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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00110 Jul 2004

 
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Sri:

A knowledgeable member has asked me to
forward
this message on his behalf.

Replies may be directed to the oppiliappan
list.

ramanuja dasan,
-Shreyas

----- Original Message -----

>
>
> Please see
http://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/ for the
Bhagavad gita
> bhAShyas of various Acharyas
>
> yAnti devavratAH devAN pitRR^in yAnti
pitRvratAH
> bhUtAni yAnti bhUtejyO yAnti madyAjinO'pi
mAm ||9.25||
>
> A rough literal translation would be
> "The votaries of the devas go to the devas,
the votaries of the manes
> reach them. Those who worship the bhUtas go
to the bhUtas and those who
> worship me come to me."
>
> Sankaracharya's bhAShya here:
> "yAnti gacchanti, devavratAH dEvEShu vratam
niyamO bhaktiShcha yeShAm te
> devavratAH| pitRR^in yAnti pitR^i-vratAH
ShrAddhAdi kriyAparAH
> pitR^ibhaktAH| bhUtani
*vinAyAka*-mAtR^igaNa-chatubhaginyAdIni yAnti
> bhUtejyAH --bhUtAnAm pUjakAH| yAnti
madyAjinaH madyajanashIlAH
> *vaishNavAH* mAm eva yAnti| *samAnE api
AyAsE* mAm *eva* na bhajanti
> *ajnAnAt* tena te alpa-phala-bhAjAH
bhavanti ityarthaH| na kEvalam
> madbhaktAnAm *anAvRitti-lakshaNam
anantaphalam* sukArAdhanashcha aham"
>
> English Translation of Sri Sankaracharya's
Sanskrit Commentary - Swami
> Gambhirananda (an advaitin from Ramakrishna
Mutt)"
>
> Deva-vratah, votaries of the gods, those
whose religious observances
> [Making offerings and presents,
circumambulation, bowing down, etc.] and
> devotion are directed to the gods; yanti,
reach, go to; devan, the gods.
>
> Pitr-vratah, the votaries of the manes,
those who are occupied with such
> rites as obsequies etc., who are devoted to
the manes; go pitrn, to the
> manes such as Agnisvatta and others.
>
> Bhutejyah, the Beings such as *Vinayaka*,
the group of Sixteen (divine)
> Mothers, the Four Sisters, and others.
>
> And madyajinah, those who worship Me, those
who are given to worshipping
> Me, the devotees of Visnu; reach mam, Me
alone. Although the effort
> (involved) is the same, still *owing to
ingorance* they do not worship *Me
> exclusively* . Thereby they attain lesser
results. This is the meaning.
> 'Not only do My devotees get the
everlasting result in the form of
> *non-return* (to this world), but My
worship also is easy.'
> ----------------------
>
> English Translation of Sri Sankaracharya's
Sanskrit Commentary - Swami
> Gambhirananda (an advaitin from Ramakrishna
Mutt)
>
> "Deva-vratah, votaries of the gods, those
whose religious observances
> [Making offerings and presents,
circumambulation, bowing down, etc.] and
> devotion are directed to the gods; yanti,
reach, go to; devan, the gods.
>
> Pitr-vratah, the votaries of the manes,
those who are occupied with such
> rites as obsequies etc., who are devoted to
the manes; go pitrn, to the
> manes such as Agnisvatta and others.
>
> Bhutejyah, the Beings such as *Vinayaka*,
the group of Sixteen (divine)
> Mothers, the Four Sisters, and others.
>
> And madyajinah, those who worship Me, those
who are given to worshipping
> Me, the devotees of Visnu; reach mam, Me
alone. Although the effort
> (involved) is the same, still *owing to
ingorance* they do not worship *Me
> exclusively* . Thereby they attain lesser
results. This is the meaning.
> 'Not only do My devotees get the
everlasting result in the form of
> *non-return* (to this world), but My
worship also is easy."
> -------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
>
>
> At face value it seems like the context
does not even demand exclusive
> bhakti to Vishnu (the word "eva = only" is
conspicuous by its absence).
> Moreover Sankaracharya could have easily
translated this as "one who
> worships the nirguNa brahman reaches
nirguNa brahman alone" (as he has
> done at other places when the word mAm
occurs). Not only does he say that
> people who worship Vishnu exclusively will
get moksha he says people who
> worship others (he specifically gives the
example of Vinayaka) will not.
> He further points out that even if the
methods of pUjA are the same and
> the effort required is the same, worship of
Vishnu alone is the purport of
> this statment.
>
> Other advaitin subcommentators like
Sridhara Swami and Sri Madhusudana
> Sarasvati make this amply clear (though to
be fair they were well known
> for their Vaishnava leanings). Madhusudana
Saraswati eplicitly uses the
> word "devatAntara" which I thought was an
exclusively Sri Vaishnava usage
> till I read it.
>
> This is not to misappropriate Sankaracharya
or other advaitAcharyas as
> supporting us but one must note that
exlusive devotion to Vishnu is
> neither something that only "dualists" do
out of parochialism (since they
> don't understand that in the end "All is
One") nor is it something that
> belongs in the realm of theology (as
against philosophy).That
> Sankaracharya chose to casually add words
that the context seemingly did
> not demand (and not bother to offer
explanations as he does elsewhere)
> shows that this understanding was atleast
reasonably widespread amongst
> vedAntins so that very few (if any) would
have objected. Sankaracharya has
> done exactly this at a few other places in
his Bhagavad Gita bhAShya as
> well.Interestingly enough Ramanujacharya
has chosen not to comment that
> this verse implies the necessity of
exclusive devotion to Vishnu.
>
> We must be all be committed to learning the
Truth under the feet of our
> Acharyas.  That the Shiva-Vishnu etc fight
was hardly sectarian as long as
> it was confined to Vedantins can be clearly
seen by the way Acharyas have
> approached this matter in the past. It is
laity like us who have dragged
> it into something akin to other ridiculous
fights prevalent like God is
> greater than Allah. Towards that end we
must get rid of preconceived
> notions and try to determine what the
Scriptures say by approaching our
> respective Acharyas. As a final note one
must atleast follow what Tridandi
> Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji repeats often :
"Respect all but worship your own"
>
> dasan
>
>
>
>



                
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