[Advaita-l] Self-knowledge

[bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com]

praNAms Sri Aditya Varun Chadha prabhuji
Hare Krishna

AVC prabhuji:

well so does Sruti say "tat tvam asi" and "ahaM brahmasmi".

bhaskar :

correct prabhuji..shruti's assertion *tat tvam asi* says you are that
(already) & does not mean you will become like that at some point of
time...Likewise, *ahaM brahmAsmi* says self evident nature of our
svarUpa...and not about the *event* of future happening.

AVC prabhuji:

that Sruti also says *brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati* does not necessarily
mean that
brahmavit is the same as brahmavid variSTha (jIvan mukta).

bhaskar :

Where shankara differentiates between brahmavit & brahmavid variSTha??
Though shankara talks about *jnAna niShTa* somewhere else in his bhAshya,
he does not say that *brahma jnAni* carries the residuals of avidyA...He
says a jignAsu with essential eligibility *vAkyArtha shravaNa jnAna sama
kAle* will realise his svarUpa in its entirety..& he attains complete
vAsanA kshaya & prArabhdha & saNchita kArma phala.

AVC prabhuji:

"being brahman" is always true, while experiencing brahmanhood (for
some time) and being constantly conscious of brahmanhood (jIvan mukta)
can be different things.

bhaskar :

"being brahman" is the ultimate truth is it not??  *experiencing*
brahmanhood implies duality since it presupposes triad i.e. jnAtru, jnEya &
jnAna.And IMHO, being constrantly conscious of brahmanhood is something
strange to me...a brahma jnAni realises he was/is/never will be an embodied
soul and his svarUpa is not an adventious thing to *remain* in that
state...it is self evident (svataH siddhA)..it is not a deliberate attempt
to *remain* in some exalted state like *brahmanhood* it is his own svarUpa
& that He is always...it is his realization of identity and not a conscious
effort to *remain* in an alien state...

AVC prabhuji:

by "bhavati" i understand "hota hai" (doesn't really have an
equivalent in English, would be equivalent to "BEs" like in "goes"),
and by asti (or asmi) means "is" (or "am"). is there any significant
difference I might be missing?

bhaskar :

when shruti assures us *brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati* it means the
realization is spontaneous for uttamAdhikAri..and hope you agree with me it
does not any way mean brahmavit dEha tyAgAnantaraM / kAlAnantaraM brahmaiva
bhavati..hOtA hai here means isi vakth (this very moment)..and not *baad me
Isa hOtA hai* :-)) coz. shankara himself says this elsewhere in his
bhAshya.   Kindly refer Shankara's commentary on tattvamasi in chAndOgya
and shrOtavyO mantavyO nidhidhyAsitavyaH in bruhadAraNyaka.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar