[Advaita-l] Sankara commentary for Chandogya Upanishad

[sriram]

Dears
Souls are neutral-that is there is neither a  male soul nor a female 
soul.How then these explanations for the Upanishad vakyam will fit in?I 
think there should be some deep subtle meaning which is beyond our 
grasp.R.Krishnamoorthy.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Venkatesh Murthy" <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" 
<advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2011 8:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Sankara commentary for Chandogya Upanishad


> Namaste
>
> But in Adi Sankara's Bhashya he has said the enjoyment of women and
> vehicles is through mind only but he did not say  the enjoyment is
> only a Stuti.
>
> Moreover the Dvaitis also say when you get Moksha you will be in
> Vaikuntha. The conditions in Vaikuntha are very pleasing.
>
> http://madhwabrahmanas.blogspot.com/2009/07/sri-harivayu-stuti-translation.html
>
> ye.amu.nbhAva.nbhaja.nte suramukhasujanArAdhita.n te tR^itIyam.h |
> bhAsa.nte bhAsuraiste sahacharachalitaishchAmaraishchAruveshAH |
> vaikuNThe kaNThalagna sthirashuchi vilasatkA.nti tAruNyalIlA |
> lAvaNyA pUrNakA.ntA kuchabharasulabhAshleshhasammodasA.ndrAH || 9||
>
> Translation:
>
> Those who adore and worship with all devotion
> The third incarnation which is worshipped by gods
> Will be honoured in the heaven, Vaikunthaloka
> They get delightful divine robes and all the comforts
> The heavenly servants provide cool breeze with chamaras
> Divine damsels will hug them and provide the charms of embrace.
>
>
> Explanation:
>
> Sri Ananda Thirtha is the third incarnation of Sri Vayu. Reverential
> homage at his lotus feet is the prime requisite for earning his good
> graces. Homage comes of a heart that tacitly believes in his greatness.
> To regard him as the greatest Guru, a intelligent grasp of his
> authoritative works on Dvaita Philosophy is absolutely indispensable.
> They, who worship him as such, enhance their joy in Moksha. Our Acharaya
> is thus worshipped by Gods and sages alike. These blessed devotees of Sri
> Vayu are dressed in lustrous robes and decked with diamonds and jewellery
> by the divine attendants who fan the pleasures of these Muktiyogyas. In
> Vaikuntha staying with their swaroopa deva (void of all flesh and blood)
> they become and recipents of full-some joy in the close embrace of
> youthful damsels of dazzling beauty and per force they feel their joy
> enhanced with philosophical appreciation of Sri Hari's and Sri Vayu's
> graces in the form of these mysterious jokes.  Men and women devotees, Who
> were destined to an eternal stay in Vaikunta, can never dream of any sense
> of casual pleasures of the Earth. They are in Muktha Prapancha. They are
> permanently severed from the bonds of prakruthi.
>
> One more  translator Srinivasacharya Hombali says the youthful damsels
> will embrace him who is in Vaikuntha. The beauty of these damsels will
> not reduce with time like earthly women. They will be beautiful for
> ever.  He gets pleasure from toes to head with these embraces and he
> will feel the heaviness of their full breasts.
>
> On Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 4:36 PM, V Subrahmanian
> <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Mar 30, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Venkatesh Murthy 
>> <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Namaste
>>>
>>> What is Sankara's opinion regarding this Chandogya Upanishad Mantra
>>> 8:12 3? Kindly explain with analysis.
>>>
>>
>> Namaste.
>>
>> This is the translation of the mantra 8.12.3:
>>
>> //"So does this serene Being, arising from this body and reaching the
>> Highest Light, appear in His own form. In that state He is the Highest
>> Person. *There He moves about, laughing, playing, rejoicing—be it with
>> women, chariots, or relatives,* never thinking of the body into which he
>> was born. "As an animal is attached to a cart, so is the prana (i.e. the
>> conscious self) attached to the body. //
>>
>> The purport of the mantra pertaining to the highlighted portion, 
>> according
>> to the Acharya is brought out by Anandagiri in the gloss:
>> किमिति निर्गुणविद्याप्रकरणे विदुषि सत्यकामसंबन्धवचनम् ?
>> How is it that in the context of nirguNa jnAnam there is the mention (in 
>> the
>> Shruti) about the connection with 'satyakAma', etc. (which pertains to 
>> the
>> saguNa Brahman)?
>>
>> तत्राह - For this (hypothetical) question, the BhAShyam replies:
>>
>> इत्यात्मज्ञानेति । (भष्यवाक्यम् -) इत्यात्मज्ञानस्तुतये निर्दिश्यन्ते अतः
>> साधु एतद्विशिनष्टि -* य एते ब्रह्मलोक* इति ।
>> // But those true mental desires covered by falsehood, which are 
>> perceived
>> by those whose faults have been eradicated and whose desires have been
>> removed, become united with one who had become identified with all, 
>> because
>> of their having been revealed by enlightenment. *In this way they are
>> pointed out for the eulogy of the knowledge of the Self*.// Unquote
>>
>> Thus, according to the Acharya, the mention of enjoyment, etc. in the
>> shruti is a 'stuti' of AtmavidyA. The mantra quoted by the Acharya in the
>> above bhashyam is taken from 8.12.5: * य एते ब्रह्मलोके.
>> * // He who is aware of the thought: ‘Let me think this,’ he is the Self;
>> the mind is his divine eye. He, the Self sees all these desires in the
>> World of Brahman through the divine eye, the mind and rejoices. //
>>
>> This mantra is about saguNa Brahman. On the strength of this mantra,
>> Shankaracharya establishes that the Atma jnAna is eulogised by mantra 
>> 8.12.3
>> by alluding to the enjoyment of the saguNa brahman as being a part of/
>> connected to the Atma jnAni.
>>
>> An interpretation to another related sentence of the BhAShyam is given by
>> another commentator, अभिनवनारायणानन्देन्द्रसरस्वती thus: यद्वा ब्रह्मैव 
>> लोको
>> ब्रह्मलोकः अतस्सर्वेषां कामानां ब्रह्मण्येव विद्यमानत्वात्
>> सार्वात्म्यविवक्षया ब्रह्मलोकविशेषणम् वक्ष्यमाणमुपपद्यते इति 
>> अर्थान्तरमाह -
>> यत्रेति ।
>>
>> The BhaaShya vaakyam related here is: यत्र क्वचन भवन्तोऽपि ब्रह्मण्येव हि 
>> ते
>> लोके भवन्तीति सर्वात्मत्त्वाद्ब्रह्मण उच्यन्ते ।
>> //Since Brahman is identified with everything, therefore, wherever they
>> (enjoyments) may be, they are said to be in the world of Brahman. //
>>
>> The conclusion of the above study is:
>>
>> - The alluding to enjoyments in the case of AtmajnAni is only an eulogy,
>> stuti of AtmajnAna.
>> - Such enjoyments may or may not be there to an exalted being, owing to
>> one's karma.
>> - These enjoyments belong to a superior loka, like Brahma loka.
>> - An AtmajnAni too can have such enjoyments owing to prArabdha of/by
>> acquiring appropriate superior bodies
>> - All enjoyments of all beings in the creation are only manifestations of
>> the Supreme Joy of/that is Brahman.
>> - So the enjoyments mentioned in the above mantra need not be physically
>> experienced by the jnani but theoretically appropriated/attributed to him 
>> on
>> the above logic.
>> - The above referred second gloss gives another useful upapatti in this
>> connection: It is reasonable to attribute all joys such as referred in 
>> this
>> mantra since joy is verily the svarUpa of Atman. However, since duHkha is
>> maayika and since it is sublated/destroyed owing to Atma jnanam, there is 
>> no
>> attributing of this to the Jnani.
>> - In the SrImadbhAgavatam there is the mention of Chitraketu having
>> attained jnanam traversing with celestial women. See here for a detailed
>> account of the episode:
>> http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/hinduism-forum/790772-chitraketu-offends-angers-parvati-devi.html
>> - See here for the earlier life of Chitraketu:
>> http://kvakutty.sulekha.com/blog/post/2010/01/chitraketu-story-from-srimad-bhagavatham.htm
>>
>>
>> Regards
>> subrahmanian.v
>
>
> -- 
> Regards
>
> -Venkatesh
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>