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

[Sunil Bhattacharjya]

Dear Kripaji,

By an large one can observe whether a person is observing the yamas and the niyamas as well as his dharma according to his birth / varna as these are the first requirement for a sthitaprajna / sthiraprajna / jnani. Then comes the pratyahara and so on. Arjuna asked the Lord who is sthitaprajna and the the Lord gave the necessary details.

For example, Lord Ram scolded a person, known to be a scholar, who was telling lies in order to convince him (Lord Ram)  that he should not proceed on vanavasa. Lord Ram did not approve the lies. Lord Krishna is said to have told that lies are permissible only for jokes and also under life extreme life-threatening situations only. A real jnani will never lie and will not endorse any lie. He will always be a seeker of the truth.. So if a person is found to be telling deliberate lies, that person cannot be a jnani, whatever his or her claims may be. 

Another example on historical lies. Many people believe that Lord Mahavira lived before Lord Buddha. A jnanai will never endorse that just because the colonial historians said so, and they tried to perpetuate that lie. Indian historiography (not hagiography) clearly shows that lord Buddha lived many centuries before Lord Mahavira.  

Regards,
Sunil KB



--------------------------------------------
On Thu, 1/26/17, Kripa Shankar via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Dayanand Saraswathi interview - Very interesting    stand taken by Swami
 To: "Advaita discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
 Date: Thursday, January 26, 2017, 11:44 PM
 
 ‎Namaste, 
 ‎
 Thanks to Subramanian, I
 had a chat with Sri Ananta Sharma ‎over the phone.
 
  My first question was - is
 jnana independent of Vedanta? He said no. 
 ‎
 Next Q - can jnana occur
 without prior cause in this janma as in the case of RM? -
 his answer was affirmative. He cited Vamadeva. He further
 ‎said that, if not at birth, balya it can happen gradually
 at later stage. 
 
 Q- I said
 we cannot conclude whether such adhyayana has taken place in
 previous janma. - He said, by looking at the lakshana of
 person (stitha prajna lakshana of Gita) , we can infer. But
 we cannot come to a conclusion. 
 
 Q- so is the case of RM permissible within the
 construct of the shastras? Is he acceptable as jnAni. - He
 said, it is possible. But he also added that, it is again a
 matter of opinion. We mutually agreed that jnanis were
 identified by Rishis like Vyasa and narada. [This seems to
 be the only point where my thoughts converged. ‎It is
 important to note who is declaring someone as jnAni. ]
 
 Q- If someone has adhikara to
 take up sannyasa and does not do so, is it acceptable? - He
 said no. However if a person is jnAni, no rules are
 applicable whatsoever. I again mentioned Krishna, who in
 spite of being jnAni followed the dharmas. He agreed but
 also said there is no such rule for a jnAni to follow it.
 It's up to the Jnani. ‎
 
 Q- I said there are too many self acclaimed
 jnanis ‎and they present a new narrative using those
 examples. They say jnana is possible even without shastra
 and that shastras are traditional superstitions and are used
 to discriminate people and retain the power with brahmins. -
 He said, whoever claims to be a jnAni is not a jnani. 
 ‎
 I ended the chat thinking
 him for his time after exchanging few pleasantries.
 
 I have seen him in Vākyartha
 debates and I have very high opinion about him. I respect
 his view and I accept that the case of RM is acceptable
 within the framework of the shastras. However I know that RM
 is against Vedanta and my opinion of RM is still the same.
 But that is of no consequence to anyone. 
 
 I am still to meet with
 another scholar, he is a sannyAsI of the order of Avani
 Shankar mutt. I'll try to pose this question to him as a
 last resort and then put the matter to rest. 
 
 Regards 
 Kripa  ‎
 ‎
 yo vedAdau svaraH prokto vedAnte cha pratiShThitaH |
 tasya prakRRiti-lInasya yaH parassa maheshvaraH || 
   Original Message  
 From: S
 Jayanarayanan via Advaita-l
 Sent: Friday 27
 January 2017 12:39 AM
 To: A discussion group
 for Advaita Vedanta
 Reply To: S
 Jayanarayanan
 Subject: Re: [Advaita-l]
 Dayanand Saraswathi interview - Very interesting stand taken
 by Swami
 
 Kripa Shankar
 kripa.shankar.0294 at gmail.com wrote:
  
 > Namaste, 
 > 
 > Link to the interview : http://thoughtlessbliss.blogspot.in/2011/10/swami-dayananda-saraswatis-view-on.html?m=1
 ‎> 
  
 I
 don't believe the initial paragraph is right when it
 says, "...he does not even accept that Ramana Maharshi
 was a great liberated soul".
  
 Rather, my take on it is: "In Swami
 Dayananda Saraswati's (SD's) opinion, Ramana
 Maharshi was a Realized *Mystic*, not a *Vedantin*!"
  
 The Swami distinguishes
 between the two: 
 Mystic
 ("non-traditional"): Is Self-realized, but does
 not necessarily communicate the experience in words.
 Vedantin ("traditional"): May or may
 not be Self-realized, but has studied the scriptures, and
 communicates using words.
  
 "SD: The only difference here is that a
 mystic has no means of communication to make you a mystic,
 an equally great mystic as himself...But we can only say
 someone is a Vedantin as long as they teach
 Vedanta!"
  
 In some
 sense, I don't agree with SD on the above point. My
 opinion is that a "Mystic" in the words of SD can
 make another also Self-realized merely due to one's
 presence, not necessarily with words!
 Many
 times, Ramana Maharshi has said that the very presence of a
 Sage can dissolve one's ignorance!
  
 > Regards 
 > Kripa ‎
 ‎> 
 > AchArya ghAtinAm
 lokA na santi kulapAmsana ~
 > There is NO
 region, O wretch of your race, for those who seek to slay an
 AchArya
 > 
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