[Advaita-l] Re: Vivekachudamani vs Bhashyas

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- Vidyasankar Sundaresan <svidyasankar at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> >The author of the VC says that the meditation on the VedAnta
> mahAvAkyas
> >results in GYAna that has not yet eliminated the vAsanas, so there
> is
> >STILL effort to be made in order to obtain mukti!! Does Shankara
> ever
> >say in his PrasthAna trayI BhAshhyas that there is effort to be made
> >AFTER GYAna to obtain mukti?! Never. The upadeshasaahasrii is
> replete
> 
> Check the concluding lines of bRhadAraNyaka bhAshya 1.4.7 -
> 
> yady apy evaM SarIrAbdhakasya karmaNo niyata-phalatvAt
> samyag-jnAna-prAptAv 
> apy avaSyaM-bhAvinI-pravRttir vA.n-manaH-kAyAnAm. labdha-vRtter
> karmaNo 
> balIyastvAt, mukteShvAdi pravRttivat. tena pakShe prAptaM 
> jnAna-pravRtti-daurbalyaM. tasmAd
> tyAga-vairAgyAdi-sAdhana-balAvalambena 
> Atma-vijnAna-smRti-saMtatir niyantavyA bhavati ...
> 
> The gist of the above quotation is, "even after the rise of right
> knowledge 
> (samyag-jnAna), due to the strong effect of prior karmA (balIyastva),
> whose 
> momentum is like that of a released arrow (mukta iShu), and the
> relatively 
> weakness of the newly acquired tendency towards jnAna, it is
> necessary 
> (niyantavyA) to maintain a steady recollection of Self-knowledge 
> (Atma-vijnAna-smRti-saMtati), assisted by sAdhana-s like renunciation
> 
> (tyAga), dispassion (vairAgya) and the like.
> 

Where is Shankara here saying that GYAna is not mukti? He merely says
that more effort is necessary to *maintain* GYAna = mukti. Not that
mukti itself is to be obtained AFTER GYAna. This GYAna = mukti may
require stabilization, indeed Shankara says:

shruti mahAvAkya --> GYAna = mukti (needs stabilization)

Whereas to the author of the VC, GYAna obtained from the mahAvAkyas is
NOT mukti. In other words,

shruti mahAvAkya --> GYAna --> vAsanAxaya --> mukti

There is a clear separation between GYAna and mukti for the author of
the VC, for whom GYAna is NOT mukti. In this regard, the VC rather
feels like the jIvanmuktiviveka of Swami Vidyaranya, where it is said
that AFTER obtaining GYAna, one must strive for mukti! 

-Kartik

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