[Advaita-l] Sringeri AchAryas on the VivaraNa - the cause of adhyAsa

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- Anand Hudli <anandhudli at hotmail.com> wrote:

[..]

> PadmapAda, in his PanchapAdikA, explains that Shankara himself has
> indicated 
> that there is a cause of adhyAsa by employing the term
> mithyAjnAna-nimitta:
> 
> mithyAjnAnanimittaH iti | mithyA cha tat.h ajnAnaM cha
> mithyAjnAnam.h| 
> mithyA iti anirvachanIyatA uchyate| ajnAnamiti cha jaDAtmikA
> avidyAshaktiH 
> jnAnapuryudAsena uchyate | tannimittaH tadupAdAnaityarthaH |
> 
> (The shAnkara bhAShya says) "mithyAjnAnam.h." That which is mithyA
> and 
> ajnAna is mithyAjnAna. mithyA is said to be anirvachanIyA,
> indescribable. 
> And, the insentient power of ignorance, avidyAshakti, is called
> ajnAna due 
> to its being opposed to jnAna, knowledge.  Having that as cause is
> having 
> that as the material cause.
> 

It is not only Padmapada, but also Sureshvara who accepts Ignorance
as a Material Cause:

http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/1998-September/010134.html

"Further BUBhVa 1.4.371 (purushhavida brAhmaNa),

asya dvaita indrjAlasya yat.h upAdAnakAraNam.h |
aGYAnaM tat.h upAshritya brahma kAraNaM uchyate ||

Having relied on that ignorance which is the material cause of this
great magic of duality,
It is said that brahman is the cause [though there is no cause nor
effect, but brahman alone]."


Can Sureshvara be wrong too -- in ascribing a "Causal Power" to
Ignorance?

Regards,
Kartik


 
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