[Advaita-l] Binary nature of Jnana

[Venkatraghavan S]

Namaste Anand ji,
My understanding below.

On Tue, 5 Jul 2022, 13:21 Anand N via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste,
>
> Some key take aways for me from the rather technical discussion, which I
> have simplified (hopefully not oversimplified):
> 1. When one attains Jnana, one cannot fall back to Ajnana. Hence it is
> binary in nature.
>
Yes.

2. When one attains Jnana, one may practice Nididhyasana in order to
> counter Viparita Bhavana.

Yes. However, sometimes it is necessary to perform nididhyAsana even for
the ride of jnAna - if the viparIta bhAvanA is so strong that jnAna itself
does not arise, nididhyAsana itself is a means to jnAna.

3. Nididhyasana is post jnana. Until Jnana it is only Manana. Even Vedantic
>
Meditations can be considered only as Nirguna Upasana/Dhyana and not
> Nididhyasana.
>
There cannot be such a rule in my view, because it would contradict
shravaNa manana nididhyAsana all being cited in shAstra as the means to
brahmajnAna. Further, as everyone has viparIta bhAvana even prior to the
rise of jnAna, there is a requirement (in most cases) for nididhyAsana,
even for the rise of jnAna.

4. Even though one is a Jnani, if Viparita Bhavana is strong then there is
> a possibility of rebirth and there is no guarantee of Videha Mukti


No. Once jnAna arises, there is no rebirth after the end of prArabdha
karma. For most, that prArabdha karma ends with the death of the body in
which jnAna arises. However, in certain rare cases (e.g. sage apAntaratama
taking another body as vedavyAsa, sanatkumAra being reborn to Parameshvara
and Amba Parvati as skanda, etc) under the instructions of Ishvara, some
jIva-s take multiple births for the benefit of the world, and in doing so,
exhaust their prArabdha. Their puNya is so great, that one body is
insufficient to exhaust their prArabdha.

So, any birth after the rise of jnAna is not because of the presence of
viparIta bhAvana, but because the prArabdha that gave rise to the body in
which jnAna arose hasn't exhausted itself with the death of that body.

The jnAni has no sanchita or AgAmi karma, so no action done pre jnAna
(which is yet to fructify at the time of jnAna), or post jnAna (whether
because of viparIta bhAvanA or otherwise) can give any results to the
jnAni, let alone birth.

It is also not multiple prArabdha karma-s fructifying - it is the one
prArabdha karma that fructifies as multiple bodies. सकृत्प्रवृत्तमेव हि ते
फलदानाय कर्माशयमतिवाहयन्तः says the bhAShyakAra.

One can read the bhAShya to the yAvadadhikAra adhikaraNam where the above
sentence appears, for further clarity (BSB 3.3.32).

5. The last thought at the time of death determining one's rebirth is
> applicable to an Ajnani only.
>
Yes.

6. The word Brahmanishta can be used for Ajnani and Jnani as well. It all
> depends on the context where the word occurs.
>
In general, it is a term used for those that have already attained jnAna
and are abiding in Brahman naturally.

Having said that, it is arguable that the term brahmasamsthA can also be
used for the ajnAni sannyAsi who is involved in shravaNa manana
nididhyAsana.

Kind regards,
Venkatraghavan