[Advaita-l] Sringeri AchAryas on the vivaraNa - the cause of adhyAsa (3)

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- bhaskar.yr at in.abb.com wrote:

[..]

> Yes, vivaraNakAra implies that there is an entity called mUlAvidyA
> which is
> the *material cause* for both adhyAsa & world!!!


The English word "material" admits of two variations in meanings
(Webster's dictionary at m-w.com):

(1) : the elements, constituents, or substances of which something is
composed or can be made

(2) : matter that has qualities which give it individuality and by
which it may be categorized


The first variation admits of both matter-composed as well as
non-matter-composed entities. The second variation admits only of
matter-composed entities.

In other words:

Anand: "Material" can be used to indicate entities like ANGER,
DESIRE, etc. *as well as* matter-composed entities like earth, water,
etc.
(In this sense, Ignorance is "composed" of ANGER, DESIRE, GREED, etc.
and is "destroyed" by Knowledge.)

Bhaskar: "Material" is used ONLY in the sense of matter-composed
entities like earth, etc.
(Otherwise the use of the word "solid" to limit the word "material"
doesn't make any sense, because ANGER is not "solid").


Here's an example of the general usage of the word "material":

My friend thought, "4 is a prime number".
To which I said, "But 2x2 = 4."
My friend understood.

My friend cannot be said to be completely ignorant -- for he "knew"
SOMETHING (i.e. it cannot be claimed that he knew NOTHING). That
MATERIAL IGNORANCE was DESTROYED by his KNOWLEDGE of my statement.

Regards,
Kartik


 
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