[Advaita-l] Ekadashi Questions (Long)

[V Subrahmanian]

Namaste.

This is a typical subject for Swami Vidyaranya's categorisation as ' loka
vAsanA'.  In the 'वासनाक्षयप्रकरणम्’ of the जीवन्मुक्तिविवेकः’, he says:

Quote // The attachment that the races of mankind develop, each in its own
sphere, towards traditional customs and manners of their respective
countries and communities, as well as towards their mother-tongue,
irrespective of the correct or incorrect form of words used and such other
kind of attachment may be broadly cited as examples of this.

......Similarly there is slandering prevalent on a large scale, with
reference to local peculiarities.  The southern BrahmaNa-s upbraid their
northern fellows, well-versed in Vedic lore, as flesh-eaters; the northern
BrahmaNa-s retaliate by finding fault with the southern custom of marrying
the daughter of a maternal uncle and of carrying earthenware in their
travels.

The bahvRcha-s, Rgvedi-s, of the AshvalAyana shAkha look upon the
KANvashAkhaa, yajurvedi-s, as inferior to theirs; while the Vajasaneyin-s,
yajurvedi-s, think otherwise.  Thus, from the learned down to women and
ignorant herdsmen, is found this general tendency to glorify one's own
family, section, relatives, gods and so on, and to belittle those of
others.  It has been said with this in mind:

// 'The pure man is looked upon as a devil, the clever man as presumptuous,
the man of forbearance as weak, the strong man as cruel, the absent-minded
man as a thief, and the handsome man as lewd.  Who can please the world!!'
Also 'there is no expedient within knowledge wherewith one can satisfy all
people.  One's own good should, by all possible means, be looked to.  What
can the myriad-tongued world do?' //
Looking, therefore, upon the vAsanA of public opinion, लोकवासना’ as entirely
impure, books treating of liberation, मोक्षशास्त्रम्, advise the foremost of
yogin-s to treat censure and praise alike.  // Unquote.

The gist of the above is: //One's own good should, by all possible means, be
looked to.  What can the myriad-tongued world do?'//

Regards,
subrahmanian.v

On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 11:27 AM, Siva Senani Nori <sivasenani at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Dear Sri Anand Hudli
>
> One more issue. What happens when one has to perform a SrAddha on ekaadaSI?
> nirNayasindhu says, smell the food; our purohita says vaishNavas are
> karmabhrashTas and will do the upavAsa but we perform the SrAddhA and are in
> turn branded vratabhrashTas by the vaishNavas!
>
> Thanks once again.
>
> Best regards
> Senani
>
>
>
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