[Advaita-l] Ekadashi

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste Kaushik
It was nice to see your post on ekadashi and bhakti.

 bhakti as per gItA is of different grades. The higher type of bhakti (even
prior to vedAnta vichAra) is assured of krama mukti, as you wrote, as per
gItA. "antakAle ca mAmeva smaran muktvA kakevaram". (Ch.8)

A few inputs.

1. Bhakti is not just Emotion.
In popular imagination bhakti is necessarily based on an emotional way of
relating to Ishvara in some or the other form as portrayed in puranic
films. *But expression of emotion is not an essential component of bhakti
as per vedAnta*. Emotion is sometimes present but in some bhaktas there may
be a deeper but unstated emotion -outwardly it may not look like popularly
imagined bhakti.
When Santa Tukaram has such high vairAgya and does nAma smaraNa with so
much love that is of course accepted as bhakti in both vedAnta as well as
popular imagination. But when Kumarila Bhatta jumped off a cliff with
exemplary shraddhA in Vedas,  proclaiming that "if the Vedas are a pramANa,
I shall be saved", that is also bhakti of a very high order. Although
Kumarila who is usually dubbed a 'vedic ritualist' did not accept Ishvara,
still, in his own expression of bhakti, he still deeply respected the Vedas
and the Rishis sAmpradAya to the point of being willing to put his life on
the line for them.

2. Bhakti vs. GYAnam binary is not correct.
In Vedanta, bhakti has a more comprehensive meaning and is derived from the
sanskrit verb root "bhaj, sevAyAm" implying,
"resorting to"
"taking recourse to"
"being committed to" etc.
So bhakti includes different grades and stages right from the the Arta
bhakti and kAmya bhakti, to jiGYAsu bhakti culminating in the GYAni bhakti.
The last leads to jIvanmukti in the gIta sense of "bhaktya maam
abhijaanaati" (through bhakti, he knows me). It is understood that bhakti
thus includes shraddhA in the Guru and the Vedas which unfold Advaita
mahavAkyas. There are only different grades of bhakti. The lower grades do
not assume vedAnta vichara, while the *higher grades of bhakti include
vedAnta vichAra*. So its not logical to differentiate bhakti and GYAna in
to two exclusive categories. In gIta parlance, the latter is a subset of
the former.

3. Bhakti vs. Rituals is also a false binary.
In the gIta phrase (ch.18) "svakarmaNa tam abhyarchya siddhim vindati
mAnavaH", (by adherence to one's vedic ordained karmas, one *worships the
Lord* and thus attains fulfilment.) This implies that there is no binary
such as bhakti vs. rituals either. In fact all diligent performance of
one's Dharmic duties is regarded as bhakti by the Lord.
The problem of "mechanical performance" is common to both Vedic rituals and
nAma smaraNa. So its not as if only nAma smaraNa which is a type of vAcikam
or mAnasam karma has claims to being imbued with bhakti. Even the kAyikam
karmas (rituals) are to be done with bhakti.


4. Chitta Shuddhi is neither lower nor higher than bhakti. The fact is,
bhakti is the outer manifestation or expression of chitta Shuddhi.
Conversely, chitta Shuddhi is the inner avasthA corresponding to outer
expression of bhakti. If there is chitta Shuddhi, there is bhakti and vice
versa. We can of course accept the existence of grades or degrees of both.
>From an Advaita vedAnta perspective, there are no cases where there is
genuine bhakti but no chitta Shuddhi. Upon examination, it will be found
that 'bhakti' devoid of chitta Shuddhi is inauthentic and based on rAga
dveShas or ahaMkAra. It may be a passing emotion like the ISKCON type. At
best, it may turn out to be kAmya bhakti which is a good starting point
since it will lead a person higher. Similarly, in all cases where there is
chitta Shuddhi, there will be some expression or manifestation of bhakti.
This may vary from person to person, but it's bhakti, nevertheless.

Om
Raghav



Om
Raghav





On Thu, 22 Jul, 2021, 6:59 am Kaushik Chevendra via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On Wed, 21 Jul 2021, 16:48 Aravind M, <aravindeie13 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Can u tell some of grihasta jeevan muktha gnanis   from kali yugam...
> >
> Why? What does that prove. Hasn't acharya already stated the fact. What is
> the necessity that I should know of an example?
>
> >
> > 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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