[Advaita-l] Difficulty with Akhandakara Vrtti

[V Subrahmanian]

On Wed, Jun 17, 2015 at 7:52 PM, Venkatesh Murthy via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste
>
> I am having difficulty with understanding the Akhandakara Vrtti that
> is the Final Vrtti. Vaadiraaja has two objections . Firstly the
> Akhandakara Vrtti does not have any Content or Phala. It is
> Nishparakaraka. If there is a Pot Vrtti there will be a Pot Content.
> But in Akhandakara Vrtti there is no content like the Advaitis are
> saying. There is no Contentless Vrtti in the world. If you say the
> Illusion 'there is no silver' is cancelled there will be a cancelling
> Vrtti like 'this is a shell'. 'This is a shell' is not a contentless
> Vrtti. There is no contentless Vrtti like 'there is nothing' like
> Advaitis are saying.
>

That 'vṛtti' is not without content; it is ātmākāravṛtti; it has the ātman
for its content.

//

श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताभाष्यम् । षष्ठोऽध्यायः । श्लोक २५
शनैः शनैरुपरमेद्बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया ।
आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् ॥ २५ ॥
BG 6.25 One should gradually withdraw with the intellect endowed with
steadiness. Making the mind fixed in the Self, one should not think of
anything whatsoever.

Bhāṣyam:

आत्मसंस्थम् आत्मनि संस्थितम् ‘आत्मैव सर्वं न ततोऽन्यत् किञ्चिदस्ति’
इत्येवमात्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् । एष योगस्य परमो विधिः ॥
Translation:
 making manah, the mind; atma-samstham, fixed in the Self, with the idea,
'The Self alone is all; there is nothing apart from It'-thus fixing the
mind on the Self; na cintayet, one should not think of; kincit api,
anything whatsoever. This is the highest instruction about Yoga.//

So, there is no emptiness; the Atman is the content of the vṛtti.



>
> Secondly Advaitis are saying there is a Final Akhandakara Vrtti Jnana.
> It will destroy other Vrttis and destroy itself also. Then we enter
> Non-duality. How can you say the Akhandakara Vrtti is Final? If you
> say this you should be saying it in Non-duality condition. But in
> Non-duality there is no thought or Concept of anything. All concepts
> are Illusions in Advaiti's book. Then the Akhanadakara Vrtti Concept
> is also Illusion. It is like hare's horn. It is fictional.
>

The Māṇḍūkya 7th mantra bhāṣya has material for the above objection:

यदा पुनर्घटतमसोर्विवेककरणे प्रवृत्तं प्रमाणमनुपादित्सिततमोनिवृत्तिफलावसानं
छिदिरिव च्छेद्यावयवसम्बन्धविवेककरणे प्रवृत्ता तदवयवद्वैधीभावफलावसाना, तदा
नान्तरीयकं घटविज्ञानं न प्रमाणफलम् । न च
तद्वदप्यात्मन्यध्यारोपितान्तःप्रज्ञत्वादिविवेककरणे प्रवृत्तस्य
प्रतिषेधविज्ञानप्रमाणस्य अनुपादित्सितान्तःप्रज्ञत्वादिनिवृत्तिव्यतिरेकेण
तुरीये व्यापारोपपत्तिः, अन्तःप्रज्ञत्वादि निवृत्तिसमकालमेव
प्रमातृत्वादिभेदनिवृत्तेः । तथा च वक्ष्यति — ‘ज्ञाते द्वैतं न विद्यते’ (मा.
का. १-१८)
<http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/php/format.php?bhashya=Mandukya&page=01#MK_C01_V18>
इति
। ज्ञानस्य द्वैतनिवृत्तिक्षणव्यतिरेकेण क्षणान्तरानवस्थानात्, अवस्थाने वा
अनवस्थाप्रसङ्गाद्द्वैतानिवृत्तिः ;
तस्मात्प्रतिषेधविज्ञानप्रमाणव्यापारसमकालैव
आत्मन्यध्यारोपितान्तःप्रज्ञत्वाद्यनर्थनिवृत्तिरिति सिद्धम् ।

Translation/gist:

Pl. refer to the mAnDUkya bhAShyam for the seventh mantra (the translation
by Swami Gambhirananda p.203 in Vol.2 of Eight Upanishads) -

//// tathA cha vakShyati: `~jnAte dvaitam na vidyate' iti. ~jnAnasya
dvaita-nivritti-kShaNa-vyatirekeNa kShaNAntara-anavasthAnAt. //

[ So also it will be said, `Duality ceases to exist after
realization' (Kaarika I.18), for knowledge (as a mental state) does
not continue for a second moment following the moment of the
cessation of duality.]

// tasmAt pratiShedha-vi~jnAna-pramANa-vyApAra-samakAlA-eva Atmani
adhyAropita-antaH-pra~jnatvAdi-anartha-nivrittiriti siddham //

[Therefore, the conclusion arrived at is that all evils, such as
being `conscious of the internal world', superimposed on the Self,
cease simultaneously with the application (i.e. birth) of the
instrument (pramAna) (of illumination, sAkshAtkAra) which is nothing
but a valid knowledge arising from negation of duality.]

Pl. read the complete bhāṣyam on the page stated above.

regards
subrahmanian.v


>
> --
> Regards
>
> -Venkatesh
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