[Advaita-l] Some question on Adwaita Vedanta

[srikanta]

Pranams.

This is with reference to the discussion on Adwaita and the related topics
particularly about two Emails on the ISKCON,Gaudia panth and Vaishnavas in
particular.This blasphemy on Shankara that he is a praccanna Bauddha
started from the times of Ramanuja down to Madhwacharya.It is because in
the Noumenon Adwaitins do not hold that Brahman(paramatma) and the
Jivatma(individual self) are separate just as Ramanuja and Madwacharya
hold.There is scope for Personal God or Ishwara in the Absolute
sense.Hence they call Shankara and Adwaitins as
atheists(nastikas).Ramanuja in his Sribhashya has only raised purvapaksha
on the Adwaita,but has not cared to address his arguments on the different
schools like Sankhya,Nyaya,Jaina,Bauddha etc,just as Shankara has done
elaborately in his Brahmasutra bhashya.If one has carefully followed
Shankara Bhashya and Sri Bhashya one can clearly discern that Ramanuja's
arguments against Shankara are hollow and just a prattle.Ramanuja's
arguments on Adwaita that all sruthis are vishesha only and there are no
Nirvishesha sruthi shows the extent of his animosity towareds Shankara and
that the Mahavakya,Satyam,Jnanam and Anandam Brahma indicates mere Gunas
and that there are no Nirguna object or Sruthi indicates a closed mind.In
that,Ramanuja is worse than Meemamsakas like Kumarila Bhatta or Prabhakara
Mishra and we can see his haste in concuding his arguments against
Adwaita.That Vishishtadwaita and Dwaita have no scriptural sanction is
amply clear from the Sruthis themselves.There is no stuff  and maturity in
both these schools

Further regarding the Vaikhanasa sampradaya and the Pacharatra
sampradaya,Ramanuja tried to introduce Pancharatra in the Puri Jagannatha
trmple and many times he was thrown many Yojanas out by Lord Jagannatha
himself.Vaikhanasa is much older than Pancharatra sampradaya.As far as Sri
Chaitanya and other cults are concerned many organisations were
established based on the hotch-potch of Vaishnavism and ISCKON is one such
organisation.
Even Sri Chaitanya and Gaudiya panth followers,much lates Prabhpadaswami
Bhakthi vedanta continue to use the word,"Maya"in their siddhantas.I has
been widely acknowledged that Shankaracharya in his bhashyas use the
word"Vishnu" with a wider connotation than the followers of these
cults.Madhusudhana saraswathi came at a time when the whole schools of
Philosophy was in turmoil,so also Vidyaranya.But,none of them used the
term,"Vishnu" in the sense it was distorted by the so called Vaishnavas.By
the term "Vishnu" all Adwaitins mean that it is "Brahman",and not in a
limited sense.For the layman,Shankara allowed "SagunaBrahman"(Brahman with
Maya as Shakthi)for worshippers as Upasanasrithas.In the olden days only
Adwaita was recognised by the term,"Vedanta".
Bhava Shankara Deshika me sharanam.                  N.Srikanta.