[Advaita-l] Knowledge, renunciation and varNASrama rules

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> >The most orthodox SankarAcArya institutions in India have
> > historically recognized those who are born non-dvija males, but are eligible for saMnyAsa.
> 
> This is bad political pressure. I said this before. Not connected to
> tradition but political games. How many non Brahmin Sanyasis became
> Acharya of Sringeri Matha? Zero. Kanchi? Puri? Dwaraka? Badari? How
> many?

Another one of those strawman arguments. First, there was no political pressure about
caste and gender two or three hundred years ago. As I mentioned already, there are
well recognized institutions that are centuries old associated with non-brAhmaNa
communities. 

Second, that a particular woman or a non-dvija man has been recognized within the
parameters of saMnyAsa does not mean that the Sringeri matha or any of the other
advaita mathas will appoint one of them as a Mathadhipati. Social "reform" in the
contemporary sense is not the concern of the advaita mathas. Nevertheless, the
brAhmaNa-centered nature of these premier institutions does not prevent (and has
not prevented in the past) the orthodox Sankaracharyas from recognizing that there
are some who are not born brAhmaNa males, but are eligible for saMnyAsa.

Yours is a "holier than the pope" attitude and if you think all of this is merely playing
politics to survive, you are quite wrong. Before you talk about tradition, please
understand the true tradition behind the institution of saMnyAsa.
 
Regards,
Vidyasankar