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

[V Subrahmanian]

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
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 30, 2021 at 9:03 AM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Sri Ayyanna Dikshitar, in his 'Vyasa Tatparya Nirnaya', says that
>> Shankara Bhagavatpada had based his bhashya on the Suta Samhita (a part of
>> the Skanda Purana).  Swami Vidyaranya too has cited from this text in his
>> Jivanmukti Viveka.
>>
>> 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:
>>
>> अश्नुते भुङ्क्ते सर्वान् निरवशेषान् कामान् काम्यभोगानित्यर्थः ।
>> किमस्मदादिवत्पुत्रस्वर्गादीन्*पर्यायेण* ? नेत्याह - सह युगपत्
>> एकक्षणोपारूढानेव एकयोपलब्ध्या सवितृप्रकाशवन्नित्यया
>> ब्रह्मस्वरूपाव्यतिरिक्तया, यामवोचाम ‘सत्यं ज्ञानम्’ इति । एतत्तदुच्यते -
>> ब्रह्मणा सहेति । ब्रह्मभूतो विद्वान् ब्रह्मस्वरूपेणैव सर्वान्कामान् सह
>> अश्नुते ।
>>
>> For the word 'krameNa' (sequentially) in the Sutasamhita verse, we have
>> the term 'paryAyeNa'. The meaning is the same: sequentially.  The idea is:
>> the shruti says: the knower of Brahman attains the supreme, he experiences,
>> enjoys, all desires (desired objects), in one go, not as an individual, but *as
>> Brahman. * Here Shankara clarifies that the attainment/realization of
>> Brahman simply means that 'everything is attained' and nothing remains to
>> be attained. In the case of an ajnani, his bhoga is dependent on punya, the
>> presence of the bhogya vastu and the sattva vritti. But in the case of the
>> Jnani such is not the case: just as someone owning a huge reservoir sees
>> that all his water requirements are met here itself without the need for
>> seeking water elsewhere.
>>
>> The above idea is present in the Suta samhita verse cited.
>>
>> Needless to say that the Suta samhita text is banned by Madhwas. I heard
>> that the Srivaishnavas have indeed cited from there.  I am yet to get a
>> textual reference for this.
>>
>> This post would be of interest:
>> https://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2020/08/25/the-suta-samhita-shaankara-kena-bhashya-connection/
>>    as a Kena Upanishad bhashya connection was cited from the same text.
>>
>> warm regards
>> subbu
>>
>>
>>
>>
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