[Chaturamnaya] Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada, Commentator Par Excellence (2)

[R Krishnamoorthy]

Dear Sri Jayanarayanan
Does it mean that liberation as a goal is a myth?One strives for something
which is unreal?Once the duality is transcended one does not require any
further goal as there is nothing more to achieve.To transcend this duality
we need the help of scriptures which become redundant once the Brahma
Jeevaikyam is realised.Whether my understanding is correct?R.Krishnamoorthy.


On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 11:03 PM, S Jayanarayanan <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:

> (Continued from previous post)
>
>
> Individual Soul and Brahman
>
> The Bhagavatpada held that in reality the individual soul and the
> universal Brahman are not different. Non-dualism was criticized by
> some people relying on passages in the Brahma Sutras which
> appeared to suggest duality as, for example,
> Bedavyapadesacchanya, Adhikamtu bheda nirdesat,
> Netaronupapatteh.
>
> Here the Bhagavatpada said that the duality is fictitious. In his sutra
> bhashya, he argued: "The supreme self (Brahman) conditioned by
> the adjuncts, such as the body, sense organs, mind and intellect, is
> viewed by the immature as an embodied soul."
>
> When the oneness of Brahman is grasped, as the Mahavakya
> Tatvamasi proclaims, the distinctions of the doer and the deed, as
> commonly understood, is negated. Similarly, once the identity of
> jiva and Brahman is experienced, liberation ensues putting an end to
> all activities.
>
> Bhagavan Badarayana upheld that the entire manifested world is
> nothing but the Supreme Self (Brahman). This view is challenged
> by many people who argue: "If Brahman is accepted as the sole
> reality, all arguments or proofs leading to direct knowledge in the
> world of duality are meaningless. Even the scriptures dealing with
> do’s and don’ts become redundant. So too the Moksha Sastra.
> Similarly, if everything other than Brahman is unreal, the Srutis are
> unreal. Then how can one support the truth propounded by the
> Srutis that Atman alone is real?".
>
> The Bhagavatpada has fully answered these objections. All
> empirical activities, the prescriptions and prohibitions of the
> Upanishads to attain liberation are relevant only till the dawn of
> non-dual experience. Is it not true that the experiences of the dream
> state become illusory on waking?
>
> In the same way, the experiences before illumination are true until
> we attain oneness with the Brahman.
>
> The argument that Srutis are illusory and therefore cannot lead one
> to liberation is unfounded. In the pre-awakened state, the illusory
> nature of the Srutis does not arise at all. They are real then, and
> there is no incongruity in this.
>
> If it is argued that the Vedas, in fact, are illusory, even then what
> harm is there? Do we not come across deaths due to grief which is
> nothing but illusion?
>
> Similarly, does not one get the knowledge of having become rich
> through a dream which is entirely an illusion?
>
> In this context, there is a Sruti pramana which says that if, during
> the performance of the rites for desired results, the agent sees a
> woman in a dream, he should know that those rites will be fruitful
> because of the vision.
>
> The experience of the dreamer is real in that state, as even an
> illusory means of knowledge can produce that experience. The state
> of acquired wealth is an illusion brought by a dream which is also
> an illusion. There is therefore nothing wrong in the exposition of
> jiva-Brahman identity.
>
>
> (To be Continued)
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