[Advaita-l] How to approach Sankara's Gita Bhasya?,

[M. S. Ravisankar]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Srikrishna Ghadiyaram [mailto:srikrishna_ghadiyaram at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 1:08 PM
> To: ravi at ambaa.org; A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] How to approach Sankara's Gita Bhasya?,
>
>
> hariH Om !!
>
> --- Ravi <ravi at ambaa.org> wrote:
> > 3. The books by gambhiraananda and krishna warrier
> > are both good books.
> > I have the latter. But there in one key to
> > understand giita from the
> > point of advaita-vedaanta. shankara makes it clear
> > in the preface and
> > you should keep this in mind as you read. If not,
> > shankara's position
> > will not make sense to you.  This key is: vedic
> > dharma is two-fold --
> > pravrtti and nivrtii maarga. The adherent of these
> > two are different.
> > That is these cannot be practised simulataneously.
> > The qualifications
> > or adhikaari laxanam for these classes are so
> > different. Hence, you
> > should understand what is said to whom. Not confuse
> > one with another.
>
> I have listened to Svami Ranganathananda of
> Ramakrishna Mission talk about this subject, and he
> talks at length saying that this is the wrong
> interpretation of Sankara's words. He also uses the
> same Sankara's commentary word by word and no where it
> seems to say that these two are separate paths. To
> some extent he sounds to say that from pravritti man
> grows to nivritti; not as a different path.
>

My posting is based on the introduction shankara. Please see
http://www.escribe.com/religion/advaita/m5194.html for a translation.
My emphasis was that they cannot be practised simultaneously. Original text
is available in gita supersite and also in Vidya's second round posting.  My
comments were also based on the commentary of shankara on
iishaavasypanishad.

Also I added that "pravrtti maarga followed as per the guidelines of
bhagavaan,
will either prepare the disciple to undertake nivrtti maarga  or lead
him directly to brahma loka and then to krama mukti (gradual
liberation)." (see http://www.escribe.com/religion/advaita/m14532.html).
Hence, I agree that pravrtti maarga (Lord krishna gives how that has to be
observed, such as via saattvika tyaaga etc.) prepares one for nivrtti
maarga.  But one has to give scope there for krama mukti also.

Adherent of these two are different because, once one starts following
nivrrti maarga (the same person) he/she ceases to follow pravrtti maarga.

My 2c.

Ravi