I am forwarding the following mail which is self-explanatory:
Dear Devotees

 

HARI OM

 

Thank you for your efforts in forwarding the link  of Messenger of Shankara- a documentary on Sri Sri Shankara Bharathi Mahaswamiji and his efforts in propagating Sri Shankara Philosophy, to your friends and relatives.

 

However , there is still time for those who have not forwarded this link to their near and dear  ones.  Kindly spend some time in collecting as many email id’s as possible and forward the link , which is

 

Messenger of Shankara

http://enarada.com/?p=4944

 

Humble request  from Team Enarada is send the above  link to  more people  and please request them to pass it on to their relatives and friends.

 

 

Thanks and Regards

Guruprasad

Editor

ENARADA NEWS AND WEBCAST

34, 12^th ‘D’ Main,

6^th Block, Rajajinagar,

Bangalore – 560010

+919844176792, 080-23387105

guruprasad@enarada.com , news@enarada.com

www.enarada.com

Pl. visit this site for a free download of the audio of the four stotrams (composed by Adishankaracharya) of Anandasindhu:

http://www.vedantabharati.com/index/uop/ananda-sindhu

Here you have a wealth of information – stotra lyrics in many languages and audio.

warm regards
subrahmanian.v

The Part 27 of the article series on the Kathopanishat based on Shankaracharya’s bhashyam is available here for reading:

http://www.advaita-academy.org/Articles/kaThopaniShad-Series-Part—27.ashx

There is coming up a three day meet to discuss several concepts based on the Brahmasutra / upanishad and the Bh.Gita bhAShyam of Sri Shankaracharya in Bangalore on the 7, 8 and 9 of May, 2013.  The meet is organized under the direction and initiative of Pujya Sri Swami Advayananda Saraswati who hails from the Mattur Village, Shimoga Dist.

Several eminent scholars are participating in the meet that will be of great benefit for scholars, jijnAsus and others interested in traditional Advaita Vedanta.  The discussions will be in Sanskrit for the most part.

The venue is the Kanchi Kamakoti MaTham premises at 5th main, 11 th cross road, Malleshwaram, Bangalore 560003.

On all the three days the sadas will start at 8.30 AM and break for lunch and again start at 2.30 PM and go up to 5.30 PM.

Lunch will be provided for all the participants.

For any further details pl. contact: 9480492660 / 9036073505

Pl. inform your friends and other interested persons.

subrahmanian.v

Namaskarams to all,

The eminent scholar Dr.Mani Dravid SastriNaH has kindly consented to deliver
lectures on the VedAnta paribhAShA (a seminal work that facilitates the proper
understanding of the Advaita shAstra) in Hindi for the benefit of those who are
familiar with that language. The Advaita Academy that is video-recording and
web-casting the lectures has provided the following URLs for enabling interested
persons to hear the lectures. The initial lectures are available here:

Livestream sessions with Sri Mani Dravid Shastrigal �

On Advaita Academy – http://www.advaita-academy.org/Live/Vedanta-Paribhasha.ashx

On Livestream – http://www.livestream.com/advaita_manidravid

As of now it is planned to record one class of one hour duration each week.

regards

Namaste

The Kathopanishat article Part 26 is available for reading here:

http://www.advaita-academy.org/Articles/kaThopaniShad-Series-Part—26.ashx

regards

During the recent meet on nyAyAmRta – advaita siddhi at Bangalore, the eminent scholar Dr.Mani Dravid SastriNaH made known a distinction between the two terms/concepts ‘adhiShThAnam’ and ‘AdhAraH’.  The context was about the locus of the superimposition of the entire universe, whether it was Brahman, the Pure Consciousness, or the jIva or Ishwara.  The distinction that he made explicit is as follows:

adhiShThAnam:   (generally translated as ‘substratum): भ्रमकारणीभूत-अज्ञानविषयत्वम् ['bhramakAraNIbhUta-ajnAnaviShayatvam'] ‘the object of ignorance that is the cause of the bhrama’.  This is the Pure consciousness alone, nirguNa Brahman. The entire universe is superimposed in Brahman, as a result of one’s not knowing brahman.

AdhAraH: (could be translated as ‘support/abode’) अधिष्ठानतावच्छेदकम् आधारः / यदवच्चिन्नचैनत्यम् अधिष्ठानं तदाधारः ['AdhAraH or support is that (object) which circumscribes/limits the adhiShThAnam (substratum) / 'the limited/circumscribed Consciousness which is now the substratum, (that is the support, AdhAraH).

To explain, the vyAvahArika world consisting of all vyAvahArika objects like rope, shell and the like, is superimposed in Brahman-Consciousness owing to the ignorance pertaining to Brahman-Consciousness. This superimposition (verily samsAra) goes ONLY upon the realization of the substratum, Brahman-Consciousness.

On the other hand, the prAtibhAsika things, in an error involving rope-snake, take place on the support that is rope/shell, etc. which are themselves superimposed on Brahman.  Thus, the rope/shell, etc. (that are mistaken for snake/silver etc. in an error) are Brahman-Consciousness alone limited / circumscribed as it were.  This error goes just upon knowing the support/AdhAraH and does not call for the knowledge of Brahman-Consciousness.

Thus, the rope-snake error is a superimposition ultimately, paramparayA, in Brahman-Consciousness, but immediately, sAkShAt, in rope/shell, etc.

This explanation came about while replying the objection: if the objects/world are a superimposition in Ishwara or jIva, they themselves being mithyA, how can there be a superimposition in the locus that is itself a superimposition, mithyA (since, in Advaita, ultimately the entities Ishwara and jIva are not absolutely real).

In the build up to the reply, the learned scholar demonstrated how there  can indeed be a superimposition-chain, अध्यासपरंपरा - A person mistakes a shell to be a silver object first and then he erroneously thinks that it is his own and that it is of so much value, weight and so on.  In all this, the basic object there is the shell alone and the subsequent superimpositions are on the silver that was first superimposed and so on.

[One can see how the illustration captures the actual samsAra-superimposition as vividly explained in the adhyAsa-bhAShya - the preamble to the brahmasutrabhAShya of Shankaracharya]

This distinction is enshrined in ancient texts like the ‘samkShepashArIraka’, and, of course, the ‘advaitasiddhi’.  This concept is closely related to the other famous verse giving out the Advaitic tenet:

आश्रयत्वविषयत्वभागिनी  निर्विभागचितिरेव केवला ।
पूर्वसिद्धतमसो हि पश्चिमो नाश्रयो भवति नापि गोचरः ॥ (संक्षेपशारीरकम्)

[The locus and object of ignorance is indeed the impartite Brahman-Consciousness.  The entities that appear later, as products of the fundamental ignorance, cannot be the locus and object of ignorance.  samkShepashArIraka']

Om tat sat

Namaste

It would be useful to know why at all the Upanishad should resort to the method
of adhyAropa – apavAda. Shankara says in the BhAShyam for the mantra 6.2
herein:

//ihaiva antaHsahrIre hRdayapuNDarIka-AkAshamadhye hey somya sa puruSho na
deshAntare vijneyao yasmin (Purushe) etAH uchyamAnAH ShoDaSha kalAH prANAdyAH
prANAdyAH prabhavanti utpadyanta iti ShoDaShakalAbhiH upAdhibhUtAbhiH sakala
iva niShkalaH puruSho lakShyate avidyayA iti tadupAdhikalAdhyAropApanayena
vidyayA sa puruShaH kevalo darshayitavya iti kalAnAm tatprabhavatvamucyate |
prANAdInAm atyanta nirvisheShe hyadvaye shuddhe tattve na shakyo
adhyAropamantareNa pratipAdyapratipAdanAdi-vyavahAraH kartumiti kalAnAm
prabhava-sthiti-apyayA Aropyante avidyAviShayAH. chaitanyAvyatirekeNaiva hi kalA
jAyamAnAH tiShThantyaH pralIyamANAshcha sarvadA lakShyante.//

The translation of the above, from the book of Swami Gambhirananda:

//Here itself, inside the body, within the space inside the lotus of the heart,
O amiable one, that PuruSha exists and He is not to be sought somewhere else, in
whom originate these sixteen parts: prANa and the rest that are being
enumerated. The Purusha who is partless appears through ignorance to be
possessed of limbs as a consequence of His association with the sixteen parts
that are His limiting adjuncts. But this PuruSha has to be shown as an absolute
entity by eliminating, through knowledge, those parts that condition Him. That
is why the parts are spoken of as originating from the PuruSha. Since no
empirical pronouncement as to attainability and the means of attainment can be
made unless there be the superimposition of prANa and the rest on the totally
attributeless, non-dual, pure principle, therefore, the origin, existence, and
absorption of the pats that are within the domain of ignorance, are superimposed
(on the PuruSha), for the parts are always seen to exist in identity with
Consciousness at the times of origin, continuation, and dissolution.//

The salient features of the above bhashyam are:

1. The Supreme Being, Brahman, called Purusha, is taught to be realized within
our body and not elsewhere. This is a common feature of all Upanishads.
2. Since that Being is free of all attributes, it would be impossible to teach
Its nature.
3. Therefore, with a view to ‘identify’ It, the upAdhi-s are to be ‘attributed’
to It.
4. When the upadhis are attributed to It, it is possible for us to know that
such an Entity exists. Otherwise even Its existence is either denied or
doubted.
5. Once the existence is admitted, it becomes necessary, and easy, to deny,
negate, remove, through knowledge/intellect, those superimposed upAdhis.
6. It would, however, be impossible for anyone, to deny/negate the Existence,
which is none other than one’s own Existence, nay, oneself.
7. We have, through the words of GaudapAda, too, heard that the statements in
the Upanishads as to the creation of the universe along with the examples of
fire, clay, gold, etc. are only means, a tactic, upAya, for the enabling of
understanding/realizing the One Conscousness Principle.
8. Here too, in this Upanishad, as in the MAnDUkya, the various (sixteen)
parts/components (three states in the mAnDUkya) are taught by the Upanishad
itself as being produced/available and later denied/negated in order to hold out
the undeniable Atman/Brahman/turIya.

9. Thus it is a pattern across the Upanishads to specify the parts/states/the
entire created world as coming from/originating from the Supreme and denying
them/apavAda while teaching the realization part.

10. The creation, sustenance and dissolution of parts or the whole universe, is
shown always in association with the Supreme Consciousness Principle, where the
created, etc. is insentient.

11. There is a depended upon and a dependent relationship between the
Consciousness and the created.

12. While the depended upon, is svatantra, the dependent is paratantra.

13. Just as the clay products cannot /do not originate, exist and dissolve
independent of clay, the paratantra cannot originate, exist and dissolve without
the svatantra as its basis.

14. The ONLY example for such a situation is the rope-snake. The superimposed
snake cannot originate without the rope being there a priori. It cannot exist,
as long as the error, bhrama, persists, without the rope being there. Of,
course, for this snake to go away, disappear, the rope knowledge/support is
essential. We can’t say, at any point of time, that two objects exist here: the
rope and the snake. At all points of time, only one object can be counted and
that is the rope. The snake cannot be counted as a second entity at any point
of time.

15. Thus, it is quite logical for the Upanishad to adopt the method of adhyAropa
and apavAda since what is superimposed and negated is after all the
insubstantial; the only substance being the Atman. The goal of the Upanishads is
not to enable us realize the created universe but only to help us realize the
Creator Principle. No Upanishad teaches that there is freedom from samsara by
knowing the created universe. In fact the kshetram, the knowable, is taught to
be differentiated from the Kshetrajna, the Knower, so that the kShetrajna is
realized for mokSha.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-27/vintage-wisdom/28359423_1\
_elephants-beggar-king

// A king had 17 elephants. Then the king died. He had three sons. According to
his will, the first son was entitled to one-half of the number of elephants, the
second to one-third, and the third to one-ninth. The size of the share couldn’t
be changed. As 17 is an odd number, and difficult to share among the three, they
were unable to find a solution to the challenge. Fortunately for them, a wise
man was passing through their country. He was an old friend of their father’s as
well. The young men described their predicament and asked for his help. The wise
man asked them not to worry and set about solving the problem immediately.

He added his elephant to the 17 elephants; they were now 18. He separated 9
elephants or one-half of 18, and gave them to the first son. The second son was
given six elephants or one-third of 18. Lastly, the third son was given two
elephants, two being one ninth of 18. The total number of elephants given away
was 17 (9+6+2). The eighteenth elephant left was that of the wise man who took
his elephant back and left, with everybody happy and satisfied. The last
elephant is like maya: it came to solve a problem, and having solved it, it
removes itself from the scene, leaving no trace of its previous presence.//

That is the purpose/method of the adhyAropa – apavAda in Vedanta.

Pl. also read this blog post:

http://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/adhyaropa-apavada-in-the-prashnopanishat/

Om Tat Sat

Namaste

In the sixth chapter of the Prashnopanishat the first mantra is about ‘where does the entity with 16 kalA-s reside?’  The second mantra is in reply: ‘Here alone, in this body, does the puruSha (with 16 kalA-s) resides. The third mantra is about:

3     The Purusha reflected: “What is it by whose departure I shall depart and by whose staying I shall stay?”

This mantra comes to specify(1)  that the sixteen kalA-s (parts) are created by a sentient being, the Purusha and (2) the order, krama, in which the 16 are created.

4     He created prana; from prana faith, space, air, fire, water, earth, the organs, mind, food; from food virility, austerity, the Vedic hymns, sacrifice, the worlds; and in the worlds He created names.

Here the sixteen parts/components are enumerated:

He created prana (1); from prana faith (shraddhA (2) , space, air, fire, water, earth, (five elements: 5+2=7) the organs (all sense/motor organs 10 put together 1 (8), mind (9), food (annam 10); from food virility (vIryam 11), austerity (tapas 12), the Vedic hymns (mantra 13), sacrifice (karma 14), the (worlds 15); and in the worlds He created names (nAma 16).

Having said that the PuruSha ‘creates’ these sixteen kalA-s, the upanishad says in the very next mantra:

5     As these flowing rivers, bound for the ocean, disappear into the ocean after having reached it, their names and forms being destroyed and are called simply the ocean�”even so, these sixteen parts of the seer, whose goal is the Purusha, disappear into the Purusha after having reached Him, their names and forms being destroyed and are called simply the Purusha. He becomes free of parts and immortal. On this there is the following verse.

Thus, we have the Upanishad itself ‘superimposing’ the sixteen parts on the PuruSha and subsequently negating them.  The following is to be appreciated:

1. The Upanishad uses the word  ‘ShoDaShakalam puruSham’ in the first mantra and goes on to specify the sixteen parts in the 4th mantra. This is the adhyAropa.
2. Subsequently, the Upanishad in the mantra 5 declares that ‘for the one who is endowed with Self-knowledge, ‘paridraShTuH’ the sixteen kalA-s cease to be in the state of liberation: The jnAnI comes to be called ‘puruSha’ by the Upanishad itself.
3. The crucial words in this mantra that indicate apavAda, negation: ShoDaShaklAH astam gacchamti (the sixteen kalA-s cease to be) and ‘akalaH’ =  One without kalA-s.  ‘sakalaH’ becomes ‘akalaH’.
4. Thus the adhyAropa word/name ‘ShoDaShakalAH puruShaH’ is now negated and replaced with ‘akalaH puruShaH’.
5. There is an unmistakable adhyAropa-apavAda nyAya in this Upanishat.
6. And for the equally unmistakable ‘brahmAtmaikyam’ we have the Upanishat saying the ‘PuruSha’ is the one that creates all these sixteen kalA-s.  And the Upanishat itself declares that the one without the kalA-s, that is, the one who has freed himself from the kalA-s through jnAnam, is called ‘PuruSha’.  Thus the PuruSha creates the kalA-s and the one endowed with the kalA-s is the ‘ShoDaShakalAH puruShaH’ and the one freed of the kalA-s owing to Jnanam as ‘PuruSha’.  Thus we have the PuruSha as the creator, the bearer and the negator of kalA-s.
7. Here is an example of ‘brahmaiva svAvidyayA samsaratIva, svavidyayA muchyata iva’.
8. Since according to the Upanishad it is jnAnam that frees the puruSha from the bondage of kalA-s (body-mind complex and all the actions and fruits of actions resulting thereof), it is confirmed that such bondage is ‘jnAnabAdhyatvam’  (that which is negatable through knowledge.)
9. Such jnAnabAdhyatvam is found ONLY in places where there is a superimposition owing to avidyA, for example: rope-snake, considering the pure uncontaminable space as endowed with dirt, etc., dream, etc.  In other words, if knowledge, jnAnam, has to remove something, that something must be avidyA-born: superimposed due to ignorance of the vastu.
10. Thus, according to this Upanishad, A. samsAra is Aropita and is therefore, jnAnabAdhya, B.there is the teaching of adhyAropa-apavAda.
11. Another corollary that follows from the teaching of the fifth mantra is: the One Conscious(ness) Entity is ever free of the kalA-s (body-mind apparatus).  So, even in the liberated state there are no names, body-mind apparatus of any make, either prAkRta or aprAkRta, for this entity.
12. Hence there is no Vedanta pramANa for any difference, bheda, in mokSha, for bheda is possible ONLY through admitting names/body/mind/sense organs. Here is the Upanishat itself negating the bhedaka-s (name/body/mind, etc.).
13. Thereby the Upanishat is confirming the Advaitic mokSha alone without giving room for any difference in mokSha by way of residing in one or the other lokas with one or the other deity along with several other mukta-jiva-s.

Om Tat Sat

In the Prashnopanishat 2.9 we read:

इन्द्रस्त्वं प्राण तेजसा रुद्रोऽसि परिरक्षिता । त्वमन्तरिक्षे चरसि सूर्यस्त्वं ज्योतिषां पतिः ॥९ ॥

9     Indra thou art, O Prana and Rudra, too, in prowess. Thou art the Protector. Thou movest in the sky; thou art the sun, the lord of lights.

भाष्यम्
इन्द्रः परमेश्वरस्त्वं हे प्राण तेजसा वीर्येण रुद्रोऽसि संहरञ्जगत् । स्थितौ च परि समन्ताद्रक्षिता पालयिता परिरक्षिता त्वमेव जगतः सौम्येन रूपेण  । त्वमन्तरिक्षेऽजस्रं चरसि उदयास्तमयाभ्यां सूर्यस्त्वमेव च सर्वेषां ज्योतिषां पतिः  ॥९ ॥

//O prANa, you are Indra, the supreme Lord.  By valour you are Rudra, engaged in destroying the world.  Again during the time of the existence of the universe, you, in your benign aspect, are the preserver of the universe on every side.  You move for ever in the sky by rising and setting are the sun, the lord of all the luminaries. //

Here, along with the other mantras in this section, we see the Upanishad is teaching that One Brahman alone is taking the forms of all devatA-s  and engaged in the cosmic administration.  Here we get a glimpse of the Upanishadic concept of TrimUrti, the Three Forms engaged in Creation, Sustenance and Destruction of the universe.  Rudra, Shiva, is shown as the entity engaged in the destruction function.  The Sustainer deity too is another form of the Supreme prANa alone.

While Anandagiri adds, ‘by the forms of ViShNu, etc…’ (which is not found in the BhAShyam, however), the editor Sri Subrahmanyam Sastri feels it is Rudra alone that is the sustaining principle too in his sowmya form. Generally the creation principle is allotted to BrahmA who represents the rajas shakti.  In any case the Upanishadic teaching of the One Principle alone that is engaged in the various functions is unmistakable.

Om Tat Sat

Namaste

Here is a unique opportunity for Bangaloreans to learn three important texts in the medium of Kannada:

1.  Vedanta ParisbhAshA:  A work discussing fundamental topics of importance pertaining to the Advaita Vedanta.

2.  Tarka Sangraha : A basic text of the nyAya shAstra that is important to appreciate Vedanta of all schools.

3.  Yatindra matha  deepikaa: A text that contains explanations to fundamental concepts pertaining to the vishishTAdvaita school of Sri Ramanuja.

The above texts that are in Sanskrit will be taught in Kannada by scholars who are experts in the above fields.

The classes will be for ten days, in the evening, from 9 AM to 12 noon.  The dates will be tentatively in the mid-April, soon after yugAdi.  There will be no fees for attending the classes.  There is no age and gender bar.

This will be the first phase of the program.  Subsequent phases will be taken up with a gap of two months and at the end of the third phase the teaching of the texts mentioned above will be completed.

The venue will be: Poornaprajna Samshodhana Mandiram (PPSM), Poornaprajna vidyApeeTha complex, Bangalore 560028.

Interested persons please contact:  Dr.A.V. Nagasampige, Director, PPSM: 9902093418 or   email ppsmb1@gmail.com

Pl. make arrangements with your workplaces now itself to be able to attend the program on all the ten days.  Make the evenings free for just ten days.  Inform all your friends/relatives and encourage them to attend the classes.  You can come with your spouse, parents and sons/daughters, brothers and sisters and cousins who are interested.  Learning texts pertaining to our Vaidika sanAtana dharma will enhance our internal worth in many ways than one.   Tell about this to people in your neighborhood.

Om Tat Sat