[Advaita-l] Pre-requisites for brahmajnAnA

[sri parasukhananda nadha]

Dear brother Praveen,

                     It seems you are something misguided with the juglery of technical wording in the vedanta books and also by the common man`s biased views about the vedantha.
I am trying to write something ,which I hope may help you for a better understanding.

                   "Adhato brahma jignyasa" does not mean that one should have completed his studies of Vedas earlier; because the word sounds like Vedantha is the tail part of the vedas. But it is not like that. Vedantha has no connection with the Vedas; but the ultimate goal of the Vedas is Vedantha only. Vedas always preach about the duties of a human being.  Brahmavidya and sanyasa both dwell beyond those duties.  No education is necessary for brahmavidya or sanyasa.

                   Sankara himself has given an interpretation for the above Sutra as Anantaryaardhah, that means consequently thereafter: and also said that, unless one  is equipped with the minimum qualities, he can not understand the guru`s preechings
and achieve good reslts by those Vedantha teachings. Those qualities are numbered in four  essencial pre-requisites They are
1. Viveka a kind of wisdom to distinguish about what is real and what is unreal.
     He must have some knowledge of what actually he wants is?  He must have some       
    realization whether he is after the worldly pleasures like wealth and other comforts
    which are not permanent ; or aspiring to experience the bliss of almighty, which is               permenent and everlasting.
2. The second one is Vairagya--(Iha Aamutra Phala Bhoga) ie., he should have a bent of detached mind from the worldly pleasures
3. The third one is Sama aadi Shadguna Sampatti-- This is all about the decipline of a student.
i. Sama means the control upon his own mind.
ii.Dama means control upon his physical body.
iii.Tithiksha means forbearence for the odds and evens of the nature.
iv.Samaadhana means equanimity of all beings and having a sympathitic mind.
v.Uparathy means indifference with a saakshi type of mind.
vi,shraddha means sincere adherence to the words of guru and sastraas.by word and deed.

4. And finally the Mumuksha, a strong inclination to achieve the complete liberation.
                 
             All the above four qualities are essencial for any kind of education. Especially for BrahmaVidya it will not be otherwise.

              With regards to Sanyasa, there is a saying--that we should not aspire Sanyasa or death nor should we be afraid of those two.  In hindu dharma no where it is said that Sabyasa is an essenciality for every one.  We call Sanyasa is thureeya ashram. It is just similar to thureeya avastha which is no where but avastha traya bhava abhava sakshi chaitanyah.  In the same way Sanyasa also is the Samasti of the other three Aashramas, brahmacharya, grihastha,and vanaprastha.  It is just leaving the small family and accepting the large universal family. 

            

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 praveen.r.bhat at exgate.tek.com wrote :
>praNAm,
>
>ShankarA mentions, in the upadeSha sahasri, the
>pre-requisites/qualifications of a person
>before receiving brahmajnAna from a guru. (I think these are also seen in
>his brahma sUtra
>BhAShya on athAto brahmajijnAsA, and vivekaChUDAmaNi on approaching the
>guru). Most
>commonly stated among these is one who has completed his studies of vedAs
>earlier and
>is moving towards sanyAsa.
>
>Please correct me if I'm wrong in the above understanding of ShankarA's
>bhAshyAs.
>
>Now, I've two questions (may I add, in today's age):
>(i) if a brAhmaNa hasn't studied vedAs, would it be *really* wrong to learn
>vedAnta?
>
>This thought comes from ShankarA's argument on tatvamasi towards the end of
>upadeSha
>sahasri, wherein he says that just by listening to the mahAvAkyAs, one
>doesn't get brahmajnAna,
>unless one has undergone all the pre-requisites in earlier lives. Similarly,
>is it also possible
>that if a brAhmaNa has not been able to study vedAs for various reasons and
>is very keen to
>study vedAnta, he may have studied vedAs in earlier lives?
>
>(ii) is sanyAsa a pre-requisite for brahmajnAnA? Would it mean joining an
>established maTh
>and being initiated into sanyAsa?
>
>jai bajranga bali,
>--praveeN
>/* Lead me to that Kingdom of Thine Where there is no pleasure of union
>Nor displeasure of separation Where the self is in eternal happiness.
>Thou alone can thither lead the ailing soul */
>
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