-hindu lineage who want to follow
Advaita.
Are they obligated to do the pre-set list of karmas as prescribed in Manu
smrithi as
a pre-requisite for chitta shuddi or else the doors to liberation is shut
for them?

What happens if an aspirant chooses not do a karma as prescribed in Manu
smrithi ?

Is it possible to do actions (good, harmless, done w/o expecting fruit of
action)that
wd lead to chitta shuddhi even though they are not ordained by the
scriptures?


Om shAnthi.
Krishna Prasad
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