shankara in bruhadAraNyaka on 'saNyAsa'

[Guest guest]

praNAms

Hare Krishna

 

First, in geeta bhAshya (2-10), shankara says : janakAdayaH

tattvavidOpi....karmasaNyAse prAptepi karmaNA sahaiva saMsiddhiM AstithAH

na karma saMnyAsaM krutavantaH...Here shankara clearly hints that even

kshatriya-s like janaka etc. are eligible to take sarvakarma saNyAsa but

continued with their previous karma etc. And in mundaka shruti ( 1.2.12)

bhAshya on 'brAhmaNo nirvedamAyAt', shankara explicitly says that ONLY

brahmaNa-s have the special eligibility (adhikAra) to take saNyAsa :

brAhmaNasyaiva visheshatOdhikAraH sarvatyAgena brahma vidAyAM iti

brAhmaNagrahaNaM, here also one can infer that though brAhmaNa-s have

special (vishesha) adhikAra, other varNA-s (kshatriya & vysya) also can

take saNyAsa. But in bruhadAraNyaka bhAshya, at two places shankara

explicitly says ONLY brahmaNa-s have the adhikAra to take saNyAsa and

kshatriya & vysya-s donot have adhikAra to take pArivrAjya saNyAsa. Here

are those two instances :

 

(a) brahmaNAnAM eva adhikArO vyutthAne atO brahMaNa grahaNaM (br.up.

bhAshya 3-5-1).

 

(b) na hi kshatriya vyshyayOH pArivrAjya pratipattirasti (concluding

remarks at br.up. bhAshya 4-5-15)

 

I heard that sureshwara in his vArtika says all the three varNa-s have

adhikAra to take saNyAsa.

 

Kindly clarify how traditional vyAkhyAnakAra-s / AchArya-s would reconcile

this seemingly contradictory statements??

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar

 

PS : My paramaguruji Sri SSS too has not discussed this issue in

detail..He, in his Kannada commentary on bruhadAraNyaka, just points out

at vArtika reference & leaves it to scholars to look at at. Hence I am

making this request.

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin , Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr wrote:

>

> praNAms

> Hare Krishna

>

 

> I heard that sureshwara in his vArtika says all the three varNa-s have

> adhikAra to take saNyAsa.

>

> Kindly clarify how traditional vyAkhyAnakAra-s / AchArya-s would reconcile

> this seemingly contradictory statements??

 

 

Namaste.

 

Maybe the following will be of help:

 

In the SiddhAntakalpavallI, a work in verse form, by Sri SadAshivendra Saraswati

(Sri SadAshiva Brahmendra of Nerur, the great Yogi-JnAni), a condensed version

of the SiddhAntaleshasangrahaH of Sri Appayya Dikshitar, has this to say. (Here

is a translation of verse 7 of the Third chapter of the above book):

 

 

// Having presented, in two ways, the role/utility of sannyasa in generating

Knowledge, now the eligibility for sannyasa is spoken of.

 

In the Shruti passage, `yadi vEtrathA brahmacharyAdeva pravrajEt' (Else, if not,

even from the brahmachaarin's stage, let one take to renunciation, from the

householder's or forest-dweller's stage), there is a generalized sanction for

Kshatriyas, etc., to embrace the order of sannyasa. [This is because, the stages

of brahmacharya, gArhastya and vAnaprastha are common for Brahmanas, Kshatriyas

and Vaishyas.] While this is the view of a section of thinkers, others hold a

different view. Shruti passages like: `BrAhmano nirvedamAyAt' (the Brahmana

attained disgust in life), `Brahmano vyutthAya' (the Brahmana disassociated

himself from..), `BrahmanaH pravrajEt' (let the brahmana renounce) consist of

the term `brahmana' explicitly. Further, there is this verse of Sri

Sureshwaracharya in the Brihadaranyaka VArtika: `adhikAri-visheshasya jnAnAya

brAhmanagrahaH / na sannyAsavidhiH yasmaat shrutau kshatriya-vaishyayoH' [ The

word `braahmana' in the quoted Shruti passages is meant to indicate the

eligibility of the particular candidate for taking up the sadhana to attain

Jnanam. It is not an injunction to teach that sannyaasa is to be taken up.]

Based on this verse it is held that the brahmana alone is etntiled for sannyasa

ashrama and not the kshatriya/vyshya. The latter are eligible for Jnanam,

through shravana, etc. even without sannyasa. //

 

The above work has been translated to Kannada by Vidwan Sri SheshAchala Sharma

of Bangalore.

 

The above view of the traditional Acharyas is presented only as a

clarification/input; I am not entering any discussion on this topic.

 

Om Tat Sat

[Guest guest]

Further, there is this verse of Sri Sureshwaracharya in the Brihadaranyaka

VArtika: `adhikAri-visheshasya jnAnAya brAhmanagrahaH / na sannyAsavidhiH

yasmaat shrutau kshatriya-vaishyayoH' [ The word `braahmana' in the quoted

Shruti passages is meant to indicate the eligibility of the particular

candidate for taking up the sadhana to attain Jnanam. It is not an

injunction to teach that sannyaasa is to be taken up.] Based on this verse

it is held that the brahmana alone is etntiled for sannyasa ashrama and

not the kshatriya/vyshya. The latter are eligible for Jnanam, through

shravana, etc. even without sannyasa. //

 

praNAms Sri Subbu prabhuji

Hare krishna

Thanks for your kind clarification. However, as you know it only shows the

prevalent difference of opinions on this issue & not directly deal with

the different opinion of bhAshyakAra ( in geeta & bruhadAraNyaka) &

vArtikakAra. Would it be possible to elaborate the above observation of

siddhAnta kalpavalli with the vArtika reference prabhuji. I am interested

to know more details about your last sentence. i.e. : " Based on this

verse it is held that the brahmana alone is etntiled for sannyasa ashrama

and not the kshatriya/vyshya. The latter are eligible for Jnanam, through

shravana, etc. even without sannyasa " .

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar

 

 

[Guest guest]

advaitin , Bhaskar YR <bhaskar.yr wrote:

However, as you know it only shows the

> prevalent difference of opinions on this issue & not directly deal with

> the different opinion of bhAshyakAra ( in geeta & bruhadAraNyaka) &

> vArtikakAra.

 

Hari Om Shri Bhaskarji, Pranaams!

 

The interpretation of AcAryaji w.r.t. mantra portion etaM vai tamAtmAnam viditvA

…… tiShThAset.(Br. 3.5.1) is:-

 

yasmAt pUrve brAhmaNAH tam etam AtmAnam viditvA sarvasmAt sAdhana-phala-svarUpAt

eShaNA-lakShaNAd vyutthAya bhikShAcaryaM caranti sma, tasmAt adyatve api

brAhmaNaH pANDityaM(AtmavignyAnaM AcAryataH Agamatashca) nirvidya(niHsheShaM

viditvA) bAlyena(gnyAnabala-bhAvena sthAtum icchhet.

 

He also declares:

 

w.r.t. first half, the vyutthAnam is vidhitsitam i.e.

AtmasvarUpa-vaiparityasvabhAvatvAt vyutthAnam vidhi vAkyam eva. Whereas

bhaikshacaryam caranti sma is not as it is aprayojakam and is a

sheSha-pratipatti karma.

 

The word brAhmana in first place denotes Brahmins of yore and the second one the

brahmavit.

 

The entire teaching of upaniShad/vedAnta is guiding towards AtmavidyA and here

shrutimAta is compassionately guiding the sAdhaka away from

Atma-viruddhA-lakShaNa-viShaya by instructing vyutthAnam.

 

This is the consideration for vArtikakAra to declare that here the prakrta

vishaya is gnAna and hence AcArya's meaning of brAhmaNa in the second place

i.e. brahmavit alone hold good and since this is not for fixing up the

adhikAratva for sannyAsa the first meaning Brahmins do not hold good and hence

this injunction i.e. eShaNAbhyo vyutthAya gnyAnabalabhAvena sthAtumicchhet

includes kshatriya and vaishyas also.

 

There is no contradiction between vArtikakAra and AcAryaji.

When sannyAsa as a ashrama and its adhikAritva are taken up, which is

independent of AtmavidyA, may be the meaning of Brahmins for brAhmaNas hold

good.

 

In Shri Guru Smriti,

Br. Pranipata Chaitanya

[Guest guest]

hare krishna,namaskarams.

 

after reading and understanding maneesha panchakam by sankaracharya wherin he

extolls the chandala as his another guru where is the question of discriminating

the castes and creeds for either the knowledge or for any kind of ashrama.also

on taking sanyasa when one renounces the family and throws the sacred thread

where is the brahmanathvam there.in every human being the atma inside is the

same paramatma and has as much right for selfknowledge and to choose the asrama

he wants.the same applies to even the gender discrimination.

with due respect, all the interpretations by various acharyas of their times

that were according to the culture and traditions prevalant at that time and

certainly may not be the final word on a subject like this one.

 

may lord krishna bless and release us all  from the cycle of birth and death.

 

baskaran

 

 

 

 

 

 

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