Forwarded message: Jivanmukti as per Advaita-Vedanta FAQ

[Sankaran Kartik Jayanarayanan]

On Sat, 18 Mar 2000, Vidyasankar Sundaresan wrote:

[..]

> The one who sees no multiplicity at all is venerated as the highest jnAnI.
> What about one who is convinced of the truth of non-duality, either because
> of intellectual conviction, or faith in his guru's teaching, or faith in
> scripture, or a combination of the above? However, such a person may not
> yet literally see non-duality on his own. Is he also not some kind of a
> jnAnI? Is he also not englightened, in the ordinary sense of the term? It
> is for such a person that practices for the regulation of the mind are
> described.
>

A person who is well-versed in the shAstras may not necessarily know the
Self as-it-is, and could definitely feel pain, but I believe Apastamba was
not referring to such a one.

Apastamba says, "Abandoning truth and untruth, the Vedas, etc. he shall
seek the Self. Some say that he obtains salvation on acquiring knowledge.
But this view is false..."

Note that the saMnyAsin has already abandoned truth, untruth and the
Vedas prior to seeking the Self. When he obtains knowledge, it must be
knowledge *of the Self*, since the knowledge of the shAstras has been
altogether renounced. Apastamba contends that there is still a possibility
that such a knower of the Self could feel pain!

Also, Haradatta quotes GItA 4.37, where "GYAna" most definitely means
"Atma-GYAna" and not "shAstra-GYAna."

> Vidyasankar
>

-Kartik

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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