[Advaita-l] Ekadashi

[Vinodh]

Namaskaram

The original post is a very nice message on the importance of bhakthi for
Advaita saadhakas and especially relevant on the day of Ekadashi.

The main role of Bhakthi is the removal of one’s ego which is a major
hurdle in the path of jnana. By performing Ishwara-arpana (submission to
the Lord) of one’s thoughts, speech, and actions, one’s ego is removed
completely and this lets the jnana shine through clearly in the mind like
the sun shines when the clouds are removed.

One may ask why would an advaita jnani have bhakthi at all? Because for
there to be bhakthi, there needs to be a worshipper and one who is
worshipped, which implies dvaita. Still, we do have several examples of
Advaita jnanas who have expressed bhakthi bhava, like Shankara himself for
example. There does not seem to be any explanation for this. Perhaps it is
because the Parabrahmam is of the very nature of love, which is no
different from bhakthi?

Om tat sat 🙏



On Wed 21. Jul 2021 at 16:53, Aravind M via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> There is a special topic in kanchi periyava deivatin kural 6th volume
> as"uchakata gnanam turavikae"...Janaka though was managing the kingdom got
> gnana upadesam from rishis ..How many grihastas in this age got maha vakya
> upadesam from a Sannyasi acharya
>
> On Wed 21 Jul, 2021, 4:48 PM Aravind M, <aravindeie13 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Can u tell some of grihasta jeevan muktha gnanis   from kali yugam...
> >
> > On Wed 21 Jul, 2021, 2:41 PM Kaushik Chevendra, <
> > chevendrakaushik at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Here is an expert from discourse of mahasanidham.
> >>
> >> D: Does Your Holiness opine that householders cannot get jñāna and
> >> attain mokṣa?
> >> HH: No. They too can attain jñāna and mokṣa. However, their path is
> >> tougher. An unmarried mumukṣu (one keen on mokṣa), especially
> >> one who is a saṁnyāsin, can remain away from causes of mental
> >> distraction and lead a life directed wholly to the attainment of mokṣa.
> >> Householders, however, have to live with familial responsibilities
> >> and deal with situations that are unfavourable. Nevertheless, it is
> >> incorrect to contend that they cannot secure jñāna. Janaka and
> >> such other householders were jñānins.
> >>
> >>
> >> On Wed, 21 Jul 2021, 14:11 Aravind M, <aravindeie13 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Why aadi shankara took avatar as a Sannyasi..
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>> On Wed 21 Jul, 2021, 2:06 PM Kaushik Chevendra, <
> >>> chevendrakaushik at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Namaste.
> >>>> Grihasthi ashrama isn't something that restricts gnana. As long as the
> >>>> householder has a vairagi bhava and lives in accordance to dharma he
> is
> >>>> eligible for moksha.
> >>>> And unflinching devotion is what I meant when I said "surrender to
> >>>> isvara".
> >>>> So when a person has unflinching devotion to the Lord and is engaged
> in
> >>>> isvara nama smarana he is saved.
> >>>> On Wed, 21 Jul 2021, 14:00 Aravind M, <aravindeie13 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> In that march 2021 issue,maha sannidanam mentioned "nama leads to
> >>>>> attaining paramatma"..But he never mentioned that we will attain
> that in
> >>>>> this birth itself staying in grihasta ashrama,doing all lowkkeega
> stuffs
> >>>>> and also chant name in the name of pseudo-bhakthi as many nama
> sankirtan
> >>>>> vidwans are doing...only a Sannyasi who got the maha vakya upadesam
> is the
> >>>>> authority for gnana
> >>>>>
> >>>>> On Wed 21 Jul, 2021, 12:40 PM Kaushik Chevendra, <
> >>>>> chevendrakaushik at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> And this is the statement of bagavtpada in the last stanza of "bhaja
> >>>>>> govindam"-
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> *bhajagovindaM bhajagovindaM govindaM bhajamuuDhamate .
> >>>>>> naamasmaraNaadanyamupaayaM nahi pashyaamo bhavataraNe .. (33) *
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> *Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool ! Other
> >>>>>> than chanting the Lord's names, there is no other way to cross the
> life's
> >>>>>> ocean.*
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> And the works of "narayaneeyam" and "gudartha dipika" by advaita
> >>>>>> acharyas specify the importance of bhakthi. It's not a mere form of
> "chitta
> >>>>>> sudhi".
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jul 2021, 11:52 Kaushik Chevendra, <
> >>>>>> chevendrakaushik at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Namaste sir.
> >>>>>>> Its true that the attainment of gnana alone leads to liberation.
> But
> >>>>>>> the aspect of devotion is nowhere given less importance. This has
> been
> >>>>>>> stated many times by shri abhinava tirtha swamin in his
> discourses. In now
> >>>>>>> way can knowledge be attained without the grace and of guru and
> isvara.
> >>>>>>> And for people who completely surrender to isvara, the aspect of
> >>>>>>> "krama mukthi" is accepted. So, there is no rule that it has to
> come after
> >>>>>>> many births.
> >>>>>>> Regarding the power of nama smarana, here is a link to the
> >>>>>>> discourses of jagadguru - "
> >>>>>>> http://www.tattvaloka.com/jagadguru-speaks". The discourse in
> March
> >>>>>>> 2021 under " Chant the names of Lord and attain highest good" the
> power of
> >>>>>>> nama smarana is given. There is also a discourse in telugu given
> by him in
> >>>>>>> 2013 regarding the greatness of smarana- "
> >>>>>>> https://youtu.be/LqLkkwWm1cY".
> >>>>>>> From jagadgurus discourses it's evident the power of nama smarana
> >>>>>>> and bakthi shouldn't be compared to other rituals. Bakthi indeed is
> >>>>>>> superior to them.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> And I have no way indicated inferiority of other gods. It was
> >>>>>>> ekadashi, a special day to narayana and vaishnavas. And hence I
> had a few
> >>>>>>> thoughts about the immeasurable daya and splendor of narayana and
> shared it
> >>>>>>> in the group. And other than a praise of him and a rememberance of
> him, it
> >>>>>>> had no other intention.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Om namo narayana.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Thank you.
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jul 2021, 10:24 Venkatesh Murthy, <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>
> >>>>>>> wrote:
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> Namaste
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> Our Sampradaya has laid down Panchayatana Puja to worship Ganesha,
> >>>>>>>> Shiva. Vishnu, Shakti and Surya. There is a reason for this. We
> should not
> >>>>>>>> become fanatics of one God and quarrel with devotees of other
> Gods. It will
> >>>>>>>> be a big obstacle for us if we become fanatics. Every God is a
> form of
> >>>>>>>> Saguna Brahma. No God is inferior and nobody is superior.
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 5:44 AM Kaushik Chevendra via Advaita-l <
> >>>>>>>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>> Namaste subbu sir.
> >>>>>>>>> Thank you for your kind words.
> >>>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>> On Tue, 20 Jul 2021, 23:18 V Subrahmanian, <
> >>>>>>>>> v.subrahmanian at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>> > Dear Kaushik,
> >>>>>>>>> >
> >>>>>>>>> > You have beautifully articulated the position of the Shastra
> and
> >>>>>>>>> our
> >>>>>>>>> > sampradaya.  Your post, though short, is full of wisdom.
> Thanks
> >>>>>>>>> for
> >>>>>>>>> > sharing your thoughts.
> >>>>>>>>> >
> >>>>>>>>> > warm regards
> >>>>>>>>> > subbu
> >>>>>>>>> >
> >>>>>>>>> > On Tue, Jul 20, 2021 at 9:14 PM Kaushik Chevendra via
> Advaita-l <
> >>>>>>>>> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >>>>>>>>> >
> >>>>>>>>> >> The differences between the school of advaita and dvaita are
> >>>>>>>>> many. But the
> >>>>>>>>> >> CHATNTING of harinama and sublime devotion to vishnu is the
> >>>>>>>>> common and
> >>>>>>>>> >> most
> >>>>>>>>> >> important aspect in both the school. In the age of kali, it is
> >>>>>>>>> said that
> >>>>>>>>> >> no
> >>>>>>>>> >> penance, austerity, charity etc has the same fruit as the
> >>>>>>>>> rememberance of
> >>>>>>>>> >> hari nama. The last verse in "bhaja govindam"says "There is no
> >>>>>>>>> other
> >>>>>>>>> >> measure to escape samsara other than rememberance of hari
> >>>>>>>>> nama". It's said
> >>>>>>>>> >> that narayana finds some excuse to lift people from samsara.
> >>>>>>>>> Such is his
> >>>>>>>>> >> daya ,he is the uplifter of sinners,he is "patita pavana". He
> >>>>>>>>> always
> >>>>>>>>> >> protects his devotees. People who hated hari, such as kamsa,
> >>>>>>>>> sisupala etc,
> >>>>>>>>> >> too were given mukti because they constantly thought about
> him.
> >>>>>>>>> He is an
> >>>>>>>>> >> ocean of daya and forgiveness. Being sarvasaktha isvara he
> >>>>>>>>> underwent
> >>>>>>>>> >> samsara as rama, to show us how to live a life according to
> >>>>>>>>> dharma. He
> >>>>>>>>> >> gave
> >>>>>>>>> >> the essence of Upanishads in the form of krishna to save the
> >>>>>>>>> people of
> >>>>>>>>> >> kali.  Today being ekadashi, this day belongs to narayana.
> >>>>>>>>> >> Just a few thoughts I had on this auspicious day.
> >>>>>>>>> >> Om namo narayanaya.
> >>>>>>>>> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> -
> >>>>>>>> Regards
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>> -Venkatesh
> >>>>>>>>
> >>>>>>>
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