[Advaita-l] Did Sankara have non-brahmin disciples?

[chetan nagaraja]

Dear All,
      I feel that in one way Sri Venkatesh is right, because Brahmana is not
by birth but by virtue. " Brahmam Jananti iti Brahmanaha - One ho knows
Brahman is a Brahmana" . In this way the Chandala can also be a Brahmana.
Therefore, I feel the very question "Whether Shankara had Non Brahmin
disciples is irrelevant" - As in this case every disciple would be in the
search of becoming a Brahmana.

regards
Chetan

On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 9:22 AM, <drdbharadwaj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Sri Venkatesh,
>
> You might be right - one might be right - in saying that it is possible
> only by an intelligent mind to understand Advaita, depending on what you
> mean by 'intelligence' and 'understanding'.
>
> May be you meant  by  'intelligence', the Buddhi, & meant  appreciation by
> understanding... and therefore  you are right in that
> claim.
>
> But still, there is a dosha.  You seem to proceed as if it established by
> you, beyond all possibility of any doubt that only brahnanas can hope to
> have that kind of Buddhi and the right  appreciation of Advaita!!
>
> We, some of us, question this premise that you not only  have taken  for
> granted but also seem to be unaware that it needs to be established.
>
> Sir, pause, take the trouble to establish your premise before you expect
> any force of truth in your 'conclusion'.
>
> Pranam
>
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>
> Sender: advaita-l-bounces at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
> Date: Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:21:13
> To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta<
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> Reply-To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
>        <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Did Sankara have non-brahmin disciples?
>
> Sankara Digvijaya says the low born hunter of Manisha Panchakam was
> God Siva not a man. Siva appeared immediately. Adi Sankara bowed to
> Siva. Bad people say Adi Sankara accepted Candala as Guru but it is
> bogus.  He did not have non Brahmin Guru or disciples.
>
> Fact- Sankara Digvijaya does not say Adi Sankara bowed to Candala.
>
> Arjuna fought with hunter but the hunter was Siva. He gave him
> Pashupata.  No one says Arjuna lost in battle to a hunter. Why people
> say Adi Sankara bowed to Candala? This is  politics and lies in a bad
> way.
>
> Regards
>
> -Venkatesh
>
> On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 2:07 AM, Rajaram Venkataramani
> <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:
> > In his Gita commentary, Sankaracharya says that previous commentators
> have
> > commented on every sentence and word but the meaning is not clear to lay
> > people. And that he is writing this to make it clear and that this
> message
> > would spread. Did he teach advaita to non-brahmins and accept them as
> > disciples? In Manisha Panchakam, he accepts as guru a low born jnani but
> > dont know if scholars accept that this incident took place at all.
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-- 
Chetan

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