[Advaita-l] Pitupaksha questions-Reply.

[Srikanta Narayanaswami]

Sri Vidyashankar,First of all,Nachiketas didnot go to Naraka where Yamadharmaraja rules because his father didnot give enough gfts to the priests.Nachiketas was determined to meet Yama,and wanted to know from him the secret of Death.Read Katopanishath carefully,and the questions nachiketas asked Yama.
2)You are wrongly quoting me in the choice of Purohits.You have just picked up sentences without seeing the context.When my father died 51 years ago,many samaveda pundits were available who were extrordinary scholars.My father himself A Samaveda professor from the sanskrit Pathasala,himself who was heading the department performed Yaga and Yagnas, expert in the Samaveda lakshana,and written many scholarly books,who was associated with "Svadhyayamandal"which was headed by Mahamahopadhyaya Sripada Damodhara Sathvalekhar at Chalisgaon in Maharashtra near Aurangabad.What I said was during my father's time many Samaveda scholars were available(infact he had trained many pundits),but when my mother passed away 10 years ago,not even one of them were available.I had to go Varanasi to completete the rest of the rituals.There also I could find the same situation.Lack of Shraddha,lack of expertise,only commercial transactions and no concern on the part of the
Purohits.If some one says it is not so,I am only forced to say that he is blind.

3)What I said was the Manusmrithi now a days is no longer in the same frame as it existed then.
There is no "Bhinnarucih"as far as Jnana is concerned.Either you are there or not.
4)while it is the duty of the advaita list is to highlight Advaita siddhanta,I find there is more emphasis on only karma and the rituals,which will not take us further.So,there should be more space for discussing the topics on Jnana.
5)My discussions on SriShankaraBhagawath pada and the importance of studying and assimilating the books by Sri shankara Bhagawathpada stems from the reply of some of the list subscribers who stick to their point of view irrespective of me pointing out on the contrary.These list members seem to stick to their views even if it is brounght to their notice the Sri Shankara's upadesha on these relevant points.They seem to stick to only the Karma siddhantha which is not any where found in the Bhagawath pada's bhashyas.
N.Srikanta.