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Shankara's view on the three states (was Re: Lots .. )
Sankar Jayanarayanan <kartik@Eng.Auburn.EDU> wrote:
>I am aware of Sankara's views on the difference between the waking & dream
>states :-). Actually, the author of the Vivekachudamani seems to club the
>dream and waking states together, which is why many doubt if the author is
>indeed Sankara (which is the traditional view).
If this is the reason they doubt the authorship of vivekachuuDaamaNi then they
better learn something more about advaita, before examining the works of one of
the stalwarts of advaita. The upadeshasaahasrii and the gauDapaada kaarikaa are
accepted as genuine works and shaMkara _clearly_ adopts the ajaata vaadi
position. I hope you saw my previous post on this.
If you go to any advaita maTha, they will tell you that ajaata vaada is taught
to the more advanced students and that shR^ishTi dR^ishTi vaada is taught to
novices. I am sure you know what shR^ishTi dR^ishTi vaada is. It will be clear
to you, if you read the suutra bhaashhya that this position is what shaMkara
adopts here. It makes sense since
a. shaMkara being a personification of grace, would not want leave the less
advanced saadhakas behind.
b. the brahma suutra is accepted by other schools also and shR^ishTi dR^ishTi
vaada would definitely be more appealing to these people.
Note that in the 4 parts of gauDapaada kaarikaa only the first, ie, the aagama
prakaraNa bases arguments on scripture. The rest 3 (vaithaatya etc) are based
purely on logical arguments. The suutra bhaashhya is more about interpretation
of the scripture (atleast compared to the kaarikaa bhaashhya) to "prove"
advaita.
Saying that shaMkara accepted that the waking state as "more real", is based on
an ignorance of the advaitic tradition (the three schools I mentioned) and an
incomplete reading of shrii aachaarya's works.
Ramakrishnan.
--
Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said, "The flag is moving." The other
said, "The wind is moving." The sixth patriarch happened to be passing by. He
told them, "Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving." - The Gateless Gate
