[Advaita-l] shabdabrahman

[Mahadevan Babu]

Dear Sriram Krishnamurthyji,

Namo NamaH
But, I have a small doubt. I don't believe H.H. Sri VidyaraNya would  
have deviated from his Acharyals as this is mentioned by H.H.SRI  
GOUDAPADACHARYA as well thus:

In the Mandukya Upanishad, Gaudapada's karika verses (Agama Prakarana)  
24 to 28, Meditation on ' AUM ' is mentioned as a Sadhana for  
attaining liberation, where the contemplation is on the thurIya

sarvasya praNavO hyAdirmaDhyamantastaThaiva cha |
Evam hi praNavam gyAthva vyashnutE tadanantaram ||

Om is indeed the beginning, middle, and end of everything. Having  
known OM in this way indeed one attains immediately (identity with it)

SRI GURUBYO NAMAHA

Best Regards
Dev Babu




On 03/11/2008, at 7:15 PM, Sriram Krishnamurthy wrote:

> Hi Jaldhar,
>
> I would like to add that the Sage, HH Sri Vidyaranya in his  
> Panchadashi says
> that one can attain Brahman through meditation on Aum. According to  
> the
> review of Sri Goda Venkateswara Sastri in the latest edition of  
> Tattvaloka
> on a translation of Panchadashi he says that Vidyaranya has deviated  
> from
> Sri Shankaracharya by stating that one can attain Brahman through  
> meditation
> on Omkara. I leave it to the Shastra Vruddhas to ponder on this.  
> Morever
> there is a work on Sphota Siddhi by Sri Mandana Mishra, who may be  
> the same
> Purvashrama name of Sri Sureshwaracharya who was the Shishya of Sri
> Shankaracharya. Another advocate of Shadba was Sri Sarvagnatma Muni,  
> in his
> Samkshepa Shareerika.
>
> Thanks and Regards,
> Sriram Krishnamurthy
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 1:27 PM, Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com 
> >wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 2 Nov 2008, Srikrishna Ghadiyaram wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> The following quotation is from 'Auspicious Wisdom' by Douglas  
>>> Renfrew
>>> Brooks; page 44:
>>>
>>> "The author of the Prapacasara Tantra is not likely the "original
>>> Shankara," for a host of reasons including his acceptance of
>>> shabdabrahman, a position which Shankara the Brahmasutrabhashya  
>>> author
>>> rejects."
>>>
>>> Would the members please elucidate the position of Shankara on
>>> shabdabrahman based on Brahmasutra. Apart from shabdabrahman what  
>>> other
>>> brahmans (?) are rejeted by Shankara.
>>>
>>
>> From the very beginning, the heirs of the rshis placed a lot of  
>> emphasis
>> on the mystical nature of sound.  For example both the  
>> Mundakopanishad and
>> the Gita speak of Omkara as brahman.  Among the Vaiyyakaranas or
>> grammarians, speculation on these lines led to what some term
>> Shabdadvaita.  The roots of this are hinted at in Patanjalis'  
>> mahabhashya.
>> Bhartrahari developed the idea more systematically in vakpadiya and
>> Mandana Mishra wrote sphotasiddhi which went further.
>>
>> The main feature of this darshana was sphotavada, the idea that  
>> meaning
>> occurs in a "burst" of comprehension upon hearing a sentence rather  
>> than
>> word-by-word. Shabdabrahman is the most subtle form of sphota.
>>
>> In later times Kaunda Bhatta (vaiyyakaranabhushanasara) and Nagesh  
>> Bhatta
>> (vaiyakkaranalaghumanjusha) were proponents of this theory and  
>> their works
>> are still studied by pandits today.
>>
>> I'm not sure Shankaracharya criticised shabdabrahman per se. (It  
>> does have
>> a vedic basis after all.)  Sphotavada itself is out and later  
>> Advaitins
>> have criticised it but I don't recall reading about it in the
>> brahmasutrabhashya.
>>
>> --
>> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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Dev Babu
babunim at optushome.com.au