avidyA is anAdI

[Ravi]

namaste

I got this message from Prof. Murthy (which he posted on
Advaitin few days back). Readers will recollect that in the
bhAShya to the name havirbhoktrI, shrI shankara highlights
this point.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Ravi


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 22:09:52 -0230 (NDT)
From: Gummuluru Murthy <gmurthy at morgan.ucs.mun.ca>
To: Ravi <msr at comco.com>
Subject: Re: your mail


Subject:  avidyA is anAdI


namaste.

We have all seen this fundamental proposition in advaita that avidyA
is anAdI (without beginning). When I first realized the beauty of
advaita a few years ago, I came across this statement that avidyA is
anAdI. Yesterday, I saw for the first time the reasoning given by
Shri Shankara for this proposition. I think the List members may be
interested in this explanation.

AvidyA is anAdI (without beginning). If avidyA is not anAdI, the
following three situations would arise, which are all untenable.

1. the sudden appearance (haTAdAgamanam)of the jagat
2. akr^tyAbhyAgama doshham: a situation whereby jeeva has to endure
   karmaphala for a karma not commited.
3. kr^tapranAsha dosham: situation whereby a jeeva's sukr^tAs and
   dushkr^tAs go without yielding karmaphala

1. If samsAra is not anAdI, the jeeva enters (entertains or visualizes)
   the jagat suddenly. That is not possible.
2. If situation described in (1) above occurs (if jagat suddenly appears),
   the jeeva will be in a situationwhere he/she has to enjoy/suffer the
   results for karma (action) not done by the jeeva. That is not possible.
3. Another type of situation arises if, after discarding the body, the
   jeeva does not enter another embodiment. In that case, the good and
   the bad actions done by the jeeva in this embodiment will not come
   to fruition. That cannot be the case, because every karma done has
   to have an effect.

For all these reasons, the proposition that samsAra, the jagat, avidyA
is anAdI has to be accepted.

My praNAms to Shri ShankarAcArya for explaining this so beautifully as
part of His ShriLalitAtrishatIbhAshhyA.

Regards
Gummuluru Murthy
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>From ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG Sat May 29 20:54:17 1999
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From: Sankaran Panchapagesan <panchap at ICSL.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: regarding quoting from books
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Hi,
  Do we need permission from the author to quote from a book, or can we
generally quote without worrying about permission, on the list?

Regards,
Ganesh.