[Advaita-l] Samnyasa and Sankara's position?

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Hari Om Bhaskar ji.

1. I think the discussion was regarding the eligibility of grihastha for
Moksha. My response and quotes were in that connection whence I intended to
prove that only a parivrajaka i.e. a bhikshu can have Moksha and not a
grihastha. Needless to say that a parivrajaka has to abandon his
grihastha-ashrama. Till Moksha, one is a Mumukshu and vidhi operates till
Moksha. Hence sks is also a vidhi as is stated in Gita Bhashya also vide -
मुमुक्षो: सर्वकर्मसंन्यासविधानात्

2. Moksha is not an event as such. But the way we use the term, we can say
that without losing sight of the fact that it is nothing but destruction of
avidya for we are already Mukta. In that sense we can use the term Moksha
as a subsequent event to jnana-prapti.

3. This jnana-prapti can happen to anyone. The only prerequisite thereto is
sattva-shuddhi which is stated to be for everyone through the route of
karma-yoga (18.45) and for brahmana either through karma-sanyasa or
karma-yoga.

4. //I hope by saying jnana prApti you meant ‘paramArtha jnana / Atmaikatva
jnana.  If this is not paramArtha jnana please clarify// Yes, it is
paramatha atmaikatva jnana alone. However, it results into Moksha i.e.
destruction of avidya through sks and jnana-nishtha.

5. //what is the difference between jnana-nishTa avasthA (applicable to all
varNa-s)  and mOksha (applicable to ONLY SKS brAhmaNa).// Jnana-nishtha is
not applicable to all varnas. Please quote a bhashya-vakya which states to
this effect. Since sks is only for brahmana, the subsequent jnana-nishtha
would obviously for brahmana alone.

6. // Here if the parAM gatim is not mOksha then please clarify what is the
lord implying.// We will mandatorily have to invoke 5.12 wherein
bhashyakara adds vakya-shesha
//सत्त्वशुद्धिज्ञानप्राप्तिसर्वकर्मसंन्यासज्ञाननिष्ठाक्रमेणेति
वाक्यशेषः//.

7.  //And also clarify, to get Advaita-s ultimate knowledge ( svarUpa jnana
/ Atmaikatva jnana) is there any pratibaNdhaka apart from avidyA / ajnAna.
If the complete annihilation of avidyA is not guarantee the mOksha and
kevala jnana mAtra and SKS as a vidhi to get mOksha then mOksha become
vidhi para ??// Moksha is not vidhi-para for we are already Mukta. However,
we realise our already Mukta swaroopa after annihilation of avidya. This
annihilation of avidya takes places through a sequence in which
jnana-nishtha plays the crucial role. Mere jnana-prapti is not enough. Had
it been enough, the sks and jnana-nishtha would not have been included
specifically in 5.12.

8.  This is the general rule. It is infallible and unexceptionable. In view
of such clear and unambiguous bhashya-vakyas, we need to explain as to how
a woman/non-Brahmana etc attain Moksha in this very life or even without
doing any sadhana etc or even in the womb :-) . The only explanation
possible without violating the rule and without inviting a chaos is as
follows - they would already have been in the penultimate stage in previous
birth. So they need not do the whole sequence again in this life.

Regards,
Sudhanshu.


On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 11:40 AM Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com> wrote:

> praNAms Sri Sudhanshu Shekhar prabhuji
>
> Hare Krishna
>
>
>
> I am very sorry for the very belated reply.  Just few clarifications
> required with regard to your bhAshya quotes from chAndOgya.
>
>
>
> Therefore, it boils down that "jnana-prapti" can be there for grihastha
> and in fact of all varna and ashrama but not Moksha. Moksha is ONLY through
> sarva-karma-sanyasa and sks (ks too) is only for Brahmana.
>
>
>
>    - I think this is the crux of the issue we have to discuss in detail.
>    From the above you are accepting that jnana prApti can happen to anyone /
>    everyone irrespective of their varNa but mOksha is ONLY for brAhmaNa who
>    has taken formal SKS.  You are implying here jnana prApti is a separate
>    event for which everyone is eligible but after this mOksha which is another
>    event (subsequently happens after jnana) is restricted to ONLY brAhmaNa SKS
>    (sarva karma sanyasi).  I hope by saying jnana prApti you meant ‘paramArtha
>    jnana / Atmaikatva jnana.  If this is not paramArtha jnana please clarify.
>    If this is indeed paramArtha jnana and mOksha is the subsequent stage that
>    needs to be achieved after SKS by ONLY brAhmaNa, then please clarify what
>    is the difference between jnana-nishTa avasthA (applicable to all varNa-s)
>     and mOksha (applicable to ONLY SKS brAhmaNa).  And in geeta krishna says :
>    streyO Vaishya sthathA shUdrAstepi yAnti parAm gatiM.  Here if the parAM
>    gatim is not mOksha then please clarify what is the lord implying.  And
>    also clarify, to get Advaita-s ultimate knowledge ( svarUpa jnana /
>    Atmaikatva jnana) is there any pratibaNdhaka apart from avidyA / ajnAna.
>    If the complete annihilation of avidyA is not guarantee the mOksha and
>    kevala jnana mAtra and SKS as a vidhi to get mOksha then mOksha become
>    vidhi para ??  Is this what bhAshyakAra saying in chAndOgya while insisting
>    the SKS ??  After getting your clarification I shall share my thoughts on
>    those bhAshya vAkya-s.
>
>
>
> Hari Hari  Hari Bol!!!
>
> bhaskar
>
>
>


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