[Advaita-l] Fwd: Ācārya teaching through Śabda pramāṇa idea in the vedic mantra saṁhitā

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaskara Bhaskar avare


It’s needs īśvarānugraha to realize that all this is a dream.

But sure, I do understand your perspective and thank you for sharing it…..
you feel DSV invalidates Īśvara-bhakti and īśvara-anugraha. That’s because
of out-of-context citations of DSV verses.

Did know you that Madhusudana Sarasvatī who strongly asserts DSV and would
perhaps come across as a bête noire for those who don’t connect with DSV,
also composed the well-known verse on Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the “supreme personality
of ‘Godhead’” -

वंशीविभूषितकरान्नवनीरदाभात्
पीताम्बरादरुणबिम्बफलाधरौष्ठात् ।
पूर्णेन्दुसुन्दरमुखादरविन्दनेत्रात्
कृष्णात्परं किमपि तत्त्वमहं न जाने ॥

*vaṁśī-vibhūṣita-karān nava-nīradābhāt*
*pītāmbarād aruṇa-bimba-phalādharauṣṭhāt |*
*pūrṇendu-sundara-mukhād aravinda-netrāt*
*kṛṣṇāt paraṁ kim api tattvam ahaṁ na jāne ||*
*(Gītā-gūḍhārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 15.20; c**ited in the
Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 15.18)*

And in the introduction to his Gūḍārtha Dīpikā commentary on the Bhagavad
Gita, Madhusudana Saraswati expresses profound humility by comparing his
own limited intellect to the vast, sky-like commentary of Adi
Shankaracharya. He uses the poetic device of viṣamālaṅkāra, specifically
mentioning the contrast between a "dull-witted" self and the "cosmic space"
of the Bhashya to emphasize this profound gap in knowledge and wisdom, “kva
bhāṣyaṁ gaganābhogaṁ kva cāhaṁ manda-kautukaḥ”, to express reverence and
humility towards Shankaracharya's vast work and his own limited capacity.

Now for those who truly understand DSV, they see no dissonance with
fostering  Īśvara-bhakti and guru-bhakti while at the same time holding DSV
to be a valid prakriyā to arrive at ātmā-jñānam.

For others, DSV implies a blind and out-of-context denunciation of all
bhakti etc. it does not. Context is all-important. They cannot fathom Śrī
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī’s devotion in actions and conduct sharing space in
the same person  with defending DSV as a prakriyā to land on ‘pāramārthika
satyaṁ Brahma aham asmi’.

The same problem was experienced by rāmānuja and madhva who could not
fathom how Śrī Śaṅkara could defend Advaita while composing hymns to
Bhagavān Viṣṇu and Śiva.

The more things change the more they remain the same.

Warm regards
Raghav





On Fri, 10 Jul 2026 at 2:48 PM, Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at hitachienergy.com>
wrote:

> emphasising the importance of a teacher to teach ātmā-jñānam through
> vedānta śabda pramāṇa.
>
> praNAms
> Hare Krishna
>
> Surprise  to see this emphasization on shAstra, sampradaya, Acharya etc.
> from the desk of advanced students of Advaita 😊 As per them,
> Ishwaraanugraha, shAstra prAmANya, Acharya upadesha, puNya saMchayana, pApa
> kshaya etc. etc. are mere bAlisha theory meant for only tyros in Advaita
> jnAna mArga, when they elevate themselves to second tier of higher level of
> understanding, these things are mere concocted theories in the conditioned
> mind of jeeva..Ishwara, Ishwara srushti, Acharya his upadesha,
> dharma-karma, pApa-puNya, pramANa, pramANa janita jnAna, sampradaya etc.
> etc. hardly find a place in the post-graduation studies of Advaita
> vedAnta.  Their sincere advice to the beginners is that : grow-up, realize
> that everything is mind game, cross that delusion that you need Ishwara
> kAruNya, guru upadesha as per sampradaya etc.  use your sharp logical mind
> to arrive at the truth that everything is bhrAnti and all these are your
> bhrAnti drushti / srushti  only nothing else!!  And their final warning is
> : even at this advanced stage of studies if you are still seeking
> IshvarAnugraha it is as good as trying to take bath in mirage water 😊
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar
>