[Advaita-l] 'dhyAna, dhAraNa, etc.'

[Swami Sarvabhutananda]

2012/10/13 V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>

> In the Taittiriyopanishad bhashya on the shIkShAvalli 11th anuvAka (the
> last one) I came across this sentence:
>
> ...विद्योत्पत्तौ साधकतमानि असंकीर्णानि विद्यन्ते *ध्यानधारणादिलक्षणानि *च ।
> वक्ष्यति च  ’तपसा ब्रह्म विजिज्ञासस्व’ इति ।
>
> Here Shankara is saying that agnihotra etc. alone do not constitute 'karma'
> but brahmacharya, tapas, satyavachanam, damaH, ahimsA, etc. too which are
> 'karma-s' that are popular in the 'other Ashrama' (brahmacharya and
> sannyAsa), too are eminent means, sAdhana-s, in the engendering of
> knowledge (self-realization) along with 'dhyAna, dhAraNa, etc.'.
>
> I think here Shankara has in mind the patanjali yoga shAstra prasiddha
>

BhagavAn ShankarA never demeans patanjali Yoga Sutras but the means cann ot
be the END!!!

> 'dhAraNA-dhyAna-samAdhi' since the context is AtmajnAnotpatti sAdhanam. In
> the bhashyam for this sentence occurring in a later vallI of this
> upanishad: ’तपसा ब्रह्म विजिज्ञासस्व’ Shankara cites a verse to explain the
> term 'tapas: मनसश्चेन्द्रियाणां ह्यैकाग्र्यं परमं तपः’ [the foremost form
> of 'tapas' is the concentration of the mind and the senses'].
>
> Has Shankara stated this 'dhAraNa' in any other place in the
> prasthAnatraya?  I have come across 'dhyAna' and 'samAdhi' being mentioned
> by Shankara elsewhere.  Of course 'dhAraNa' in the sense of retention of
> what has been heard is stated by Shankara in the pUrva shAnti mantra
> bhashya for this Upanishad (beginning) itself:
> vidyAshrvaNa-dhAraNa-viniyogAdayaH...prArthyate - shanno bhavatu iti.
>
> Apart from the above, I would like to draw the attention of aspirants to a
> word 'upAsanam' used in the sense of 'sAkShAt-jnAna-sAdhanam' (most
> proximate means to knowledge/liberation in this section of the bhashyam:
> श्रुतज्ञानव्यतिरेकादुपासनस्य ।...उपासनं च श्रुतज्ञानादर्थान्तरं विधीयते
> मोक्षफलम् । अर्थान्तरप्रसिद्धिश्च स्यात्; ’श्रोतव्यः’ इत्युक्त्वा
> तद्व्यतिरेकेण ’मन्तव्यो निदिध्यासितव्यः’ इति यत्नान्तरविधनात्,
> मनननिदिध्यासनयोश्च प्रसिद्धं श्रवणज्ञानादर्थान्तरत्वम् ।
>
> Here Shankara is differentiating the knowledge arising from mere shravaNa
> from Knowledge that results from the exercise of 'mananam and
> nididhyAsanam'.  I think the difference is a comprehensive one: first only
> paroksha jnanam from shravanam and only later the aparoksha jnanam arises
> from manana-nididhyAsanam.
>
> regards
> subrahmanian.v
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