[Advaita-l] Sankara on sannyAsa for Steadiness in GYAna (was Re: Jivanmukti - Jnana plus Sannyasa pt 5)

[Anbu sivam2]

VedanthakO braahmanasyaath kshathriyO vijayeebhavEth
vaisyO dhanasamruddhasyaath soodhras sukhmavaapnuyaath.

In order to pursue gnana maarga of vedaantha the abandonment of karma is a
pre-requisite to which only the Brahmin is qualified.  Therefore only the
brahmin can enter the sanyaasa aasrama that requires the abandonment of
karmas.

Moksha is an entitlement of all irrespective of varna and bhagavan has
prescribed the other maargas such as karma, yoga and bhakthi.  Karma does
not mean vedic karma alone that the brahmins perform.  It means all karmas
by all varnas.

When Sankara says that only by Gnana can one attain Moksha he is addressing
the Brahmins and not other varnas.

On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:29 AM, S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:

> --- On Thu, 10/8/09, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com> wrote:
>
> > In the same vein, Shankara makes his
> > position clear in the BSB as well :
> > “And then it has to be considered as to whether that
> > steadfastness is
> > meant for anyone
> > belonging to any one of the four stages of life or to the
> > MONK
> > ALONE?.....the conclusion will be that the MONK ALONE can
> > be STEADFAST in
> > BRAHMAN..
> >
> > praNAms Sri Shyam prabhuji
> > Hare Krishna
> >
> > which sUtra bhAshya you are giving here??
>
> It is from Sankara's Brahma sUtra bhAShya 3.4.20:
>
>  atra uchyate -
>
>  brahmasaMstha iti hi brahmaNi parisamAptirananyavyaapaarataaruupaM
>  tannishhThatvamabhidhIyate . tachcha trayANAmAshramANAM na saMbhavati .
>  svaashramavihitakarmAnanushhThaane pratyavaayashravaNAt.h .
>  parivrAjakasya tu sarvakarmasaMnyAsAtapratyavAyo na
>  saMbhavatyananushhThaananimittaH .
>
>
>  "Reply: Steadiness in Brahman (brahma-saMstha) is to be
>  completely absorbed in Brahman (brahmaNi parisamAptiH),
>  with no other occupation (na-anya-vyaapaara) but to be
>  established in THAT (tan-nishhThatvam). THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE
>  (na saMbhavati) FOR THOSE IN THE FIRST THREE ASHRAMAS
>  (trayANAmAshramANAM). For by giving up one's vocation,
>  one commits sin. It is possible for the SANNYASI ALONE
>  (parivrAjakasya tu) to give up all karma (sarvakarmasaMnyAsAt)
>  and yet commit no sin."
>
>
> It is plenty obvious that according to Sankara, STEADINESS IN BRAHMAN
> (brahma-saMstha) is possible ONLY in the sannyAsa-Ashrama, and NOT in the
> other three Ashramas!
>
> This is exactly why svAmi VidyAraNya also says that one who has attained to
> BrahmaGYAna in the householder stage must take up vidvat-sannyAsa to attain
> steadiness in GYAna (sthita-praGYa or jIvanmukta).
>
> > Kindly let
> > me know the adhyAya,
> > pAda, adhikaraNa & sUtra Nos. please.  So that I
> > shall also have a look at
> > it.
> >
>
> I hope your "taking a look at it" will not result in disproving Sankara :-)
>
> It is immensely clear to all sensible people that Sankara himself declares
> that sannyAsa is required for steadiness in GYAna in his BSB 3.4.20.
>
> Regards,
> Kartik
>
>
>
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