365bet娱乐

It is necessary to emphasize that Sankara's thinking on bhakti cannot be understood without taking into account his strict hierarchical conceptualization of the spiritual life. There are two mutually incompatible paths, each based upon contradictory assumptions and suited to different types of persons. One way is for the "enlightened," the other for the "unenlightened."108 Samkara makes this point repeatedly, but perhaps most clearly in the following passage: The discipline of works is the means to the attainment of the goal of life [moksa] only by virtue of being the cause of the attainment of the discipline of knowledge, not independently. But the discipline of knowledge, which is attained by the discipline of works, is the means to the goal of life independently, without relying on anything else. 109

91 An important social dimension comes into play here. In opposition to the Mimansaka's exaltation of the householder's life-stage as the foundation of the true religious life, Samkara asserts, not only that samnyasa is a valid path, but that it is essential for the practice of the discipline of knowledge which leads to moksa. "All the Upanisads," he says, "as well as the Epics, the Puranas, and the texts on Yoga, prescribe for the seeker of moksa the renunciation of all works as an accessory to knowledge. Renunciation is necessary because, as we have seen, the path of knowledge requires a quiet life in which thought is directed in ways that are contrary to the common-sense construction of reality, and also "because moksa, its goal, "is the state of dwelling in the actionless nature of the inner Self."lll Sankara continues: 鈥� ## "110 It is not possible for one desiring to go to the eastern ocean to be on the same road as one intending to go to the western ocean, because it is in the opposite direction. . This [discipline of knowledge] is contradicted by being conjoined with action, like going to the western ocean. Well-informed persons hold the difference [between knowledge and action] to be like that between a mountain and a mustard seed. 112 His conclusion is: "Therefore, the discipline of knowledge is to be undertaken only through the renunciation of all action. "113 Samkara also mentions a more legalistic reason for limiting the discipline of knowledge to the samnyasins, namely that only they can avoid the sin of omitting the performance of prescribed rituals:

The term "brahmasamstha" denotes fulfillment in Brahman, a state of being grounded in Brahman to the exclusion of all other activity. Now such a state is impossible for persons belonging to the three former asramas [students, householders, and retirees], as scripture declares that they suffer loss through the non-performance of the works enjoined on their asrama. The mendicant, on the other hand, who has discarded all works can suffer no loss owing to non-performance. Such duties as are incumbent upon him, viz. restraint of the senses and the like, are not opposed to the state of being grounded in 114 Brahman, but rather helpful to it. The social aspect of Samkara's thought becomes even more significant religiously when we realize that he, like many classical Hindu authorities, believed that only male 115 Brahmins were eligible for samnyasa. Hence, Arjuna's ineligibility for the path of knowledge was based on more than individual considerations of temperament, level of psycho-spiritual maturity, and so on. He was a Ksatriya, and according to Samkara--and, again, many other orthodox authorities--members of that caste are not eligible for renunciation: Even though engaged in a battle which was his duty as a Ksatriya, he [Arjuna], with his understanding and discrimination overcome by grief and delusion, of himself quit that battle and undertook the duty of another, namely, the life of a mendicant. In this way, abandoning one's own duty and taking to what is prohibited is natural to all beings whose minds are 116 afflicted by faults such as grief and delusion. A little thought about this limitation and a serious conclusion becomes all too apparent: If moksa is attained only by knowledge, and only samnyasins are eligible for knowledge, and only male Brahmins are qualified for

93 samnyasa, then only male Brahmins can attain moksa. Now, to my knowledge Samkara never says this in so many words, 117 and the conclusion must be modified to indicate that the restriction does not apply to kramamukti, the "gradual" liberation through rebirth in brahmaloka described above. Moreover, Samkara does concede that there may be some exceptions to this rule.118 Nevertheless the implication is Liberation 119 is available directly only to male clear. Brahmins who have, through renunciation, taken to the path Others, including devotees of the personal of knowledge. God, have two options. One is to be satisfied with kramamukti and a wait of countless thousands of years until the current world-cycle comes to an end. The other is to hope for rebirth as a male Brahmin.