[Advaita-l] Ekadashi

[Kaushik Chevendra]

>
> 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?
>
In the bagavatham a statement is said regarding this. It's said that even
the realised sages worship narayana. That is his divine greatness. It
attracts anyone.

>
> 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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>