[Advaita-l] Shankara's opinion about Sannyasa for a Kshatriya

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Hari Om V Subrahmanian ji,

Acharya is quite explicit in this regard and there is no need for inference
whatsoever. In Brihad Aranyak 4.5.15, he says - न हि क्षत्त्रियवैश्ययोः
पारिव्राज्यप्रतिपत्तिरस्ति ; तथा ‘मन्त्रैर्यस्योदितो विधिः’ (मनु. २ । १६)
‘ऐकाश्रम्यं त्वाचार्याः’ (गौ. ध. १ । ३ । ३५) इत्येवमादीनां
क्षत्त्रियवैश्यापेक्षत्वम्।

In Brihad Aranyak 3.5.1, he says - तम् एतं वै आत्मानं स्वं तत्त्वम् ,
विदित्वा ज्ञात्वा — अयमहमस्मि परं ब्रह्म सदा सर्वसंसारविनिर्मुक्तं
नित्यतृप्तमिति, ब्राह्मणाः — *ब्राह्मणानामेवाधिकारो* व्युत्थाने, अतो
ब्राह्मणग्रहणम् — व्युत्थाय वैपरीत्येनोत्थानं कृत्वा ;

The usage of 'eva' clearly establishes Brahmana alone.

Thus, as per my understanding, sanyasa, whether karma-sanyasa (of Gita
Bhashya 5.2) or sarva-karma-sanyasa (of Gita Bhashya 5.12), is *only* for
Brahmana-male as per Shankar Bhashya.

Regards,
Sudhanshu.

On Sat 1 Jun, 2019, 10:12 V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> One topic of discussion often is whether Shankara admitted / approved
> Sannyasa for anyone other than a Brahmana. In the BGB 2.10 we have a very
> clear statement from Shankara that shows that he did not approve of
> Sannyasa for a Kshatriya:
>
> स्वत एव क्षत्रधर्मे युद्धे प्रवृत्तोऽपि तस्माद्युद्धादुपरराम ;
> *परधर्मं च भिक्षाजीवनादिकं *कर्तुं प्रववृते ।
>  [Arjuna himself having entered the battle field to fight, which is his
> svadharma, being a Kshatriya, is now thinking of bhiksaa jivana which is
> 'para dharma', something that is not prescribed for him.]
>
> From this clear specification that bhikshaa jivanaadi as 'para dharma' for
> a Kshatriya, Shankara's opinion about a Kshatriya taking sannyasa is
> unambiguous.
>
> While even a brahmachari is admitted to seek bhiksha, the case of Arjuna is
> different as he is already a grihastha. So he cannot be said to be thinking
> of brahmacharya ashrama. So, by default it is sannyasa related bhiksha
> jivanam.
>
> warm regards
> subbu
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> https://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>