[Advaita-l] Tenets of Vedanta in the Charaka Samhita

[V Subrahmanian]

In the Charaka Samhita  Sharira Sthanam chapter 5: is the verse:

 *याति ब्रह्म* यया नित्यमजरं शान्तमव्ययम्  (19a)  [This can be seen on p.
16 of the pdf of the article. ]

Here, याति ब्रह्म  'attainment of Brahman' is commented upon by Chakrapani
as 'attainment of moksha'. The other words are adjectives of moksha:
nityam, ajaram, shaantam, avyayam.  This idea of identifying 'Brahman' with
Moksha' is very prominent in the Shankara Bhashya:

Brahma sutra bhashya 1.1.4: Tat tu samanvayaat:

 न तावद्गुणाधानेन सम्भवति, अनाधेयातिशय*ब्रह्मस्वरूपत्वान्मोक्षस्य* । नापि
दोषापनयनेन, नित्यशुद्ध*ब्रह्मस्वरूपत्वान्मोक्षस्य*

Shankara says: Brahman is the very svarupa of Moksha, in both the places
highlighted above. Attaining/realizing Brahman is non-different from
attaining Moksha.

In other schools, moksha is a state to be attained, reached. Brahman is
something to be known for that purpose. In Advaita too, though Brahman is
to be realized 'for' moksha, there is no sequence involved. Says Shankara
in that very place:  ब्रह्मदर्शनसर्वात्मभावयोर्मध्ये
कर्तव्यान्तरवारणायोदाहार्यम् — यथा ‘तिष्ठन्गायति’ इति तिष्ठतिगायत्योर्मध्ये
तत्कर्तृकं कार्यान्तरं नास्तीति गम्यते । [There is nothing to be done
between 'Realizing Brahman' and 'attainment of Sarvaatma bhaava (moksha)'.
Just as when one says 'standing he sings', there is no action in between
standing and singing...] Shankara reiterates there
itself....मोक्षप्रतिबन्धनिवृत्तिमात्रमेवात्मज्ञानस्य
फलं दर्शयन्ति ।  [The fruit of Brahman/Atman knowledge is taught by the
Upanishads as 'removal of the impediment to moksha'.  Then, with emphasis
Shankara says: ब्रह्मभावश्च मोक्षः [The realization that one is Brahman is
itself moksha.]

That the Charaka Samhita is so clearly revealing this purport of Advaita is
very significant.

regards
subbu

On Wed, Oct 10, 2018 at 8:37 AM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Tenets of Vedanta in the Charaka Samhita
>
> Namaste
>
> The Charaka Samhita, a work of Ayurveda, of the 2nd Century BCE - 2nd
> Century CE, along with the ancient commentary of Chakrapani (10 - 11th
> Century CE), contains a number of tenets of Vedanta such as jiva svarupa,
> Moksha, jivanmukti, jiva as Brahman in moksha, worship of a variety of
> deities for relief from pain, importance of Veda, etc. Some of these ideas
> contained in the text are presented in the article downloadable here:
>
>
> http://www.mediafire.com/file/6z5m1vs3bahiwv2/Charaka_Samhita_Vedanta_G.pdf/file
>
> warm regards
> subrahmanian.v
>