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Date Posted: 00:19:53 07/11/03 Fri
Author: Rishikesh - 2 May 2003
Subject: Re: Vyasa on Shankara
In reply to: Hendrik - 29 Apr 2003 's message, "Vyasa on Shankara" on 00:17:43 07/11/03 Fri

Hendrik,

The quote, which you have put up here, is very interesting and requires some discussion. Sri la Prabhupada, I feel, gives his translations a very heavy slant to justify his own brand of spirituality. It is quite evident even in his Bhagavad-Gita translations.

There are followers of Srila Prabhupada who dismiss Adi Shankara saying that he served a limited purpose (of removing Buddha's influence) and should hence be ignored. If an incarnation of Shiva can be dismissed as having served a limited purpose, isn't it possible that Srila Prabhupada too had a "limited purpose" to fulfill(creating blind faith in theAlmighty among the people of this age) and wrote his translations accordingly?

Chandrashekhara Saraswati (follower of Shankara – Shankaracharya himself) once said,
“You don't see the Lotus feet of the Lord. Why are you fighting over what his face looks like?”

This is a verse, which Prabhupada is quoting:

The Supreme Personality of Godhead told Lord Siva:

dvaparadau yuge bhutva
kalaya manusadisu
svagamaih kalpitais tvam ca
janan mad-vimukhan kuru

"In Kali-yuga, mislead the people in general by propounding imaginary
meanings for the Vedas to bewilder them."

I do not agree with the meaning completely, but, more importantly, the timing of this is questionable (dwaaparaadau = at the beginning of Dwapara). So it is not clear to me if this applies to Adi Sankara. Since we do not know Sanskrit, it is very difficult to come up with an accurate translation.


For all his “clouded Buddhism”, Shankaracharya has written beautiful hymns including the Bhaja Govindam, in which he extols people to worship Lord Krishna. How can non-dualist indulge in such acts?
Shankaracharya is the one who salvaged books like the Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads. This has been his unique contribution.

Personally, I feel, God is both dual and non dual. All paths are equally valid. All religions are equally valid. We have to simply take a path, which appeals to us.

I think the best example of this is Sri Ramakrishna who in his lifetime proved the validity of all religions and paths. He has explained this concept in his own inimitable style:

“Brahman may be compared to an infinite ocean, without beginning or end. Just as, through intense cold, some portions of the ocean freeze into ice and the formless water appears to have form, so, through the intense of the devotee, Brahman appears to take on form and personality. But the form melts away again as the sun of knowledge rises. Then the universe also disappears, and there is seen to be nothing but Brahman, the infinite.”
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna


Elsewhere, in the Gospel, he discusses this concept of Nitya (Absolute) and Lila (relative):

“A Man should reach the Nitya, the Absolute, by following the trail of the Lila, the relative. It is like reaching the roof by the stairs. After realizing the Absolute, he should climb down to the relative and live on that plane in the company of devotees, charging his mind with the love of God. This is my final and most mature opinion”

“The Vijnani always sees God…Sometimes he comes down to the Lila from the Nitya, and sometimes he goes up to the Nitya from the Lila…If you accept the Nitya, you must also accept the Lila. It is a process of negation and affirmation. You realize the Nitya by negating the Lila. Then you affirm the Lila, seeing in it the manifestation of the Nitya. One attains this state after realizing the Reality in both aspects: Personal and impersonal.”

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