[Advaita-l] Reply to Sri Vidyamanya Tirtha's observations

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

> H S CHANDRAMOULI
> 
> Dear Sri Vidyashankarji,.
> 
> I have a small correction to make in your reply. You say < Either way,
> the process has to go through
> a state where karmA is renounced, either formally in the traditional
> conception of vividishA saMnyAsa
> or as a matter of course, no matter what ASrama they find themselves in > .
> Bhagavatpada is very clear that at this stage of one's sadhana it is
> absolutely essential to take to sanyasa ashrama for reaching the Goal of
> Brahma jnana( ref Brahma Sutra Bhashya 3-4-20. This also has cross
> references to various shruti / smriti vakyas . It is only in exceptional
> cases that this jnana arises even in persons ( like king Janaka or Vamadeva
> for example ) who are in other ashramas but it is concluded that in such
> cases they would have undergone the due process of sanyasa ashrama in one
> of their earlier janmas.


Let me clarify. I am not saying anything about saMnyAsa as an ASrama beyond
noting that formal entry into it is possible for the vividishA case. What I mean
about the giving up of karmA when jnAna arises, no matter the ASrama of the
person, is the following. This is admittedly a rare case, but if and when that
happens, the subsequent saMnyAsa is a matter of course. This is what is called
vidvat saMnyAsa. I do not mean to say anything else about the conduct of such
a person. In the case of formal saMnyAsa for the jignAsu, the giving up of karmA
is a means to realize one's intrinsic a-kartRtva. In the case of vidvat saMnyAsa,
a-kartRtva is already established.

 

It is only to accommodate both these possibilities that the jAbAlopanishat says,
brahmacaryAd vA gRhAd vA vanAd vA ... yad ahar eva virajet tad ahar eva
pravrajet.

 

Best regards,

Vidyasankar