[Advaita-l] Eka jiva vada and nana jiva vada.

[Srikanta Narayanaswami]

Namaste

Kindly read the Gaudapada Karika Vaitathya Prakarana 9-10 again and again.
In a dream you are walking on a road and thinking of 100 Kg gold. You meet
a person on the road and say Namaste to him. Then you wake up. You will
conclude both the Gold and the person are dream objects. Both are unreal.
You cannot say imagined Gold is unreal but the seen person is real. Same
way in waking Avastha also when you imagine something like 100 Kg Gold it
is unreal. When you meet a friend in waking also, he is not real. Like this
all persons are unreal. Imagined and seen objects in waking and dream both
are unreal.

What Nana Jeevas you see in Vyavahara are unreal because they are like
dream objects. The waking is also a dream. The dreamer is the only One
Jeeva. Eka Jeeva Vada is only for Vyavaharic level. You have to think
Vyavaharically like this is all my dream and I have created the Universe.
The Universe is there because I see it. This Drishti Srishti Vada. I see
the Universe because it is existing. This is Srishti Drishti Vada. This is
a road to misery and bondage. Drishti Srishti Vada and Eka Jeeva Vada are
the best methods of Vedanta. Gaudapada is saying this.
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The Gaudapada karikas in the vaithathya prakarana 9-10 doesnot substantiate the Eka jiva vada.
What Gaudapada says pertaining to the "Apurva' stanidharma in the karika 8.
The karikas 9 and 10 are stated as follows:
9.svapna vrttavapi tvantascetasa kalpitam tvasat!bahisceto grhitam sdrstam vaitathyametayoh!!
In the dream what is imagined internally by the mind is asat.What is grasped by the mind is sat.In both of these the difference(vaitathya)is seen.
10.Jagravrttavapi tvantascetasa kalpitam tvasat!
bahisceto grhitam sadyuktam vaitathyametayoh!!
In the waKING STATE ALSO WHAT IS IMAGINED BY THE MIND is unreal.What is grasped by the mind externally is real(Therefore)there is difference)vaitathya is suitable.
 
Then Gaudapada asks:In both these states the difference is vaitathya.But,who is the person who is aware of these differences.Who indeed imagines these?
 
He further says:
11.Kalpayatyatmanatmatma Devah svamayaya!
sa eva budhyate bhedaniti vedantaniscayah!!.
 
The Deva who is the Self,by his own maya,imagines himself by himself.He alone sees the objects.This is the decision of the Vedanta.
 
>From the above,we see that Gaudapada points out to the self who is the witness to the states.These karikas have come by way of illuminating the self.
N.Srikanta.