[Advaita-l] Omniscience ..........

[H S Chandramouli]

Namaste. Since the current issue is different from the one discussed
earlier i have started it as a fresh thread.

Sri Subrahmanianji wrote

<  The thread started by me was about the apAramArthic
nature of omniscience etc. in Advaita and that all such attributes are only
world-jiva dependent and that without the world-jiva there is no place for
the said attributes in Brahman and that the idea of dependent reality,
paratantra sattA/satyam is no different from the vyAvahArika satyam
otherwise known as mithyA or sadasadvilakShaNa.  >.

Sri Bhaskarji had earlier expressed some reservations on this issue and
perhaps will continue from where he had left off once his office
commitments permit. His earlier comments are valid if this is the complete
statement of advaita sidhanta. Meanwhile i would like to mention that
theabove statement is very misleading if not an incorrect representation of
advaita sidhanta. It does not convey that omniscience, creation etc is
indeed Brahman only. Mandukya mentions < soyamatma chatushpat > . Nodoubt
the first three are of a lower level of reality but they are Brahman only.
The complete statement would be as follows.

< Omniscience is Brahman, but Brahman is not Omniscience, but only appears
to be so > .

< Iswara is Brahman but Brahman is not Iswara but appears to be Iswara > .

< Creation is Brahman, but Brahman is not creation but appears to be so > .

Similar statements are valid for everything that we can think of. Sri
Bhagavatpada advances his Doctrine of Maya for the interpretation of the
Shrutis accordingly. This also addresses the concerns expressed by Sri
Bhaskarji in his first reaction earlier. But i think a detailed discussion
of the entire scope of the maya doctrine is beyond the scope of this forum.

I do not think statements like the one made by Sri Subrahmanianji in
isolation contribute to a correct understanding of the advaitic stand.

Regards