headers
krishna koundinya | 1 Oct 2010 09:14
Picon

Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta.

Pranam,
             I am Krishna. I am new to Spirituality. I was an athiest
but by the lord's gracethe truth dawned on me. I am a smartha brahmin
and that is why I am interested in Advaita. Well coming to the point I
have some doubts on Advaita Vedanta which I am hoping to get them
clarified by the blesses vipras. Please forgive me for my insolance
and ignorance and if at all some statements may cause Guru Ninda then
please do forgive me.

http://nitaai.net/forums/viewtopic.php?id=1670
1) Classification of Puranas is found in Padma Purana:

shAstrANyapi cha sarvANi trividhAni mahAmate ||
yAni satyavaraM viShNuM vadanti parameshvaram.h |
tAni shAstrANi sarvANi sAtvikAni matAni vai ||
prajApatiM kR^ishAnuM cha tathA devIM sarasvatIm.h |
paratvena vadachChAstraM rAjasaM parichaxate ||
yachChAstraM liN^gapAramyaM vAmadevamumApatim.h |
tamaH pravartakaM vakti tattAmasamudAhR^itam.h ||

Satvic Puranas - Srimad Bhagavatham, Vishnu, Varaha, Garuda,
Brhad-Nardiya, Padma
Rajasic Puranas - Brahma, Brahmavaivarta, Brahmananda, Bhavisya,
Surya, Markendaya
Tamasic Puranas - Shiva, Linga, Skanda, Kurma, Vamana, Agni

The ISKON, dwaita, vishishtadwaita n other sampradays state these
verses we should pray only to Vishnu( dwaita buddhi that shiva n
vishnu are not the same parabrahman). They say that it is ghora papa
to equate lord Vishu with other devas. How far this true ?.Please
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 5 comments |
headers
Satish Arigela | 1 Oct 2010 15:21
Picon
Favicon

Re: Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta.

Please see earlier discussions on this. It was discussed plenty of times.
So most likely old people in the list are tired of these & wont asnwer.
I maybe wasting time with this response.. but the seeming innocence with which
these questions are posed make me write this. I wil not touch any technical 
points as
there are learned people here who can answer better.

>1) Classification of Puranas is found in Padma Purana:

>shAstrANyapi cha sarvANi trividhAni mahAmate ||
>yAni satyavaraM viShNuM vadanti parameshvaram.h |
>tAni shAstrANi sarvANi sAtvikAni matAni vai ||
>prajApatiM kR^ishAnuM cha tathA devIM sarasvatIm.h |
>paratvena vadachChAstraM rAjasaM parichaxate ||
>yachChAstraM liN^gapAramyaM vAmadevamumApatim.h |
>tamaH pravartakaM vakti tattAmasamudAhR^itam.h ||

>Satvic Puranas - Srimad Bhagavatham, Vishnu, Varaha, Garuda,
>Brhad-Nardiya, Padma
>Rajasic Puranas - Brahma, Brahmavaivarta, Brahmananda, Bhavisya,
>Surya, Markendaya
>Tamasic Puranas - Shiva, Linga, Skanda, Kurma, Vamana, Agni

 
One can trash the above by quoting the skAnda purANa which says that vaiShNava
purANa-s are tAmasika and that the shaiva purANa-s are sAttvika.
See the purANa-s also give you a reverse picture. 
There is a certain community which I will not name, whose maThAdhipati-s and 
schloars
"exhibit a pronounced streak of faking texts".
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
Vidyasankar Sundaresan | 1 Oct 2010 17:47
Picon
Favicon

Re: Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta.


Dear Krishna,

Satish has already addressed some of your questions. I will only add the following.

1. The great vociferousness of some group on the internet does not lend legitimacy
to their claims. 

2. Traditional advaitins do not see the need to set up numerous websites with direct
and emotional attacks on the dualists of various shades. 

3. mAyAvAda is a term coined by those who are opposed to the sampradAya of advaita
vedAnta. The only answer to that is advaita is truly brahmavAda, not mAyAvAda. Any
counter-arguments, essentially to the effect that nirguNa brahman is the impersonal
aspect of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, should be dismissed as silly verbiage,
not based on Sruti, smRti and logic.

4. sumadhvavijaya is a text meant to glorify AnandatIrtha. In the mind of poets of
a certain kind, glorification of one's hero necessarily has to come at the expense
of an anti-hero or a villain. They resort to all sorts of hyperbole to enhance that
effect. It should not be taken seriously. 

5. I am not aware of any Sankaravijaya text that gives 60 years as the lifespan of
Sankara bhagavatpAda. Could you give more details of where you read this?

6. Sadly, even within the advaita tradition, there has been a tendency to resort to
poetic hyperbole which then passes off as factual truth. The existence of abhinava
Sankara has not been proved. The Sankara bhagavatpAda of advaita tradition is the
one who wrote the commentaries on the prasthAna trayI - brahmasUtra-s, upanishad-s
and gItA - in addition to a few other texts. It is the same Sankara bhagavatpAda
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
V Subrahmanian | 1 Oct 2010 20:06
Picon

Re: Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta.

Namaste Shri Krishna,

You have said:

//3) It is stated that in Sumadhva Vijaya that Ananda Theertha( Sri
Madhwacharya) found 32 mistakes in the very 1st sloka that he learned in his
gurukul days which is based on Advaita and he defeated and converted his
GURU to his doctrine dwaita.//

Are the details about the 32 mistakes available?  Has any advaitic
scholar/Acharya addressed these findings?

About some other issues you have raised, you may read an article here:

http://atma.sulekha.com/blog/post/2010/06/a-major-embarrassment-to-the-dvaitins.htm

Regards,
subrahmanian.v

On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 12:44 PM, krishna koundinya <cosmonautkk@...>wrote:

> Pranam,
>             I am Krishna. I am new to Spirituality.
Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
SIVAKUMAR RAMAKRISHNAN | 2 Oct 2010 02:31
Picon

Re: Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta.

Sadara pranAm,
I was also confounded by all these kinds of useless deliberations in my
college days.My sanskrit master whom I met accidentaly advised me to study
Sriramakrishna- Vivekananda literature  which ofcourse
cleared most of the doubts.you casn also try this!

On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 12:44 PM, krishna koundinya <cosmonautkk@...>wrote:

> Pranam,
>             I am Krishna. I am new to Spirituality. I was an athiest
> but by the lord's gracethe truth dawned on me. I am a smartha brahmin
> and that is why I am interested in Advaita. Well coming to the point I
> have some doubts on Advaita Vedanta which I am hoping to get them
> clarified by the blesses vipras. Please forgive me for my insolance
> and ignorance and if at all some statements may cause Guru Ninda then
> please do forgive me.
>
>
>
>
> http://nitaai.net/forums/viewtopic.php?id=1670
> 1) Classification of Puranas is found in Padma Purana:
>
> shAstrANyapi cha sarvANi trividhAni mahAmate ||
> yAni satyavaraM viShNuM vadanti parameshvaram.h |
> tAni shAstrANi sarvANi sAtvikAni matAni vai ||
> prajApatiM kR^ishAnuM cha tathA devIM sarasvatIm.h |
> paratvena vadachChAstraM rAjasaM parichaxate ||
> yachChAstraM liN^gapAramyaM vAmadevamumApatim.h |
> tamaH pravartakaM vakti tattAmasamudAhR^itam.h ||
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
Rajaram Venkataramani | 2 Oct 2010 13:35
Picon

Questions on Mayavada by Krishna

Krishna,

For the Padma Purana verses quoted by you (mayavadam asat sastram), no
advaita acharya has given any refutation. When I asked the question, the
scholars on this forum dismissed this verseoff  as an interpolation. It is
not possible to call it a gaudiya interpolation because even before gaudiyas
other sampradayas refer to prachanna bauddham and rudra sampandham of
sankara based on this verse. There are four recensions of Padma Purana
extant today. I have not been able to check the manuscripts personally but
learn that all of them contain Uttara Khanda where this occurs.

Leave this verse alone. The fundamental question is, "Is Lord's name, form,
qualities and lila absolute or relative?". It is a fundamental question
because you need to know as a devotee if you are attracted to relative or
absolute truth when worshipping Rama. According to gaudiyas, there is no
difference between the Lord and His body (abhinjnatva nama namine). Devoted
advaitins such as Madhusudana Saraswati also state that there is no
difference between the Lord and His body. (Rf. Sri Madhusudana's commentary
on ajo api san). Visvanath Chakravarthy Thakur, a gaudiya acharya, quotes
Sri Madhusudana respectfully in his commentary to the same verse. Sridhara
Swamin, claimed by advaitins and Vaishnavas both as their own, also
considers the body of the Lord is non-different from His soul. Though there
are such statements, the traditional advaita position is that  Isvara's
name, form, qualities and lila are mithya or products of maya. On
liberation, there is no maya or its effects such as Isvara's form and
activities - no devotion. This is why gaudiyas call them mayavadins though
advaitins call themselves brahmavadins. Yes, advaitins realize brahmanandam
(by Isvaranugraha!!!). But gaudiyas are more interested in relishing the
nama, rupa, guna and lila than relishing ananda bereft of Isvara's
attributes. They just dont want to relish that in this life until liberation
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 10 comments |
headers
V Subrahmanian | 2 Oct 2010 20:31
Picon

Re: Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta.

On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 12:44 PM, krishna koundinya <cosmonautkk <at> gmail.com>wrote:

>
>
>
> http://nitaai.net/forums/viewtopic.php?id=1670
>
> 2) This is even more disturbing..After reading this I felt like I have
> done great Dosha against my guru Adi Shankara. I need clarification on
> these..
>     These verses are found in Padma Purana.
>
> svakarmarUpaMtyAjyatvamatraivapratipaadhyate || Pa Pur 6.236.8 ||
>
>
In this (doctrine) only the giving up of one's
> own duties is expounded. (padma puraaNa, uttara-khaNDa, 236.8)
>

Can anyone point out where in Advaita 'the giving up of one's
own duties' is 'expounded' ?.

Here is just one sample from Shankaracharya's bhashya:

सहजं कर्म कौन्तेय सदोषमपि  न त्यजेत्
। (Bhagavadgita 18.48)

//सहजस्य कर्मणः = स्वधर्माख्यस्य
परित्यागेन, परधर्मानुष्ठानेऽपि दोषान्नैव
मुच्यते, ...तस्मान्न त्यजेदितर्थः । //
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
Murali S | 3 Oct 2010 12:53
Picon

Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta

Sri Rajaram Venkatramaniji,
Please take the following comments in right spirit.
If you think Advaita is Bhakthi murder,then why you are you lingering here?
No personal offense.
If devotion to Sri Rama/Sri Krishna is very important to a devotee,why
should he care for Advaita?
In what way is "I am He"-madhurya-Can I taste 'my sweetness'-It is called
narcissism-Not that I really care for such arguments.

The Advaitins have said again and again there is no lingering trace of even
jiva-"I' is completely lost.Only Brahman as Sat-Chit-Ananda remains.In
Vyavahaarika,the Highest is Iswara-as Krishna or whatever.It is the highest
blasphemy to think of Krishna as a child alone,when one has some
intellectual capabilities,to satisfy ones cravings.When a Jnani sees the
unreality of the ephemeral cravings,he might be lost in Samadhi or remain in
the world.From the view point of manas and buddhi,their heart and intellect
is at the Lotus Feet of the Lord.This has been 'explained' infinite no of
times.This is the import of the Atma Raamo*api* shloka right at the start of
Bhagavatha.*Even *those lost in Atman Consciousness,talking of Sri Suka.Only
the Advaitins interpret this profound and fundamental shloka correctly.

Great Acharyas like Sri Sachitananda Sivabhinava Nrisimha Bharathi Swaminaha
have spoken of the great contributions of Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhva to
Sanatana Dharma.Sri Chandrashekhara Bharathi Mahasvaminaha has asked
shishtas to do nitya karma and have intense faith in Iswara without wasting
energy on pointless debates.Different Acharyas have come to address the
differeing needs of adhikaris.The Advaita Vedantis have not talked ill of
Karma and Bhakthi.

If possible,try to get hold of the book-Dialogues with the Guru-not a
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 1 comment |
headers
Ramakrishna Upadrasta | 3 Oct 2010 17:45
Picon

gItA bhaashhya sudhaa bindavaH - 20

OM shrii gurubhyo namaH

Namaste,

We continue with the series.

51. guNasaMkhyaane kaapile shaastre tadapi guNasaMkhyaanashaastraM
guNabhoktR^ivishhaye pramaaNameva | paramaarthabrahmaikatvavishhaye
yadyapi virudhyate\, tathaapi te hi kaapilaaH
guNaagauNavyaapaaraniruupaNe abhiyuktaaH iti tachchhaastramapi
vaxyamaaNaarthastutyarthatvena upaadiiyate iti na virodhaH || 18.19 ||

##Even that philosophy teaching about the guNaas is certainly valid so
far as it concerns the experiencer of the guNaas, though it is
contradictory so far as the non-duality of the supreme Reality,
Brahman, is concerned. Those followers of Kapila are acknowledged
authorities in the ascertainment of the functions of the guNaas and
their derivatives. Hence, that scripture, too, is being referred to by
way of eulogy of the subject-matter going to be spoken of. Therefore,
there is no contradiction.##

52. eteshhaaM jaativihitaanaaM karmaNaaM samyaganushhThitaanaaM
svargapraaptiH phalaM svabhaavataH || 18.44 ||

##When rightly pursued, the natural result of these duties enjoined
for the castes is the attainment of heaven.##

53. svabhaavaniyataM karma kurvaaNo vishhajaH iva kR^imiH kilbishhaM
na aapnotiiti uktam.h || 18.48 ||
(Continue reading)

Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |
headers
V Subrahmanian | 4 Oct 2010 09:37
Picon

Re: Questions regarding Advaita Vedanta

On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 4:23 PM, Murali S <muralivenkat67@...> wrote:

>
>
> On yet another note,V Subramanianji,please excuse me there seems to be some
> morbidity while we discuss Jnani and his pain.We all 'know' that a Jnani
> experiences pain,but shouldnt we be celebrating the Jnanis
> love,compassion,purity,self control,austerity,Grace etc?
>

Dear Murali,

The context of that discussion was to highlight the mechanics involved in
the experiencing of anything by the Jnani.  I agree with you that we should
be learning a lot from the Jnani's love, compassion, etc. Whenever occasion
demands to focus on these aspects we shall bring the specific instances to
the fore.  Even in the course of studying the mechanics of the Jnani's
experiencing pain, are we not also learning from the way he remains
unaffected, with the firm conviction that such pain is only for the anAtma,
body-apparatus, and not for the Self?  That is, in fact, a great lesson
Vedanta teaches thru such narratives.  Shankaracharya has said that the
sthitaprajna's behaviour/reaction/attitude in the face of opposites like
pain/pleasure, honour/dishonour, constitutes the sadhana for the aspirant.
So, even in these narratives we have specific, non-trivial, lessons to learn
from.

Regards,
subrahmanian.v
Permalink | Reply | 0 comments |

Gmane