[Advaita-l] the qualification to be an advaita guru

[Raghav Kumar]

Om

When I asked a few Acharyas regarding this apparent conflcit with the idea
that "jnAnam vinA moksho nAsti" etc., they explained that there is no
conflict with the idea that "tameva viditvA ati-mRtyumeti, nAnyaH panthA
vidyate ayanAya". When bhAshyakAra says that even shraddha, tapas etc (other
than shravaNa etc) can result in jnAnam is certain exalted jIvas, what he
means is this.

Even these alternative means like shraddha, tapas are only useful if they
manage to produce the brahmAkAra vRtti in some sadhakas. That vRtti-jnAnam
alone removes atma- AjnAnam. When we say Atma-jnAnam removes Atma-AjnAnam
(ignorance), we are not talking about any sacred books or words of the
upaniShads even. We are talking of the pratyaya/vRtti these shAstra-words
produce in the antaHkaraNam of the adhikArI sAdhaka. That vRtti alone is the
actual pramANam. Without this brahmAkAra-vRtti-jnAnam taking place in the
antaHkaraNam, there is no mokSha by mere karma or mere shraddha even. These
"alternatives" may indeed deliver the goods ( i.e., the brahmAtma
aikatva-pratyaya or brahmAkAra-vRtti) in some exalted cases, that is the
idea,

bhAShyakAra has quoted the example of a yogi being able to see forms without
the aid of the eyes. In the case of such yogIs, the mind produces the
vRtti-jnAnam about those objects, instead of the eyes. Ultimately,
the ajnAna regarding any object is removed only by the jnAna-vRtti which is
true to that object. In advaitic epistemology, the indriya or sense organ
facilitates the arising of this vRtti-jnAnam about its sense object. The
sense organ itself does not directly remove any ajnAnam; rather the
antaHkaraNam takes on the form/shape of the object in fromt of the sense
organ. This vRtti removes ignorance about that object, (This is known
as vRtti-vyApti).

In the case of brahmAtma jnAnam too, this vRtti-vyApti is essential. Whether
it is caused by shAstra-study (the mainstream path) or by intense shraddha,
tapas or whatever, this AtmAkAra-vRtti-vyApti HAS to take place in the
antaHkaraNam . That alone leads to aparokShAnubhUti and is really the
implied meaning of the word "pramANam". (pramA karaNam = pramANam, that
which is the means/cause of knowledge is known as pramANam.),

So "jnAnAdeva tu kaivalyam" remains non-negotiable in the siddhAnta,

Raghav

On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 4:21 PM, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com> wrote:

> praNAms
> Hare Krishna
>
> Its very interesting that bhAShyakAra himself says "yes" to the above
> question and goes to great lengths to justify why shravana etc are not the
> only means for jnAnam.
>
> >  That is really very interesting to know that there are 'somany' means
> to attain brahmajnAna!!.  In that case, even shrotriyatva is not required,
> a brahmanishTa, who attained this brahma jnAna through some other means
> can impart this knowledge to others without taking an iota of help from
> shAstra.  Is it not??
>
> He says that brahmajnAna can take place through independent alternative
> means like tapas, shraddha, past-karma etc etc. TOO. (Brihadaranyaka
> bhashya 1.4.2)
>
> > Kindly pardon me, I seriously doubt the context of this bhAshya
> vAkya..Anyway, I shall check the originals tonight.  can 'past-karma' too
> fetch us the brahma jnAna??  IOW,  can a karma give us the ultimate
> paramArtha jnAna??  It seems the answer is affirmative above, but I dont
> think that is what the intention of bhagavatpAda in the above bhAshya
> vAkya.  If there is multiple roads to ultimate destination, then the
> shruti pronouncement 'nAnyaH panTha vidyateyanAya' needs to be read in
> some other way.  However, there is no dispute that these accessory
> sAdhana-s would help us to pursue the jnAna mArga through shravaNAdi
> 'DIRECT' means.
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar
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