Vol.I/024 d/03/03/01

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SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anubadravam anudhinam samvardhaya/

SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anubadravam anudhinam samvardhaya//

KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava:/

SrI RanganAthO jayathu SrI Ranga SrIs cha VardhathAm//

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SRI RANGA SRI VOL. I / 024 DATED 3rd March 2001

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EDITORIAL:

We are glad to present the 24th Issue of "Sri Ranga Sri"

In this issue, we present Part 6 of "Greatness Of Bhagavad Ramanuja

Darsanam" dealing with "Other Differences"

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[Please read the note and request given while introducing the series.

If anything has been expressed forcefully it is only to bring home

the point more graphically and is not meant to hurt anyone's feelings]

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

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Greatness of Bhagavad RamAnuja Darsanam (GRD 6)

(Other Differences)

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SECTION 3D: "TRANSITORINESS "

SECTION 3E: " TRUTH EMERGES FROM UNTRUTH"

SECTION 3F: ARE DREAMS REAL?

SECTION 3G: "LIBERATION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE." And

SECTION 3H: "JEEVAN MUKTI"

(LIBERATION WHILE LIVING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY)

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SECTION 3(D) TRANSITORINESS

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The Advaitins hold that other than Brahman, all else is

impermanent. Hence, not real. A mud pot when broken is no more called

a mud pot. It WAS, but IS NOT. Hence, its existence cannot be termed

as real. Whatever is inconstant is not real.

Comments:

(i) This is a much more vulnerable argument than any advanced earlier.

*To be transitory is not to be illusory. Everything in the world is

real and not chimerical; factual and not

Fatuous.

 

(ii) By this argument, Nirvisesha Advaita could label even the Vedas

themselves to be illusory since the Vedas are said to disappear at

the time of PraLaya, only to be brought back by Brahman at the

beginning of the next Kalpa.

 

This would be a blatant repudiation of the Vedas whereby even the

SAmAnya Dharmas (ordinary duties) prescribed therein would not have

to be observed.

 

One will have no duties to perform and the non-performance will not

result in any harm.

 

(iii) When everything is unreal, no teacher could be real and no

pupil either. As both of them are unreal, any instruction supposed to

be transmitted from teacher to pupil would also be unreal.

 

*The AchArya who believes his Sishya to be false cannot impart any

knowledge nor can a Sishya believing his AchArya to be false can

imbibe any knowledge.

 

Where is the link between the teacher and the taught, when neither of

them is real? *

 

(iv) The very proposition that Brahman is shadowed by nescience is

wholly repugnant to the very nature of Brahman - the one destroyer of

all obscurations and shadowing.

 

*Such a proposition is not conducive to a Sense -illumination but

only in Sense-obscuration and Sense-Vacuation* says Kesava Iyengar

 

(v) When ChAndOkya Upanishad says that there is one without a second,

it does not mean the world is unreal.

*ParamAtma and JeevAtma are real.

The world is real.

Vedas are real.

And all of them are ETERNALLY real. *

' He is without equal' means that there is none superior to him. When

someone says 'Arjuna is the real archer' it does not mean other

archers are not real; it only means that they are no match to Arjuna

in his skills of archery.

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SECTION 3 (E) " TRUTH EMERGES FROM UNTRUTH"

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The Advaitins talk of truth emerging from untruth - "Asatyaath Satya

Siddhi". The untrue silver appears as true shell; from the untrue

serpent appears the true rope.

 

COMMENT OF OTHER SCHOOLS:

The answer of other schools is that so long as the silver

generates joy and the serpent produces fear - they should be

considered real. When the Vedas say " There was neither Sat nor Asat"-

it refers to the stage of deluge. By this, it cannot be concluded

that the very Brahman was neither Sat nor Asat.

 

Prof. Narayanachariar:

"As per the Advaitins, if the mumukshu does not know untruth also, it

is necessary to teach him first that untruth and then make him give

it up for a higher truth!"

 

Bhagavad RamAnuja says - 'Sruti is more kind to her followers than a

1000 parents together -"MAthA pithr sahasEbhyOpi vatsalathara:

Sruti"(Gita BAshyam II-44)

 

Why should such Sruti teach falsehood, only to be abandoned and

prosecuted and even mislead innocent novices?"

 

Prof. Narayanachariar-

Now, let us see what "Sathya" means.

Referring to the etymology of the word Satya, Bhagavad RamAnuja says

in Vedartha Sangraha, quoting Taittriya Upanishad II-6 and

BrihadAraNyaka Upanishad III-9-9

Satya is a compound of Sat + Tyat which means-

*That which is HERE NOW + that which WAS THERE THEN". In other words,

that truth or reality as (Satyam) is what we comprehend when

the 'disembodied' and 'embodied' forms of God are put together"*

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SECTION 3 (F) ARE DREAMS REAL?

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*BrihadAranyaka Upanishad categorically declares that dreams are real

and are created by God*

 

(i) The question arises how can we conclude that they are created by

God? And, why not say that the JeevAtma itself could create the

dreams?

 

The answer is, for one thing- the JeevAtma has no power of

creation. For another, if it had the power, it will not create

unpleasant dreams for itself. We see tigers, fire, flood etc., in

which the dreamer appears as a victim. No body would indulge in

creating even in a dream such self- threatening, self- destructive

and unpleasant experiences to one's self.

 

Prof. Narayanachariar explains the meaning of the word "Swapiti" the

state of dreaming or deep sleep by etymology means "returns to one's

self (i.e.) to God as the Innermost dweller". Thus, the dreams in the

dream state and the state of deep sleep are in the realm of ParamAtma

and not of the JeevAtma"

 

(ii) The dreams are real so far as the person who dreams is concerned

and real so long as the duration of the dream. That the objects in

the dream vanish when the person wakes up underlines the temporary-

ness of the objects and *not that the experience itself was unreal.

The joy, the fear, the thrill, the excitement are all real for the

person dreaming who may even be able to remember and relate them

subsequently.

 

(iii) Why should God create dreams at all is the next question.

The answer is- The JeevAtma does some small good deeds and

some small bad ones. They are not big enough or significant

enough to attract a palpable reward or a palpable punishment. God

gives the JeevAtma a little pleasure through pleasant experiences in

the dreams so that he is happy for the duration of the dream enjoying

pleasant things; Similarly, for the small bad ones that are not

significant enough, a mild punishment is imposed by the

Lord by making the JeevAtma feel the pain by dreaming unpleasant

things and unpleasant experiences for the duration of the dreams.

 

(iv) Another question raised by Sri Chandrasekaran is that because

sometimes dreams follow certain experiences in real life, may be as a

consequence and continuation thereof, can it not be inferred that it

is the jeeva through such experiences, actually creates the dream

scenes. The answer is that that it is God who uses these impressions

as raw materials to spin the dreams for the Jeeva to experience.

 

(v) Another question by Sri Chandrasekaran is that children do not

have dreams. This is not proved by Science or experience. On the

other hand, it used to be said that the Lord shows flowers to make

them smile happily and takes away the show of flowers when they start

crying on missing something. Thus, even babies do experience pleasant

and unpleasant moments, may be due to small good or bad deeds done by

them in their earlier lives.

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SECTION 3 (G) LIBERATION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE.

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The Advaitins hold that once the Jeeva acquires the knowledge of its

identity with the ParamAtma, it acquires liberation.

 

Comment of Other Schools:

The other schools do not accept this because mere knowledge is not

enough.

- Merely knowing that hunger will be abated by food,

- Merely knowing that thirst will be quenched by drinking water,

- Merely knowing that ailments can be cured by medication

Cannot entail the relevant results unless action is taken to

actually consume the food, drink or medicine respectively.

- A mere knowledge of the route cannot take one to the

destination unless one actually travels towards the destination.

Knowledge is, of course, necessary as a motivating force for

performing appropriate action of say, Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga or

Prapatti as the case may be, which would qualify one for liberation

 

Prof. Narayanachariar argues-

"The knowledge of a new city one has "not actually visited", can be

first gained through a guidebook or a map, for the exact location of

a building or a street and on that basis when we actually visit that

city the "experience" now gained is not cancellatory of the former

but confirmatory only.

 

Similarly, the photograph of a living person, which we first see, and

then the person himself - the two experiences are corroborative and

not contradictory.

 

Thus for Bhagavad RamAnuja, the Paravidyas constitute a direct means

to God-vision as understood by Veda VyAsa and his venerable father

ParAsara. The knowledge per se does NOT lead to mOksha but opens up a

means to be adopted for attaining mOksha"

 

Talking about 'Knowledge', Brahma Sutram starts with the opening

sentence thus:-

" Om atha atah brahma jignasaa" -

"Hereafter, Therefore, the desire to know Brahman".

 

In this Sutra, we have

FIRST, the Brahman whose knowledge is desired;

SECONDLY, we have the desire to know (Jignasa).

THIDLY, We have the desire to know Brahman as a 'sequence'

(Atha) and as a consequence (Atah) of an antecedent occurrence.

 

All the following quotes are from Sri R. Kesava Iyengar's foreword

to "SathadooshaNi" by Sri Srivatsankachariar Swami.

 

*This opening sentence, according to Sri Vedanta Desika is

incompatible with the system of both Nirvisesha' and 'Advaita'-

because the entity desiring to know is unreal and non-existent as per

the Nirvisesha Advaitins*

 

*There is nothing with reference to which there can be sense-

signification for there is no sense to be signified at all*

 

As Swami Desika puts it.

*If the word signifies 'sense' 'Nirvisesha' is gone;

If it does not, 'Brahman' is gone-like the birth of a grandchild to a

barren woman*

 

*First, a Nirvisesha Brahman is incapable of being an object of

knowledge ... *

 

*Secondly, there can be no 'desire to know'. Unless there is

something in Brahman which it is desirable to know. There can be no

desire to know a bare being Brahman in all its emptiness of husk and

in all jejuneness of vacuity.

 

*Unless there is something inherent in and characteristic of Brahman

which can kindle desire in the knower, no desire to know Brahman can

at all originate" ... When the knower is an illusion like a burnt

cloth to use a metaphor of the Advaitins -'dagda paTa'*

 

*There is no knower, and there can be no knowledge.

Without a knower to know and an object to be known, all talk of

knowledge leading to liberation can only be trick of duplicity and

not a fact of experience*(Kesava Iyengar p.50 ibid)

 

*It is not correct to say that Knowledge of oneness of 'ParamAtma

and JeevAtma is mOksha ' and the knowledge of differentiation between

them is "SamsAra*

 

*The person who has no belief in the liberating knowledge provided by

the Vedas, the knower, the one who bestows knowledge (i.e.) the

Saastras that is the source of knowledge that dispels ignorance-

*If all these are false, how can one talk about 'desire for

knowledge' or the 'efficacy of instruction' (UpadEsa)? *

 

*Verbal knowledge is per se unfruitful. It has to be experienced by

the hearer. The verbal knowledge that mango is sweet, however valid

and authentic, remains per se unfruitful to the hearer until he

tastes it himself*

 

"When a tiger cub, which lived with a flock of sheep was reminded

that it was indeed a tiger cub and not sheep, by practically

demonstrating its feeding on a bloody carcass.

 

*To say that he 'knew' he was a tiger would be weak indeed. He now'

was' a tiger"(Troy Wilson Organ, p.33)

 

Prof. Narayanachariar adds:

*" The 'atha' preceding the AadEsa (the instruction) and the 'atah'

(therefore) further making the transmission of meaning continuous and

smooth and not indicating a contrary message of contrast, in which

case, the connectives would be "Thu" (but or on the contrary). The

AadEsa follows as a 'Corollary' and not emerges

as 'disrupting', 'devastating' conclusion to the contrary"*

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SECTION 3 (H) JEEVAN MUKTI

(LIBERATION WHILE LIVING IN THE PHYSICAL BODY)

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The Advaitins hold that it is possible for the individual soul to

attain liberation while still living in the phenomenal world with the

gross body - if it realizes its unity with Brahman since realization

(or knowledge) is enough to secure liberation. Several examples are

cited to illustrate how the body continues even after one attains

what they call ' Jeevan Mukti'

 

(i) When once a wheel is turned around, even when we take off our

hand, it continues to revolve due to the momentum gained while it was

turned around.

 

(ii) When a vehicle moves fast, even when the brake is applied, it

screeches to a halt only after traversing at least a short distance

from the point where the brake is applied.

 

(iii) In Viveka ChooDAmaNi, Adhi Sankara compares the body of a

Jeevan mukta to the dry leaves clinging to the branches of a tree

during the fall season or a cucumber fruit that had over- ripened

clinging to the branch of the tree before finally falling down.

 

Advaitins call this 'Cucumber liberation'.

 

COMMENT OF OTHER SCHOOLS:

The other schools do not accept this 'Jeevan Mukti'.

They hold that liberation can be attained only on the fall of the

body. This is called ' Videha Mukti'- 'Out of body liberation'-which

can arise only on death. This is because, as Visishtadvaita holds, on

performance of Prapatti, all sins are extinguished except that

portion of PrArabda karma which the ' Dripta' Prapanna has agreed to

experience till the time comes for the fall of his body in the normal

course.

 

And, the very existence of the body is a result of such karma and is

required for experiencing the results of such karma. Only at the time

of death, there will be a nil balance of Karma thus entitling the

Prapanna to MOksha.

 

Here is an excerpt from Satapata Brahmana of Yajurveda

As translated by Sir Monier Williams and quoted by Gerber (p.3) which

would show that the 'Jeevan Mukti' concept is not valid and

only 'Videha Mukti' is acknowledged in the Vedas. -

 

" The Gods lived constantly in dread of death-

The mighty Ender - So, with toilsome rites

They worshipped and performed religious acts

Till they became immortal;

Then, the Ender said to the Gods-

"As you have made yourselves

Imperishable, so will men endeavor

To free themselves from me;

What portion then shall I possess in man?'

The Gods replied-

'Henceforth no being shall become immortal

In his own body; this his mortal frame

Shall thou still seize?

This shall remain thine own -

He who through Knowledge or religious works

Henceforth attains to immortality

Shall first present his body, Death, to thee"'

 

The Advaitins call this ' Krama Mukti' open to those souls that have

not realized their identity with the ParamAtma.

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GRD 7: SECTION 4: COMMON GROUNDS AS BETWEEN

ADVAITA, DVAITA AND VISISHTADVAITA will follow

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