Dvaita and Sophistry - Part 3(Inherent natures of jivas)

[Shrisha Rao]

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003, kalyan chakravarthy wrote:

> Namaskaaram,

> >That amounts to equating mR^ityu with andhaM tamas, which is unsupported
> >as the latter follows the former.  That death can be crossed over does not
> >automatically imply that andhaM tamas can be crossed over as well.
>
> There is nothing inherently wrong in saying that mR^ityu(or more importantly
> being under the control of mR^ityu) is equivalent to andhaM tamas. For in
> the katha upanishad it is said, *mR^ityoh sa mR^ityum gachchhati*(KU 2.4.)

I would accept that (not necessarily that it is correct, but that it is
classical Advaitic doctrine) if it were so stated by Sri Sankara or his
commentators, but to my knowledge such an identification is not made by
them.

> One who sees multiplicity here goes from death to death. Elsewhere in KU
> Yama also says that deluded people come under his sway again and again.(Note
> that there is no mention of eternal hell here.)

`mR^ityoH sa mR^ityuM Apnoti/gachchhati' does not mean "goes from death to
death," and is not so read by anyone to my knowledge.  It means "upon
death, he obtains/goes to death."  The second "death" which is mentioned
applies to one who is already dead in the standard sense, and is thus
certainly different from the usual death.

We also have other evidence, e.g., that of the Bhagavad Gita, to assure us
that realized souls obtain liberation after death -- their death is not
equivalent to andhaM tamas by any means.  Likewise, even the evidence of
Nachiketas, who obtained the highest Vedantic teaching upon his death,
assures us of the same fact.  In fact, the 'Gita specifically says
(VIII-6/7) that the person's attitude at the time of death determines
his/her status in the hereafter, and that one who is constantly applied to
Krishna (and thus has the right attitude at the time of passing) will
doubtless reach Him.  Therefore, it is incorrect to identify death with
andhaM tamas.

Regards,

Shrisha Rao

> Kalyan