[Advaita-l] Sanskrit translation of means of liberation contd

[subhanu saxena]

Namaste, in my haste to post , I managed to not copy an
important section before my last paragraph to my previous note on the means of
liberation in Sanskrit. I have reproduced it here and expanded it:


As well as the 3 references in BUBV, Suresvara again uses the
verse “tyāga eva hi..
“ in TUBV II.10 in an important set of verses:


tyāga
eva hi sarveṣām mokṣasādhanam uttamam ।

tyajataiva hi tajjñeyam tyaktuḥ
pratyakparam padam ॥

tyaja dharmam adharmam cha tathā satyānṛte tyaja ।

nyāso
brahmeti cha prāha taittirīya-shrutis-tathā ॥[TUBV II.10]

 

The above throws up 2 interesting points:


First we see in the last line the direct link to the
Mahanarayana Upanishad in which Guy was translating a passage. Suresvara is
referring to “nyāsa
iti brahmā brahmā hi parah paro hi brahmā” [Anuvaka 78] in short form. This
nicely ties up the thread that supreme can be taken to mean supreme means of
liberation.


Second it
may raise a question in people’s minds as to why does Suresvara repeat himself
so much? There are 38 verses for example in Naiskarmya Siddhi that are exactly
found in BUBV. Also in BUBV Suresvara repeats a number of verses more than
once. And here we have another example. The first line of the 2nd
shloka above is found in BUBV in 2 places: 4.4.1261 and 3.5.162. However here
it appears as :

tyaja dharmam adharmaṃ ca
ubhe satyānṛte tyaja ।

ubhe satyānṛte
tyaktvā yena tyajasi taṃ tyaja ॥


So, what
is going on here? Does it suggest interpolations,  or various authorship of BUBV and Naishkaryma
Siddhi where verses have been quoted from one text to another? Well, writers
will often repeat key phrases they deem of import. Shankara echoes in virtually
identical words in Gita Bhashyam [13.26] portions of his Adhyasa Bhashyam as
one example. 
However, the above shloka “tyaja dharmam etc” can be traced to
Mahabharata Shanti parva 316.40. Here it appears with the word “ubhe” , same as
BUBV, not  “tathā” as in TUBV.  Suresvara often quotes smriti texts and
Mahabharata, especially Shanti parva is one of his favourites. His quotation of
2 separate forms could either be an error or consistent with the fact that
Suresvara had access to and knowledge of various rescensions (for example he
takes care to comment in BUBV on differences between kāṇva and
mādhyandina shākhas).


So, is “tyāga eva hi
sarveṣām mokṣasādhanam uttamam” a quote
from an ancient text? It would certainly appear to be given Suresvara quotes it
4 times, so it obviously has much meaning to him and, based on the previous
example, repetition could be indicative of a quote from another ancient text.  However this exact shloka does not appear to
belong to current editions of Mahabharata. The closest verse in form to the
first line is Shanti Parva 212.07:


 tyāga eva hi sarveṣām
uktānām api karmaṇām ।

 nityaṃ mithyāvinītānāṃ kleśo duḥkhāvaho mataḥ ॥ [MBh
12.212.07]


The other candidate could
be bhāllavi shruti where I have already given 2 direct references in Suresvara’s
vartikas. This shruti is sadly lost to us know but obviously was held in great
esteem in ancient times.

 

I would be grateful if
anybody has found the exact ancient reference to the verse tyāga eva hi sarveṣām
mokṣasādhanam uttamam etc, otherwise we are left with one of
3 possibilities: 


1) It belongs to an ancient work now lost and, by
implication, a number of repeated verses in the vartikas and Naishkarmya Siddhi
that have not been traced, may belong to now lost ancient texts, 

2) It is composed by Suresvara himself and he chooses to use
it frequently, 

3) It opens up difficult questions on authorship of the
various works of Suresvara known as the vartikas and Naishkarmya Siddhi and
also whether interpolations and corruptions have entered the texts over time. 
Many may know already of the observations that BSB and BUB have different
styles from each other, and that the interepretation of certain Shruti verses
in the  Isopanishad Bhashya differ from
the interpretation given in BSB etc.


My vote goes to 1 on
this point, with the style of TUBV II.10 as strong circumstantial evidence.


I look forward to any list members’ comments and shloka
references,  particularly if they are
aware of any in depth work on the comparative style of Suresvara’s vartikas and
Naishkaryma Siddhi and the source of certain repeated verses not yet traced.


Regards

Subhanu