[Advaita-l] Pratyavaaya paapam

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, kuntimaddi sadananda wrote:

> In essence I will subscribe paapam or sin depends on one's mental state 
> - for which we use a general term Adhikaaritvam.
>

Someone who kills another in cold blood is a murderer despite whether he 
feels like a murderer or not.  Karma whether punya or papa is action.

And Bhaskar has already mentioned that what the Gita talks about is 
adhikara for karmaphala not karma itself.


> Chitta suddhi comes from Karma yoga and involves yoga of attitude - 
> ultimately yat karoshi yad aShNaasi .. tat kuruShva madarpaNam - 
> whatever you do offer it to me - is the fundamental principle in karma 
> yoga - irrespective what tradition one comes. By Iswaraarpita buddhi and 
> prasaada buddhi, one surrenders results ultimately the agency of action 
> so that one's mind free from any reactions.
>

Right one surrenders results not the actions themselves.  "Whatever you do" 
does not mean "do whatever you like."

> If one understand the essence one adopts it to suite his mental state.
>

You have never really explained what kind of mental state would keep 
someone attached to car and flat, and family and Internet but ready to 
jettison the wishes of that Brahman which he claims to be seeking.


> Arguments that it is the divine wish that you are born in a particular 
> varNa etc and therefore you have to follow these guide lines - will end 
> up the arguments of fate and free-will.

ok.  And?  The whole point of the exercise is to convince the seeker that 
the free-will based on "I want" and "I do" is a delusion.  It actually 
doesn't mean one has to give up the notion of freewill altogether.

> From my understanding there are 
> obligations to the family, to the society since we live in this world - 
> and also mind is conditioned in once brought up.

We are, nearly all of us, brought up with our minds conditioned to serve 
Bhagavan.  How did we escape from that obligation and yet have a 
fatalistic attitude towards obligations to family and society?

> How not to have 
> conflicts in the mind so that one can steer away from all reactions is 
> the essence of karma yoga.  One has to be a karma yogi to purify the 
> mind so that the mind is available for contemplation. If the mind is 
> already available for contemplation - call it as Iswara ichha, then use 
> the mind for Vedanta vichaara.

Ok but that is not relevant to the current topic.  People like Janaka raja 
could contemplate and still go about their duties.

> Fundamental analysis of Shree Shankara is one needs the four fold 
> qualifications for inquiry of Brahman. That is the essence.

Having read the gitabhashya you know full well that fundamental or 
essential or not, Shankaracharya expects non-sannyasis to follow the 
vidhis of the shastras.

> I find our philosophy and Shankara's adhyaasa bhaashya are extremely 
> logical and universally applicable - whether one's mind is conditioned 
> to a particular tradition or not.
>

why just the adhyasabhashya?  If you like logic then you know it is a 
fallacy to only examine the evidence that doesn't contradict your thesis.


> Ultimately one has to adopt it to suite his mental state. Guidance from 
> a teacher is the best.
>
> I am happy with the state of mind that the Lord has blessed me with His 
> infinite compassion. I have no conflicts while I devote all my time in 
> His service to the best of my capacity in the way He is directing me.
>

Seeing how you are reading the Vedanta Paribhasha can you show where in 
that work it says one persons opinion of "the Lords blessing" is a 
pramana?

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>