[Advaita-l] Re: what is self-knowledge?

[bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

Sri Ganesh prabhuji wrote :

What is atma gnanam?
We know from sruthi statements that atma or Brahman cannot be known as it
is aprameyam[not an object]. It is aprameyam because it is nirgunam[no
attributes] and hence agocharam[cannot be known by sense organs].

bhaskar :

Yes, this is what shruti-s & shankara siddhAnta advocating in all through
its purports.  Self is not an adventitious thing ( pramANa agOchara &
apramEya) & it is self-evident (svayam siddha).  Shruti saying in clear
terms that brahma jnAna is not like an objective knowledge,  yato vAcho
nivartante, aprApya manasa saha (tai. up.), na tatra chakshurgacchati, na
vAggacchati nO manaH! na vidmO na vijAnImO yathaitadanushishyAt!! (kena
Up.).  But, here one problem triggers in an inquisitive mind, when shruti,
pratyakha, anumAna cannot teach us our svarUpa as such and such thing, how
can we first of all be able to know that there is *something* of that order
??  it gives us an impression that it is merely an inferential statement
sprout out of blind belief in scriptures.  Not so, scriptures elsewhere
says tadviddhi praNipAtEna pariprashnEna sEvaya upadEkshntitE jnAnam
jnAnina tattva darshinaha (gIta), tadvijnAnArtaM sa gurumEvAbhigacchEth
samispANiH shrOtrIyam brahma nishtan (mundaka shruti).  It is asking us to
approach shrOtrIya brahmanIshta guru & question him with humility to gain
ultimate knowledge of our svarUpa.  Shankara in gItA bhAshya says to gain
Atma jnAna the instrument is our manah which is qualified through
shamadamAdhi shatsampatti & AchArya upadEsha (shAstrAchAryOpadEsha
shamadamAdhi samskrutam manaH Atma darshanE karaNam), shankara in sUtra
bhAshya says it is aham pratyaya gOchara.  So, self knowledge is not an
alien theory nor its a blind belief, this knowledge is very much realisable
& its an intuitive knowledge within the  realm of aham pratyaya. manasEmEva
AptavyaM nEha nAnAsti kiNchana is another shruti vAkya can be remembered
here which teaches us through manaH only we should know that there is no
duality whatsoever in svarUpa.

 Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
 bhaskar