[Advaita-l] World is Flower in the Sky

[vinayaka ns]

On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 12:06 AM, V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>wrote:

I find this discussion at this point quite interesting.
>

Indeed it is, not only that seeing this discussion a dvaitin is getting
exited too. I have got some 'enlightening'  mails from him.



> All the references in the sutra bhashya and other upanishad bhashyas
> regarding creation, Ishwara, jivakarma, karma phala dAtA, etc. are on the
> basis of nAnAjIva prakriyA, keeping in view that there are infinite number
> of jIva-s.  This is in the vyAvahArika plane.


This is in order. Both veda pUrva bhAga and vedAnta accept the plurality of
jivas in the vyAvahAric plane.


> Take for example, the very teaching of the 'tat tvam asi' of the
> Chandogya.  Here, the Sat is taught as the jagat kAraNam, the source of
> tejas, aapaH and prithivI and through their tRvRtkaraNam, the entire world
> of beings/objects that include the various jIvas (their
> bodies/mind/organs/karma/loka/bhoga). This is the nAnA jIva delineation.
>

Ok.



> But the teaching culminates in addressing Shvetaketu: tat (jagatkAraNam)
> sat tvam asi. Naturally, in this teaching, the entire creation including
> all the jivas are shown to be the content of the word 'tat' (Sat brahman)
> which is what tvam is.  The one who realizes this also sees no world/jIva-s
> as existing apart from him the Sat Brahman.  Thus, the eka jiva prakriyA is
> well enshrined in the Upanishads.

This jnAni's consciousness is the
> sattApradaa for the entire dRshyam jagat.  And whatever depends for its
> fundamental sattA, reality/existence, on another entity has to be mithyA on
> the basis of the ONLY example available in creation: rajju-sarpa for such a
> phenomenon (the rajju is the sattApradA for the adhyasta sarpa for the
> period the sarpa is held to be 'is').
>

This is where I don't follow your explanation. The aforementioned view
boils down to eka-Atma-vAda and it need not be taken as eka-jIva-vAda in
which it is said that there is *only one jIva in the vyAvahAric plane*  and
all other jIvas are just imaginations. I have no problems with the former
view; that is what advaita is all about.

A sAdhaka intuits the One consciousness underlying upAdhis of ishwara and
jIvas by the use of bhAga tyAga lakshaNA. I don't know why we should call
this eka-jIva-prakriyA and restrict the number of jIvas to only one.

jnAnis Consciousness is the sattAprada all right,  but then it doesn't mean
that there are no other jnAnis and ajnAnis at all.


>
> The several instances I had pointed out from the bhashyam as especially
> centering on eka jIva vAda could be recalled.  The GK bhashya and even the
> very maandukya upanishad bhashya too has a great content of eka jIva
> construct. A fine example is here:
>
> In the mantra 5 'yatra supto na kanchana...' the jIva-s sushupti state is
> being explained and he is named  praajna.  In the very next mantra 'eSha
> (this/he is) sarveshvaraH...', the Upanishad itself connects the fifth
> mantra to the sixth with the word 'eSha', a pronoun that has  'prAjna' of
> the fifth mantra.  Thus, Anandagiri brings out the purport of the mantra:
>
> prAjnasya Adhidaivikena antaryAmiNA saha abhedam gRhItvA visheShaNAntaram
> darshayati - eSha iti. [The mantra, considering the identity of the prAjna
> (jiva of the fifth mantra) with the antaryAmi of the sixth mantra, brings
> out another attribute...]
>
>
This is fine. But then, we need not restrict the number of jIvas getting
into sushupti to only one. For ex. the Chandogya shruti says all sorts of
creatures like tiger, moth, mosquito etc., attain satsampatti.

Am I missing something? Pls clarify.

-- 
Best Wishes,

Vinayaka