[Advaita-l] Dayanand Saraswathi interview - Very interesting stand taken by Swami

[V Subrahmanian]

Copying from an old post in this forum:

On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 11:22 AM, soumya balan <soumyabalan376 at gmail.com>
 wrote:

> Namaste all,
>
> I am looking for examples in Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads and in other
> Sanskrit literature where description of an ailing person (physically
> or mentally) attaining *Moksha* is told.
> Can anybody point to stories or instances in the ancient literature where
> such incidents occur?
>

Madam,

This is an interesting question indeed.  In brief it can be said that since
bandha, bondage, is due to ajnAna, moksha, liberation, is through jnana.
So the condition of the body/mind is not a deciding factor for liberation
once this ajnAna-removing jnana is had at any time in a person's life.  Of
course, for the sadhana to be carried on and for the very jnana to arise,
there has to be a reasonably sound body and a clear mind.  In the
Bhagavadgita chapter 2, the last verse says:

एषा ब्राह्मी स्थिति: पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति ।
स्थित्वास्याम अन्तकालेपी *ब्रह्म निर्वाणमृच्छति*   ॥ २.७२

Even if a person were to gain this knowledge at the last days of his life,
he attains moksha.  In this connection I wish to refer to these verses of
the Panchadashi chapter 2, authored by Swami Vidyaranya:

एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ नैनां प्राप्य विमुह्यति |
स्थित्वास्यामन्तकालेऽपि ब्रह्मनिर्वाणमृच्छति ||
सदद्वैतेऽनृतद्वैते यदन्योऽन्यैक्यवीक्षणम् |
तस्यान्तकालस्तद्भेदबुद्धिरेव न चेतरः ||
यद्वान्तकालः प्राणस्य वियोगोऽस्तु प्रसिद्धितः |
तस्मिन्कालेऽपि न भ्रान्तेर्गतायाः पुनरागमः ||
नीरोग उपविष्टो वा रुग्णो वा विलुठन्भुवि |
मूर्च्छितो वा त्यजेदेष प्राणान्भ्रान्तिर्न सर्वथा ||
दिने दिने स्वप्नसुप्त्योरधीते विस्मृतेऽप्ययम् |
परेद्युर्नानधीतः स्यात्तत्त्वविद्या न नश्यति ||
प्रमाणोत्पादिता विद्या प्रमाणं प्रबलं विना |
न नश्यति न वेदान्तात्प्रबलं मानमीक्ष्यते ||
तस्माद्वेदान्तसंसिद्धं सदद्वैतं न बाध्यते |
अन्तकालेऽप्यतो भूतविवेकान्निर्वृतिः स्थिता ||

The overall meaning of the above is:

 When the intellect disregards the notions of duality, it becomes firmly
  established in the conception of non-duality. The man who is firmly rooted in
  the conviction of non-duality is called a Jivanmukta (liberated in life).

  Sri Krishna says in the Gita: ‘This is called having one’s being in Brahman,
  O Partha. None, attaining to this, becomes deluded. Being
established therein,
  even at the last moment, a man attains to oneness with Brahman’.

   ‘At the last moment’ means the moment at which the mutual identification
  of the illusory duality and the one secondless reality is
annihilated by differentiating them from each other; nothing else.

  In common parlance the expression ‘at the last moment’ may mean ‘at the
  last moment of life’. Even at that time, the illusion that is gone does not
  return.

   A realised soul is not affected by delusion and it is the same whether
  he dies healthy or in illness, sitting in meditation or rolling on
the ground,
  conscious or unconscious.

The knowledge of the Veda acquired (during the waking condition) is daily
  forgotten during dream and deep sleep states, but it returns on the morrow.
  Similar is the case with the knowledge (of Brahman) – it is never lost.

   The knowledge of Brahman, based on the evidence of the Vedas, is
not destroyed
  unless proved invalid by some stronger evidence; but in fact there
is no stronger
  evidence than the Vedas.

Therefore the knowledge of the non-dual Reality (thus) established by the
  Vedanta is not falsified even at the last moment (whatever interpretation be
  taken). So the discrimination of the elements (from the non-dual
Reality) surely
  ensures peace abiding or bliss ineffable.

[end of the translation]

On Fri, Jan 27, 2017 at 5:20 PM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Fri, Jan 27, 2017 at 5:08 PM, Kripa Shankar via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> Namaste,
>>
>> Just thought I'd add these final points :-
>>
>> In spite of all the arguments made, the point made by LalitaalalitaaH
>> still holds good. That RM categorically stated that, the basis for his
>> 'non-dual experience' was the 'death experience' (whatever that is). So RM
>> himself never claimed that he was a Vedantin. ‎
>>
>
> There are quite a lot of statements made by RM over and above the 'death'
> experience which have to be taken into account.
>
>> ‎
>> Another fact which I am merely stating is - He didn't attain samadhi on
>> his own will. He died because of a fatal disease.
>>
>
> If you think that Jnanis die of their own will, you are mistaken.
>
> regards
> vs
>
>>
>> Regards
>> Kripa ‎
>>
>> yo vedAdau svaraH prokto vedAnte cha pratiShThitaH |
>> tasya prakRRiti-lInasya yaH parassa maheshvaraH ||
>>   Original Message
>> From: Kripa Shankar
>> Sent: Friday 27 January 2017 4:43 PM
>> To: Bhaskar YR; Advaita discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
>> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Dayanand Saraswathi interview - Very interesting
>> stand taken by Swami
>>
>> Namaste Bhaskar,
>>
>> As this was the first time I was speaking to him and considering that I
>> am a complete stranger to him asking away questions out of the blue, I
>> thought it was proper to address only the main issue. He was kind enough to
>> answer all the  questions to my satisfaction. ‎Although I did mention the
>> issue about astika - nAstika aspect that crops up in such cases as RM, he
>> didn't specifically address that.
>>
>> But it is clear now that anyone can claim RM to be a jnAni, Jivanmukta,
>> Maharshi etc. I was only trying to criticize from that angle(shAstra).
>> ‎
>> ‎As for criticising  the philosophy is concerned, we can never reach a
>> conclusion in a debate and so it's futile. For whatever it's worth, I'll
>> probably pen down my observations and share it. In fact, looking back, I
>> feel Dayanand Saraswathi has made the best judgement on RM. ‎
>>
>> I am not desperately behind RM (as you may have suggested). He is the
>> flag bearer of the neovedantins (just my opinion) and hence my doubts.
>>
>> Regards
>> Kripa ‎
>>
>> yo vedAdau svaraH prokto vedAnte cha pratiShThitaH |
>> tasya prakRRiti-lInasya yaH parassa maheshvaraH ||
>>   Original Message
>> From: Bhaskar YR
>> Sent: Friday 27 January 2017 4:03 PM
>> To: Kripa Shankar; A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
>> Subject: RE: [Advaita-l] Dayanand Saraswathi interview - Very interesting
>> stand taken by Swami
>>
>> praNAms
>> Hare Krishna
>>
>> However I know that RM is against Vedanta and my opinion of RM is still
>> the same.
>>
>> > For your own good you could have shared what you know about Sri RM and
>> posed this question also to Sri Anantha Sharma. You could have clarified
>> him, according to you, how Sri RM was against vedAnta and due to that
>> reason how you treat Sri RM. Who knows, you might have received an answer
>> that would have put complete 'full stop' to your never ending doubts on Sri
>> RM :-) Anyway, you are still planning for the second opinion from other
>> scholar, all the best to you.
>>
>> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
>> bhaskar
>>
>>
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