[Advaita-l] Fw: Why did Krishna said that he was unable to repeat Gita?

[Venkatraghavan S]

This sentence "Why is karmayoga inferior to kevala sanyAsa?" should read "Why
is karmayoga *superior* to kevala sanyAsa?"

On Mon, Dec 12, 2016 at 10:43 AM, Venkatraghavan S <agnimile at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Chandramouliji,
> You said "Obviously Sri Krishna does not conclude that karmayoga is
> superior to विविदिषा (vividishA) sanyAsa which leads the sAdhaka directly
> to jnAna."
>
> I beg to differ. I do not think it is obvious that Lord Krishna is
> excluding vividiShA sanyAsa in his statement "karmayoga is superior to
> sanyAsa".
>
> In the introduction to Chapter 5, Shankaracharya says that the sanyAsa
> being talked about is not vidvat sanyAsa performed by the jnAni, but jnAna
> rahita sanyAsa performed by ajnAni. He reasons thus - vidvat sanyAsa is
> not open to the ajnAni, nor is karmayoga an option for a jnAni, so the
> question of whether sanyAsa is superior or karmayoga is superior, can only
> be valid if the person in question is an ajnAni and the sanyAsa in question
> is not vidvat. Therefore, Shankaracharya concludes his introduction by
> saying Arjuna's question stems from the valid doubt which among the two is
> superior, as both options are open for him, Arjuna : "ज्ञानरहितस्य
> संन्यासः श्रेयान्, किं वा कर्मयोगः श्रेयान्" इति एतयोः विशेषबुभुत्सया.
>
> In the second sloka, Shankaracharya says Lord Krishna is glorifying
> karmayoga when compared to kevala karmasanyAsa: उभौ यद्यपि निःश्रेयसकरौ,
> तथापि तयोस्तु निःश्रेयसहेत्वोः कर्मसंन्यासात् केवलात् कर्मयोगो विशिष्यते
> इति कर्मयोगं स्तौति. Here, by kevala karmasanyAsa, Shankara is qualifying
> sanyAsa to the one performed by the ajnAni purusha, and which is a jnAna
> rahita sanyAsa.This description does not exclude vividishA sanyAsa, as the
> person who is a vividiSA sanyAsi desires to gain jnAna, meaning he has no
> jnAna at the moment.
>
> This is further clarified in the bhAshya for sloka 5: त्वया पृष्टं केवलं
> कर्मसंन्यासं कर्मयोगं च अभिप्रेत्य तयोः अन्यतरः कः श्रेयान् इति । तदनुरूपं
> प्रतिवचनं मया उक्तं कर्मसंन्यासात् कर्मयोगः विशिष्यते इति ज्ञानम् अनपेक्ष्य
> । ज्ञानापेक्षस्तु संन्यासः साङ्‍ख्यमिति मया अभिप्रेतः । Here Shankaracharya
> says he considers the sanyAsa with jnAna (vidvat sanyAsa) as sAnkhya, and
> this he considers superior to karmayoga, and that karmayoga is superior to
> kevala sanyAsa (jnAna rahita sanyAsa) . That by jnAna apeksha sanyAsa he is
> referring to vidvat sanyAsa, is clarified in his declaration of jnAna
> apeksha sanyAsa as sAnkhya (iti mayA abhipreta:)  and in the same sloka's
> bhAshya, he explains the meaning of sAnkhya as jnAna nishthA, and not the
> seeking of jnAna (यत् साङ्ख्यैः ज्ञाननिष्ठैः संन्यासिभिः प्राप्यते स्थानं
> मोक्षाख्यम्).
>
> Why is karmayoga inferior to kevala sanyAsa? Because  संन्यासस्तु
> पारमार्थिकः हे महाबाहो दुःखम् आप्तुं प्राप्तुम् अयोगतः योगेन विना - for the
> the unqualified individual who takes up sanyAsa by giving up karmayoga,
> paramArtha sanyAsa is difficult to obtain. What is paramArtha sanyAsa?
> That which has the nature of Atma jnAna nishThA - परमार्थसंन्यासं
> परमार्थज्ञाननिष्ठालक्षणं.
>
> Therefore, I believe there is no ground to claim that the sanyAsa that
> Shankara and Krishna call as inferior to karmayoga excludes vividiShA
> sanyAsa. If an unqualified person takes up vividiShA sanyAsa, he too would
> suffer from the same problem as the unqualified person who takes up
> kuTichaka/bahUdaka. Further, the descriptions of the sanyAsa that is
> considered inferior to karmayoga in the bhAshya (केवल संन्यास / ज्ञानरहित
> संन्यास/ अनात्मवित्कर्तृक संन्यास) are equally valid for vividiShA
> sanyAsa also.
>
> Regards,
> Venkatraghavan
>
>
>
> On 12 Dec 2016 8:01 a.m., "H S Chandramouli via Advaita-l" <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> Namaste Sri Praveen Ji,
>
>
>
> Reg  << There are only two reasons to take sannyAsa: one due to आत्मानं
> वेदितुम् इच्छा विविदिषा desire to know the self, and the other due to
> आत्मानं वेत्ति जानाति इति विद्वत् being knower of the self.>>,
>
>
>
> Not so. There are four categories of sanyasa namely  कुटीचक, बहूदक , हम्स ,
> परमहम्स (kuTIchaka, bahUdaka,  hamsa,  paramahamsa). All the four involve
> karmasanyAsa. Of these हम्स and  परमहम्स (hamsa and paramahamsa) fall under
> the विविदिषा (vividishA) category. They are recommended only after a
> sAdhaka acquires sAdhanachatushtaya.
>
>
> But the other two कुटीचक and  बहूदक (kuTIchaka and bahUdaka) are for
> sAdhakAs who are yet to acquire sAdhanachatushtaya but are still desirous
> of taking to sanyasa, being averse to worldly activities. They practice
> sAdhanas which lead them to acquire sAdhanachatushtaya. This also involves
> karmasanyAsa. It is this sanyasa which Sri Krishna elaborates upon in BG Ch
> 5 and compares with karmayoga. For reasons explained therein, Sri Krishna
> recommends karmayoga as the preferable path though both lead the sAdhaka to
> become an adhikAri for Brahmavidya. Obviously Sri Krishna does not conclude
> that karmayoga is superior to विविदिषा (vividishA) sanyAsa which leads the
> sAdhaka directly to jnAna.
>
>
>
> Though not relevant to your post, it may be pertinent to recognize and
> recall that BG is commented upon by a very large number of commentators
> from various standpoints. It is only to be expected that their
> interpretations would vary considerably. What I have mentioned here is from
> the standpoint of advaita sidhanta as advanced by Sri Bhagavatpada.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
> >
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