|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
It is not that the Veda learned from the mouth of the guru in the proper fashion is the cause for a fruitful understanding of ritual and Brahman; rather it is that in the time after study, [that properly learned Veda] is recollected by a man who has gained an understanding of reality according to word and reasoning, because he has understood the connections between words and their meanings, according to logic, etymology and grammar. As the sacred tradition is thus recollected by men in this birth, so it is recollected in this birth by the gods who learned it in the proper way in a previous birth. It is on this basis that it is possible that the Veda is spontaneously revealed to them.
43 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This explanation cuts two ways. The real point of Vedic study is obviously the acquired knowledge of words and their meanings, particularly insofar as Advaita stresses the acquisition of knowledge as an intellectual endeavor. As long as this knowledge has been gained, there should be nothing magical about hearing the words from the guru's mouth at the present moment. But what might be construed then as unrestricted accessibilitythe gods have the knowledge, so they must be competentis refined so as to reaffirm allegiance to the Text: the gods have the knowledge, so they must have learned properly previously, in an earlier existence. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In UMS I.3.34-38, sudras are denied competence on the grounds that it is not enough to read intelligently and understand the upanisadic texts: one must engage in proper study (adhyayana)of one's properly "assigned" and memorized texts (svadhyaya).44 In defense of the competence of sudras, the purvapaksin argues the simple and straightforward view that even if sudras cannot receive the thread in the upanayana ceremony, they are nevertheless able to learn in other ways. It is evident, he argues, that sudras have the same capacity for knowledge of Brahman as other humans, by the simple fact of their birth as human beings.45 Since Brahman is not merely the product of an esoteric body of texts, Brahman should be knowable even to sudras. Moreover, even if one were to concede on the basis of the Mimamsa siddhanta that the sudra is precluded from an acquirable capacityi.e., from initiation and the accompanying rights and privileges pertaining to ritualand so |
|
|
|
|
|