Advaita : Some Basic Explanations - 13 (The last)

[D.V.N.Sarma]

On 20 Mar 2002, at 17:21,  hbdave wrote:
>
> Coming to posting by Shri D.V.N. Sharma, where he wrote :
> > > As I have already pointed out according to Sankara
> > > kUTastha is mAyA.
> >
>
> Maya is Kutastha and not other way round. The refered
> passage by Shankaracharya is as follows :
>
> [Giita : XV-16]
> {\skt  dvaavimau puru.sau loke k.sara"scaak.sara eva ca |}
> {\skt  k.sara.h sarvaa.ni bhuutaani kuu.tastho .a k.sara ucyate ||}
>
> Shankar commentary :
> {\skt bhagavata.h maayaa"sakti.h k.saraakhyasya puru.sasya utpattibiijam
> |
> kuu.tastha.h kuu.to raa"si.h eva sthita.h athavaa kuu.ta maayaa
> va~ncanaa jihmataa ku.tilataa iti paryaayaa anekamaayaadiprakaare.na
> sthita.h kuu.tastha.h |}
>
> The Mayashakti of the brahman is the  origin of the Purusha called
> Kshara.
> Kutastha means one which is staying steady as anvil or Kuta means Maya,
> deception, hiding, wikedness, etc. One who stays with many such form of
> Maya is Kutastha.
>
> There was a king who liked to observe his kingdom in guize of a beggar.
> When his minister saw him on the road, he said "this beggar is the
> king."
> He would not say "This king is beggar", because then it has a different
> meaning.
>
> Thus Maya is Kutastha and not the other way round. As shown above
> Adi Shankara did not say that Kutastha is Maya.
>
Wonderful! I do not know what you are trying to achieve.

But all said and done Sankara does say koo.tastha is maayaa.

Gita says "koo.tasthoekshara ucyatae"

This means "koo.tastha is said to be akshara or indestructible."

Then Sankara says

apara.h purusha.h ak.sara.h tadvipareetoe bhagavata.h
maayaa"sakti.h k.saraakhyasya puru.sasya utpattibiijam
anaekasamsaarijamtukaamakarmaadisamskaaraasraya.h
ak.sara.h puru.sa ucyatae.

The other puru.sa, in opposition to the previous (k.sara puru.sa),
is ak.sara (indestructible), is Lord's  maaya"sakti, and  is the
seed of origination of k.sara puru.sa and also is the shelter
for the samskaaraas (imprints) of the desires and actions of
the many worldly beings. That is called ak.sara puru.sa.

If koo.tastha is ak.sara and ak.sara is maayaa then koo.tastha
is maayaa.

I request you to peruse the many subcommentaries on
Sankarabhaashya, e.g., goodhaarthadeepika of madhusoodana
sarswati etc.

regards,

Sarma.