[Advaita-l] Sastra's Ability To Remove Ignorance

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 1:10 PM, <rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:

>. Do sastras know
> what is Brahman? They cannot because they are words only but Brahman is
> beyond words. Then how can they remove our ignorance about Brahman? Even if
> I don't know what a pot is, I can answer correctly the question "Is this a
> pot?" if I know what is not a pot. Sastras know what not Brahman correctly
> and hence can dispel our ignorance on what is brahman.

PraNAms

Sastras use the words that pointout that which is beyond the words. They become pointers in the hands of a sampradaaya teacher - if the student is mature enough to understand that which is being pointed out by the words. 
yat cacchutaa na pasyati yena cachuumsa pasyati tat eva brahma

yat vaachaa anabhuditam yena vaak abhudhyate tat eva brahma

yan manasaa na manute yenaahur manomatam tat eva brahma 

It is the eye of the eye, ear of the ear etc. - words which many not make direct sense but those words which in the hands of the teacher make sense to the student who is prepared. 

Hence it is shabda pramANa - as in the 10th man story - you are the tenth man - words are pointing something beyond the words but that makes perfect sense only to person who is desperately looking for the tenth man everywhere and cannot find him. 

Hari Om!
Sadananda