Samadhi and deep sleep. (was earlier Advaita Digest)

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- Jagannath Chatterjee <jagchat01 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

[..]

> When one stays in samadhi for more than 21 days
> (many
> would differ here I am sure) the body falls off and
> one merges in the self. Would Sri Shankaracharya
> call
> *that* moksha?
>

One can stay in samadhi for thousands of years, the 21
day limit imposed by Ramakrishna is not correct.

This was discussed in the usenet newsgroup
soc.religion.hindu on 19 Apr 1996 by Giridhar Madras,
who quoted Ramana Maharshi's opinion as differing from
Sri Ramakrishna in this regard. The extract from the
usenet discussion follows:

begin extract-----------
Talks with Ramana, 3rd edition, page 293
Sentences in [] are mine.

Disciple : Ramakrishna says that nirvikalpa samadhi
can not last longer than 21 days. If persisted in, the
person dies. Is it so ?

Ramana : When the prarabdha [karma] is exhausted the
ego is completely dissolved without leaving any trace
behind. This is final liberation. Unless prarabdha is
completely exhausted, the ego will be rising up
in its pure form even in jivanmukta [liberated
person]. I still doubt the statement of the maximum
duration of 21 days. It is said that people
can not live if they past 30 or 40 days. But there are
those who have fasted longer, say a hundred days. It
means there is still prarabdha for them.

[Let us also remember that saints like Giri Bala had
not eaten for nearly 50 years].

Talks with Ramana, 3rd edition, page 432
Sentences in [] are mine.

Disciple : It is said that one remaining in Nirvikalpa
samadhi for 21 days must necessarily give up the
physical body

Ramana : Samadhi means passing beyond dehatma buddhi
and non-identification of the body with the Self is a
foregone conclusion.
        There are said to be persons who have been immersed
in Nirvikalpa Samadhi for a thousand years or more.
        [There are instances from Yoga vasistha, which say
the same thing. Therefore there seems to be support in
Smriti that this 21 day period is not correct.]

I would be interested in seeing Shruti/smriti
references which support this contention of 21 days.
end extract-------------

[..]

> Was moksha the immediate aim of Sri Shankaracharya?
> (I
> think this is related to the earlier paragraph).
>

Shankaracharya says in his brahma suutra bhaashhya
that the aim of the Vedas is moksha.

[..]

> Regards
> Jagannath
>

-Kartik

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