aatma saakshaatkaaram

[Guest guest]

>Dear learned members,

>

>I need an answer to the following question.

>

>

>As per gita,

>

>Is atmasakshataram absolutely necessary for one to start bhakti yoga? If

>not why not - prove using slokas from gita + commentaries.

>

>As per upanisads can it be established unmistakably, that atmasakshatkaram

>is absolutely needed for bhakti yoga? If so provide detailed quotes and

>these quotes should be unmistakable and generally agreeable to wider

>audience, (in the sense strongly provable.)

>

>I am having the time of my life discussing gita with sri SMS chari who is

>writing a new book on Gita. His book will be something very unique. I

>don't think a similar book has been written before.

>

>Adiyen krishna

 

Krishnanji - Namaskara-s.

 

I saw the information of Shree SMS Chari. Please co

[Guest guest]

Shree Rajagopalan

 

Thanks for your kind mail. The question was actually posed not by me

but by Shree Krishana kalale who is himself a scholar. What I wrote

was only from my understanding. Here are my thoughts regarding the

issues you have addressed.

>. Eventhough, I am ignorant of

>many things, what I hear from learned people like you is that

>paramporul that has been described by vedas cannot be perceived

>by us. I also have heard that whatever the concept of vedas

>that is applicable to us is also applicable to all other things

>(including living and non-living).

 

Yes, indeed. Most of the achaarya-s agree on three fundamental

pramaaNa-s, pratyaksha, anumaana and shabda. Nayyyayika-s and

Advaitins consider three more, upamaana, arthaapatti and anupalabdi

while Bhagavaan Ramanuja and Madhva consider the later three as part

of anumaana pramaaNa only. Any knowledge generally involves karaNam

or instruments and these are also referred to as pramaaNa in the

general sense of the word.

 

Pratyaksha is perceptual knowledge and involves the five senses and

some classify manas or mind is also an instrument of pratyaksha since

one can recollect from memory or have a mental vision of the object.

Hence direct perception is what you see right now and memory is

recollection of what one saw earlier by direct perception. The

implication in the question of Shree Krishna Kalale 'aatmasaaskhaat

karaNam' - involves sa akshaat - directly seeing th