[Advaita-l] Do not bring Sankhya into Suddha Sankara Advaita

[Venkatesh Murthy]

Namaste

Holenarsipur Swamiji has written in Suddha Sankara Prakriya Bhaskara in
Page 2 -

Tatha Hi Bhagavatpaadaaha Sveeyabhaashyeshu Saankhyaadeeneva Dvaitinaha
Prativaaditvena Sveekrutya Niraakarshuhu

 Adi Sankara has rejected the Purva Paksha Dvaiti Sankhya theory in his
Bhashya.

Kimca Bhagavatpaadeeya Bhaashye Vedantavaakyaanaam Aidamparye Nishcetavye
'Ikshater Naa Sabdam' 1 -1 - 5 ityaarabhya Aparisamaptehe
Pratipakshareetyaa Vedaantavaakya Vyaakhyaatrushu Madhye Saankhyaa Eva
Praadhaanyena Upaattaaha.

In Adi Sankara Sutra Bhashya when he is explaining Vedanta Vakyas from
Ikshater Na Sabdam 1 - 1 - 5 till the end he is accepting only Sankhya as
Chief Purva Paksha. Sankhyas are the Chief Opponents for him.

But Post Sankara Advaitis have tried to bring that Chief Purva Paksha
Sankhya into Advaita. This is unfortunate.

Sankhya is Dvaita only because it has two Chief Factors. Purusha and
Prakruti. Sankhya is Dualistic Doctrine. Kindly see Notes below.

Post Sankara Advaitis like Padmapada and Vacaspati have tried to make
Advaita like Sankhya. They say Brahman and Mula Avidya are both necessary
for Advaita. They cannot explain Advaita without the Two Factors.

In that Post Sankara Advaita Brahman = Sankhya Purusha and Mula Avidya =
Sankhya Prakruti.

This is wrong. Then Advaita becomes Dvaita like Sankhya.

Holenarsipur Swamiji is saying in Page 32 Sankara Vedanta Meemamsa Bhashya
-

'So far we have seen that there is no reason why the original Bhashya
beginning with Mithya Jnana Nimittaha' should not be taken to mean what it
literally amounts to, - that all human procedure is due to a misconception
and that the forced interpretation of the statement as referring to a
hypothetical Avidya Shakti which is the material cause for all false
appearances is far fetched'.

[[ If you are seeing Snake in a Rope Padmapada and other Post Sankara
Advaitis will say the Material Cause of the Snake is a strange Avidya
Shakti. That Avidya Shakti has become the Snake and you are seeing it.
Padmapada says Mithyajnana is actually Mithya Ajnana = False Ignorance. Adi
Sankara has not said this. He has said the Snake is because of a
Misconception = Mithya Jnana only. The seeing person has made a Simple
Mistake only.  He did not say Snake is because of Mithya Ajnana and that is
the Material Cause for Snake. ]]

'Moreover that the Avidya Shakti which is taken here to be what is meant by
the Mithyajnana - be it an invention of the author of the Tika himself or
borrowed from some foreign tradition and adapted here to propound his
theory is altogether opposed to the spirit of the Bhashya, is also seen
from the circumstance that this sub commentator attempts to prove the
feasibility of its acceptance on the authority of the Pramana Arthapatti
(presumption)'.

'For Sankara here expressly declares that all Pramanas or means to valid
knowledge in empirical life are based on Adhyasa itself. This is also
obvious from the fact that this writer identifies his 'Avidya Sakti' with
'Maya' in direct opposition to the teaching of the Bhashya'.

[[ All Pramanas like Pratyaksha are based on Adhyasa. If you are seeing
something you are seeing because there is Adhyasa of Body Mind and Sense
Organs on Atma. Same for other Pramanas. ]]

Notes -


Wikipedia on Sankhya

Sāmkhya is an enumerationist philosophy that is strongly
dualist<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya#cite_note-4><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya#cite_note-5><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya#cite_note-6>Sāṃkhya
denies <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology> the final
cause<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_cause>of
Ishvara <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishvara>
(God).<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya#cite_note-7>Sāmkhya
philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities;
*Puruṣa <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purusha>* (consciousness) and *
prakriti <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prakriti>* (phenomenal realm of
matter). *Jiva <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiva>* is that state in which *
puruṣa* is bonded to *prakriti* through the glue of
desire<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_%28philosophy%29>,
and the end of this bondage is *moksha <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moksha>
*. Samkhya does not describe what happens after *moksha* and does not
mention anything about Ishwara or God, because after liberation there is no
essential distinction of individual and universal *puruṣa*.


-- 
Regards

-Venkatesh