[Advaita-l] Self-knowledge

[S.N. Sastri]

Self-knowledge.

Dear Shri Amuthan,
I find support for your view that the sattvApatti stage is not jIvanmukti in
Swami Chandrasekhara Bharati's commentary on VivekacUDAmaNi, Slokas 2 and
454. Under Sloka 454 he says that brahmavidvara,  is a sthitapraj~na. This
is the fifth stage, asamsakti. Brahmavits (in the sense in which it is used
in yogavAsishTa) are those like yAj~navalkya who have taken sannyAsa for the
fruition of their j~nAna. In this view the fifth stage of asamsakti is
jIvanmukti. The sixth and seventh stages are only grades or divisions of
jIvanmukti. SrI Sankara himself does not make any such distinction anywhere.
But asamsakti being nothing but non-attachment, it is already included in
sAdhanacatushTaya. Only a person who has acquired these four preliminary
qualifications can attain self-realization and become a jIvanmukta. The word
'brahmavit' as used in the upanishads and by Sankara clearly means one who
has realized brahman and so is a jIvanmukta. (brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati).
Thus, even though it is the fifth stage that is jIvanmukti according to
yogavAsishTa, there is no need for a further special knowledge to arise
after the destruction of avidyA, because destruction of avidya can take
place only for a person who has acquired total non-attachment.
It is seen that the word 'brahmavit' is used in different senses in the
upanishads and yogavAsishTa.It is this that creates confusion.
S.N.Sastri