[Advaita-l] Knowledge, renunciation and varNASrama rules

[Venkatesh Murthy]

On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 11:44 PM, Vidyasankar Sundaresan
<svidyasankar at hotmail.com> wrote:
> I will repeat my quotation from sUtrabhAshya 3.4.20, as regards jAbAla
> Sruti. Sankara bhagavatpAda says, "pRthag vidhAnAd anadhikRtAnAM".
> The word "anadhikRta" here refers to those who do not have requisite
> adhikAra for various vaidika karmA-s, but the related vidhAna pertains
> to those who have the requisite vairAgya for renunciation. He does not
> restrict its application to some anadhikRta-s and exclude others from
> its purview. The Sruti (most powerful) and its interpretation through
> the ages is clear enough. Adi Sankara bhagavatpAda knew exactly
> what he was writing when he quoted this and his successors have
> known exactly what it meant over the centuries.
>

Namaste Sri Vidyasankar

IMHO you are not correct in interpreting Adi Sankara's saying. He
never says Sudras and Stris having Vairagya can take Sanyasa  in 3
4.20 . This is your own saying. The question is If he wanted them to
be eligible to Sanyasa he had good chance in 3 4.20. But he never said
Sudras any where in 3 4.20. Why ?

Moreover in 1 3.34 he says Sudro Yajne Anavakliptaha the Sudra is not
fit to do Yajnas. In same sentence he says Vidyayam Api
Anavakliptatvam Dyotayati. Sudra is not fit for Vidya also. Nyayasya
Sadharanatvat.  Because the same logic to not allow Sudra to do Yajna
and not allow him to get Vidya. He does not have sacred thread. With
sacred thread only Brahmin gets right to do Yajnas. Or he can straight
away go from Brahmacharya to Sanyasa to get Vidya. in 3 4.20 Adi
Sankara is saying other Brahmins who have sacred thread but not
performing Yajnas can take Sanyasa. Your quick conclusion putting
Sudras and Stris in same group with other Brahmins is not correct.

Kindly explain your position.


> You are, of course, welcome to your own conclusions of what you deem
> unfit and wrong. If vidura and sulabhA were to stand in front of you, I
> suppose you would hold one's Sudra birth and the other's gender against
> them. The true jijnAsu would do much better in learning from them.
>

I do not like pride. I am not proud. That is not my intention. I did
not create Varnas and Asramas. But Varnasrama is God's creation. He
says Chaturvarnyam Maya Srushtam. If  someone does not like it means
he does not like God's creation.

Regards

-Venkatesh

>
> Regards,
> Vidyasankar
>
> ps. There is no SAnkara bhAshya on the jAbAlopanishat. Instead, there is
> a citation of the jAbAlopanishat in the brahmasUtra bhAshya and in the
> bhagavad gItA bhAshya. I would expect that there are citations from the
> jAbAla Sruti in other upanishad bhAshya-s as well.
>
>
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