AthraDHikaraNam 1-2-2 suthra-9-atthA characharagrahaNAth-1-2-9 The eater is Brahman because both movable and immovable are taken as His food. In katOpanishad there is this text 'yasya brahma cha kshathram chObhE bhavatha Odhanah; mrthyuryasyOpasEchanam ka ithTHA vedha sah, who thus knows where He is, to whom the brAhmaNas and kshathriyas are but food and the death is the condiment?' The doubt here is thatwhether the 'eater' signified by 'He' is the Brahman or the individual self. The view that it is the jiva is supported by the fact that the action of eating and enjoyment is suited only to the individual self. The suthra refutes this by saying that the food being the whole universe of movable and immovable, signified by brAhmaNa and kshathriya,because they are the foremost beings of creation, it means the absorption of the universe and not the action of enjoying the food. Mrthyu, death is said to be the condiment because like the condiment which becomes the inducement for eating the food while itself being eaten, the death consumes everything while itself being consumed by Brahman. The same passage contains the text 'sOaDHvanah pAramApnOthi thadvishNOh paramam padham, he reaches the end of journey and that is the the supreme abode of Vishnu,' which, says Ramanuja, shows the annihilation by Parabrahman ,that is, Lord Vishnu, who is the cause of creation sustenance and annihilation. Therefore the eater is Brahman and not the individual self. suthra-10-prakaraNAccha-1-2-10 Because of the subject of the context. The subject of the section in which the passage occurs is Brahman.'mahAntham vibhum AthmAnam mathvA DHeerO na sochathi,'(kaTa-1-2-22) the wise one who knows the self as great and all pervading does not grieve, and 'nAyam AthmA pravachanEna labhyah na mEDHayA na bahunA sruthEna; yamaivEshavrnuthE thEna labhyah,' (KaTa. 1-2-23) this self cannot be gained by veda nor by intellect nor by scriptural learning; only by him whom He chooses can He be attained. Thus it is shown that Brahman can be attained only through His own grace. There is a fresh objection that it is not the Brahman who is denoted here but only the individual self because of the later text in the same upanishad 'rtham pibanthou sukrthasya lokE guhAm pravishtou paramE parArDhye; cchAyAthapou brahmavidho vadhanthi,'(KaTa. 1-3-1) which means the two who enter the cave,(cavity of the heart) in the highest world, drinking the reward of their works,are called by those who know Brahman, as the light and the shadow. The two referred here must be the individual soul and prANa or the intellect, because of the mention of the fruits of karma, which cannot be enjoyed by Brahman. As buddhi or prANa are the instruments of enjoyment to the individual self, it is that which is mentioned in the passage. So to say that the subject of the context is Brahman is not appropriate.The next suthra takes up this point. suthra11-guhAmpravishtouAthmAnouhi thaddharsanAth-1-2-11 The two entering the cave are jivAthma and paramAthma, individual self and Brahman because it is so seen. In this context only the individual self and Brahman are said to enter the cave (of heart).'tham durdharsam gooDam anupravishTamguhAhitham gaharEshTam purANam aDHyAthmayOgADHigamEna dhEvam mathvA DHeerO harshasokou jahAthi.'(KATA.1-2-12) The wise, meditating on the self realise the ancient one who, entering into everything dwells in the cave of the heart and who is difficult to be seen, become free from joy and sorrow.By this the brahman is mentioned as entering the cave and by another text, 'yA prANEna sambhavathi adhithih dhevathAmayi; guhAm pravisya thishTanthee yA boothEbhih vyajAyatha' (kAT.1-4-7) he who knows adhithi who is one with the deities, who is born with the prANa,who, entering into the heart abides therein, also describes the individual soul as entering the cave. Adhithi here means the individual soul because it eats the fruits of karma (karmaphalAN atthi ithiadithih) and the deities are the indriyas through which the jiva enjoys the karmaphala. Hence the two entities mentioned in the passage 'rtham pibanthou' are only jiva and Brahman.Though Brahman cannot be said to enjoy the fruits of karma it is included in the term rtham pibanthou, drinking the results of karma as in the expression 'cchathriNah gacchanthi' 'umbrella bearers are going there' where some may be with umbrella and some without but the epithet cchathriNah, umbrella bearers is applied to the whole group. suthra-12- viseshaNAccha-1-2-12 Also because of the distinctive qualities. In the context mentioned the individual self and the Supreme Self are denoted in the role of meditator and meditated, attainer and the attained. the text 'brahmajajnam dhEvameedyam vidhithvA nichAyya imAm shAnthim athyantham Ethi,(Kata.1-1-17) knowing the one who is born from Brahman to be the one to be worshipped the meditator obtains upreme peace.' Here the word brahmaja is the individual self originating from Brahman.The same is referred to as dhevam eedyam, deity to be worshipped because of its being ensouled by Brahman. Again 'yah sEthureejAnAm aksharam brahma yath param abhayam thitheershathAm pAram,'(kata.1-3-2) that which is the bridge for the sacrificers, is the supreme impersishable fearless brahma who is the shore for those who want to cross over(the world), indicates Brahman to be the object of meditation. Another instance where the individual self and the Supreme self are denoted as the attainer and the attained is in the text 'athmAnam raTHinam viddhi sariram raTHamEvacha'(Kata.1-3-3-) which mentions the self as the one in a chariot and the sarira as the chariot, thus depicting jiva the meditator as the raTHee it goes on further to say 'vijnAna sAraTHiryasthu manah pragrahvAnnarah so adhvanah pAramApnOthi thadvishnOh paramam padham.'(Kata. 1-3-9)This means, the one who has intellect as his charioteer and holds the reins of the mind reaches the end of his journey which is the abode of Vishnu. From this the individual jiva is known to be the attainer and the brahman as the attained. even in the context mentioned at the outset, the expression cchAyAthapou,shade and light means the individual self who is devoid of knowledge and the supreme self who is omniscient. Another doubt is raised on account of the section of the upanishad mentioned which begins with the doubt 'yEyam prEthevichikithsA manushye astheethyEkE nAyamastheethyEke.' when a man departs from this world some say he continues to exist and others say no. So the poorvapakshin argues that the whole section must refer only to the individual soul. Ramanuja gives arguments to prove that it is not so. The story goes like this. NachikEthas , a young boy seeing his father giving away useless objects like old cows to the brahmins after a sacrifice becomes worried as to the effect of this action and repeatedly asks his father to whom he( NachkEthas ) is going to be given.The irritated father said "to the Lord of death." Not wishing to prove his father false Nachikethas goes to the door of Yama who was out and waited three days for him.Yama on returning, becomes worried on account of keeping a brahmin at his door for three days waiting without food wants to give him three boons. Ramanuja after relating this episode says that the first boon asked being his father's forgiveness shows that the boy was aware of the existence of the soul apart from the body. The next one was the instruction in the agnividhya, knowledge of the sacrificial fire which proves that he was aware of the experience of the soul after it leaves the body and the last boon is the question 'Yeyam prethe' etc. and hence it is about the state of the individual soul after it sheds the embodiment, that is, about moksha and not merely refers to leaving the body after death.Therefore the question relates to the true nature of release and of the Supreme self. The doubt being arisen out of different schools of thought regarding the reality and Nachikethas wanted the truth from Yama direct. Then after testing him well, Yama gave him the highest knowledge which Ramanuja outlines as follows: Thrayyantha nishnAthAsthu-nikhila jagadhEka kAraNasya aseshahyeya prathyaneeka ananthajnAnAnadhaikasvarupasya svAbhAvika anavaDHika athisayaasankhyEya kalyana gunakarasya sakala itharavilakshaNasya sarvAthmabhoothasya parasya brahmaNah sarirathayA prakArabhoothasya anukoola aparicchinna jnana svarupasya paramAthmanubhavaikarasasya jivasya anAdhikarmathirOhithasvarupasya avidhyA ucchEdhapoorvaka svAbhavikaparamAthmAnubhavamEva moksham AchakshathE. The meaning of the abova passage is as follows: Those well versed in vedanta ( thrayyantha nishnAthAh-thryee denotes veda and thrayyantha is vedantha) know that Moksha is the natural experience of Brahman preceded by the removal of anAdhi avidhya due to karma by the jiva, the nature of infinite knowledge of whom is concealed by the beginningless avidhya, has for his essence the bliss rising out of the experience of the Supreme Brahman, whose sarira jiva is, and who is the cause of the universe, devoid of imperfections, possessed of infinite auspicious qualities, different from everything else and the inner self of all.This is the end of atrhaDHikaraNam [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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