Guest guest Posted January 30, 2003 Report Share Posted January 30, 2003 >You should understand the rationale behind caste system:>Srimad Acharya says: sva-vihita-vR^ittyA bhaktyA bhagavadArAdhanA eva>paramodharmaH | >When one's varNa-Ashrama-dharma is executed, with a sense of devotion,>as the worship of Lord -- that is parama-dharma.>This is the sense behind one's sAdhana. How well you execute the role>given to you determines the path to Moksha. Jnana-bhakti-vairagya are>irrespective of one's caste. Notice the background of Gita: The Lord>instructs Arjuna to fight war with sense of niShkAma karma to get>moksha. Thanks to Sri Krishna K for explaining in detail about the various parts of Mahabharata and Gita that lead to conclusion that 'Caste' system need to be followed. I am just a beginner in Madhva Philosophy and hence pardon me if my questions seem to be silly. The above quote from Srimad Acharya (sva-vihita-vR^ittyA bhaktyA --Verse 1) is my favourite and I use it quite often when having an argument with my fellow friends. Srimad Acharya also quotes in Anu Bhashya that 'Jnanenaiva Param padam -- Verse 2' -- which means that only throu knowledge, one can attain Moksha. Here is my question. There are 2 persons(2 jivas) who are eligible for Moskha. First person is born as a Brahmana and hence follows what a Brahmana should follow. Second person is born as a Kshatriya and he too follows what a Kshatriya should follow. So, we can say that they are in line with verse 1. Now, the question is, who will get Aparoxa Jnana/Moksha first ? Looking at verses 1 and 2 above, we can say that Brahmana will get Aparoxa Jnana/Moksha first. Is it true ? If that is true, it indicates 2 things. a) Second person should/must be born as brahmana in his later births and get to acquire more knowledge to attain Mukthi, so as to satisfy verse 2 also. We can argue that, since Kshatriya do possesses authority on vedas, he can as well study like Brahmana. But we should not forget that his main job is to work as a Kshatriya and not indulge in full time study on vedas. b) A person other than brahmana will not get Aparoxa Jnana/Moksha. Pl correct me if I am wrong. With regards Niranjan ********************************************************** Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 31, 2003 Report Share Posted January 31, 2003 On Thursday, January 30, 2003 Niranjan Yerraguntla wrote: > The above quote from Srimad Acharya (sva-vihita-vR^ittyA bhaktyA --Verse 1) > Srimad Acharya also quotes in Anu Bhashya that 'Jnanenaiva Param padam -- > Verse 2' -- which means that only throu knowledge, one can attain Moksha. > Here is my question. > There are 2 persons(2 jivas) who are eligible for Moskha. > First person is born as a Brahmana and hence follows what a Brahmana should > follow. > Second person is born as a Kshatriya and he too follows what a Kshatriya > should follow. > So, we can say that they are in line with verse 1. Now, the question is, who > will get Aparoxa Jnana/Moksha first ? There are two things here 1. Aparoxa j~nAna 2. moxa. As to who gets first, it depends on various factors. > Looking at verses 1 and 2 above, we can say that Brahmana will get Aparoxa > Jnana/Moksha first. Is it true ? No, we cannot say that at all. No two jivA-s are alike, and it all depends on the yogyata of that jIva. If we ask a question " There are two vessels. Which one gets filled first? " One would answer " It depends on size of the vessel, the rate of the flow " . Same way one has to say " it depends on the yogyata and sAdhana " . We do not know the yogyata of a jIva. God knows that and at an appropriate time grants aparoxa j~nAna. A turn of one thousand years of four yugA-s make a day of Brahma and same for the night. One hundred such years make one kalpa. At the end of that kalpa, the eligible ones get moxa along with Brahma. Also, note the number of years one has to do sAdhana to get moxa varies proportionate to their bliss in moxa. Bigger the vessel (yogyata), longer it takes. Thus it does not matter, who gets first. For example, several jIvA-s may get moxa at the end of this Kalpa, ahead of our MukhyaprANa, who will get moxa only at the end of next Kalpa --- end of this Kalpa, he will enter Laxmi and will be reborn as the next Brahma. For more details see HarikathAmruthasAra 23/33 in particular. > If that is true, it indicates 2 things. > a) Second person should/must be born as brahmana in his later births and get > to acquire more knowledge to attain Mukthi, so as to satisfy verse 2 also. There is a narration of " insect(kITa) " in Mahabharata-Tatparya-Nirnaya : bhavasva rAjA kusharIrametat.h tyaktveti naichchhat.h tadasau tatastam.h | atyaktadehaM nR^ipatiM chakAra purA svabhaktaM vR^ishhalaM sulubdham.h || 10\.64|| lobhAt.h sa kITatvamupetya kR^ishhNa- prasAdatashchA.ashu babhUva rAjA | tadaiva taM sarvanR^ipAH praNemu- rdaduH karaM chAsya yathaiva vaishyAH ||10\.65|| uvAcha taM bhagavAn.h muktimasmi.n stava xaNe dAtumahaM samarthaH | tathA.api sImArthamavApya vipra tanuM vimukto bhava matprasAdAt.h || 10\.66|| j~nAnaM cha tasmai vimalaM dadau sa mahIM cha sarvAM bubhuje tadante | tyaktvA tanuM vipravaratvametya padaM harerApa sutattvavedI || 10\.67|| Gist: Lord VedavyAsa made the reluctant insect(KItA), who refused to give up his body. This kItA was a great devotee of the Lord, but was a miser in his previous birth, so was born as an insect. Now that he was a king, everyone paid respect to him! Lord says " I can give you moxa as is, but **rules have to be followed. Lord imparts knowledge to king KITa and he gets reborn as a brahmin and then gets moxa. ** Sri Vadiraja, in his BhAva prakAshika commentary mentions what the 'rule' is: A jIva whose innate svarUpa is brahmana will have to be born as a brahmaNa just before getting moxa. Note that the varNa of svarUpa need not be same as one born in. But the last birth before moxa must be same as svarUpa varNa for mortals. We can appreciate this if we understand that moxa is " naijasukhAnubhUti " . > We can argue that, since Kshatriya do possesses authority on vedas, > he can as well study like Brahmana. A common misconception is, studying Veda alone/vedAdhikAra = getting moxa. If this were the case, Sankaracharya would have gotten moxa! Studying vedas does not guarantee that understanding is right. > But we should not forget that > his main job is to work as a Kshatriya and not indulge in full time > study on vedas. > b) A person other than brahmana will not get Aparoxa Jnana/Moksha. As Krishna K said j~nAna, bhakti vairagya have nothing to do with varna-s. It takes several janma-s for moxa yogya jIva to get aparoxa: 1. Doing nishkAmakarma one moves towards acquiring j~nAna by the grace of God. This leads to jignAsa/discussion/study into the one possessing all attributes. 2. Having done the Brahma JignAsa, one is able to *constantly* meditate upon that 'Brahman', Who is described in vedas. But sAtvika purANa-s and itihasas also describe " Brahman " and these are accessible to all. 3. Aparoxa/direct perception: Constant meditation leads to direct perception. 4. 'Supreme' devotion: Having experienced direct perception, one gets real devotion of the lord and continues the sAdhana according to its yogyata. 5. Grace of the Lord: When this sAdhana completes one gets moxa by the Grace of the Lord. Regards, Meera Tadipatri > Niranjan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.