[Advaita-l] Question for Mr. Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian (fwd)

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

Please cc sranga2001 at gmail.com on replies as he is not subscribed to the 
list.

-- 
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ranga Rathnam <sranga2001 at gmail.com>

Dear List Moderators,

I have been a passive spectator of the advaita-vedanta list for quite
sometime and I have a question for Mr.Ramakrishnan
regarding the recent paper he has put up.

First to quote from the paper

Many times ´ Sa ? nkar¯ac¯arya and Sure´svar¯ac¯arya compare the avidy¯a due
to which we superimpose false limiting adjuncts on brahman to truly
epistemic errors. A few such examples are: superimposition of snake on a
rope, illusion of movement of trees due to movement of a boat, and
attributing blueness to the sky.

/end quote/

I remember reading from a book 'The mind of Adi Sankaracharya' by Shri
Keshava Menon that the rope in the snake is not an error because of a defect
in the subject at least in the same class as a jaundiced eye.

Also to quote from 'Adhyasabhasya - lectures by Sri Mani Dravid' from the
advaita vedanta list website

5. Anirvachaniyakhyati. This is the theory of the Advaitins. According to
this the silver seen on nacre cannot be categorized as either real or
unreal. The person seeing it thinks that there is real silver before him
and that is why he stretches out his hand to grab the silver. Similarly,
the universe which is an appearance on Brahman is neither real nor
unreal. As in the case of silver, the universe is looked upon by all as real
until Brahman is realized. As a result of this superimposition every one
says 'I am a man', etc., and 'This is mine'. Thus there are two kinds of
adhyasa.

/end quote/


I sense a disconnect when Mr. Ramakrishnan says 'truly epistemic errors' and
would be grateful to receive a clarification.


S.Rangarathnam.