[Advaita-l] Difference between Sankhya and Advaita.

[ShankaraBharadwaj Khandavalli]

Answers inline. 

Shankar



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Srikanta Narayanaswami srikanta.narayanaswami at yahoo.com 
Tue Sep 20 04:46:37 CDT 2011 
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Srikanta Narayanaswami srikanta.narayanaswami at yahoo.com 
Sun Sep 18 03:54:10 CDT 2011 
________________________________ With reference to the above,I would like to know from the writer the following points:
By the name,"Patanjala Yoga"what does the writer understand?I want an explanation on many aspects found in "Patanjala Yoga".
1)What is cittavrtti nirodhah?Can the cittavrtti be stopped? 
[Shankar] That is Patanjali's claim.  2)Infact, Patanjala Yoga or its commentaries doesnot give any explanation on so many points.Can it be explained.? [Shankar] What are they?   3)How doyou know that the Patanjala yoga is not centred on Kundalini? [Shankar] Because Patanjali explicitly mentions what his approach is centered around. 
And there is no mention about shat-cakras or kundalini. So unless one reads Kundalini *into* 
pAtanjala one would not find it. On the other hand, the definition of his yoga, its approach 
are clear and explicit. We need to understand that kundalini is not the only form of yoga.   4)Unless the questioner know for certain that it is not centred on it,he cannot say that it is not. [Shankar] I did not just say it, I showed you the difference - the onus of showing it is centered, 
if it is, lies on you.   5)Can the questioner explain what does Patanjala Yoga is? [Shankar] I did  - please read my earlier post.   6)What is Samadhi pada?What is the "Ritambara"prajna foun in Samadi pada? [Shankar] Please read my previous post - the state of dissolution of dhyAna-dhyeya-dhyatr is samAdhi.   7)Unless these questions are answered,one cannot come to a definite conclusion.
8)Finally,why is it treated that Sankhya is the theoretical part and Patanjala Yoga darshanam is the practical part of it,and together they form a composite combination?Infact,this has been the view from the list. [Shankar] Because Sankhya deals with worldview at great length and Yoga deals with methodology.   N.Srikanta
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1)What I said before was,the Patanjala Yoga that we have today is an abridged version of Yoga sastra.we have missed in it many connecting links.What we have today is a manual about asanas.

[Shankar] What is yoga sastra and what is pAtanjala yoga? 

2)What are other forms of Yoga apart from Kundalini Yoga?

[Shankar] nAda, mantra, haTha, laya. 

3)where the onus lies?What is the locus of this onus?

[Shankar] Your claims. 

4)The explanation given for what Patanjala yoga is,is not complete.

[Shankar] I do not have to give a complete explanation - 
there is a complete text available, and there are schools that subscribe to it. 
If you have a point to make, you should do so with due references. 

5)It is not only the state of dissolution of dhyana-dheya-dhyatr is samadhi.Can a state without the dhyatr exist.Then how does one know he is or he was in Samadhi? 
[Shankar] For that you need to understand the sAkshi-bhokta distinction of sAnkhya, 
which is the basis for yoga sAstra. 

6)Ritambhara prajna contains the 'Rita'which is a short form of "Amrita',which means 'Bliss".In Vedic terminology this is called,"Ritam".The Upanishath declares,"Ritam pibhantah sukrtasya loke". 
[Shankar] So? What are you trying to say? And how is it relevant to this thread? 
7)The Sankhya sastra was short of the final goal.That is why,Shankara had to criticise in his BSB.He calls the 
Sankhyas as "Pradhana mallas".If this is the case with sankhya,then it holds good also for Yoga.See Shankara's criticism of Sankhya and the Yoga in his BSB. 
[Shankar] How is it relevant to this thread anyway? 

N.Srikanta.