Sage Sankara: - "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." (Select Works of Sage Sankara" also his commentary on Brihad)
Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasin robes are wearing them for the sake of bread.tthosh Kumaar
Thus, the above passage proves that all those who were the sanyasin robes are wearing them for the sake of bread.tthosh Kumaar
- Natesh Mahadevan, Yonah Bey, Rose Bud, and 4 others like this.
- Rose Bud Do you mean they are wearing robes in order to survive?7 hours ago ·
- Natesh Mahadevan this is the most stupid interpretation of the original Sanskrit work... Adi Shankara, in all his simplest of wisdom, would never mean that robes are for bread... the correct perception is that robes are to indicate monkhood and livelihood that depends on alms and food given out of love and devotion...
And it is even more stupid to think that all who wear robes are doing it for bread... there are many realized ones who do it so that their message gets accepted faster...
please correct this post soon - let it not give a totally misguided interpretation to a global audience... Adi Shankara's works have gone through so many interpretations that the wrong ones have come to be considered true !!?- Santthosh Kumaar When the Self is formless there is no need for Pada Pooja (feet worship) of Advaitin gurus to get freedom. A guru, who preaches conduct (action or karma) as the means to freedom, believes in birth, life death, and the world as reality, whereas the Advaitic Sage Sankara declares the world as unreal. Therefore, how actions performed in the unreal world can get Moksha or freedom. Therefore, there is a need to know the fact that, the Self is not physical in order to understand and assimilate and realize the truth beyond physicality.
- Vedas bar human worship:~
Translation "They are enveloped in darkness, in other words, are steeped in ignorance and sunk in the greatest depths of misery who worship the uncreated, eternal Prakriti -- the material cause of the world -- in place of the All-pervading God, But those who worship visible things born of the Prakriti, such as the earth, trees, bodies (human and the like) in place of God are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time."- (Yajur Veda 40:9.)
Then why worship and glorify the GURUS and YOGIS (human form) in place of God when Veda bars such activities and it also warns people who indulge in such activities are enveloped in still greater darkness, in other words, they are extremely foolish, fall into an awful hell of pain and sorrow, and suffer terribly for a long time.:
That is why Sage Gaudapada said: ~ The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect. Sage Gaudapada suggests that the religious paths and worship of the guru and conceptual god are lower and middling intellect. But in this modern world, people are sharp enough to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth or Brahman or God in truth. Thus people who want higher truth then it is high time to discard the lower knowledge and move ahead to realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman or God.
That is why Sage Sankara says:- VC-65- As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it, and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.
66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.
When one realizes the fact that, the whole universe and its contents, movable and immovable, are known to be consciousness, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, there is then any room to say that the universe is the universe. The universe and its contents are bound to be consciousness. - Natesh Mahadevan:~ kindly review the post - it is giving a totally wrong perception of monkhood and bread and such errors of interpretation lead to further delusions.
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- Santthosh Kumaar:~ That is what Sage Sankara says. it means whoever is wearing robes is doing it from bread and modern gurus are using it for collecting wealth to serve society.
- Santthosh Kumaar:~ Mr. Natrajan it is not what I am saying, it is Sage Sankara himself saying. It is for Sage Sankara to review his view. The orthodox mindset will not agree with Sage Sankara's own words. thank you.
- Santthosh Kumaar When the Self is formless there is no need for Pada Pooja (feet worship) of Advaitin gurus to get freedom. A guru, who preaches conduct (action or karma) as the means to freedom, believes in birth, life death, and the world as reality, whereas the Advaitic Sage Sankara says the world as unreal. Therefore, how actions performed in the unreal world can get Moksha or freedom. Therefore, there is the need to know the fact that, the self is not physical in order to understand and assimilate and realize the truth beyond physicality.
That is why Sage Gaudapada said: - The merciful Veda teaches karma and Upasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while Jnana is taught to those of higher intellect. - Sage Gaudapada suggests that the religious paths and worship of the guru and conceptual god are lower and middling intellect. But in this modern world, people are sharp enough to understand and assimilate the ultimate truth or Brahman or God. For people who want higher truth then it is high time to discard the lower knowledge and move ahead to realize the ultimate truth, which is Brahman or God.
That is why Sage Sankara says:- VC- 65- As a treasure hidden underground requires (for its extraction) competent instruction, excavation, the removal of stones and other such things lying above it, and (finally) grasping, but never comes out by being (merely) called out by name, so the transparent Truth of the self, which is hidden by Maya and its effects, is to be attained through the instructions of a knower of Brahman, followed by reflection, meditation and so forth, but not through perverted arguments.
66. Therefore the wise should, as in the case of disease and the like, personally strive by all the means in their power to be free from the bondage of repeated births and deaths.
When one realizes the fact that, the whole universe and its contents, movable and immovable, are known to be consciousness, and thus the existence of everything else is negated, there is then any room to say that the universe is the universe. The universe and its contents are bound to be consciousness. - Natesh Mahadevan:~ the robes are not for bread - it is only an indication of monkhood... avatars like Shankara can live without food for many days... my concern is about the wrong interpretation which comes here - to mean that robes are a means of earning bread alone... maybe good to add the further subtle meaning too...
pls understand - this is only to ensure clarity of perception to everyone who reads your inspiring posts... - Santthosh Kumaar:~ Brahmin is the one who has realized the Brahman (ultimate truth) and helps fellow seekers towards the inner path. The one who knows Brahman knows his body and his experience of the world are mere illusion and also he knows his body and his experience of the world are also Ataman (consciousness), which is Brahman. Thus, the priestcraft which is crafted on the body-based theories will lead one to hallucinate moksha. But real moksha or freedom is possible only through nondualistic or Advaitic wisdom.
- That is why Bhagavad Gita says: ~ “Don't unsettle the minds of the ignorant by revealing the esoteric truth."
That is why Isa Upanishads indicate that: The time one spends in ritualistic practices is wasted; one can spend some time moving forward towards Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana, which is the main goal.
Thus it is necessary to follow the path of Brahman not the path of the orthodox priest-craft. Only by dropping all the accumulated priest-crafted baggage, one has to move forward to reach the nondual destination in lesser time and effort.- Santthosh Kumaar:~ Sage Sankara' gave religious, ritual, or dogmatic instruction to the mass, but pure philosophy only to the few who could rise to it. Hence the interpretation of his writings by commentators is often confusing because they mix up the two viewpoints. Thus they may assert that ritual is a means of realizing Brahman, which is absurd.
- Natesh Mahadevan:~ do you agree that Shankara has meant that He is wearing robes for the sake of his bread ?!?!
- Santthosh Kumaar:~ When Sage Sankara himself says so then why to argue about that. Sage Sankara himself said: ~ A Gnani "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539).
Sage Sankara: ~ "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread."
So he wore a Guru's robe only for the sake of the ignorant. So he was identified as Guru with parampara by religious people. For the truth seekers, Sage Sankara is a Brahma Gnani.
Thus, it proves that the religious gurus and yogis are not Gnanis because they identified themselves as holy people. - The so-called Gurus and yogis focus their ambition on seeing that their daily life goes on comfortably. Nobody is ready to inquire about the truth of their true existence.
Sage Sankara clearly indicates in Viveka Chudamani (2) that the Knower of the Atman (A Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539). - Most people will not understand what I am driving at because they are seeking something which they can enjoy in this world. The ambition of the true spiritual seeker is to realize the Self, which is beyond form, time, and space. People are looking for the advantage in the practical world, to take care of their practical life~ that is the maximum they expect out of spirituality.
- Natesh Mahadevan:~ but he appears to be contradicting his own words by saying wears robes for bread... is that contradiction clear now.
- Santthosh Kumaar:~ I respect your views and opinion and wisdom.
- Your observation is based on a dualistic (matter or body or ego and intellect) perspective, whereas my judgment is based on the nondualistic (Soul or Spirit or consciousness) perspective.
- You may be right on the dualistic point of view and orthodox point of view. What is the use of discussing about the religious robe within the unreal world? Instead, one has to find how this world is unreal (illusion). In Atmic discussion, the body and the world are merely an illusion. Why discuss the robe (body), when the Self is not the body.
- Dearest Mr. Natarajan Sage clearly mentions ~ Sage Sankara: - "Though I wear these robes of a Sanyasin, it is only for the sake of bread." Exploring if an outside observer can, in all cases, determine if a person is Enlightened or not, the venerated Indian Sanyasin, Sage Sankara, in his work The Crest Jewel of Discrimination (1) or as it is sometimes known, Viveka Chudamani (2), states that the Knower of the Atman (i.e., a Gnani) "bears no outward mark of a holy man" (Stanza 539). Continuing, although there are variances found in the actual wording between various translators and translations the gist behind the words remains the same, Sage Sankara writes: - “Sometimes he appears to be a Fool, sometimes a wise man. Sometimes he seems splendid as a king, sometimes feeble-minded. Sometimes he is calm and silent. Sometimes he draws men to him. Sometimes people honor him greatly, and sometimes they insult him. Sometimes they ignore him.
- Santthosh Kumaar:~ If you seek reality you must set yourself free of all backgrounds, of all cultures, of all patterns of thinking and feeling. Even the idea of being a man or woman or even a human should be discarded.
- Without breaking away from religion and ancient traditions it is impossible to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana. Religion and tradition will keep one locked in ignorance.
- When the Upanishad says: the human goal is to acquire Self-Knowledge, and they indicate that personal gods, scriptures, worship, and rituals are not the means to Self –Knowledge, then why anyone should indulge in it. The religion, concept of individualized god and scriptures are the greatest obstacle to realizing non-dual truth or Self-realization because they are based on the false self.
- The seeker of truth has to search for the ultimate truth without losing himself in religious rituals and worship. the seeker has to strive through deeper self-search and assimilate and realize it.
- That is why Sage Sankara, indicated in Bhaja Govindam says: - (Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena) - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.