[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Had Shankaracharya seen the Suta samhita?

[H S Chandramouli]

Namaste Subrahmanian Ji,

Reg  << A citation from this text in the commentary to the Viveka chudamani
(426)
by HH Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati Mahaswamin seems to give credence to the
above belief:

*सोऽश्नुते सकलान् कामान् अक्रमेण *सुरर्षभाः |
विदितब्रह्मरूपेण जीवन्मुक्तो न संशयः ||

The Jnani upon realizing his non-difference from Brahman, experiences the
entirety of bhoga, joy. He does this not sequentially but simultaneously.

The above verse is found in the Sutasamhita - Brahmagita section where
several Upanishads, including the Kaivalya, have been condensed in verse
form:

https://templesinindiainfo.com/brahma-gita-skanda-purana-lyrics-in-hindi/

What is interesting in the above verse is: the idea that the Brahmavit
experiences all the joys in one go and not sequentially.  This is exactly
what Shankara says in the Taittiriya Upanishad bhashya >>,

It is not just an isolated instance. There is almost total correspondence
between Suta Samhita verses and the Bhashya of Sri Bhagavatpada in respect
of all the ten Upanishads. This in fact formed the subject matter of the
daily talks (total 30 talks) by Sri His Holiness Sri Sri Shankara Bhararti
Mahaswamiji of Yadathore Math, KR Nagar near Mysore during the Chaturmasya
of  2020. The total correspondence was covered in great detail by the
Swamiji.

In this context I am copying below from my earlier post here

<<
https://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2020-June/054907.html
>>,

<< The concept and terminology of mUlAvidyA, as to whether it is coined by

post-Shankara commentators or whether it is advanced by Sri Bhagavatpada

himself in his bhAshyAs as well as referred to in the commentaries of his

direct disciples, has been a point of contention between the protagonists

and opponents of mUlAvidyA. So far I had not come across any references to

the possibility of the term mUlAvidyA being found in any pre-Shankara

texts. However during the Upanyasa on Sutasamhita of Skandapurana by His

Holiness Sri Sri Shankara Bhararti Mahaswamiji of Yadathore Math, KR Nagar

near Mysore in the early part of this month, it was brought out that a

reference is indeed available in sUta samhita, which forms part pf skAnda

purANa, written by Bhagavan Sri Veda Vyasa himself. I am copying below the

relevant part from the same. I believe this could be of some significance

in the debate on the concept and terminology of mUlAvidyA.

sUta samhita, Brahma GIta, Chapter 11 (covering Shvetasvatara Up), Verse

62  (Emphasis mine)

<<  ज्ञात्वा देवं सर्वपाशापहानिः क्शीणैः क्लेशैर्जन्ममृर्त्यु्र्प्रहाणिः।

तस्य ध्याना*न्मूलमाया*विभेदे विश्वैश्वर्यं याति कैवल्यरूपम् ॥  >>

<<  j~nAtvA devaM sarvapAshApahAniH kshINaiH kleshairjanmamRRirtyurprahANiH|

tasya dhyAnAn*mUlamAyA*vibhede vishvaishvaryaM yAti kaivalyarUpam ||  >>

It may be of interest to see what Sri Lakshminarasimha Murthy, disciple and
successor to Sri SSS, had to say on Suta Samhita. In his introduction to
the translation of Adhyatma Ramayana to kannada, link ref

<<
http://www.adhyatmaprakasha.org/php/bookreader/templates/book.php?type=kannada&book_id=127&pagenum=2b0001#page/6/mode/1up
>>,

Sri Lakshminarasimha Murthy opines that texts like Adhyatma Ramayana,Suta
Samhita,Srimad Bhagavata etc must have been later to Sri Bhagavatpada. I
have not attempted here to translate the same to english. He adduces
several reasons for such a conclusion,  which are all very familiar to
students of Sri SSS.

Regards
Chandramouli

On Fri, Oct 1, 2021 at 12:36 AM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Yes Venkat  ji, the similarity is indeed striking.
>
> regards
> subbu
>
> On Thu, Sep 30, 2021 at 1:44 PM Venkatraghavan S <agnimile at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Namaste Subbuji,
> >
> > Indeed - when I read the verse cited by you, specifically the words
> > सोऽश्नुते सकलान् कामान् अक्रमेण,  the first thing that sprang to mind is
> > the taittirIya shruti - सोऽश्नुते सर्वान् कामान् सह. The सर्वान् कामान्
> सह
> > is essentially the same as  सकलान् कामान् अक्रमेण. The word सह in the
> > upaniShad is translated as युगपत् एकक्षणोपारूढानेव by the bhAShyakAra,
> > which mirrors the अक्रमेण in the sUtasamhitA.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Venkatraghavan
> >
> >
>
>