[Advaita-l] Vikalpa, Savikalpa, and Nirvikalpa

[Bhaskar YR]

Humble sAshtAnga praNAms Sri Vidya prabhuji
Hare Krishna

With your kind permission, I shall try to share my thoughts on your 
observation prabhuji :

The crux of the matter is the following. The vedAnta vAkya janita jnAna, 
"brahman
is nirvikalpaka" takes place in the antaHkaraNa. It may not need a prior 
experience 
of nirvikalpa samAdhi via yogAbhyAsa in order to take birth, agreed. 

>  advaita paramArtha jnAna (or dawn of Atmaikatva) can happen to an able 
adhikAri through shAstra vAkya.  But before pursuing this vedAnta mArga, 
he has to complete sAdhana chatushtaya.  As you know this has been 
discussed in the very first sUtra of brahma sUtra.  Yes, as you have 
rightly observed, an anadhikAri though get a 'knowledge' that shruti is 
teaching us 'brahman is nirvikalpaka' that would not be a paramArtha jnAna 
of the jnAni.  At the best, it is a knowledge of any other mortal subject. 
 


However, what needs to be understood is that when it is born in an 
antaHkaraNa that has not been
trained in control through prior yogAbhyAsa, then it is still a jnAna that 
has brahman
as vishaya and the jnAna-jneya-jnAtR distinction is not yet dissolved. 

>  yes, that is the reason why vedAnta mArga prefers nityAnityavastu 
vivekAdi sAdhana chatushtaya for the  sAdhaka-s before trying to pursue 
his  sAdhana in jnAna mArga.  Otherwise, every venka, seena, matya who 
have bhAsha jnAna, can comfortably understand intellectually what is the 
purport of veda and vedAnta.  So, IMHO, for controlling the antaHkaraNa 
and to purify that antaHkaraNa and to train and make it suitable for 
receiving vedAnta jnAna sAdhana chatushtaya recommended,  and after that 
sharavaNAdi 'direct sAdhana-s' advised.  However, yOgAbhyAsa like yama 
niyama, Asana, prANAyAma, prtyAhAra very much required to keep us in good 
shape healthwise. 

Sure, one can argue that the mithyAtva of the distinction has been 
understood at this stage. But it
is still possible for an antaHkaraNa to intellectually understand "brahma 
nirvikalpakam"
and it is possible for that same antaHkaraNa to intellectually understand 
the vedAnta
vAkya "ayam AtmA brahma", but the antaHkaraNa still remains, establishing 
its own
subject-hood for itself and objectifying brahma vishaya jnAna. 

>  prabhuji kindly clarify do you mean to say here brahma jnAna to have 
its complete effect, antaHkaraNa should go in the jnAni, or tAdAtmya jnAna 
should be sublated?? For the ajnAni-s, a paramArtha jnAni too has to 
maintain his own subject-hood and he has to do 'vishayeekaraNa' of the 
brahma vishaya jnAna to teach it to others is it not??  So, IMHO, 
antaHkaraNa tAdAtmyabuddhi only will get sublated and antaHkaraNa would 
not be effaced. 



After such jnAna has taken birth, does the antaHkaraNa in which this jnAna 
was born vanish as it were, in
an infinite ocean of non-duality? Or does it persist, trying to 
"finiticize" the infinite? If
the former, then this is Atma-saMsthiti, which I submit, is really nothing 
other than
what is called nirvikalpa samAdhi by those who take a more yogic flavour 
in their
personal approach to sAdhana. 

>  My doubt here is can this Atma saMsthiti can be achieved without 
experiencing the yOgic flavoured nirvikalpa samAdhi??  If no, then we have 
to say 'after' shAstra vAkya janita jnAna, there needs to be do something 
or experience something to 'literally' establish oneself in Atma without 
the trace of individual self-hood.  As you know Atmaikatva jnAna is not 
any vyavahArAteeta jnAna or avasthAteeta jnAna it is only bheda nivrutti 
(bAdha of bheda jnAna), shankara explains this vidyA phala in geeta 
bhAshya beautifully : kriyAkArakaphalabheda buddhiravidyA Atmani nitya 
pravruttA, 'mama karma', ahaM kartA, amushyai phalAyedaM karma karishyAmi 
iteeyamavidyA anAdi kAla pravruttA, asyA avidyAyAH nivartakaM 
'ayamahamasmi kevalOkartA akriyOphalO na mattOnyOsti kashchit' 
ityevaMrUpamAtmavishayaM jnAnamutpadyamAnaM, karmapravruttihetubhutAyAH 
bheda buddhenivartakatvAt'(geeta bhAshya 18-66).  And for this jnAna to 
happen shankara recommends yajna, dAna, tapas, shamAdi shatsampatti and 
veda vAkya shravaNAdi sAdhana under the guidance of shrOtreeya 
brahmanishTa guru.  And the phala of this vAkya janita jnAna would not 
have to wait for subsequent step.  vAkyArthajnAnasamakAle eva tu 
paryavasitO bhavati, clarifies shankara in mundaka bhAshya. 


If the latter, I submit that such a person in whose
antaHkaraNa the jnAna has taken birth still only understands the 
nirvikalpatva of
brahman as a vikalpa; s/he only understands the nirguNatva of brahman as a 
guNa;
s/he has still not grasped that s/he IS brahman; it is not yet 
kara-tala-Amalaka-vat.

>  kindly tell us what needs to be done for this karatalAmalaka of 
brahmajnAna to happen.  Whether sAdhaka has to experience nirvikalpa 
samAdhi in which state the antaHkaraNAdi upAdhi-s 'literally' absent?? 
According to shankara mOksha is nothing but ajnAna nivAraNa, mOksha it NOT 
an achievable goal afresh as it is our own svarUpa, hence shankara 
clarifies : na cha ajnAna vyatirekeNa mOkshasya vyavadhAnAnantaraM 
kalpayitum shakyaM, nityatvAnmOkshasya, sAdhaka svarUpAvyatirekAccha.  So, 
till we achieve that karatalAmalaka stage, we have to continue to do this 
shravaNAdi sAdhana, but once this anubhavAtmaka jnAna dawns (not mere 
intellectual understanding) there needs to be nothing to do for the jnAni 
to experience this Atmaikatva in a separate state. That shankara clarifies 
in the next elaborated bhAshya in bruhadAraNyaka (1-4-10) : 
evamAtmavishayaM vijnAnaM yatkAlaM, tatkAla eva tad vishya ajnAna 
tirObhAvaHsyAt.  It is very clear that there is no gap between jnAna & 
mOksha for the able adhikAri. 

Why, even the brahmasUtra has an adhikaraNa that begins, AsInas saMbhavAt, 
in the conclusion to which, Sankara bhagavatpAda unambiguously states that 
padmAsana and other postures are taught in the yoga
SAstra as aids in the process of vicAra. And it is not just Asana there; 
dhyAna is also
given its due place. 

>  IMHO, we have to take this yOga practice till pratyAhAra because 
dhAraNa, dhyAna & samAdhi terms have different contextual meaning in 
advaita vedAnta, jnAna mArga sAdhana. 


I submit that the state of moksha that is desired by the jijnAsu is one 
that is beyond
words, all words, even the words that constitute the vedAnta vAkya. As 
such, I
find it amusingly surprising that many among those who say they understand 
this 
seem to have such an anathema for the terms samAdhi and nirvikalpa put 
together.

>  I agree with you prabhuji, mOksha is beyond words.  But we have the 
AchAryOpadesha which promptly tries to explain us the inexplicable.  As 
you know mere terms like samAdhi, nirvikalpa and nirvikalpa samAdhi wont 
trouble us, trouble starts only when we try to link this to the 
patanjali's ashtAnga yOga & indispensability of samAdhi anubhava in a mind 
inert state for the advaita's ekamevAdviteeya jnAna.

praNAms onceagain, 

Your humble servant
Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar

 
pps. It would help list members if responses to multiple related points in 
the same
thread can be consolidated into one or two posts, rather than spread 
around in
multiple posts. 

>  prabhuji, once in a blue moon day I would get time to write mails, I 
may not be able to participate regularly, whenever I get time, I would try 
to write something, which may result in multiple mails in a single day!! 
What is your suggestion to me prabhuji??