[Advaita-l] Samnyasa and Sankara's position?

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Hari Om Bhaskar ji,

1. Vidhana and Vidhi are one and the same.

2. Please see Chhandogya 2.23.1 comprehensively. This very objection that
anyone else other than a parivrajaka can have Moksha is refuted by
Bhagvatpada. I quote the following Bhashya Vakyas:-

//न च वचनमस्ति परिव्राजकस्यैव ब्रह्मसंस्थस्य मोक्षः, नान्येषाम् इति ।
ज्ञानान्मोक्ष इति च सर्वोपनिषदां सिद्धान्तः । तस्माद्य एव ब्रह्मसंस्थः
स्वाश्रमविहितधर्मवताम् , सोऽमृतत्वमेतीति ॥// -- This is the purvapaksha.

Bhagvatpada's Answer ( I am making relevant words Bold)-

(i) स च निवृत्तकर्मा ब्रह्मसंस्थ उच्यते ; स च *परिव्राडेव*, *अन्यस्यासम्भवात्
- Only Parivrajaka, for this is impossible for anyone else.*

(ii) To set aside any confusion on the meaning of the word Parivrajaka,
Acharya says - तस्मात् स्वस्वामित्वाभावात् *भिक्षुरेक एव परिव्राट् , न
गृहस्थादिः - So reading the above two together, Bhikshu alone can be
Brahma-Samstha and none else. Please keep the opponent's word that there is
no mention in Shastra that Parivrajaka alone can have Moksha and none else.
Acharya is repudiating that.*

*(iii) *तस्मात् सिद्धं निवृत्तकर्मा *भिक्षुक एव ब्रह्मसंस्थ* इति -
Therefore it is proved that Bhikshuka *ALONE is Brahma-samstha.*

*(iv) *कस्मात् ? *परिव्राजकस्यैव *निवृत्तभेदप्रत्ययस्य ब्रह्मसंस्थ
*तासम्भवात्* - note the emphasis by way of 'EVA'.

(v) तस्मात् वेदान्तप्रमाणजनितैकत्वप्रत्ययवत एव कर्मनिवृत्तिलक्षणं
पारिव्राज्यं ब्रह्मसंस्थत्वं चेति सिद्धम्

Your reliance on "एतेन गृहस्थस्यैकत्वविज्ञाने सति पारिव्राज्यमर्थसिद्धम्"
to infer that grihastha can also have Moksha without sks is misplaced.
There is a time lag between jnana-prapti and Moksha as has been repeated
several times by Bhashyakara in Prasthantrayibhashya (PTB). The sequence is
mentioned in Gita Bhashya 5.12 -
karma-yoga--sattva-shuddhi--jnana-prapti---sarva-karma-sanyasa---jnana-nishtha---Moksha.
You may also note that as explained in Gita Bhashya 5th chapter, there is
an option between karma-yoga and karma-sanyasa (not sarva-karma-sanyasa.
SKS is mandatory, ks is optional). Therefore, it boils down that
"jnana-prapti" can be there for grihastha and in fact of all varna and
ashrama but not Moksha. Moksha is ONLY through sarva-karma-sanyasa and sks
(ks too) is only for Brahmana. //एतेन गृहस्थस्यैकत्वविज्ञाने सति
पारिव्राज्यमर्थसिद्धम्// simply means - through this it follows that in the
event of advent of ekatva-vijnana, he has to resort to parivrajyam.

This is the unambiguous clear cut import of Bhashya-vakyas wherein Acharya
has unambiguously stated that only Parivrajaka, who is a Bhikshu and NOT a
grihastha, can have Moksha.

Therefore, the reliance on Vamdeva, Janaka etc to infer that
non-parivrajaka can have Moksha is misplaced. Those need to be understood
in other manner.

Regards,
Sudhanshu.

On Fri, Apr 12, 2019 at 4:00 PM Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com> wrote:

> Bhashyakara says in Gita Bhashya, "मुमुक्षो: सर्वकर्मसंन्यासविधानात्" --
> So first thing first, Bhashyakara has clearly and unequivocally stated that
> sks is a vidhana for Mumukshu. It is an injunction. A vidhi. And it is for
> one and all who is yet not 'attained' Moksha, there are no exceptions. Your
> reliance on Vamdeva etc to infer the dispensability of sks is direct
> contradiction with this statement of Bhashyakara. So, there has to other
> interpretation of Vamdeva etc.
>
>
>
> praNAms Sri Sudhanshu prabhuji
>
> Hare Krishna
>
>
>
> mumukshOH sarvakarma sannyasa vidhAnAt…vidhAna & vidhi both are same in
> Sanskrit ?? I don’t know.  Anyway, I am not trying to belittle the
> importance of sarva karma sannyasa by looking at the excuses.  What I am
> trying to say here is jnAnOtpatti is not any particular Ashrama adheena.
> If you need jnana / mOksha then you must take Ashrama  sannyasa no other
> way to go..is not intended as mandatory vidhi in bhAshya though vividisha
> is recommended beyond doubt.  Why I am telling this is because for the
> mOksha irrespective of varNa and Ashrama all are eligible.  jnana mAtre
> yadyapi savrvAshramiNAM adhikAraH and including stree, Vaishya shUdra all
> are eligible for mOksha.  But sannyasa is restricted only to brAhmaNa and
> kshatriya ( though in bruhadAraNyaka Shruti bhAshya bhAshyakAra says only
> brAhmaNa has the adhikAra to take sannyasa).  And householders also can get
> this jnana very clearly says bhAshya : etena gruhastasya ekatva vijnAne
> sati pArivrAjyaM arthasiddham.  When the gruhastha gets this jnana for his
> sannyasa artha siddha clarifies shankara.  And those who attained this
> jnana most of them would get vidvat sannyasa automatically, but again it is
> not invariable law since janakAdi kings though eligible for sannyasa
> continued their rAjya paripAlana keeping the lOka saMgraha drushti in
> mind.  It is because of this flexibility we say a paramAtha jnAni may be
> sanyasi like our bhagavatpAda, king like janaka, arjuna, muni like shuka,
> maharshi like yAjnAvalkya, avatAra purusha-s like rAma, krishna, shUdra-s
> like dharma vyAdha, vidhura, boyes like nachiketa, Dhruva, celestial beings
> like yama, Indra, anAshrami-s like saMvarta raikva, stree-s like maitreyi,
> gArgi.  So, when the yajna dAna and tapaH done with karma phala sannyasa
> buddhi it is as good as karma sannyasa.  Sutra bhAshya would be the right
> reference for all these.  And in Geeta shloka 4-19 & 20 it has been
> explained how gruhastha while doing the karma in realy asaMgi and akatru
> only  through karma phala sannyasa.
>
>
>
> And finally why this passionate justification in favour of gruhastha-s ??
>  is, because,  we are all gruhastha-s and we do not want anyone to snatch
> away our mOkshAdhikAra 😊
>
>
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
>
> bhaskar
>


-- 
Joint Commissioner of Income-tax,
Pune

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