[Advaita-l] Fwd: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} श्रीशङ्करपञ्चदशी

[Michael Chandra Cohen]

Namaste Viniodh,
THanks for the citations. I wonder if Raghavarchar interprets Sankara
bhakti along the lines of the Karika - I suspect not.

FYI, here is AJ Alston (vol 6.105ff) on bhakti as Sankara taught:

*The topic of devotion (bhakti) has already come up for discussion earlier
at several places in the present work. Broadly speaking, Sankara was
capable of taking two different lines of interpretation where the term
‘devotion’ (bhakti) occurred in the texts on which he was commenting. If
the text considered devotion in isolation from knowledge — for instance if
it spoke of the path of devotion or ‘bhakti yoga’ — he made it a
preparatory and subordinate phase of the path leading to knowledge, or at
best one which would lead to union with the Lord in the ‘indirect’ manner,
after death. But his more typical course was to appropriate texts on
devotion to the Lord and identify them with the path of knowledge. In fact
he frequently refused to acknowledge any difference between devotion and
spiritual knowledge at all (Cp. Gita bhasya 13.10, sa (bhaktir) hi jnanam).
*

*Saccidanandendra Svamin argued that Sankara is justified in taking the
latter course both by the ancient texts and by the facts of the spiritual
path (Sac, Glta-Sastrartha-Viveka, 123-126). Knowledge and devotion, he
claims, are not two separate things, but one thing viewed under different
‘aspects’, as the power of the sun is one thing, though it may artificially
be viewed as two separate things, heat and light. But knowledge and
devotion are entirely inter-dependent. There cannot be knowledge of the
true nature of the Lord through mere reasoning without the spirit of
devotion. This is because the Lord is ‘the Self seated in the heart of all
creatures and the Self is that which is dearer than a son, dearer than
wealth, closer than anything else (Brhad. I.iv.8). And on the other side
there cannot be devotion without knowledge. Of the four kinds of devotee
mentioned in the Gita, the man of knowledge is the highest (Gita 7.18), as
devotion is spiritual sensibility and not mere blind application of the
will. When either knowledge or devotion are brought to their highest pitch
they transcend themselves: the knower becomes one with the known, the lover
one with the beloved ().*







*“”Those who pursue action receive the fruits of action from Me, and those
who pursue knowledge receive the fruits of knowledge from Me. Hence even
those who serve Me through the Yoga of Devotion (bhakti yoga) pass through
stages to acquire spiritual knowledge and are eventually liberated through
My grace. If liberation comes to those who perform the Yoga of Devotion,
how much more certainly does it come to those who acquire a correct
intuitive knowledge of the nature of the Self in this very life. Gita
bhasya 15.l”*





*“How, then, can the Lord be seen? Through devotion (bhakti). But through
devotion to what? Devotion to nothing else. The phrase refers to that
devotion which never swerves from the Lord. Devotion-to-none-other is that
devotion whereby nothing other than Vasudeva is perceived by the senses or
any organ of cognition. Through such devotion, O Arjuna, can I be known in
this form —that is, in the form of the universe. I can be known from the
traditional texts (sastra), and not only known from the texts but directly
known in My true nature and can be ‘entered’ —that is, there can be
liberation. *

*And now the whole teaching of the Glta-Sastra is epitomized and summed up
and stated for the sake of man’s highest good. ‘O Son of Pandu, whoever
acts for My sake, has Me for his supreme goal, who is devoted to Me, free
from all attachment, and who lives without enmity for any creature, he
comes to Me’.... A servant works for his master’s sake, but he does not
think of his master as his supreme goal which he will attain to after
death.... ‘Devoted to Me’ means that he worships Me in every way with his
whole being and with all zeal. ‘Without attachment’ means without servile
love or affection for wealth, sons, friends, wife or relatives. ‘Without
enmity for any creature’ means without any feeling of enmity even for those
intent on inflicting grievous harm on him.  Gita bhasya 11.54 and 55.”*


*Hence it has now been proved that total cessation of transmigratory life
(samsara) ensues when there is devotion to knowledge derived from
renunciation of all action. Gita bhasya 18.67 (intro.)*

Katha Upanishat (2.23) says, " whom the Atman chooses, by him is He
obtained; to him He reveals Himself". "when he who is devoid of desire
motivated actions, through the grace of God, the supporter, sees the
ParamAtman's glory, then does he become freed from sorrow"- KU 2.20.




On Tue, May 31, 2022 at 11:20 PM Vinodh via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Sri Michael,
>
> On the topic of dualists, I find a lot of comfort in the following kaarikas
> of Gaudapadacharya, in which he (and later Shankara in his bhashya) argues
> that even though the dvaitins (of different dvaita philosophies) hold on to
> their view and find fault with others, Advaita has no conflict with them.
> This is because Advaita admits the dvaita position from a maayika
> standpoint.
>
> In the case at hand, for an Advaitin, having bhakti toward a particular
> dvaitic name and form is no different from reflecting one’s Atma-svarupa,
> the names and forms being no different from the Atma and being merely
> illusory projections.
>
> स्वसिद्धान्तव्यवस्थासु द्वैतिनो निश्चिता दृढम् ।
> परस्परं विरुध्यन्ते तैरयं न विरुध्यते ॥ १७ ॥
>
> svasiddhāntavyavasthāsu dvaitino niścitā dṛḍham |
> parasparaṃ virudhyante tairayaṃ na virudhyate || 17 ||
>
> 17. *The dualists obstinately cling to the conclusions arrived at by their
> own enquiries (as being the truth). So they contradict one another*;
> *whereas
> the* Advaitin *finds no conflict with them.*
>
>
> अद्वैतं परमार्थो हि द्वैतं तद्भेद उच्यते ।
> तेषाम् उभयथा द्वैतं तेनायं न विरुद्ध्यते ॥ १८ ॥
>
> advaitaṃ paramārtho hi dvaitaṃ tadbheda ucyate |
> teṣām ubhayathā dvaitaṃ tenāyaṃ na viruddhyate || 18 ||
>
> 18. *As non-duality is the ultimate Reality*, *therefore duality is said to
> be its effect* (Kārya *or* Bheda). *The dualists perceive duality either
> way* (*i.e., both in the Absolute and in the phenomena*). *Therefore the
> non-dual position does not conflict with the dualist’s position.*
>
> On Wed 1. Jun 2022 at 05:19, Michael Chandra Cohen via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Sri V. Subramanian and all,
> >
> > S.S. Raghavachar is a Ramanuja guy. His preface to Sri Bhasya announces
> > that the Sankara Sutra Bhasya idea of nirguna brahman as the ultimate
> > teaching of Vedanta is wrong as, "it has been established conclusively
> (in
> > this text) that the supposedly higher teaching attributed to the text as
> > its authentic purport is entirely without evidence"
> >
> >
> https://archive.org/details/sribhashyaonthephilosophyofthebrahmasutrassraghavachar1986ocr/page/n11/mode/2up
> >
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