[Advaita-l] Marriage, the world, and brahmacharya

V Subrahmanian v.subrahmanian at gmail.com
Fri Dec 22 12:01:01 EST 2017


In fact one can see that Shankara, in the prasthanatraya bhashya, uses the
term 'urdhvaretas' as a synonym for a sannyasin. There are over a dozen
usages.

 तस्मात्सिद्धा ऊर्ध्वरेतसामाश्रमाः । सिद्धं च ऊर्ध्वरेतःसु
विधानाद्विद्यायाः स्वातन्त्र्यमिति ॥ २० ॥ BSB 3.4.20

regards
subbu

On Fri, Dec 22, 2017 at 9:54 PM, Praveen R. Bhat via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Shashiji,
>
> On Fri, Dec 22, 2017 at 9:19 PM, Shashi via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> >
> > Is it required by shastra to get married if one does not take sannyasa?
> > Does shastra permit one to be a working man in the world, but a
> > brahmachari, without a wife?
> >
> ​​IMHO, the only difference between a gRhasta (having a son) and a
> brahmachArI as far as the dharmashAstras ​are concerned would be in the
> postmortem gatI if one doesn't gain jnAna. The former would have someone to
> perform antimasaMskAra, shrAddha piNDa, etc and the latter none. These
> days, even that following is declining and where it is alive, the offering
> is made by the yajamAna even for other relatives. So practically there
> would be no difference. In case one gains/ wants to gain jnAna, there is no
> difference in any Ashrama, though some may prefer to remain brahmachAris
> while others would find gRhastAshrama more helpful for karmayoga; yet,
> sannyAsa is recommended for commitment to the pursuit and/ or niShTha;
> Bhashyakara and ergo, orthodox tradition, interprets it as a vidhi.
>
> Also, does Advaita agree with Yogic doctrines regarding the spiritual and
> > physical effects of becoming an Urdhvareta?
> >
> ​Advaita doesn't disagree with it. In orthodox tradition, khechari is
> recommended and even practiced for becoming Urdhvaretas.​ So in a way, it
> is agreed to. There is also an intertwined following of shrIvidyA along
> with orthodox tradition as can be seen from Bhagavatpadacharya's
> saundaryalaharI too, which also ties in the benefits well. Moreover, the
> benefits accrued are anubhavasiddha, they are not quite open to discussion;
> those who have it don't talk of it much, while those who don't don't know.
>
> gurupAdukAbhyAm,
> --Praveen R. Bhat
> /* येनेदं सर्वं विजानाति, तं केन विजानीयात्। Through what should one know
> That owing to which all this is known! [Br.Up. 4.5.15] */​
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