[Advaita-l] Bondage and Liberation,Isitlogical or Illogical?

[V Subrahmanian]

I think there is no real basis to differentiate between jiva's avidyA and
Ishwara's mAyA.  Shankara says in the Brahmasutra bhAShya:


तदधीनत्वादर्थवत् । ब्रह्मसूत्र १,४.३  ।

अविद्यात्मिका हि बीजशक्तिरव्यक्तशब्दनिर्देश्या *परमेश्वराश्रया मायामयी
महासुप्तिः**, **यस्यां स्वरूपप्रतिबोधरहिताः शेरते संसारिणो जीवाः
।*तदेतदव्यक्तं क्वचिदाकाशशब्दनिर्दिष्टम्ऽएतस्मिन्नु खल्वक्षरे
गार्ग्याकाश
ओतश्च प्रोतश्चऽ (बृ. ३.८.११) इति श्रुतेः ।
क्वचिदक्षरशब्दोदितम्ऽअक्षरात्परतः परःऽ (मु. २.१.२) इति श्रुतेः ।
क्वचिन्मायेति सूचितम्ऽमायां तु प्रकृतिं विद्यान्मायिनं तु महेश्वरम्ऽ (श्वे.
४.१०) इति मन्त्रवर्णात् । अव्यक्ता हि सा माया,
तत्त्वान्यत्वनिरूपणस्याशक्यत्वात्
।


We can see the close similarity between the words of the bhashyam above and
the GaudapAdakArikA -  अनादिमायया सुप्तः....and the Kathopanishat bhashya
अनाद्यविद्याप्रसुप्ताः.. for mantra उtत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत...


As I had said earlier, there is nothing wrong in terming the one Shakti as
'pArameshvarI shaktI/mAyA’.  It is owing to that power that one attains the
jIvabhAva and remains in samsAra.  All sAdhana is to annihilate that effect
on oneself and realize one's native brahmanhood.


Also, as I had pointed out earlier, in the Br.Up.1.4.10 bhashya, Shankara
accepts avidyA for Brahman which is what takes the jiva form due to its
avidyA.  So, one shakti itself can be called jIva's avidyA and Ishwara's
mAyA on the basis of the difference in upAdhi-s.


This collection of verses sourced from an old post of this forum brings out
the accurate Advaitic position pertaining to jIva and Ishwara and avidyA
and mAyA:


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http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2011-June/027807.html


// It is important to note the PanchadashI verse (Chitradeepa):

मायाख्यायाः कामधेनोर्वत्सौ जीवेश्वरावुभौ।
यथेच्छं पिबतां द्वैतं तत्त्वं त्वद्वैतमेव हि॥६-२३६॥

jIva and Ishvara are the two calves of the Kamadhenu cow called mAyA. Let
them drink (the milk) of duality as much as they desire, but nonduality
alone is the truth.

And we have the VivekachUDAmaNi verse, where it is stated that the limiting
adjuncts (upAdhi's), again due to mAyA, are responsible for forming the jIva
and Ishvara:

एतावुपाधी परजीवयोस्तयोः सम्यङ्निरासे न परो न जीवः|
राज्यं नरेन्द्रस्य भटस्य खेटकस्तयोरपोहे न भटो न राजा ॥ २४४॥

When these two limiting adjuncts (upAdhis) of Ishvara and the Jiva are
completely eliminated, there is no Ishvara, no Jiva. The limiting adjunct of
the King is his kingdom, while that of the soldier is his shield. When these
two (limiting adjuncts) are removed, there is neither King nor soldier. In
other words, the essence or substratum of Ishvara and Jiva is the same.

The siddhAntaleshasangraha says (prathamapariccheda 11.2):

एवं च स्वाविद्यया जीवभावमापन्नस्यैव ब्रह्मणः सर्वप्रपञ्चकल्पकत्वात्
ईश्वरोऽपि सह सर्वज्ञत्वादिर्मैः स्वप्नोपलब्धदेवतावज्जीवकल्पित इत्याचक्षते ।
Thus, by His ignorance alone, Brahman obtains the jIva status and creates
the whole world. Ishvara too is imagined by the jIva, just as a God
appearing in a dream. The attributes of Ishvara, such as Omniscience, etc.,
are imagined by the jIva.//

In Advaita the very incidence of Ishwara is within the
jIva's imagined samsAra.  In other words, Ishwara is there
because of jiva ('s imagined samsAra) and as such Advaitins
do not say that Ishwara/VishNu has caused bandha/ajnAna to the
jIva.  We at best say 'Ishwara is the apavargapradaH' (bestower
of mokSha).  We would say that jIva and Ishwara, bandha and
mokSha, all are within the One vaiShNavI or pArameshwarI mAyaa. This
mAyA is not the Brahman of Advaita.  It is regarded as the
upAdhi which brings forth the jIvabhAva and IshwarabhAva.

This difference is the one that can be highlighted when we talk
of Dvaita and Advaita in this respect. Note these two
verses sourced from Dvaita literature that I had cited
earlier:

anAdimAyayA viShNorichchayA svApito yadA

tayA prabodhamAyAti tadA viShNum prapashyati.

[Due to anAdimAyA which means ViShNu's Will, the jIva has been made
to/put into the slumber of samsara. When the jIva, owing to  ViShNu's
Will wakes up, then he gets the vision/realization of ViShNu.]
[cited by Madhva in the mAnDukya bhAShyam]

And a verse from the nyAyasudhA-parimaLa 1-1-2 that has been cited by
Dr.A.V.Nagasampige
in his Kannada book 'mata traya sameekShA p.154:

'tvam muktido bandhado ato mato naH.

 tvam jnAnado ajnAnadashchAsi viShNo.'

[O lord, we know You as the one who gives (us)
liberation and who gives bondage. You are the One that gives Jnana and
ajnAna.]

We can see that the same message is conveyed by both the
verseswith this one difference is: the first one specifies
viShoH icchA [viShNu's Will](anAdi mAyA) as the cause
and the second addresses ViShNu (Brahman) Himself as the cause.


As I pointed out, in Advaita, anAdimAyA is the Power that
is distinct from the absolute Brahman. Needless to say that
by 'distinct' we should not conclude that there is an entity
second to Brahman; it is only a vyAvahArika existence
that is accorded to this Power and therefore not
countable as a second. It is realized to be non-existent
in all periods of time. Thus this anAdimAyA can cause no advaitahAni.

regards
subrahmanian.v