[Advaita-l] Veda Vyasa's consistency across Bhagavata, Vishnu and Shiva Puranas

Venkatraghavan S agnimile at gmail.com
Mon Feb 24 08:49:41 EST 2020
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Namaste Sri Sreenivasa Murthy,
I am neither eminent nor a scholar, but that is irrelevant to anyone, so
let us leave that aside.

True scholarship is in understanding that studying the shAstra and being a
scholar is not an end in itself, its a means to lead one to moksha. So what
is meant for a mumukshu must ipso facto apply to a scholar - the mumukshu
becomes a mukta only through scripture and the guru, so this artificial
dichotomy into mumukshu and scholar is incorrect and worse, misleading.

Coming to the muNDaka upaniShad quote, if one studies the upaniShad and its
bhAShya by Adi Sankara bhagavatpAda, one would realise that what one is
asked to give up is aparavidyA, not parAvidyA - ज्ञात्वा च अन्याः वाचः
अपरविद्यारूपाः विमुञ्चथ विमुञ्चत परित्यजत । तत्प्रकाश्यं च सर्वं कर्म
ससाधनम् ।  It is *anyA* vAco vimuncatha.

Whereas what we are talking about is the unity of that parAvidyA across the
samhitA, brAhmaNa, AraNyaka, itihAsa, purANa etc. Thus, in discussing that
parAvidyA we are not going against the advice of the upaniShad.

The incident with ramaNa maharShi that you quote below does not contradict
the above position. When you emphasise the words "WHY NOT REALISE FOR
YOURSELF WHAT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THE VERY FIRST BOOK" - what do you think one
is actually trying to do through the study of scripture? It is exactly
that. An attempt at realising for oneself what scripture is pointing
towards. Some seem to think it is sitting in a dark room muttering "Who am
I?", but that is not at all true.

Anyway my comment is neither a brickbat nor a flower, for both are useless.
It is a request - please do not to discourage others from shAstra
adhyayana.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan

On Mon, Feb 24, 2020 at 11:16 AM sreenivasa murthy <narayana145 at yahoo.co.in>
wrote:

> Dear Sri Venkataraghavan,
>
> I would like to bring to your kind notice that my two postings
> were made keeping simple minded MUMUKSHUS in view. It is not meant for
> eminent scholars like you.
>
> Your  Write : "The very act of shAstra adhyayana is a way of engaging in
> the contemplationof the self". Is this in tune with Upanishads and teaching
> of Sri
> Shankara? Please verify.
> Mundaka Upanishad says : anyA vAcO  vimuncatha ||
>
> Please read the following excerpt with a cool and open mind and understand
> well what Bhagavan Ramana has taught. And then you read my two postings
> once again. Then you can call me by any name you may like. As a  Vedantin I
> accept both flowers as well as brickbats with equanimity.
> Quote:
>
> This article appeared in the magazine "The Mountain Path'"  January 1972
> issue, published from Sri Ramansramam, Tiruvannamalai.
>
>
>
>        It was in 1940 that one day, one of the devotees sitting in the
> hall raised the topic regarding the utility of reading books on religion
> and philosophy. In reply Sri Bhagavan said:
>
>             " You wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and the
> mirror shows you that you have a growth and that you have to get rid of
> it.  You may go on looking into any number of mirrors; every mirror will
> tell you the same, but NO MIRROR CAN EVER SHAVE YOU.  YOU HAVE TO SHAVE
> YOURSELF, instead of wasting time looking into mirror  after mirror it is
> BEST to start shaving after having looked into the first mirror and known
> the truth.
>
>               So also all the books will tell you the same truth, perhaps
> in slightly different ways. Instead of wasting  time reading book after
> book  WHY NOT REALISE FOR YOURSELF WHAT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THE VERY FIRST
> BOOK ".
>
>                                                        The end.
>
> unquote.
>
> I have nothing more to say about your comments.
>
> With respectful namaskars,
> Sreenivasa Murthy
>
>
> On Monday, 24 February, 2020, 8:01:56 am GMT, Venkatraghavan S via
> Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>
> Namaste,
>
> The very act of shAstra adhyayana is a way of engaging in the contemplation
> of the self. It is not a waste of time. Studying different scriptural works
> is not because one hopes to get a different truth from them but to dwell on
> the very same truth  conveyed by all scripture.
>
> If you are convinced that such an activity is a waste of time and everyone
> else is wrong, please save your energy and do not further waste your time
> engaging with others.
>
> This is a forum for advaita discussion. Please do not discourage people
> from undertaking the very activity that this forum is meant for.
>
> Regards,
> Venkatraghavan
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, 23 Feb 2020, 17:04 sreenivasa murthy via Advaita-l, <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> >  Dear Sri Jaladhar,
> > I would like to bring to your kind notice that my two postings
> > were made keeping mumukshus in view.
> >
> > Please read the following excerpt with a cool and open mind and
> understand
> > well what Bhagavan Ramana has taught. And then you read my two postings
> > once again. Then you can call me by any name you may like. As a
> Vedantin I
> > accept both flowers as well as brickbats with equanimity.
> > Quote:
> > Thisarticle appeared in the magazine "The Mountain Path'"  January1972
> > issue, published from Sri Ramansramam, Tiruvannamalai.
> >
> >
> >
> >      It was in 1940 that one day, one of the devotees sitting in the hall
> > raised thetopic regarding the utility of reading books on religion and
> > philosophy. Inreply Sri Bhagavan said:
> >
> >            " You wake up in the morning and look into the mirror and the
> > mirror showsyou that you have a growth and that you have to get rid of
> it.
> > You may goon looking into any number of mirrors; every mirror will tell
> you
> > the same, butNO MIRROR CAN EVER SHAVE YOU.  YOU HAVE TO SHAVE YOURSELF,
> > instead ofwasting time looking into mirror  after mirror it is BEST to
> > start shavingafter having looked into the first mirror and known the
> truth.
> >
> >              So also all the books will tell you the same truth, perhaps
> > in slightlydifferent ways. Instead of wasting  time reading book after
> > book  WHYNOT REALISE FOR YOURSELF WHAT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THE VERY FIRST
> > BOOK".
> >
> >                                                        Theend.
> >
> > unquote.
> > I have nothing more to say about your comments.
> > With respectful namaskars,Sreenivasa Murthy
> >
> >    On Sunday, 23 February, 2020, 1:36:17 pm IST, Jaldhar H. Vyas via
> > Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> >  On Wed, 19 Feb 2020, sreenivasa murthy via Advaita-l wrote:
> >
> > You didn't like it when I called your views asampradayic but what to make
> > of sentiments such as these?
> >
> > > Since the epics and puranas state the same tattva
> > > as taught by the upanishads,a mumukshu who has confined himself to
> > Upanishads
> > > and Sri Shankara's commentaries
> >
> > And what is the legitimacy of that when the upanishads themselves refer
> to
> > itihasa/purana as the "5th Veda" and Shankaracharya has quoted from them?
> >
> >
> > > may not  need  any help from other sources like puranas and other
> texts.
> > > To read / study other texts will be simply a waste of time and energy.
> >
> > I am reminded of the story of the Caliph Omar who supposedly ordered the
> > destruction of the Library of Alexandria saying that "If these books are
> > opposed to the Quran they are heresy and should be burned. If they
> confirm
> > the truth of the Quran they are redundant and it doesn't matter if they
> > burn."  Needless to say that sort of idea is alien to our dharma.
> >
> >
> > > He can as well use that time and energy for adyatmayoga
> >
> > When it is known that Brahman is all, what kind of adhyatmayoga makes
> > distinctions such as "waste of time and energy"?
> >
> > You would be on firmer footing if you kept your criticism to shastras
> that
> > teach duality but those are not what were being quoted in this case.
> >
> > --
> > Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
> > _______________________________________________
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