Varna and one more

[Vaidya Sundaram]

namaskaram.

> The key word is 'closer'. There can be no 'close' or
> 'nearness' to that which is everywhere. The Isha
> Upanishad is clear on this as is much else. Shankara
> is also very clear on the place of action and words
> (thoughts) and that they 'fall away from the Self.

 One point I have is that we must distinguish between two concepts -
one of vyavaharika, and one of paramartika - mixing them leads to a lot
of confusion ... adhikara and svadharma are at the level of
vyavaharika. And these ONLY enable one to get to the next level - so,
it would not be correct (I think) to bring in the point about "IT being
everywhere" ... yes it is everywhere, but we don't actually **realize**
it right ??

> I am sure that you know how Shankara replies and then
> he ends with his hymn:
> 'I am Thy Servant when I am conscious of myself as the
> body.  I am Thy Part, O Three-eyed one, when the
> awareness of Jiva dawns on me. And when Atman
> consciousness becomes established, I recognise myself
> as one with Thee. Such indeed is the teaching of all
> scriptures.

 Shankara here has clearly defined three separate conditions... Look at
these as three "If - then" statements:
1) If one is conscious of himself as a body, then he is a servant -
meaning, there are duties to be performed, whether one likes it not.
2) If one is conscious of only the atman as separate from the body,
then one is still distinct from the paramatma since he is only a "part
of the paramatma.
3) If one sees nothing eles, then ?? there can be nothing for "then" in
this case since, a "then" presupposes a distction is lost!!

In this discussion, we are all in stage 1 ...

bhava shankara desikame sharaNam
Vaidya.


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